HUNTED

[ Ajax ]

The panther sprinted through the woods as fast as his powerful legs would take him, the leaves from bushes whipped past his face, and he had to leap a few times when the roots from the overgrown forest floor tried to wrap around his legs and trip him. He still had a way to go before he made it to the packhouse, but his orders were to find Chiara, which he happily obliged to. She may not be by the packhouse. With this thought process, he visualised what he wanted to shift into.

Within seconds his four paws turned into two claws and wings. He decided to shift into a peregrine falcon, the quickest animal, allegedly, on earth. It also meant he could have a better view of the grounds and in finding Chiara. 

He clambered for a bit on his talons and pushed off, flapping his wings to gain some height. It was always awkward when he shifted from two different animals, especially if he was on the move. But after more energy spent using his wings, he was once again airborne, looking down at the trees, fields, roads and the almighty grounds of the packhouse.

The panther was always his favourite animal to be, the eagle or falcon his close seconds; not only was it badass and lethal, but beautiful to look at. And that is precisely how he is in human form. The perfect combination of good looks and a brain. Something that made him a Greek god to the ladies. 

Yet, there were two ladies who had never fallen for his charms. Chiara and Aila. The latter he did not mind; the Alpha seemed to have swept her off her feet the moment she climbed out of that SUV the night they were rescued. But Chiara, now that was intriguing. 

Intriguing enough for him to pursue her, even if she was hell bent on making it difficult for him. His sharp eyes narrowed slightly by the thought, accidentally zoning in on a tree.

Ah!

Blinking his eyes, his third eyelid came out, helping to moisten them. Okay, focus. He needed to scope out what was happening at the packhouse and see where Chiara was.

Using his binocular vision and zoning in on areas from high above near the clouds, he could see not only the packhouse and the forests but the mountains very clearly. He swept down a little lower and swerved to the side after confirming he could not see Chiara. There were plenty of wolves and guards, a few of those beasts left and some remaining rogues that seemed to be fleeing the scene.

It appeared they were doing much better than Aila's group of wolves in town. Possibly because the packhouse was well guarded, and most of the pack were situated there. As his eyes scanned the trees, flickering from different scenes below him, he couldn't help but chuckle, which came out as a drawling cackle from his beak.

He couldn't believe he was now 'part of a pack'. Although he had been a bit of a Casanova over the years with she-wolves before he met his fiancé and was imprisoned, it never meant he wanted to chill with the werewolves. 

Ajax believed them to be quite brutish in their behaviour. Nonetheless, he chose to stick by Aila's side the moment she formed a plan to escape that wretched place and actually succeeded. He is now loyal to her, and whatever she asked and needed, he would be there for her. 

His small head whipped to the side as something caught his attention. There, in all her beautiful glory, was Chiara. Hmm, why didn't she reply to Aila when the mind-link was sent? He observed her a while, realising she was a bloodied mess running from something, that something being four of those gigantic beasts. He pulled his wings back towards his body and began to nosedive, ready to swoop in and help her. 

But he expanded his wings again, stopping his dive and glided in a circle, still high above, observing. There was no need to help her. Of course, she took two of them down. One each at the time, it was comical watching as though they were waiting their turn to have their hearts or head ripped off. It seemed the Gamma also caught on how to kill the beasts.

It was only the last two modified werewolves to be troubling as they stood on their hind legs. Chiara flipped to the side out of reach from one of them. But the other wolf quickly caught her off guard by grabbing her and smacking her into a tree. 

Her head hit the tree, and she immediately went slack. Instead of finishing the job, the wolves lifted their heads up, ears flickering before turning away and scampering off on all fours again. 

Ajax was both relieved and worried over Chiara, but before he went to check on her, he needed to mind-link Aila and update her, "I found Chiara. She's unconscious, will report in again with more details. The rogues are fleeing, and it seems those giant werewolves are slowly dying off as well."

There was no response, but he presumed Aila was busy or hoped that was the case. This mind-link power, though, was something he never thought he would want. But after using it for hours, he was assured of its efficiency and staying in contact with Finn and Aila. Although Finn had been knocked out for most of what happened.

Ajax stopped his thoughts from consuming him again; not only did he like chatting shit, but he also thought about a lot of shit. 

Suddenly, he saw another figure approach Chiara; she had jumped down from a tree, which was very suspicious. Were they watching the whole time the Gamma was fighting? His eyes scanned the new girl from head to toe, her back was turned away from him, but he could see long black hair on a physique that could only be Lydia.

He swerved to the side and focused on her again. It was indeed Lydia, and she was walking towards her sister with a malicious look on her face, holding a knife in her hand.