Flesh tore and bone crunched as the crouched creature continued to feast on its prey, its expression one of delight in savoring the most delicious type of meat. Its ears twitched, the faint sound of approaching footsteps drifting close. Its black beady eyes narrowed, its head slowly turning to stare at the only open path in the closed alley.
A figure shrouded in darkness stood silently in the dim lighting, his eyes glowing like yellow pin points. The figure inched closer, his face now visible in the night and oh how angry it looked.
The creature snarled in defiance and greed, its own black eyes glaring at the figure. Raising itself on its hind legs, blood dripped from its claws as it rose to defend its meal.
Daniel glared at the over 6ft tall furry figure, the irony of its stance not lost to him. Covered in thick dark brown - might as well be black- fur, the creature looked every bit like an overgrown rat, if said rat was as big as a man and an abomination of nature.
Its large round ears twitched slightly, resting easy on a large head with an elongated snout and inches long whiskers trembled near its nose. Its thick naked tail trailed behind it, nearly as long as it was tall. A pair of bony hands ending in long sharp claws stretched from its furry robust body and its naked clawed feet held its heavy body firm.
Baring its teeth - revealing fangs lining the length of its mouth ending with pointy buck teeth - it snarled at the intruder in warning.
Daniel shifted his eyes from the huge rat to the dead girl beside its feet, an unreadable expression on his face. He let out a dejected sigh and focused his gaze on the rat once more.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?," Daniel said, his face cold as ice while his blood boiled like lava. "Are you purposely trying to draw Hunters here".
The rat stared at him, its expression, if it could make one, unchanged as it snarled in defiance. " I...fear...no...hunter, you...weak" It said in a disjointed raspy voice.
"Is that so?" Daniel said with a slightly raised eyebrow, mirth finding its way into his eyes." I wonder where a rat like you gets such confidence from." He finished with a shake of his head.
"I'll give you one last chance to leave this city, inform your horde to move elsewhere...or I'll be forced to remove every last one of you." Daniel said, his tone stating it as a matter of fact.
The rat let out a stifled wheeze that could only be interpreted as its attempt at laughter. It's wheezing ended and it shot Daniel a glare, disdain nearly evident in its eyes
."I..fear..no... wolf." It hissed.
Daniel chuckled, slowly cracking his neck. "Good, good I was hoping you won't comply." Daniel said, his canines lengthening into fangs and his nails grew and hardened. "Let me educate you where your alpha didn't on what power looks like."
Letting out an enraged shriek- a mix between a hiss and a roar- it charged straight at Daniel, and given the length of the alley, it wasn't a very long run. It appeared before Daniel in a flash, its outstretched claws aiming for his face. An ordinary human would have only seen a blur but to Daniel, its speed was...pathetic.
Slightly shifting his body to the right at the last moment, the claw sailed harmlessly past him. Having put the force of its weight into the attack, the huge body of the rat continued on even after missing, no doubt needing a few moments to orient itself, moments Daniel would not give.
Daniel watched as the rat barreled past him, and at the last moment his hand shot out to grab onto its tail. Feeling its smooth skin slick with blood only infuriated him more and with more strength than intended, he smashed it against the wall. The wall caved from the hit, a near-visible shockwave bursting out like a wave.
Clenching tighter onto the tail, he slammed it into the opposite wall and with a finaL heave threw it at the far end of the wall. The wall trembled, small cracks spreading on its surface from the impact.
Dragging itself out of the small dent it made, the rat growled in anger. Shaking off the flecks on stone on its fur, it burst into a charge slightly faster this time. Daniel snorted in disdain, letting it approach.
He leisurely began to weave between the gaps of the dense net of claw attacks aiming to cleave his skull, a nonchalant, nearly bored, expression on his face.
"Is this all you've got?" He mocked, dodging a claw swipe aiming for his head. Having seen enough, he tightly clenched his fist - his nails digging into his flesh- and threw out a heavy punch, carrying all his weight. His fist tore throw the flurry of claw swipes to strike the abdomen of the rat.
The rats eyes widened, blood spewing from its mouth as Daniel's fist dug into its stomach. The hit knocked it cleanly off its feet and sent it crashing back into the wall.
"Here I was thinking you'd at least put up a decent fight," Daniel said. He flexed his hand, taking his precious time watching the rat climb out of the wall. " I guess it's time to end this."
Stretching out his claws, he dashed forward with a speed the rat found hard to follow. Threatened, it twirled and sent its long tail lashing out like a whip. It streaked through the air at an insane speed, the air whistling in strain but it was futile as Daniel easily dodged it.
Quickly closing the distance, Daniel's claws lashed out and raked across the rat's chest. The rat reeled back in shock but it wasn't the only one shocked. Daniel's claws left its mark on its chest, ripping out its fur coating, but where the skin should have split and bled it only looked mildly bruised.
"What?!" Daniel could hardly contain the surprise on his face, knowing he should have easily drawn blood.
The rat seeing the little damage was reinvigorated, barreling forward at an even faster speed. Its heavy tail whipped out, splitting the air in its path and this time Daniel only came to senses just as it slashed across his chest. The tail struck with a vengeance, knocking him several meters back. His bare chest peeked from beneath his torn shirt, the skin red and raw.
"Now you've done it" Daniel's voice turned a terrifying low seeing his split shirt. His exhale echoed loudly in the small alley, the gush of air concealing a much more terrifying well of rage.
Shrieking in triumph, the rat struck out with its claws but it soon found out rather painfully the wolf was done holding back…much.
Smacking the approaching claw with a flippant backhand, Daniel's fist briefly merged with the rat's jaw. It's clawed feet dug into the earth as it skid back, and hardly had it regained balance when a punch struck its jaw from beneath and knocked it off its feet once more.
In the same moment as the rat sailed through the air Daniel leapt from below, his fist striking out at its chest. The fist knocked air out of its chest, forcefully nailing it to the ground. Spiderweb cracks spread across the ground, sending small pieces of rock and garbage flying.
Its huge body lay unmoving on the cracked floor, its eyes hazy from the blow slowly cleared to reveal anger. Letting out a piercing shriek, shrill enough to nearly burst Daniel's eardrums, it lashed out with its claws catching Daniel across the chest.
Daniel reeled back from the scratch, his ears still ringing from the sonic attack. His skin was too tough for the rat to damage, but his shirt did not share his durability as its tattered remnant barely clung to his body.
Daniel slowly glanced at his tattered shirt, his expression livid. He said nothing but his rage swirled around him, almost palpable to touch and already building in presence.
Cracks and pops echoed from the rat as it struggled to stand, its beady black eyes beginning to show hints of apprehension. It only saw the glowing yellow eyes before it blur before Daniel appeared before it with a speed much too fast for it to react.
All that happened next was a flurry of attacks. Claws streaked through the air, tearing air and fur apart. Daniel's arms blurred, clawing in a furry at the rat's chest, taking more fur and flesh with each swipe.
The rat shrieked in pain, its arms shot out to swat, slash and maim but every one of its attack was swatted aside and a fresh wound appeared on its heavily bleeding chest.
Daniel evaded a crazed swipe by shifting to the side, his fist shooting out in retaliation. The rat stumbled to the side from the blow to the head and Daniel in a flash was in the other side waiting for it with another fist. It stumbled again from another blow to the head, Daniel once again waiting.
Its head whipped left to right so fast it seemed the rat was merely colliding with a wall of air. Its knees collapsed to the floor, its arms barely managing to halt its descent. Blood trailed down its chest, nose and mouth to the ground below, seeping slowly into the cracks.
Its sight turned blurry and it only saw a vague object flying toward its head when Daniel's foot barreled into its face, smashing it into the very much damaged wall. Its body collapsed to a heap, sliding down the wall now slick with its blood. There it lay, unmoving, and with only a faint whine any evidence of it being conscious.
Daniel huffed, letting his rage dissipate with the night chill. Frowning at his hands dripping with blood, he shook them in exasperation. The rat stirred for a moment, drawing his attention.
"Tell your alpha to leave this city before nightfall tomorrow or I'm coming for him." Daniel said, inching closer. His eyes gleamed with a threatening light and the full brunt of his aura crashed into the beaten rat.
Its eyes narrowed in fear at the terrifying aura. Whining in defeat, it scurried aside to crouch on all fours. Beating a retreat, it vaulted against the walls and out of sight.
Daniel followed his retreat and after making sure it was gone turned his glance around, wincing slightly at the damage left behind. His eyes shifted to his tattered shirt and he pondered briefly if he made the wrong choice simply letting it go.
He let out a disgruntled huff, his eyes settling on the remains of the rat's victim. "The world is a cruel place, especially for humans." He said letting out a short sigh. It was a pity indeed but he was no saint either. He was a monster, one the humans wouldn't hesitate to hunt if he got discovered nor would he hesitate either if his peace was threatened.
Wiping what little blood he could off his hands with his tattered cloth, he ripped it entirely and tossed it into a nearby dumpster. He dug his hands into his pockets and slowly walked away from the gruesome scene, his ears already picking up footsteps of inquisitive humans.
The encounter to battle with the rat merely took a couple minutes but it would still be folly to linger long, and it was with that thought he leisurely made his way back home. His half-naked figure blended easily into the darkness of the woods, opting to return as quickly as possible.
His eyes regained their brown luster but his senses still remained sharp thus he didn't miss the distinct sound of silent footsteps or the whistling sound of air being torn aside. His eyes narrowed in recognition and his nails, now claws, struck out without reservation.
Blood splattered as his hand pierced through a furry chest just as a set of claws grazed his neck. His eyes glowed yellow, the figure of the attacker as clear as day in the darkness.
"I gave you a chance to live but you chose to die." He said, his tone terribly cold. Staring at the rat impaled on his arm as if it was no more than a pest, his hand impaled deep in its chest grasped onto a warm beating heart.
The rat squeaked, squirmed and made to thrash but Daniel gave it no such chance, his clawed hand withdrew, pulling its heart out with it. Blood spurted from the large hole, blood streaming out the rat's orifices.
"You...you'll pay...Alpha...won't...let you...go." It croaked, futilely grasping for breath as the life slowly faded from its eyes. Its body slumped, dead, the earth greedily sucking up the growing pool of blood.
"Your Alpha will meet the same fate." Daniel said. His cold expression collapsed after a moment, morphing into a grimace. ' Shit! This idiot was supposed to lead me to its Alpha now I gonna have to start scouring the dirty sewers for its horde."
Daniel shook his head in frustration. He disdainfully tossed aside the weakening heart in his hand, the diminishing warmth unwelcome.
"This one was slightly strong for a rat, far from being Alpha strong but still slightly stronger than a normal one," said Daniel, with a slight raise of his eyebrow. "It was probably on the verge of evolving. Pity."
His ears prickled and his glowing yellow eyes raised to glare straight ahead. "Tell your Alpha I'll be paying a visit." He said. Without sparing the dead rat another look, he continued on his way toward the Mansion.
Mere moments after he left, two large furry shadows emerged from behind the trees. Their black beady eyes peeked in the direction Daniel took before taking a moment to inspect their dead comrade. Letting out low squeaks, they grabbed onto the dead rat and swiftly headed back to their lair.
Dozens of meters away, their retreating forms reflected in Daniel's glowing yellow eyes. He had half a mind to tail them, he was fairly confident they'll be none the wiser, but after a moment he shook the thought out of his head. It would be more interesting to hunt them on his own.