The scent of you and only you

20: THE SCENT OF YOU AND ONLY YOU

It was ironic to hear how everyone was turning against Ulmer with just a few days of him managing the pack.

Once upon a time most of them would bathe in the river he would usually cleanse in and sniff whatever flowers he would snuffle on. Now, I would frequently see the grudge-bearers urinating in the river that Ulmer was frequently seen in, and stomp on the flowers that he would usually tut on.

The commotion outside was too good to miss. Mama brought cups of steaming cocoa as our family watched the dispute that Ulmer got himself into. The plaintiff was my papa's beta– a good friend of the family.

Wulfurin lunged towards Ulmer. The latter shocked him with his electric currents. My father's beta was one of the oldest warriors of the pack. Though Ulmer was a promising alpha considering his strength, the veteran was still a good match for him.

The lightning went on for a few seconds before Ulmer stopped and looked at him pompously.

"You do know who you're up against, right?"

The older wolf sneered at him. "I do know who you are. You are the entitled child who grew another pair of balls when he was just placed in a momentary position after a shameful loss!"

The ground under the younger wolf collapsed. The surrounding walls of the newly formed crevice slammed and left his head protruding out.

"You're going to regret this!"

Ulmer made futile struggles against the earthly restraint. He released electric currents to disintegrate the soil around him.

The moment Ulmer thought that he broke away from the accursed walls of his enemy, the beta extracted metal from the element he was blessed with. He used that to restrain Ulmer into a metallic cocoon.

"Vaffanculo (Go fuck yourself) Wulfurin!" he cursed. His ability was conducted through the metal, electrocuting him instead.

This was very satisfying to watch.

"What do you think you're doing, you scum?!" Basba yelled, squeezing through the crowd. "Get out of my way!"

'Here comes baldy!' Fenris chirped. "Fenris likes crystal balls..."

'Yeah breux, I don't think I'll support you on that.'

Basba saw the pickle his son was in. He became hysterical, ordering the pack around like he owned their souls.

"What are you people standing around for? Get this roguish mutt out of here! He dared harm the chief and for what? His sluttish and dispensable daughter?"

His insult only irked Wulfurin even further.

"You are sickening!" my papa's beta snarled. "So all of the omegas here are dispensable to you? Did you hear that?"

He landed his right foot up front and had the earth spit Ulmer to the surface. Basba caught Ulmer before he could fall back into the hole.

"All of your daughters and sons bearing an omega blood can be used and abandoned by this coward once the rogues come to take their own pleasurable dip into their flesh!" he roared, pointing a hateful finger at the ad interim chief.

'Droog I'm scared to watch!' Fenris whimpered.

'Keep an open eye, breux, we're just getting to the good part,' I urged him.

Wulfurin's statement got the pack all riled up and ready to lash out on them. Ulmer and Basba weren't in the best spot to add wood to the fire, but then again they will always try to put themselves on a pedestal no matter what the situation was.

"Thi--this wolf is desecrating the head of the pack! How can you just stand there and take this offense?!" Basba questioned, slowly hiding behind his equally pale son.

Hm...No one was considered a violator or a traitor when pack members were backstabbing papa. What started the trend now?

Wulfurin spread his arms with a victorious smile as the pack faced the two condemned individuals with rebellious glares.

"It would be defilement if we were only a few, but if the whole pack is against the head? The chief has no other choice but to step down," Wulfurin retorted. "That or beat us all to submission."

Ulmer looked genuinely scared. His shrinking father didn't look like he was willing to heat things up any further. Where was Ulmer's mother? I bet she would rather tend to their potatoes rather than defend this hopeless case.

The potent show of might to overthrow Ulmer was cut short when the beseeching screams of a female struck disturbance to all of us.

The female was Wulfurin's daughter who had evidence of forced intercourse written all over her bare body. She was sobbing and whimpering from the dishonor done to her flesh. She fell into her father's arms with her dignity irretrievable.

I slowly rose from my squatting position in complete sympathy and anger for what had happened to her. A pack member immediately offered a blanket to cover her up. As if that wasn't enough angst for our pack, a flash of thunderous white light pierced through most of the adult males in the village.

The light lengthened and sections of it changed in color as it penetrated through each form. One by one the victims fell unconscious. When it was finally my turn to be struck, someone had pushed me to take my place.

"Papa!" Fenris and I yelped.

My breath hitched when his body fell limp on top of mine. His stomach oozed relentlessly with bright red blood. My eyes followed the fast velocity of the lightning, which continuously skewered pack members.

I gently rolled papa to the ground before standing up with a vindictive heart.

Whoever was responsible for this...

"We will end you."

We pursued the lighting bolt that exited the village.

"Where are you going?!" Conall yelled.

The boisterous force jostled in different directions. Pack members trailed behind me.

"What about us? You missed us, you stronzo!" I mocked the perpetrator.

The element persistently ignored me with a possible goal of returning to its wolf. I followed the bolt to the entrance of the tunnel in the mountain where it stopped. My eyes urgently scanned the area. I picked up the scent of the possible assailant.

My head snapped up to the narrow ridge of the mountain where I could see the figure of an orange-haired man. He had a tattoo of two crescent moons hooked to each other on his forehead. There were rustles in the bushes indicating that there were more of them and that we were surrounded.

"You're a little suicidal, don't you think?" the werewolf above drawled.

The lightning played around me and ghosted against my skin, threatening to zap me at any moment.

"You hurt my pack..."

The werewolf leaped down from the ridge and grinned.

"My apologies for that, actually, my boys and I were wondering if you could give us more of your omegas. We used up the scraps that one of yours abandoned with his bushy tail between his legs."

The muscles in my body twitched and tensed. He had already stained our pack yet he was willing to pour more of their filth on us.

"You had enough fun already, haven't you?" I managed to ask them.

The veins in my body became even more visible. My fangs elongated.

Of all the things I would feel now, it had to be excitement.

The werewolf in front of me could see the physical changes in me. He readied himself while he played it cool.

"You have some balls to charge in here...with some pack members cowering behind trees," he murmured.

The other rogues he was with rose up from their hiding spots and walked forward.

"Now that my men showed up, isn't it the best time to signal your pals too?"

A wide smile with an excessive amount of drool came upon my lips.

"They don't need to move a single fur. I came here on my own accord and I didn't ask any of them to follow me."

My voice was rougher than usual. A tail sprouted out from my back. I already had sharp claws ready to rip throats. I couldn't care less if they wouldn't lift a finger to fight with us.

Maybe they thought they could finally get rid of my wolf and me once and for all. They wanted to be witnesses of how these rogues will tear me from limb to limb.

If we'd die today, at least we should prove to the entire pack our value. Perhaps they'll change for the better and for the future of the pups. No one will ever be treated as an outcast.

Wishful thinking? Yep.

The leader of the rogues stepped back. His pet lightning swirled behind him.

"Ash him," he commanded.

Gushes of flames whirled out from his subordinates' mouths, enveloping me in a fire.

A loud cackle erupted from my throat as their energies charged me. This felt like the furnace back in the house during winter where everyone would cuddle up with warm tea or cocoa.

What were they trying to do to me again?

The blaze cleared up. Only some parts of my skin were left scalded. The burns were healing at a fast rate with the tissues visibly repairing.

"Our turn!" we piped.

We converted the energy into electric currents, returning the favor back to them.

"There are so many lightning users..." the leader scoffed.

"Caleb, the werewolves are only absorbing it..." my wolf notified me.

My eyes went around, seeing that it had no effect on them. This only made this situation...even more pleasing.

I cut off the energy and instead, directed it on their headman. The pesky bolt he had sprung into action, spiraling around and absorbing the electricity.

"Rip him apart!" the head of the rogues commanded. Shadows sprung and dove towards my direction. The ground underneath my form collapsed. Wulfurin's voice joined in.

"Don't just stand there and quiver like blubber!"

The soil pushed me back up to the surface where werewolves from the pack finally joined in. They took the rogues in a physical brawl with their counterpart wolves.

My eyes glared at the lightning that was quivering even more than before, threatening to lash out at any moment. Wulfurin was able to trap enemy wolves under the soil. While the members that followed me handled the rest and left me with the leader, I gazed at the lightning flickering about in different shades.

What else could it do besides creating peepholes in one's body?

The electric bolt shot at its own master. The headman absorbed it in his body. I charged against him with my claws ready to peel him like an orange. His eyes flickered gold, same as papa's, and paralyzed me.

Ice formed around pack members' feet, pinning them to the spot. The scoundrel wolves strayed away once lacerating winds came to blow on us.

How many abilities did this fucker have?

'He can copy someone else's ability with that bolt,' Fenris cleared up for me.

'What a troublesome power…'

'But it's a way to win,' Fenris encouraged.

He told me about his plans. It was a strategy that I didn't expect Fenris would think of in a million blue moons. His usual plan of action was always "show them a butterfly and maybe they'll turn nice!"

The head of rogues tested and tried the abilities he learned from our pack, using them irresponsibly.

He had his fun already.

"Now it's our turn."

We broke away from the daze of authority under this copycat's eyes, hailing the tearing winds towards our form. The pack members broke free. The rogue leader was intensely amused by that skill.

'Once that lightning hits us and returns to him, drown him with all of your abilities. Wulfurin, make sure none of those absorbing wolves hinder,' we ordered through the pack link.

'What are you planning, Caleb?' papa's beta queried worriedly.

Fenris' plan was named: 'Kaboom' but it would be a lengthy explanation. I doubt they'll cooperate with us if they knew the entire plan.

'It's complicated, but once we give the go signal, run like you're being chased by the ratatoskr you killed as a pup,' we told them.

The bolt peered out from the rogue leader. After we absorbed the zephyrs, the bolt lunged. We caught it tightly with our bare hands before shoving it down our throat.

The warm and fuzzy current glided down. My wolf and I were giddier than ever.

"He–He swallowed your bolt!"

The lightning punctured out of my pelvis, knocking me to one knee, and returned to the rogue leader who accepted it with much more eagerness.

"So, you absorb energies and copy abilities like me," he chuckled.

We gazed up at him and smiled. It may seem to be as simple as that but it was far...messier.

"No, actually..." I trailed off and coughed. "We absorb them and then we explode."

I didn't think we'd live after this one.

"Now!" We barked out.

A rush of elements swarmed the rogue leader with his band of rascals getting swallowed by the earth.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

"This... This! I never felt such a flow of power!" he laughed like a loony.

He would be able to feel the same bliss as we do.

"I love it...This is amazing!" he howled, staring at his hands.

He would feel as if he was the most powerful werewolf to ever walk on this land.

"No one can defy me now!"

But can his body withhold the rupture from within?

"What is this?! It burns! Get this out of me!" he screamed.

Blood-curdled statements bubbled out from his mouth. His body glowed on its own after the gush of energies stopped.

'RUN!!!' we shouted in the pack link.

A deafening explosion accompanied by a broadening arc of light shook the peaceful forest and all its inhabitants.

I had no idea if my wolf and I even survived that. Did we reabsorb the explosive energy and release another set of detonations? That would be so frightening to the pack, especially to my family.

I shivered from the cold feeling sheathing my form. My eyes were blinded by the light.

Was I a corpse? Was this the feeling of death?

What was this scent?

The fragrance was flowery and sweet. It smelled warm and clean.

It had put me in a spell of unmatched happiness that caused my heart to race.

Was this admiration?

Was this infatuation?

My eyes opened. I was gazing up at the moon reflected by the cold water I was floating in.

This was...the scent of the moon's grace.

My heart dropped when I connected with this resounding sadness again that left my chest with holes. It echoed with the silent pleas to be saved.

He was still afraid and he was still alone.

I wish I could be there for you.

I wish I could take all your pain away and replace it with joy.

"I know you can't hear me but I can hear you clearly..." I whispered.

I raised my arm up and curled my fingers to the gleaming bright moon before putting that hand to my chest.

"And I can feel your pain here."

The moon was the only thing connecting us.

And maybe one day, we can look at it together with our fingers interlaced.

I wish to douse in your sweet scent forever.