Mian slowly regained his clarity, faintly aware of the glaring pain that existed at the back of his head. He groaned as he peeled open his eyelids, and the first thing that he saw was the dull gray stone bricks that were right before his eyes.
"Ugh..." He groaned and forced himself up into a sitting position. His hand automatically went to the back of his head where the source of pain originated from. His fingers came in contact with the dried blood that had been matted into his fur. He sighed and leaned forward again. Everything he had heard about humans was right. They were all bad people and wouldn't hesitate to attack any of the other races that populated the planet.
Footsteps sounded outside the cell, causing Mian to perk up. Three men rounded the corner, with two of them being covered up in the metal armor that Mian had caught glances of at certain points back in the cave. Two armored men flanked a single man in the center. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he recognized the unarmored man in the center. It was the same man who had led the other humans to capture them.
They stopped outside the cell. "Open it up. Let's get him to the other one. He's too noisy and keeps shouting, perhaps being together will calm him down." The unarmored man said, his bottle green eyes running over Mian. "No quick movements or we will put you down, understood?" He turned to Mian and raised a brow. His stern features reminded Mian of all the scolding he got from his guardian back at the cave.
Mian meekly nodded and bowed his head as the armored men stepped in, grabbing each of his arms and hauling him up to his feet. With a shove, they pushed his forward, the unarmored man taking up the rear. They walked with him, turning down a couple corners, until they reached a dead-end corridor with some yelling and growling coming from the end of the corridor. He tried to hurry up, but stopped when he was held back by one of the guards.
Finally, they arrived in front of a cell that was similar to his. Made of dull gray stone, and fixed with iron bars to block out the front. A black demi-human was pressed up against the bars, baring his teeth to any who tried coming close.
"Dion?" Mian's eyes widened when he saw the younger boy. Dion responded in a similar manner, his movements stalling before his forehead was met with the butt of a sword, sending him stumbling back into the cave from the force of it. Quickly, the iron bars swung open, and Mian was shoved inside. The bars swung back in place, and with a loud clang, were locked tight to prevent them from escaping.
"Dion! Are you okay?" Mian knelt by the black demi-human.
"Mmm, I'm fine. It just hurts." Dion sat up and rubbed his forehead. The hit had split the skin, but the injury had already healed. All that was left was the swelling. That didn't stop Mian from fretting over him though. He pushed apart Dion's thick coat, peering at the pink skin underneath.
"It will be okay, I guess. But aside from that, how is your side?" He asked. He moved to Dion's side. He pressed his hands against the area where the injury was and Dion flinched. Parting the fur, he saw that the cuts had closed, but the area was still quite swollen and bruised.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Dion batted away Mian's hands, smiling at the worried nineteen year old. "I'm just tired, aside from the aching. All I need is some rest, and I'll be good as new."
"All you need is rest, yet you were causing such a ruckus a few minutes ago?" Mian raised a brow. Dion only laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. He laid down on his good side, facing the iron bars of their cell. There wasn't much they could do but wait for the humans to come and tell them what they planned to do with them.
***
Daven stopped in a clearing where the scent of his pack members lingered faintly around. The trail had gone cold, with directions from Brian, who had sulked the entire way there, making sure to steer clear from the Patriarch, unless it wasn't possible.
He picked around, along with the other members of the small task force that he had put together. After a bit of searching, he picked up a scent that rang alarm bells.
"Humans. Humans have been here." He turned to the others and hurried over with the piece of cloth that had human scent on it in his grasp. "The rogue pack that attacked you must have been working with the humans. Damn mutts!" He gritted his teeth.
He stormed through the clearing and snatched Brian around the neck. "This is all your fault! I gave you one job! One job and you mess it up!" He pushed Brian away from him, sending the smaller dominant tumbling through the dirt. He turned around and started sniffing at the air.
"This way." He turned and shifted to all fours, darting through the bushes. The others followed closely behind, with Brian struggling to keep up with them. None of them cared that he was lagging behind. If they couldn't find the next patriarch of their large pack, then he would be in a lot more trouble.
After a while of running, the group broke through the tree line, arriving at the banks of a running river. The scent of humans was thick here, and it was relatively fresh. Not only that, but the scent of Dion and Mian lingered around, as well as the thick scent of blood.
Daven shifted to two feet and stalked around the bank of the river. He soon stopped at a patch of rocks and knelt. He picked up a couple of pebbles. Splatters of blood stained the pebbles there, but there were no other signs of a struggle.
Lifting a pebble up to his nose, Daven sniffed for a moment before finding out whose blood it was. Mian's. He gritted his teeth as he thought of humans bullying the poor omega.
"The humans have them." He stood. "And we're going to get them back."