Raul moved quickly despite his shock.
Still, no matter how fast he moved, he was no match for Ice who had his neck held in a vice grip.
Raul discovered that despite Ice's small frame (as compared to his own bulky physique), he had a strength that was incomprehensible. The fingers that were around his neck felt like steel and Raul grabbed that thin arm to break it.
Break his hold on him.
But Raul found he had no strength.
It was as if he was a newborn baby, and what used to be a punch that could break bones became harmless pats instead.
Gasping and gurgling, he feebly held onto the wrist, hoping against hope to be able to escape.
"When facing an enemy that you find may be a problem," Ice said suddenly, in a tone of voice like he was educating someone as he studied Raul, "You hit his weakness first. Get rid of the most problematic people around him before moving onto him."
"Yes," agreed Fyre who moved leisurely towards the remaining minions, who were cowering in fear, "Learn to identify the weak link. Break the chain and the rest goes down easily."
Then she moved, like a blur, weaving in and out of the huddling men. It appeared as if she merely moved past them but as she did, one by one, they fell.
"Use what you have to get the best result," Fyre said as she then turned and looked up, "No such thing as 'fighting with honour'."
Fyre sheathed her thin blade carefully, making sure the poison that it was laden with, did not touch her bare skin.
"Remember the first lesson I taught you?" Ice said, turning his head a bit to the side and let go of Raul's neck.
He slumped to the ground, gasping for air and wheezing as he managed to get the cherished oxygen into his aching throat.
"Never fear but never underestimate the enemy," came a small voice from above.
"Jump," Ice commanded and Raul looked up, to see a tiny black form jump from the rafters of the ceiling. Ice caught him easily, nodding in satisfaction at his son's confidence.
Raul blinked, not able to believe what he was seeing.
'Tiny' was perhaps an exaggeration as the boy was about 128cm (50.5") but tiny was the only adjective that filled Raul's mind. Also dressed all in black like Ice, no one would mistake whose child he was.
Identical cold blue eyes, sharp jaw as shown through the outline of the mask and most of all, that 'don't come close' feeling you get upon seeing him.
The only thing was, the boy was carrying a black dog in a backpack on his back. Its head and paws were out of the bag, with the paws on the boy's shoulder. When Raul saw the red eyes of the black dog, he couldn't help but shudder.
They looked like mini devils.
Ice put the boy down and the black dog got out of the backpack, landing neatly on the ground beside the boy. It looked at the boy, then at him, and then howled.
Max, at that moment, was extremely happy and excited.
Earlier, he had not known what was going on when they stopped, and worst of all, his Alpha did not take him out of the bag he was in.
Still, at least he was allowed to have his paws out so he would lean on his Alpha's back, his head sometimes on the shoulder, sometimes on the head of his Alpha.
It had been terribly exciting to see his Alpha climbing up the wall and standing steadily on the beams. He had never been so high before!
He had never known one could climb up such a straight wall.
He should try that when they get back to the den.
There weren't any walls like this back at their territory, but there were trees.
He had tried climbing it once but failed miserably.
But his Alpha could.
His Alpha is awesome.
He needs to learn.
Max made a determination to try climbing trees, and though his head was filled with such thoughts, he was still paying very close attention to everything his Alpha was doing.
As a wolf pup, they learn from studying what their mother and Alpha did. Since Max did not have a mother, he relied heavily on his Alpha for hunting skills and tips.
This was the first time his Alpha took him out for a hunt and it was exciting.
Climbing up walls.
Balancing on a beam.
He looked down to see lots of people moving about.
Max was staring intently when the fist of his Alpha went into his view. His Alpha then touched his face, sliding a finger near his eye.
Max leaned back into the bag and turned his focus towards his Alpha.
By the signal, Max knew that his Alpha wanted him to be still and observe what he was going to do.
So he did.
He watched as his Alpha looked at the other wolf pack member, who had something shiny in his hands. He looked down at his Alpha and saw that his Alpha also had something in his hands.
The other made some strange signals with his hand and Max titled his head.
He did not understand those signals.
But his Alpha did, because his Alpha nodded.
His Alpha was awesome!
Max wanted to howl in happiness but remembered what his Alpha had commanded and he whined a bit, deep in his throat, and was 'rewarded' with a glare from his Alpha.
Max felt aggrieved but knew he had been in the wrong.
He gave a tentative lick on his Alpha's cheek, to seek forgiveness and his Alpha groaned, wiping it.
So Max licked some more.
"Max!" hissed his Alpha, wiping his cheek again.
Max finally stopped and looked at the other pack member, who seemed to have some sort of problem. Did he seem to be shaking?
Like, his hand was on his mouth, while his shoulders were moving up and down.
Max found that weird.
Was his pack member having fits?
Then, his Alpha glared at the pack member, who then coughed a bit and the shaking stopped.
Wow!
His Alpha cured the pack member with just a glare!
Max wanted to howl again to show how happy he was at how awesome his Alpha was, but he managed to hold it in.
Then, he noticed his Alpha looking down, so he looked down as well.
His Alpha's hand moved out swiftly, and three figures fell down.
Max tilted his head.
Max smelled blood.
Was that food?
Did his Alpha just hunt for their food?
Max looked at the three that had fallen and thought that those things did not have much meat on them. Was it enough?
Max did not question the fact that the three that fell were human, like his Alpha and the other pack member. Since his Alpha fell them, they were either food or the enemy.
He would like to think it was food.
He was getting hungry.
The smell of blood was enticing.
Max smacked his lips.
"Stay," he heard his Alpha command and Max's thoughts came back to the present.
He had been so engrossed in his memories and the thought of food that he had actually taken a step forward while licking his lips.
Raul, who had already been feeling agitated by the swift attack of Ice, felt cold upon seeing the whole 'family' coming out.
Worse, why did that black dog look at him like he was food?!
Raul felt the back of his collar being pulled up and he choked a bit, as he quickly got up in order to avoid it. Feeling himself being patted on several places, Raul felt this was the best time to attack.
With a roar, he lifted his arm to punch Ice in the face.
At least, he tried to.
All he got was him shouting while standing there, immobile.
"You've been training with either wooden dummies," Ice was saying as he looked at his son, "Or, parts of your body that have been protected by thick layers of padding."
Ice deliberately did not mention the mithril armour as that was to be kept a secret.
"So, this is your first lesson on how to attack a human adult with your Hellhound," Ice said.
Fyre glided to stand beside Ice, plastering herself on him as she nodded towards their son, "Yes."
She pointed at Raul, "He's about 175cm, which is approximately 6 feet. Obviously, twice your size. So you need to know where to attack to get the best result."
She left Ice's side and walked over to Raul, her hips swaying sexily - making Ice's eyes narrow a bit. Upon reaching Raul, she smiled and despite himself, he couldn't help but gulp as he felt his body reacting already just by her being near.
He couldn't move, but his stupid d*ck was getting hard?!