ALPHA VINCENT

The scent of fear, raw and pungent, filled the air. Hidden deep within the underbrush, I watched them approach—a family of three, oblivious, stumbling onto my claimed land. The man, weathered beyond his years, shielded a slender woman cradling a baby. They were wolves, yet their senses failed them, their gait slow, their expressions carefree. Then, my true form erupted from the shadows, a massive black wolf, and a scream tore through the tranquility. "OH MY GODDESS!" the woman shrieked, her pale blue eyes wide with dread. The man, falling to his knees, pleaded, "HAVE MERCY ALPHA! We didn't know we had trespassed."
I shifted, my human form towering over them. "You are wolves, are you not?" My voice was a low growl, laced with barely contained impatience. The baby's cries echoed, a tiny, fragile sound against the backdrop of their terror. They begged for safe passage, for mercy, but I had a reputation to uphold. Agonizing screams soon painted the forest red, a familiar symphony that heralded the beast's meal of the day.
