Wespero

Wespero rushes over the ground, her footsteps becoming faltered. A dart was stuck in her thigh. The panicked she-wolf runs as far as she can, but the drug was taking her over. Her legs buckled beneath her, and Wespero collapsed on the ground. She struggled to pull herself up, but couldn't. With all the strength and consciousness left in her body, Wespero dragged herself a few inches further before her legs wouldn't function. The she-wolf thought of howling for help, but she couldn't. She couldn’t move any more. Then it all went blank.

Stormfalcon

Stormfalcon watches Wespero collapsed, and ran over, nudging the she-wolf gently. She spotted the dart. That must have been one of the things that they knocked wolves out with. She had seen it done before. She lay down beside Wespero, to be there when she woke up.

Cedar

Cedar ran over to them a few moments later, panting hard. He nudged Wespero and whimpered, alarmed that she wasn't moving. But she was alive, and he saw no blood to show she was injured. The wolf glanced at his alpha with concern and stood warily. He was afraid the humans would come after them again.

*Humans*

The humans had followed the wolf's tracks through the snow slowly. They came up through a thin grove of willows, and crouched on the ground, using binoculars to watch the three wolves. They said nothing as they raised their dart guns and aimed one at Stormfalcon and one at Cedar, and shot simultaneously, hitting both wolves in the shoulder. They waited for the tranquilizers to take effect before they would try and follow them; if they ran.

*Stormfalcon/Ulina*

Stormfalcon growls softly, suddenly sensing the humans, but she wasn't fast enough to get away from their darts. Picking up their scent, she leaps at them, snapping at them, trying to drive them away from the pack lands so they wouldn't injure any more of the pack members. The drug hadn't taken effect yet, and she was ready to fight till it did.

Ulina hears the growl, and the wolverine stalks closer, and then leaps at the backs of the humans, snarling with rage and tearing at anything she could get with her claws.

*Humans*

The two humans are taken off guard by the sudden attack, and try backing off away from Stormfalcon. But one human was attacked by Ulina before he had a chance to do anything, so he swung the lean dart gun around, trying to hit the wolverine and knock her to the ground; but his back was already cut badly from her claws, and he couldn't swing with much accuracy. The other human swings his gun at Stormfalcon and shouts at the wolf, trying to drive her back, or at least keep her fangs away from him.

Cedar

Cedar rushed towards the humans after he also caught their scent. He sprang at the one that was swinging the gun at Stormfalcon, trying to catch the muzzle of the gun in his jaws and wrench it away from the human...

*Stormfalcon/Ulina*

Ulina grabs the gun in her mouth, and pulls it from the man's hands. She then leaps at him again, tearing at his throat, hoping to cause as much damage as possible.

Stormfalcon growls, leaping aside, before coming back in, snapping at the other human's throat. The drug was starting to take effect, and she as slowing down.

*Humans*

The human Ulina attacks gets a bad injury on his neck, but he is able to shove the wolverine away, then shield his injured throat with his arms crossed over it and kicks tough, boot-covered feet frantically at the wolverine.

The other human is knocked down, but also covers his throat so his arms are torn to the bone by her teeth, and looses his gun when Cedar snatched it. He can do little but wait for the drugs to take effect.

Cedar

He is surprised by how defenseless the humans are without their guns, and decides to keep that in mind. Cedar dropped the gun and sprang at the human, snapping at his arms as well. But his vision was becoming blurry, and he was having trouble coordinating his bites toward the human. He was loosing strength as the drug began taking over his body.

Stormfalcon/Ulina

Stormfalcon was loosing her vision as well, but was determined to last a little longer, enough to do dome more serious damage. She growls again, before snapping again at his throat, and if she caught his hand, she was prepared to snap that instead.

Ulina growls, as she is thrown off with the boot. She gets back up onto her stocky legs, and then attacks the man's face, trying to damage his eyes.

*Humans*

With one wolf at his arms, and one aiming for his neck, the human cannot defend himself well. The she-alpha is able to cause a lethal bite wound to his throat.

Ulina also causes much damage, and one of the human's eye is injured bad enough so that it will never see again. The other one is scratched so that his vision is blurred. The man is becoming weak from the loss of blood from his injury on his neck.

Cedar

Seeing that one human won't bother them, Cedar makes a charge towards the second. But after only a few steps, he stumbles and falls. The strong wolf strains to pull himself up, but collapses again after taking a few more steps. He tries unsuccessfully to get up again. Frustrated and surprisingly drowsy, Cedar gives a rumbling growl before his maw slips downward, and his body goes limp in the trampled snow.

Cortinarri

Cortinarri slows down as she nears the scene, hoping no one will notice her. She ambles carefully over to Wespero and sniffs the lifeless form. She was warm, and didn't smell of death. And there were no injuries or illness to be noted. But the scent of human was faint on her, and the wind blew a stronger drift of it her way. Her fur bristled higher, and she could now smell the blood of humans. But she couldn't see them, they were on the ground. She never saw a human on the ground like that before. They were always on their hind legs, with their fore-legs dangling down their sides, or holding something in front of them.

Cortinarri saw her alpha, and Cedar. Something was wrong, their movements seemed off, and slow. She watched Cedar go down, and figured he had died. She figured Stormfalcon would also. The she-wolf sat back on her haunches and watched the battle from far off, waiting.

Nau

He comes over at a swift stride, then skids to a halt over the snow near Wespero. 'She was dead!' Nau thought, 'and must have just died, for she was warm. But, no, she was alive! She was breathing.' Nau sighed, but suddenly tensed again as the same scent Cortinarri caught hit his sensitive nose. His keen hearing ears swiveled forward to the catch the sound of battle, and he would have rushed forward, but the fact the Cortinarri was sitting makes him confused. 'why wasn't she helping?' He could see Cedar appeared dead, and Stormfalcon didn't look to far from it. And what were they fighting? It didn't look like humans, but it sure smelt like them.

Nau stepped forward, and whined softly to Cortinarri, urging her forward to help their pack mates.

Cortinarri

Cortinarri gives a slight, grinning smile. She finally had a chance to claim alpha-ship if Stormfalcon died, or was injured bad enough. The she-wolf gazes back at Nau with calm, expectant eyes that clearly stated she wasn't going to move from her spot to help.

*Stormfalcon/Ulina*

Stormfalcon growls softly, maw blood-stained from the human. But the drug had taken effect, and she collapsed.

Ulina snarls, leaving the humans to die. She eyes Cortinarri and Nau, before sitting beside the fallen form of Stormfalcon. She knew she wasn't dead. Stormfalcon had told her that the two-leggers could put a wolf into a deep sleep, that they would eventually wake up. But Ulina wasn't sure about the other wolves. They were a threat, and the wolverine didn't like it. The fur on the back of her neck raised, as the stood up, growling fiercely. "State you business here." She snarled. She wasn't going to attack them, as they bore the scent of the pack, unless they came to close.

Cortinarri

Cortinarri stands up, fur bristling again as her sharp ears shot forward. She didn't want this wolverine to ruin her chance at being an alpha. The she wolf stalked forward to talk to Ulina, "I'm here to claim my rank as alpha, seeing that Stormfalcon is dead, or at least injured. And why would a wolverine care?" Cortinarri snaps; guessing that the alpha was dead or badly injured to be lying lifeless in the snow.

Catalpa & Xia

Xia had picked up the human's scent and come to investigate. Catalpa joined her, and ended far in head of the wolverine with her swifter pace. They arrived in time to watch the end of the struggle and listen to Cortinarri. Catalpa raised her maw and wrinkled back her lips in warning to the subordinate to back off. As long as she was beta, Catalpa wouldn't allow Cortinarri to gain a higher rank than her. Xia looked over at her sister, then toward the lifeless wolves. But she waited to ask questions.

*Ulina*

Ulina was near breaking point, and her snarl widened. She was not in the mood to be bothered. "I care, because my mother was hit by some human thing that puts them into a sleep, but they wake up. I know that for a fact." She snaps, moving closer to the wolf, as if daring her to fight the wolverine. She pricks her ears, recognizing Catalpa and her sister Xia. "Catalpa, Stormfalcon, and the other two wolves aren't dead." She said, sensing what the Beta was thinking. "They've got the human thorn that puts them into a deep sleep." She then returns her gaze to the one trying to take her mother's position. "If you so much desire that rank, you can challenge Stormfalcon when she wakes up. Attack her now, and you will die upon my fangs, subordinate." She hisses.

Cortinarri

Her fangs were revealed likewise in her furry. She couldn't stand the fact that a wolverine would keep her from being and alpha! But she knew how powerful the jaws of wolverines were, as well as their long claws, so she didn't dare take a step closer. "I don't remember the last time I saw a wolverine in charge of a wolf pack! Catalpa, you won't stand for that, will you?" the she-wolf turns toward the beta, remembering how Catalpa attacked her when she didn't submit. "And how about you Nau, you don't want to be ruled by her, do you?"

Catalpa & Xia

Catalpa gives a sigh of relief to Ulina's explanation. So no pack members had been killed; yet. Catalpa also advanced on Cortinarri, Xia trailed at her side, ready to defend. "I would most certainly stand for it, Stormfalcon is alive, and she is our alpha. And Ulina has right to defend her, even if it means your death. You are a subordinate, you have no sway on me." The beta tenses, fiery eyes gleaming directly back at the other she-wolf.

Ulina

"In no instance did I state my alphaship of this pack. I merely said if you attack the living alpha, you will have to get through me first." She snarls, glad that Catalpa was backing her up.

Cortinarri

She also tenses, but from fear. It was obvious to her that she’d get no help from Catalpa, and doubtfully from Nau as well. The subordinate backs off a little, eyes widening. "Fine then," Cortinarri spits out, turning slightly to run, "...I'm only going now because I can't win a fight verses two. But if I ever catch you alone..." the she-wolf trails off, glaring from Ulina to Catalpa, "...you'll be dead." saying that, she turns and dashes off. In reality, she knew she probably couldn't kill either of them on their own.

Keilo & Santori

They come in, prepared for a fight with the humans after they picked up their scent. But both quickly found the battle was finished. The beta paces cautiously forward, gazing from each of the five still forms on the snow. Three he recognized as pack mates, and two were humans, as scent told him. Keilo quickly noted the aggressive stance of Ulina and Catalpa, and approached them wearily. "What happened here?"

Santori plods forward, glancing at his sisters, then over to investigate the two humans.

Ulina

Ulina growled softly at the retreating form of the subordinate. "I'll tear you limb from limb if you attack me." She hissed softly to herself. She looked at Keilo. "Don't worry, Stormfalcon, and the other two wolves aren't dead." She said, looking to her mother. "They've got the human thorn that puts them into a deep sleep."

Stormfalcon could hear voices around her, but she felt drowsy.

Wespero

Slowly, her vision and hearing came back, but she couldn't make sense of anything while the drug was still clouding her mind. Eventually, though, it came to her that most of the pack was nearby. Wespero's head bobbed up to look at them, but then fell back down. She was also drowsy, but the drug was wearing off more since she got hit first.

Cedar

His eyes were glossy as he opened them, and he panicked at first because he couldn't move. But his scent and hearing told him his pack was near, and the humans were dead. Cedar blinked a few times as strength crawled slowly back to him, but he couldn't get up yet.

Stormfalcon

She rolls onto her front, but doesn't try to rise, knowing she had to wait for the drug to wear off. She gives a small woofs of thanks to the pack around her, to show that she was alright.

Catalpa & Xia

She waves her tail happily and gives a wolf smile. They were finally waking up.

Xia watches them wake up, also glad they were alright. She then watches her brother for a moment, but doesn't say anything.

Stormfalcon

Stormfalcon shakes her head, ridding it of the last traces of the drug. She stands up, wagging her tail, and looks around. She was glad. The others were getting up.

Cedar

He rises as well, then sits back down. Cedar gazes over at the two humans, and is glad to see that they were dead, and wouldn't harm the pack. He gives a thankful glance toward Stormfalcon and Ulina.

Wespero

Wespero pulls herself from the snow once the dizziness was gone. She was confused at what had gone on, but she saw that everyone was alright. The she-wolf trots over, tail wavering as her maw dipped down in respect to the higher ranking wolves, then she nuzzled Cedar.

Keilo

He catches a far off howl from another pack, and listens intently. There was a blizzard coming. Keilo turns to the rest of the pack, seeing if they heard the howl as well. Hunting may be very good if the blizzard was large enough.

*Humans*

After some time, when the pack had left the area and were heading for a hunt, other humans showed up. They had come to search for the two humans that were missing, and came here to since they had gotten reports of dogs being killed in this same area.

They find the two researchers dead, almost completely buried by the snow where they had fallen. The tracks of the wolves where gone now, erased by the wind and snow. The humans undertook the grim task of removing the dead humans, and took them back to find out their cause of death. The strong winds and snow completely cover the human's tracks, and the strong winds carry their scent away before it can ever be detected.

Eventually, back at a hospital, they are able to determine that two wolves and a wolverine had killed the humans from the injuries and a fur pieces a fur.