Take Back Anything

Take Back Anything
TERENCE

I woke to the sound of shouting. At first, I thought it was a dream, but then the sharp scent of fear hit my nose, and I sat up instantly. My head throbbed from last night’s drinking, but the noise outside was too real to ignore.
I stormed out of my tent, still half-shifted, my claws dragging lines into the dirt. “What is going on?” I barked.
Felix came running, his face pale, his chest heaving. “Alpha!” he shouted. “We are surrounded. The kingdom guards from King Philip’s White Fur Pack— they’re here. And so are Shanella’s Moon Crest warriors… and Brad’s Mystic Shadow wolves. They’ve blocked every path out of the forest.”
For a moment, I stood frozen. Surrounded? Impossible. No one should have been able to track us this quickly.
Another rogue, Quinn, ran up, fear clear in his eyes. “Alpha, they have archers posted at the ridge and patrols coming from the east. If we stay, we’ll all be slaughtered.”
I snarled, the sound ripping from my chest. “No one moves until I say so! I will not run from them.”
Felix grabbed my arm, desperate now. “Alpha, listen to me! This is not just one pack. It’s three packs, united. They are here for blood. If we stay, we die.”
I shoved him back, fury burning through me. “Cowards! All of you!” I roared at the gathered rogues. “We are the Furious Mad Pack! We do not run like frightened pups!”
But the fear in their eyes didn’t fade. One of the she-wolves stepped forward, her voice shaking. “Alpha, we follow you, but we have families. If we fight them now, we will all die. Please… give the order to retreat.”
Her words cut deep. Retreat. I had spent years building this pack from nothing, forging them into killers who feared no one. And now they were begging to run.
I turned in a slow circle, looking at each of them. I saw fear, yes—but also expectation. They wanted me to make the choice. To save them.
My claws flexed, my wolf howled inside me, demanding blood, demanding we stand and fight. But then the sound of distant howls reached us—many, too many. Reinforcements closing in.
Felix stepped closer, speaking low so only I could hear. “Alpha, live to fight another day. We can rebuild. But if you die here, everything ends.”
I ground my teeth, the decision tearing at me. Finally, I snarled and spat on the ground. “Fine. We run. But this is not over.”
The rogues didn’t need to be told twice. They scattered, grabbing weapons, shifting into wolves, vanishing into the trees. I followed, my blood boiling with every step.
We ran hard and fast, pushing through the underbrush, following the secret paths only I knew. Behind us, the howls of the other packs grew louder, closer.
“Faster!” I bellowed. “If they catch us, there will be no mercy!”
Felix ran beside me, his fur brushing against mine in wolf form. They want to end us, he said through the mind link. They will not stop until you are dead, Alpha.
Then they will learn what it means to make me their enemy, I growled back. When the time comes, I will take everything from them. Their packs, their lands, their precious queen-to-be.
We finally reached the edge of the forest, panting, covered in sweat and mud. The night air was cold, but the fire inside me kept me warm.
Some of the rogues collapsed, gasping. One of the males, Rolf, looked at me, his voice shaking. “Alpha, what now? Where do we go?”
I looked out over the hills, my mind racing. “We go to the north,” I said. “To the Shadow Valley. No one dares follow us there.”
“But Alpha,” Quinn said nervously, “there are rumors of the old cursed pack in that valley. Wolves that never die.”
“Then let them try to stop me,” I snapped. “Better to face curses than the blades of three packs and the White Fur Kingdom. Move!”
The pack obeyed, but I could feel their unease.
As we ran again, my thoughts kept circling back to Joseph. My traitor son. He had done this. He had led Shanella to safety, and now the whole world was hunting me.
“I should have killed him the day I took him in,” I muttered aloud.
Felix heard me and said quietly, “He was loyal once.”
“Once,” I said bitterly. “But no more. Now he will pay for what he’s done. All of them will.”
We ran until dawn painted the sky blood-red. Finally, we stopped near the edge of the cursed valley. The rogues were exhausted, but alive.
I turned to face them, my chest heaving, my eyes blazing. “Listen to me!” I shouted. “They think they’ve won tonight, but this is not the end. We will rebuild. We will grow stronger. And when we strike back, they will beg for mercy. And we will give them none.”
The rogues growled their agreement, their fear slowly turning into anger. That was what I needed. Their hate. Their thirst for revenge.
Felix met my eyes, and for the first time since this nightmare began, I saw something that looked like hope.
“What is the plan, Alpha?” he asked.
I smiled then, a dark, dangerous smile. “The plan,” I said, “is war.”
I turned toward the valley and began walking, my pack following behind me like shadows. The future was uncertain, but one thing burned clear in my mind—
Shanella might have escaped me today. Joseph might still be breathing.
But one day soon, I would take back everything.
And when I did, the moon itself would run red with blood.