Chapter 3: Three
It was a chestnut-brown forest. The twigs were crumbling beneath their running feet as they walked on it. The tall trees looked like tall towers in the forest; making one want to take a second look at them.
Declan heard a wildcat slink away. He paused his steps and looked up to see the evening stars shining like silver petals. He smiled seeing the perfection of nature.
The beauty of the forest comforted and attracted him but he had more important things to attend to. It was his first field experience and he wasn't ready to ruin it.
The aroma of the forest was luscious but not enough to distract Declan's dedicated mind. He picked some berries and threw them in his mouth as he went forward. He smiled to himself at the taste of the berries. They tasted like orchard sweet.
"Over there!" Declan pointed forward as he could hear a woman's soft whimper.
Hudson halted his movement and turned to Declan. "Where?" He whispered.
"There," Declan pointed forward.
Taking hushed steps, Hudson and Jackson followed the direction where Declan has pointed. They followed the trail of blood that was drawn on the forest ground.
"This stops here," Jackson said as they stood before a hut.
"What do you think, Declan?" Hudson transferred the decision to his son.
"I think he isn't there."
"My thoughts exactly," Hudson nodded. "Then where do you think he's gone?
"Let's go south," Declan pointed and led the way.
"Good." Hudson patted Declan's head.
He was happy to see his son doing so well in the field despite being his first time coming out to hunt in the field.
"I see something," Declan again spoke into the tiny microphone in his finger. The others could hear him from the earbuds inserted in his ears.
"Where?"Jackson asked.
"Follow me." Declan took the lead.
"Follow you?" Jackson was about to refuse. He was hunting again after a long time he wasn't ready to allow a young boy to ruin it all for him. He shot Hudson a quizzical look but only got a nod in response.
"Are you sure?" Jackson asked again. This hunt was too important to be ruined by Declan.
"Positive." Hudson Affirmed. "Declan is molded for this. You can trust him."
"Okay." Jackson agreed with reluctance. Even if he doesn't trust Declan. His belief and trust in Hudson were unrivaled.
The men followed Declan's lead and he led them to different places in the forest. However, they found no creature in all the places they went.
"Are you sure we're on the right path?" Jackson grumbled. This wasn't what he expected.
"Shh ....." Declan tried to listen. He looked at the deep part of the forest and smirked. However, as soon as they moved to leave they felt a presence behind them. They turned slowly and they saw Louisa and Kimberly dressed in their hunting gear.
"What are you two doing here?" Hudson and Jackson whisper yelled.
"Hunting." Kimberly shrugged with nonchalance.
"Hunting?" Hudson looked at them from head to toe. He shook his head and turned to Jackson.
"We don't have a choice but to bring them along," Jackson also shrugged.
"What about the party?" Hudson asked worriedly.
"Done and Dusted," Kimberly clapped her hands.
"You discharged everyone? Jackson asked with disbelief.
"Hmm, Yes," Louisa nodded.
"How?" Hudson whispered again. He knew that Kim liked hunting but he wasn't expecting her to send the guests off just to come on the trip.
"Thanks to Louisa's idea, it turned out to be very easy."
"I knew this can only be Louisa's idea." Jackson pointed at his wife. He knew how her mischievous mind works.
"Dad, over there," Declan pointed out again cutting their bickering short.
Hudson faced Kimberly and the others. He seemed to have remembered that they were on a mission. "Now's not the time to bicker. Let's do this after catching the creatures.""
"Declan's the boss?" Kimberly asked in amazement as they followed Declan's lead.
"The boss of the mission," Jackson shrugged. His tone had a hint of complaint.
"Yes, he is." Hudson concurred. He was proud of Declan and even though they still haven't caught the creature, he is happy to see his son doing so well.
Hudson took slow steps toward the direction where Declan was pointing. "You see something there?"
"Yes Dad, my hunch tells me that he is over there."
"Alright, let's go there."
"They are coming with us?" Declan looked from his mother to Kimberly. He didn't look happy to see the women.
"We won't allow you to have all the fun to yourself." Louisa winked.
"You're not doing this without us," Kim stated in a tone that gave no room for negotiation.
"We've got no choice." Jackson shrugged and they went ahead following Declan's lead.
Declan pointed at the blood trail on the forest ground. The trail led to a tall maple tree. However, they didn't find anyone there instead, the trail led them further into the forest.
Declan could hear more of the whimpering as well as someone's heavy breathing. He ran as fast as he could, making sure he made no sound as he went.
"There!" He yelled softly.
The others followed his lead and they soon arrived at the part of the forest where the blood trail was larger.
"Help me ....." A woman whimpered.
She was lying on the floor in a pool of blood as she pleaded for help.
Magnus leaned forward to seal up the woman's belly. His paws elongated and he dug them into her belly.
"Stop! Declan shouted as he shot Magnus a laser.
"That's him! The creature terrorizes the city" Jackson hissed with excitement.
"He is a WereLion?" Declan predicted, judging from Magnus' paws and the golden hair on him.
"He already cut her open." Kimberly gasped as she saw the bleeding woman. She shot Magnus with a gold bullet directly from her gun.
"It's a good thing we arrived on time." Hudson also shot him in the leg.
"You're getting it wrong." Magnus groaned as he fell to his knees. "I wasn't going to kill her."
"Is that so?" Hudson sneered. "What were you doing cutting her open?
"I was helping her." Magnus tried to explain but no one listened.
They attacked him at once rendering him weak.
"Call an ambulance! Declan shouted as he rushed to the woman who was starting to lose consciousness.
"He....He..... help...Baby..." The woman tried to explain to them but her voice was weak and inaudible and she slowly passed out.
Declan noticed that Magnus was slowly getting up. He looked at his father and Jackson.
"He's getting up! Shoot him down!"
Thaddeus was busy searching for fruits to feed the crying baby. He was holding a baby carefully in his arms. He placed the baby carefully on a leaf blanket that he made exclusively for her.
"What is that smell?" Thaddeus sniffed the air loudly. He could hear rustling sounds and also the sounds of people running.
"Father," He whispered to himself.
He plucked the fruits he could and he picked the baby up. He whizzed off to the spot where he left his father.
He got there in time to see Hudson and Jackson stab, Magnus.
"Father!" Thaddeus roared. "Get away from him!"
"Oh, he's got an accomplice." Kimberly snorted as she tried to shoot Thaddeus but he dodged it and whizzed off.
"He's got a baby!" Declan shouted.
"That's probably the child they withdrew from the dead woman," Louisa stated.
They launched forward and tried to capture Thaddeus but he was faster than they were and everything they shot at him wasn't able to stop him.
"Don't attack him! Come at me!" Magnus yelled.
"Since you so badly want to die then who am I to refuse? Jackson shot Magnus in the heart.
"No! Thaddeus shouted as the gold bullet pierced through Magnus' heart.
"Go away Thaddy! Run! Magnus shouted weakly.
"No Father, I won't leave you!"
"Save yourself! Magnus shouted for Thaddeus.
"How is this possible?"
Declan was surprised to see that despite shooting so many gold bullets and lasers into various parts of Magnus' body they still couldn't kill him.
"Why isn't he dying? Declan asked in amazement.
"Only an alpha WereLion could be as strong as this," Hudson stated in response.
"Does that mean he is an Alpha?" Declan asked.
"I guess he is." Hudson shrugged.
"And how do we kill an Alpha WereLion?" Declan wanted to know.
"You stab his heart." Jackson removed a gold dagger from his back pocket and leaned forward to stab Magnus.
However, His hand was suddenly slashed as Thaddeus cut him with his sharp paws.
"Get away from him! Thaddeus barked.
They all moved backward while Thaddeus went to his father. He tried to untie him but the ropes were electrical.
"Leave Thad, Please!"
"No Father, I can't!"
Hudson took Declan aside and made sure he was brought to safety. He was enraged at what a cub like Thaddeus did to his friend.
He picked up his crossbow and shot multiple arrows at Thaddeus while the others also attacked using guns and lasers.
Thaddeus evaded all of their attacks but he had to step away from Magnus.
"Shoot him!" Jackson shouted through gritted teeth.
He wasn't going to rest until and unless he gets a hold of that daring little creature who cut his hand off.
Hudson added golden and electrical arrows to his bow and shot them at Thaddeus and this time he managed to hit him.
Thaddeus fell but he made sure to hold the baby protectively in his arms.
"Shoot him!" Jackson barked and they all shot Thaddeus using their various weapon.
"Get the baby!"
Louisa went to him and stabbed him before taking the baby from him.
Jackson kicked him in the chest and slashed him mercilessly using a golden sword.
Magnus crawled toward Thaddeus and held him. "Don't hurt him! He's just a child."
"An evil creature like him deserves nothing but death!" Jackson sneered.
"You're mistaken! My son is not evil."
"Evil begets evil and a monster like you can only birth another monster." Kimberly hissed.
"We have a bigger enemy to deal with right now, and that is not my son." Magnus tried to explain.
Magnus will be a fool if he didn't know who these people were. Everyone In Southampton knew the Pierre family and their profession. He was hoping they'd listen to him so he would pass the message Dahlia, the dead woman just told him but despite trying to get them to listen to him they didn't.
All they wanted at that moment was to kill him.
"We'll deal with whoever the enemy is after killing you." Jackson slashed Magnus' hands off with his sword.
"No! Father!" Thaddeus cried.
"Don't cry, you'll get your fair share." Hudson launched a kick to Thaddeus' chest again.
"Kim, finish him." Hudson passed the sword to his wife then he turned to join Jackson in attacking Magnus.
Magnus raised his head and looked at each of them. He knew that there was no escape for him anymore but he knew he had to do something to save his son.
"Spare his life, please." Magnus swallowed his pride and pleaded once again but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
A lion's pride was something they hold dear, more than their lives. Magnus was willing to throw that away just to save his child but these people were bent on having his blood.
No one listened to him.
"Do it now, Kim!" Jackson shouted.
"Don't do it, Thelma!" Magnus pleaded, making everyone halt.
"Thelma?" Who is That? Louisa wondered aloud. She looked at Kim whose hand hung in the air as she heard him mention that name.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Magnus signaled Thaddeus and he gathered his strength. He managed to get up and break free from the ropes around him.
His eyes shone with golden light and his paws became dangerously long.
"Get up, Thad!" He shouted for his Son. He stood on alert, ready to attack whoever touched his son.
Thaddeus got up. His wound wasn't healing up as fast as it should and this was rendering him weak.
"Go! Save yourself!"
Magnus tossed him forward and Thaddeus whizzed off. He stopped and looked back to see all three of them attack his father. Hudson picked up the sword and cut Magnus' head off.
"Father!!!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone