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Over fallen logs and deep holes, the squad ran together. By squad, Jorgens counted himself and two others, Pritcher and Henry. They were onto a scent of large buck, and intended to catch it for dinner tonight. The wind whipped through Jorgens' nearly pitch black fur, his tongue hanging out in pure joy. This was life. The freedom, the chase, everything.

However, the hunt could not last forever, and soon enough Jorgens was leading his squad back. The buck was held triumphant on their bare shoulders. The three of them had reverted back to human form for the trip back, but had no clothes to change to. However, after having been a Lycan for so long, Jorgens never came to care if people had their clothes removed. In fact, he sometimes felt the clothing too restricting and uncomfortable.

Pritcher ran ahead and alerted the other Lycan around the fire. They were all naked in human form, with the exception of the Alpha Male. The Alpha Male, a chap by the name of Franklin Boorge, had a dark grey coat and was sleeping to one side of the fire. Pritcher was not allowed to approach the Alpha directlly, and instead had to go to the Alpha Female. The Alpha Female was an old lady with many scars and wounds upon her from many years fighting for first.

Soon the Chaka would arrive, in which a new leader, one who deserved the title, would be made. This was when Jorgens would come into power. This was when Jorgens would spring on his prey.

In the meantime, Jorgens and Henry brought the buck to the fire and laid it down for the weaker of Lycan to fix. While they did their work, Jorgens approached Pritcher from behind and wrapped his arms around her. They were lovers, someday to be husband and wife. They worked through everything together and always hunted the same prey. As Jorgens now hunted the Alpha Male, Pritcher hunted the Alpha Female.

The meat was being separated to all the pack. Naturally, the Alpha male and female got more than the rest. None of the pack ate until Boorge took the first bite, stood up, and announced in his amazingly deep voice for all to eat.

The whole pack remained in human form while eating, for none were to transcend to the superior form while the alpha was around. To do so was to imply that one was challenging him, which could only be done on the Chaka. The only other time one could transform near the alpha was if he stated it was alright.

Jorgens ate besides Pritcher, the blood splashing over both of their chests. Even not in beast forms, the pack preferred their meat rare. Later, the whole pack rose and walked towards the nearby lake. They could smell the human near the lake, especially the human's candles, which gave off a distinct stench. Wishing to avoid trouble, Boorge ordered the group to go around the lake, away from the human. They were to wait until after the Chaka before violence.

The pack approached the lake from the opposite side of the human, and waded out to bathe. Jorgens' enhanced senses showed him the human as a male, seeming to perform some ritual of his own. It was unimportant to the Lycan now...

As the blood was washed off, Jorgens adrenaline began to flow. After the purification, they would begin the Chaka. Jorgens stepped out of the water after he was clean and shook himself dry, although the shaking was ineffective in human form. Soon enough, the rest of the pack had joined him.

The pack formed a circle around Boorge, who remained in his Lycan form, growling, daring challengers to show themselves. Jorgens, along with a number of others, transformed into Lycan status, challenging Boorge's status as leader. A couple of feet away, the females had formed their own circle and begun their own ritual. Once all the challengers had made themselves known, Boorge called the Chaka's beginning by howling to the moon. Quickly, the rest of the pack joined in, Lycan or not. Adrenaline flowed rapidly through Jorgens as he lifted his own head and let out a howl from the bottom of his gut...

After the howling was complete, the part of the pack who were not challenging backed off and formed a circle around all the challengers. Technically, all the pack was suppose to participate, but those who remained in human form had already admitted weakness, and were allowed not to fight unless challenged.

The fight would not be to the death, but till one admitted defeat by reverting to human form. If one was knocked out, or even killed by accident, they were automatically considered defeated. All in all, it was a simple ritual.

The Challenging Lycan, known as Forders during the Chaka, lowered themselves close to the floor, growling and glaring at the other Forders. Not counting himself, Jorgens spotted two large Forder, Beserkers no doubt; a smaller, more sophisticated Forder, most likely one of the magic types; and another hunter like Jorgens. Boorge himself was a Berserker too, thus capable of obtaining the leadership for so long.

It was a full moon tonight, the 13th since last Chaka. As soon as the clouds passed and the moon revealed, the combat would begin. Fortunately, the clouds moved fast this night, so Jorgens would not wait long. As soon as the light from the moon cleared the small cloud, Jorgens pounced forward, jumping on top of the nearest berserker...

The human had approached, but Jorgens was too much caught up in the fight to notice. After clawing one of the beserkers down, he was taking on the Hunter. The Forder jumped at him, claws bared and ready to pierce into Jorgens. The movement seemed slow, especially in retrospect, as Jorgens raced underneath the Hunter, spun around and pounced back. The hunter was one of the new members, one whom had yet to learn all the tricks yet. He quickly fell under Jorgens brutal clawing and biting.

From the corner of his eye, Jorgens spotted Boorge defeating the second Berserker. It was down to Boorge, Jorgens and the druid, who had smartly waited for the numbers to thin down before battling. Boorge glared at Jorgens with bloodlust, but limped on his right paw. The other berserker had drawn a wound down the Alpha's leg, cutting deep into dark hide of the Lycan. For a few minutes, Jorgens and Boorge just circled each other, waiting for the moment to pounce, when the druid jumped out of nowhere, landing on Jorgens back.

Jorgens rolled to the side quickly, throwing the Lycan off. However, the druid had still cut his ribs and knocked him down. Worse yet, Boorge wasn't going to let an advantage go. He jumped at Jorgens, claws and teeth baring. Jorgens was able to roll onto his back in time that when Boorge landed, they were engaged in close range biting. Boorge snapped at Jorgens neck, while Jorgens clawed at his chest. No matter how much damage, the alpha didn't seem affected! Boorge's claws dug deep into Jorgens' sides, gushing blood into the silvery moonlight. Jorgens felt his strength diminishing. Soon, he would have to revert or die. He had failed his Pritcher...

But Jorgens was saved, for the druid came back around and pounced on the Alpha, knocking him off of the Lycan. While Jorgens caught his breath, he watched the druid land, circling the wounded but still extremely powerful leader. While Boorge rubbed at his bleeding wound above his eye, he snapped at the druid. But the druid, still mostly unwounded, dodged the snap and continued circling Boorge. Soon enough, a green glow emanated from the ground and vines sprouted, wrapping themselves around the Lycan's paws. Within seconds, Boorge was covered in plants, tightening until the once-alpha lost consciousness.

The Druid stood up tall, his back turned to Jorgens. He believed he had won, and was about to call the match end. However, before he could do so, Jorgens pounced on the unsuspecting Lycan. Druids, although powerful from a distance, were weak in close combat. With Jorgens experience and size in his favor, the druid was quickly forced back into human form, admitting defeat. Jorgens backed away from the wounded Lycan and stood tall himself. He had done it. After years of training, he had defeated the Alpha male. Looking over, he spotted the Pritcher was doing the same, defeating the last of Forder over the already unconscious Alpha Female. Once she had finished, they glanced at each other, both of their eyes showing a determination and joy of hunting. Each leaned their head back, looked upon the moon they so dutifully worshiped, and howled, announcing the end of the ritual...

The pack began growling at the newcomer. He was not allowed near. They had yet to complete the ceremony, and this human dares to challenge the Alpha? Didn't any of them know that outsiders could not fight the Alpha directly?

The pack looked at Jorgens, whom nodded for a moment. Jorgens watched as the rest of the pack transformed into Lycan form and began to surround the human, growling murderous intent at the man. There were over twenty of them here. Even if the man was powerful enough to hurt one or two, he could not stop twenty...

The smell of magic was thick in the air. As the so-called Loki appeared from the human's hand, the Lycan became active. Already vines were growing upwards to surround the man with such intensity that as soon as they were cut, they grew back again. With at least five druids attacking the man, it would not be tough. The berserkers piled upon the man's summoned humanoid, biting and driving him to the ground, where more plants grew to hold the being down.

Lightning and thunder began to clash, striking too close to the pack then Jorgens liked. Once the humans had been tied down enough that he was sure they couldn't follow, Jorgens signaled the pack and took off into the darrk forest for the night. They still had a ritual to finish...

(Aren't you being just a bit too powerful?)

The human appeared in front of the pack again. That was faster than Jorgens expected. He leaped through the air and tackled the man, allowing the rest of the pack to continue on. He bit at the man's neck and clawed at his arms, attempting to deal as much damage as he could while the others fled.

(Okay, no prob. Just thought I'd comment. It didn't feel right that a summoner should be able to take on twenty Lycan and survive...)

Jorgens could feel the heat rise off the man. The human had a good point, but there was no choice. The instinct called to them. If only Boorge had said for them to kill the human instead of avoid him...

With the pack far enough for Jorgens senses to lose track of them, he jumped from the man and took off through the woods. He needed to catch up with the pack...