Feral

20

This morning he lead the scouting team, with two young wolves and two of his hunters. It had been two days since the humans had been on their territory, but they, no, he, was not taking any chances.

There had been a mountain lion cross through their land during the night, but didn't linger, as its tracks headed northwest and out of the territory, it seemed to be following a heard of deers.

Dog tracks from the other day still lingered, but there were new prints, and new scents. Someone had been on his property in the night, the scents weren't even a day old.

They were sour, like a decaying body, Damien fought the urge to wretch, it wasn't something he'd experienced before. Underlying tones in the scents suggested a wolf shifter like himself, but the sourness suggested something else, of which he wasn't sure.

He had made an angry phone call to the sheriffs office, demanding to know why people were trespassing, he didn't say anything about their persons on his property, just the newcomers.

Their scents had gone north, off of his property. His excuse to why he knew this was that he had cameras on his property, it wasn't like he could tell them he smelled someone unknown on his territory without garnering strange reactions.

The officers had nothing to offer for a reasoning in return. Whoever, or whatever, it was, wasn't their concern anymore, but he told his scout leaders to keep a watch out for any other unusual activity on their land during their patrols.

He was currently on lunch break with several of his shifters at the local diner, keeping to themselves. He'd ordered a burger and his thoughts about everything were running rampant.

His mind had wandered often to the female the past few days, she had left a lasting impression upon him and his most primal side craved her. He had often thought what it would be like to be completely in tune with his beast instead of two halves to one whole. It could never happen, even if he worked towards it, it was partly why feral packs had to be eradicated, shifters wouldn't be able to blend in with humans.

The trade agreement with alpha Raymond was proving to be a wonderful arrangement, they were bringing in more goods to profit, which was allowing them to keep their stores well and stocked, and allowed also for a less frugal approach with their business. Meaning the young wolves couldm when time permitted, go into town when they pleased with their packmates upon his permission.

However, with the situation as it was, he hadn't let many of his shifters out of their territory, wanting to make sure no mishaps occurred, as his entire pack was on edge. His females in heat weren't excited at all, but they had no choice in the matter.

The only wolves allowed off of the territory were those who worked at the plant, and he was was sure to check them all in for work, discreetly though, so as to not attract unwanted atention from the humans.

Every one of his wolves were aware of the tension between them and the humans, who had heard through the chain of gossip all that was transpiring on their land, it made business a bit difficult, and awkward. They weren't as likely to talk to them as before when his pack entered town for lunch breaks and had been so since talk of the land purchase. That purchase under Damien's name made it so he owned almost half the town in land alone, and he knew those that hunted illegally were not at all pleased. Who were they to argue though, when Damien could buy all that they were too?

"Excuse me, sir," he was pulled from his head as the waitress called for his attention. He looked at her in response.

"Will that be all for you today?" She was a timid girl, at least in the way she spoke and held herself, looking down or away as she addressed him.

"Yes, thank you," he told her. She wordlessly handed him his check before moving on to other tables, fumbling to grab it from her apron pocket before he took it. He was glad his female, he liked calling her his, she would be soon enough, wasn't a shy or weak wolf, her confidence was contagious.

He got up and left money for the check along with a tip before leaving the diner.

The last five hours of the work day went by in a blur, everyone was productive, and several trucks had left for shipments to Canada before 3 that afternoon, and several had gone to other states.

He made sure every single wolf of his made it back to the territory before setting up the evening patrol, comprised of Jerod, several wildborn, and Tasil, a female warrior. He stayed awake as his other wolves went to sleep, and waited for their return.

Once they came back, and reported they too went to their homes. Nothing was new tonight, the patrol had gone fine, and the territory clear of trespassers.

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I appreciate everyone who has supported me while I write this story, thank you all so much. If there is anything different you want to see for the plot development don't hesitate to say it, I am always looking to grow with my writing.