A New Path

by Xander Jade

  They were silent again for a couple of minutes. She had to get her shit together, so her pack would survive.

  ‘It’s okay. Let’s just get this done.’

  ‘How? We can’t get to them. The fuckers are strong and tall, their reach is lethal.’ Clay warily responded.

  ‘I don’t know, Clay.’

  They noticed the wens started moving towards them and were walking fast.

  ‘Shit, here they come.’

  At that moment, howls and roars, were heard above the battlefield. Up on the hill, weres, elves, dwarves, amazons, mages, and humans were ready for a battle. She exhaled not knowing she was holding her breath, the wens stopped to gaze at the new enemy.

  ‘Where did these people come from?’ Jack asked while watching the group above.

  ‘I don’t know, but I’m not going to complain,’ Sam said.

  ‘That must be the group that fought the other company of this army, but if that's true, then they must have defeated the other one,’ Justin said impressed. Sophia was too, but can they get past the wens.

  ‘Why are they waiting?’ Phil asked.

  ‘It looks like they are waiting on someone, maybe there leader.' Nancy hesitantly suggested.

  ‘Who ever it is, they're leading six different races. That hasn’t been seen since the Dark Wars.’ Pete gleefully expressed. Sophia could only nod at this momentous occasion. Then, the weres parted, two huge beasts came to the front, and showed themselves. They roared and the battlefield went totally silent, the wens didn't know what to think about the group that showed up and started back tracking to get behind the remaining orcs.

  ‘WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE CREATURES?’ Justin bellowed.

  "More like, who the fuck are they. The siba is Reaper and the kodiak is Hercules,’ Felicity joyfully corrected him.

  ‘They are some highly cunning and fierce killers, but if they’re here, then--,’ Sam didn’t finish her thought because of an interruption. The ground started rumbling as a massive beast came walking up to the edge of the hill. The were was about 12 feet in height, burnt orange in color, his muscled body had to be at least 6 feet wide, tree trunks for arms and legs, paws about a foot long with razor sharp claws, and a tail about 8 ft. long. Its body was a cross between a siba and a bear, and had stripes all over. He looked over at the field of dead bodies, and then scanned the pack, looking for someone in particular.

  She couldn’t get her brain to function, but her body knew to move out where he could see her. When seeing her, he let go of the loudest roar any of them ever heard, and had to cover their ears. She didn’t move, her heart leapt at seeing him alive, tears were streaming down her maw. She howled back at him, a sound of longing, mixed with joy.

  ‘What… the… ..fuck… is that?’ Justin asked.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, that's Max,’ Felicity calmly stated

  ‘I’ll tell you what it is. That’s a huge motherfucker!’ Pete bellowed.

  ‘Don’t forget fuckin sexy! Not to mention, he called, and our alpha answered,’ Sam chuckled out.

  ‘Yes, she did. That’s my man,’ Sophia purred. They all looked at her smiling maw and the girls gleefully squealed their approval, while the guys groaned.

  The wens went out to the middle of the battlefield, and bellowed to the orcs to move back. The orcs marched back to the edge of the woods about a hundred yards away, and waited. The wens hissed and screeched a challenge. Max glanced at the wens, nodded at them, and then looked back to the pack. ... Finally he looked away, and started towards the wens with Reaper and Herc beside him.

  ‘Holy Shit! Are they going to take on those fuckers by themselves?’ Justin anxiously questioned.

  ‘They are the only ones that can defeat them, at least dwindle them down for us to get involved,’ Sophia explained.

  Sam laughed, ‘I’ll know where to find you in the fight.’

  Felicity chuckled, ‘Right beside her man, where else.’ Sophia looked away, embarrassed of their candor.

  She focused back on the fight. Max was halfway there when he took off like a bullet, with Reap and Herc right beside him. How the fuck can they run so fast?

  No one around knew that his bonding with Sigmus, Reap, and Herc let them feed off of each other and give them not only strength but speed. This allowed them to catch the wens off guard and they had no time at all to react.

  Max’s group bull rushed them. With claws extended they swiped through the wens and ended up on the other side about fifty yards away. They stopped on a dime and turned around to watch the aftermath. Sophia wondered what they were waiting for, and then it happened, bodies fell with four heads rolling away on the ground of the battlefield. Sophia heard gasps from her people and roars coming from up on the hill.

  The wens moved away from each other, trying to distance themselves from each other. The trio did the same thing and spread out on the battlefield. Two of the wens went after Max, and one each to Reaper and Hercules. Reap and Herc had their hands full, but Max was on another level. The wens were on each side of him and thought they could get him off his game. One wen came at him with their claws swiping air as he ducked underneath and swiped his arm down the wen’s back. It let a high pitch screech of pain, but didn’t pay attention to the predator behind it. Max punched through the back of the wen and came out with the heart. He threw it on the ground and did something they’ve never seen him do. He lit the heart on fire, a bright white flame consumed it. The other wen thought he could catch Max off guard and jumped as high as it could to land on his back. Max saw him make his move and when the creature came back down, it tried to swipe at Max’s head. He caught the wen by the throat in mid-air, which gave the creature whiplash. It was gasping for air, when Max pummeled it with his right paw. The wen went unconscious and dangled in the air. Max decided to show his strength, so he punched through the wen and pulled out the heart. He threw it on the ground, put both paws in the hole he made, and pulled, ripping the creature apart. Blood and organs exploded all over his muscled body. He roared for his victory, and glanced over to check on Reap and Herc, but they were okay at the moment, so he went to the other bodies lying on the ground. One by one, he cut the hearts out and lit them on fire. He pulled the bodies together in a pile, then went to help Reap and Herc. It didn’t take long and those were dead too. Max pulled those bodies over and threw them on the pile. He stood there focusing for about a minute, and pointed both his paws toward the pile. He sent out a huge fire stream onto the pile of wen bodies, it didn’t take about twenty seconds of this white hot fire to consume them. After a couple of minutes, the pile of bodies were no more, in its place was a big pile of ash. After it was done, the triple threat roared together and the battlefield was silent once again.

  Sophia was speechless, they were supposed to get back into the fight, but the triple threat took care of business.

  The pack was shocked, they just sat there in awe of the overwhelming victory. No one wanted to interrupt the silence, thinking it was a dream they were in.

  ‘I cannot believe what I just saw,’ Clay murmured.

  ‘That was… …..fucking unbelievable,’ Justin whispered.

  No one else spoke, just watching the trio, and wondered what they were going to do next. Max glanced over to the pack and nodded to the alpha. Sophia’s heart skipped a beat, just thinking of being in his arms. He looked over to the other side of the field at the orcs, and the trio started walking towards them. That was her que to join them and she didn’t even look back to the pack, just sprinted his direction wanting to be near him and hold him. When she got near, he stopped the trio, went to his knee, and opened his arms. The alpha howled gleefully and jumped the rest of the way into his arms. Max picked her up, pulled her to his chest, and wrapped his tree trunk arms around the wolf. Sophia just laid there, relishing in his strength, and feeling safe. After a few moments, he pulled her up and put her down across the back of his neck. His neck and shoulders were so wide she fit perfectly, so Sophia rested her head next to
his right ear. He kept walking like it was nothing that an alpha werewolf lying on your neck was an everyday occurrence.

  ‘Hey Soph, I was worried about you.’ Max said.

  She sobbed out, ‘Max, I thought you—.’ She couldn’t finish the horrible thought. Now that the alpha had him back, she wasn’t going anywhere without him. He can shove it up his ass if he thinks otherwise.

  ‘I know, and I’m sorry, we’ll talk after I take care of some business.’ He stated while he rubbed behind her ears. That was one of her erotic zones and if he didn’t stop, she would squirt all over him.

  ‘Max, I love what you’re doing, but you need to stop. That is getting me hot and flushed, baby.’

  He laughed with a deep baritone sound and it made her heart flutter. He was so sexy.

  ***

  When my duo and I got within a hundred feet we stopped. Soph was on my neck nuzzling me, it felt good.

  ‘Reap, Herc, talk or just kill?’

  ‘I would talk to them until the others get behind them, they aren’t ready.’ Reap advised.

  ‘Then it’s orc killing time. HAHA!’ Herc bellowed.

  ‘Will do’

  The leader came out to meet us and bowed. "You are great warriors, you took out the possessed with no problem."

  "We would like to know why you are with the overlords."

  "We are not with those troublemakers, nor their demon masters. We would rather be left alone and live in peace. Those villains have captured our town, and demand we fight or they kill our families." The leader sadly responded.

  ‘Reap, Herc, what do you make of this?’

  ‘Hmm…he sounds truthful, and it would make sense. The demons don’t care who does their bidding,’ Herc replied.

  ‘Keep him talking, see if he will reveal anything else,’ Reap suggested.

  "Don’t take this the wrong way, but why not take your town back?"

  "They have mages and we do not. They also hold captives, our children and wives." He replied curtly.

  "What is your name, sir?"

  "My name is Gurak."

  "Nice to meet you, Gurak, my name is Maximus," he bowed, and I continued, "Tell me Gurak, how many men left your town when you travelled here?"

  He shook his head sadly, "We left with five hundred warriors to come here. I’m assuming you’re asking because you defeated the other soldiers too."

  I nodded and kept on with the questions. "How many men do you have left, here?

  He sighed, "About 200, it would have been less than that if the possessed would’ve had us fight you." His head hung low. He seemed sad, what the fuck was I supposed to do?

  "So, Gurak, what are your plans going forward?"

  "I sure as hell aren’t fighting you, or the beasts behind you." I looked behind me to see Reap, Herc, and Soph’s pack sitting and waiting.

  ‘Soph, you still with me?’

  ‘Mmm… such delicious muscles, I am in heaven. What do you need, honey?’

  I chuckled, ‘Can I still transmit to your pack through you?’

  ‘Yes, my love, you can transmit.’

  I didn’t even say anything about that, Cass and Val will have to deal with that shit. ‘Listen up everyone, I don’t think they want to die today. Move back slowly, but stay alert.’

  They did as I asked and moved about 50 yards away.

  "Gurak, I don’t want to kill you or your clan today. It may not look like it, but I only kill when I have to. I need to ask you some questions. Are you willing to die for the overlords? Or will you take your clan and go home?" He looked troublesome by my question and was reluctant to respond.

  "Maximus, we can’t go back. Not without someone the overlords trust. If we go without the ones that were with us, then we die. Either way, the ones here will die, one way, or the other." Gurak said.

  ‘Sigmus, Reap, Herc, thoughts?’

  ‘Hmm…that’s not a decision I would want to make. Death is the only answer he’s looking at,’ Reap depicted.

  ‘What if he joins us? An alliance or something.’

  ‘Interesting, no alliance has ever been made young one. Your people would see you differently, chastise, and rebuke you,’ Sigmus advised.

  ‘Yeah, but I can’t just sit by and not agree with him. If he's telling the truth, then his clan is being held against their will. Are you with me?’

  They all chuckled and said "AYE."

  ‘I am proud of the man you are becoming, young one," Herc said.

  ‘Yes, I am too, this should definitely get interesting," Reap said.

  I nodded and got my thoughts together for a hostile environment. "Gurak, what’s your clan’s name?"

  He looked at me confused, "Shagol, why would you ask?"

  I took deep calming breaths, looked behind the orcs to see my people ready to go, then put my cards on the table. "I am about to make some people angry at me, but I can’t kill your clan mercilessly. I could since you’re surrounded," pausing since he was looking around the forest seeing my army. The look on his face was one of distress and he knew with one word his men would die. "Since you can’t go home at this time and I’m not really wanting to kill anymore today, I have come up with another option. We will discuss an alliance with your clan." I heard gasps and shouts against me, telling me I was an idiot and I couldn’t trust them. You would have thought I declared war on innocent children or something by the way these people reacted. The orcs didn’t react at all for some reason, and that was confusing me.

  "Why would you want an alliance with my clan?" Gurak asked with suspicion.

  "Well, you know as well as I do, something evil is coming, and we have to be ready to either challenge or submit to it. I for one am not going to submit to anything, I’ll be at the front trying to defeat it. I thought you and your men would like some payback."

  He thought about it for a few minutes, and while he was still thinking I told him about the alliance that I wanted with them. "Gurak, before you make a decision like this, you need to know, this alliance would only be with my clan, and not the whole kingdom."

  "If we did this, what would you want from us?"

  I’ve been thinking about this since we started this conversation. "When the overlords come, you would be fighting other clans of your people. I already know there are nine other locations with prisoners like this one. I would want protection of my clan, to build up my clan with other races, and prepare for war."

  "Are you sure you want to do this? Looking around, your people aren’t agreeing with you."

  I looked around the battlefield noticing the hate filled glares at the orcs. I can relate, but I also remember that not everyone is the same, and has choices. His clan is supposedly held against their will, so we’ll see how this ends.

  "Before I say anything, I have a few stipulations for you to abide by. First, if any of your men hurt any of my clan, I will kill them myself. That goes for my people too. Second, if you betray me or mine, I will end you slowly and very painfully. Lastly, they follow me, I am chief and Alpha of my clan." I laughed for a few moments and everyone was looking at me like was stupid. Maybe I am an idiot, but it should be interesting in the coming days. "I’m sorry, I was thinking about my clan growth. A few days ago, there were only nine of us, eleven counting Reap and Herc. Now, I couldn’t tell you how many have joined. Of course, I may lose most of them when we have this alliance. Talk to your men, and we will reconvene when you’re ready."

  He nodded and gathered his men in the middle of the field, I took that time to meander over to a tree for some rest. When my big ass plopped down, I took Soph off my neck and held her while my head was against the bark of the tree, then closed my eyes for a few minutes. Soph curled up in my lap, and nuzzled my neck.

  ‘How are you doing, Max?’ Soph wondered.

  I chuckled and replied, ‘I’m tired and need some rest.’

  ‘Are you sure about this alliance?’

  ‘What do you suggest? Kill them, or let them go back home to di
e? I couldn’t think of anything else. That’s why I suggested it.’

  ‘I don’t know either, I’m just glad I don’t have to make that decision.’

  ‘What are you going to do now? Go home or explore?’

  ‘I am home, Max. Anywhere you go, I go with you, and wherever we end up will be our home.’

  ‘What about your pack, you’re the alpha, what do they think about your decision?’

  ‘I don’t know yet, I will speak to them, and find out. Some may leave, but that’s okay, some of them need to go.’

  ‘Oh, I almost forgot, I picked up some other weres that want to know if they can join your pack.’

  She chuckled and responded, ‘Max, it’s your pack now, you’re our Alpha.’

  ‘What? Why would that be?’

  ‘Because they follow me, and I follow you.’

  I groaned and didn’t like where this was going. I decided to throw a wrench in the engine of our conversation. ‘Also, since I know your wants and desires, someone else is evidently feeling the same way you are. Her name is Tia, and she’s an elf. You both will have to discuss those items with my other mates that are waiting for me at my home.’ I looked at her to see if she had a problem with that and surprised me when she laughed.

  ‘Damn, you work fast. I’m assuming she was one of the prisoners?" I nodded and she kept laughing while she spoke, ‘you’re like a magnet for women and your virility is off the charts.’

  ‘Hey, it’s not like I go looking, as you well know.’ Some people were headed my way and I groaned at the possible conflict.

  ‘I have no choice then about the other, your women and I will have to hash it out. It looks like some people want to talk to you, so I am going to go find my clothes. See ya in a bit.’ I nodded and she left while Gordon, Tia, Sean, and some others were waiting for me.

  "Sit down and take a load off guys. Gordon, who has my clothes?"

  Tia answered with a sassy attitude, "I have them, and let me just say, I’m perturbed that that you had all the fun back there."

  I chuckled, "Fun? Next time some wens are in the battle, I’ll let you handle them," She smiled and playfully hit my arm.