Subjugate the Alpha

Maybe I should explain to you what werewolves are.

They're not those cool guys with short hair who come to save the virgin from the pale vampire. They're monsters that were once human. Cursed and supposedly drained of their souls and replaced them with the soul of a wolf. They lose all human traits. They look and act like monsters even when there's no full moon. They usually die quickly because of the merciless hunt.

But occasionally, probably as rare as a rune-ear, there are those who keep their wits about them. They seek others of their kind and form packs with the mindless. Frequently they choose a partner among them and together they form the Alpha pair. The partner often regains his character and self-control over time. These packs are incredibly strong. But they also have a tremendous weakness! The Alpha itself! If the couple is killed, the rest of the pack will scatter in all directions. This often leads to bloody conflicts with the locals. Unfortunately we had planned to settle here and so this was a bad idea. However, if you kill the original Alpha and subdue your partner, you have control over the whole pack.

Since they have such a large den, I assume that they are a somewhat older pack. They might have scouts in the woods and spot us soon enough. So I can forget about sneaking up on them. Going alone or with just my firstborn would be suicide So I decide to leave the militia with the Concubunnies and attack the construction site.

Making as much noise as possible, the horde of fighting hoppers races towards the building and storms towards the entrance. Just as hoped, the pack awaits us ready for battle. They probably want to lure us into the burrow to slaughter us in smaller groups. But just disciplined enough for simple orders my army manages to stop in front of their entrance and about 1000 spears are aimed at the wolves.

They look a bit puzzled as neither arrows rain down on them nor we blindly rush towards them.

How do I bring them to a fight now? I should have thought of that before, curse I softly.

"I have come to claim this pack. You have a choice. Kneel or die." I hear scornful laughter coming from the den and from further back a nearly human-looking guy comes towards me.

"You want to subdue us? My breakfast had more strength than you and probably a newborn deer fights better than you" he mocks. "But I am in a good mood today and allow you to fight a duel of the leaders. I fight against you and your dearest whore against my wife" he says swollen.

Perfect. Just what I wanted. Passing the insult, I wave to Sonja. Even though she is not my wife, she is the first-born with the most feminine curves. And one of the best fighters I know, her fur is black with a red cross on her forehead and black eyes. As a bomber, her legs are heavily armoured, while on top she wears only light leather armour. Her weapons are two short swords that can be pulled and put away very quickly. These have broad blades, so that she can steer in the air with them, like a swallowtail. I myself wear a wide cloth armour on the inside of which metal plates are sewn to protect me against sharp weapons. Around the chest and back there is a thick layer of wool to help against blunt weapons. On my back I carry a two-handed sword, which I draw now and hang myself behind the thorn shield. I will drop this one after the first hit, because it is much too unwieldy then.

I do something embarrassed and maybe a little scared, maybe I wiggle my knees, just like Sonja, but nobody has to know that we do this to warm up the muscles.

"Um, I have to do this. I mean, we outnumber you guys? Can't you just give up?" I ask in a trembling voice, quietly, as if I didn't want anyone but the Alpha to hear me and this laugh is just dirty.

"You can try, but then everyone in your army will die, As rehearsed a murmur goes through the crowd. It's real and it's actually forcing my hand, even though my siblings who are involved are quick to shut up.

"All right," the four of us line up across from each other and my army and the pack form an arena. The wolf starts counting down loud from three. Briefly I look at his wife and nod appreciatively. To subdue her would be fun.

3…,2…,1…

Sonja jumps high into the air. She leaves her weapons in her sheath. The she-wolf has realized that she is the target and wants to get away from the cannonball that is heading towards her. But after she has already started sprinting her direction is predictable and Sonja aims right at her back. Unfortunately the wolf is a bit faster than expected and she only gets her hips and legs. This makes the wolf stumble. Almost without looking Sonja jumps backwards and grabs the legs of the wolf. This howls up and wants to grab the ground as the Black Rabbit jumps up and pulls her up a good 3 meters. In flight Sonja pulls the wolf under her legs forward, so that she is now lying with her stomach up as she is smashed to the ground with all her strength. The landing robs her of air and would probably have killed a human being. But only a few ribs broke. Nevertheless that and a few very strong blows to the face were enough to knock the wolf ****. The fact that she lay there with her belly and throat exposed did the rest.

Sonja looks over to me to see me victorious.

When the Alpha had counted to 2, I reached tighter around my sword and let the magical energy that I drew from the rabbits nearby flow into me and the weapon. The big wolf and I storm off at the same time, but he underestimated my speed in holding the shield in front of me. He actually wanted to swerve, but noticed himself that he didn't have enough time for that. Instead, he decides to block me. And under **** respect I have to admit that he managed that quite well, he only got a scratch and was pushed half a meter over the loose earth. We both paused briefly until I let go of the shield and turned around my own axis and the metal wall. The wolf looked triumphant as he directed his sword exactly into my trajectory, killing me inevitably, at least if he had managed to move. The poisoned thorns of the shield paralyzed him and without much effort I was able to cut the skull off his head. This fell before the pack still the fading triumph and the resulting horror on his face.

The wolf pack kept quiet when such power was demonstrated to them. They waited to see what I would do next