"Damn it, can anyone know what's going on!?"
With his voice expressing all his irritation and frustration, Alcas made his way through some bushes.
"How come we haven't found anything good all day!"
"Very strange, one of the elders of my family had told me that we would not have struggled to hunt in this area," said one of the followers.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
The leader asked, sharpening his gaze, his voice growing impatient.
After arriving in the forest, it didn't take Alcas and his men long to gather, thanks to the dishonest help of some village elders. They also received information on the safest places to hunt, a great advantage over the other participants, who could only rely on their own means.
This was a great advantage over the other participants, who could only rely on their own resources.
However, it was a pity that things were not going according to plan.
Over the course of the whole day they had only managed to find a few small prey items, which were useless for someone who aspired to first place.
The quartet was sitting around a fire, it was evening now, but no one seemed to want to rest, the slow day had put them in a bad mood.
Especially Alcas, who sat staring at the sinuous dance of the embers before him.
"Any news of you-know-who?" whispered one of the boys.
"Who? The stranger?" asked the mate beside him.
"No, no sightings so far."
"That's very strange, according to the elders it wouldn't have taken us long to find the other participants," said another in a worried tone.
"What do you think, Alcas?"
The ringleader did not answer, he continued to stare at the embers with a furious look, who knows what he was thinking.
No one said another word, for fear of suffering his fury.
Night fell quickly, in the shadows two bright eyes moved away from the camp where the group was staying, but no one noticed their presence.
"Chief, not far from here there is a camp with humans."
Sitting on the corpse of a large beast, Scarn was feasting on its remains as he was interrupted by one of his wolves.
"Are these our targets?" the Scarn's eyes lit up.
"No sir."
But the answer that came next shattered all his enthusiasm.
"Eliminate them then! What do I care about dirty useless humans!"
Scarn roared angrily, his blood-coloured eyes alight with anger.
"R-received sir."
The wolf dared not say more and prepared to leave.
"Wait Scarn."
Suddenly from the depths of darkness, two blue eyes came forward.
"Alseif, what are you doing here?"
Scarn immediately recognised the presence and was not at all happy about it.
"O brother, are you not happy to see me here?" said Alseif, as he smiled sarcastically.
"There is no need for you here, go back where you came from!" growled the other.
Alseif and Scarn were brothers, half brothers, same father but different mothers, in wolf society it was normal for a dominant wolf to have multiple mates.
Their father was one of the most powerful wolves in their kingdom, who swore eternal loyalty to Kaleichrom.
Scarn's mother was only the second mate and was therefore denigrated by the first mate, Alseif's mother. This was one of the main reasons why Scarn and Alseif were like water and fire, but it did not bother their father.
For him, there was only the rule of the strongest, and if their rivalry helped them to become even stronger, it was a welcome thing.
"Our lord Kaleichrom sent me here to make sure everything was going well," Alseif's tone became serious as he leaned in to speak.
"Everything is for the best here, there was no need for your presence!"
Scarn reiterated, his brother's arrival putting him even more in a bad mood.
"Within the village there is someone very powerful, so powerful that he can crush everyone without difficulty," Alseif's grave tone interrupted him.
"Impossible!" Scarn immediately changed his expression.
"My people checked the village, there was nothing unusual" he looked towards his own, who nodded without hesitation.
"The village expert probably ignored them," Alseif said.
"As for me, when I was about to set foot in the village a strong presence threw me out."
Alseif's eyes sharpened like blades as he thought back to that moment, an uncontrolled fury seeming to take hold of him for a moment. The wolves in Scarn's retinue trembled and recoiled involuntarily from the pressure.
"Why didn't he let you in so he could kill you?"
Scarn asked, ignoring his brother's mood.
"I have no idea," Alseif replied after regaining control of his emotions.
"If it really is as you say, why are we still alive?" Scarn sharpened his eyes and expressed his doubt again.
"I don't know, maybe he's protecting the village, or..."
Pondering a possible answer, Alseif was interrupted by Scarn this time.
"Or something is keeping him from doing it!"
Alseif nodded at the idea.
"Possible, but we don't know anything else about this expert, so we can't risk it."
"What's your idea?" asked Scarn. He knew his brother already had a backup plan, unlike him.
Alseif always reasoned with a cool head, rarely letting his emotions get the best of him. The sight of his anger surprised him not a little, which is why he decided to believe him. If a cold calculator like him had lost control of himself, the expert he had met must have been powerful.
"We need a backup plan," Alseif said.
"One of your wolves said there are young humans up ahead, am I right?"
"That's right," nodded Scarn.
"Good, don't kill them."
"You want to use them as hostages?" Scarn sensed something.
"Exactly," Alseif stated.
"While your wolves take the humans as hostages, you and I will go after our main targets."
"Sounds good to me!"
Scarn's eyes flamed with excitement, a powerful fiery red aura leaked from his body, in the blink of an eye he assumed his true form.
The huge black wolf was back, Rada and Kiba's nightmare was back.
And this time he had no intention of letting them escape.