1: Provoked

Ben crouched in the undergrowth of the forest just outside the large stone wall. The wall had been there for almost two centuries and it blocked the wolves' access to the river beyond. In years past, they had traveled around the wall to get to the southern side of the river but the time had come to fix the problem the wall posed. They had finally acquired enough explosives to get rid of a portion of it and they finally had the knowledge to bring it down. The humans that lived on the other side of the wall would be furious, which only added to his pleasure. If he was lucky, he would take a few of them out along with the stone wall.

He looked over at the dozen other werewolves crouched around the undergrowth near him. They were waiting for his signal. As soon as he gave the word, they would light the explosives and run. It would be a matter of seconds before the wall exploded and the wolves would be able to join their trench with the river beyond before the humans descended on the area. 

Ben was the head warrior. He led a group of warriors in his pack, the most elite fighters that the pack had. The alpha had approved their mission when Ben had presented the idea to him. The alpha's eyes had glowed when Ben spoke about potentially taking out humans along with the wall and he knew that the alpha approved of his plan before he had finished talking. There was nothing the alpha loved more than to kill humans. They had been the biggest threat to werewolves for the last century.

Ben looked toward the south side of the wall, watching for the signal that would tell him everything was in place. He was waiting for his second in command, Xander, to return from planting the explosives within the stone wall in just the right place to cause the most structural damage. Xander was the best they had, he had been blowing things up since he was five and had only gotten better with age. When Ben had presented Xander with this idea, he had jumped at the chance to blow up something so large. He had been planning and anticipating this day for months. 

Another five minutes passed. Ben couldn't hear the humans on the other side of the wall. They must be doing something else today. It was a Saturday morning and the path beyond the wall was usually teeming with people walking and running along the path inside the wall. They were going to blow up a half-mile stretch of wall. It ran right along the river and if they were lucky, they would be able to build their own structures along the river on the other side to protect their hold so the water was easily accessible. It would be a huge score for the wolves, seeing as how they had been struggling in the recent droughts. Many of their wells had run dry and they needed the resources.

Ben saw Xander running silently through the forest, racing toward him with a smile on his face, laying down a length of fuse on the ground as he went. The length of the fuse disappeared in the undergrowth out of sight, presumably toward the wall where the first explosion was going to bring down the ancient stones.

"Everything is in place, boss," Xander said as he crouched beside Ben in the undergrowth.

Ben turned to the man crouching on his other side.

"Zephyr, once the explosion happens, we will need to dig our trench quickly. I suspect the humans will recover within a few hours and come to attack. If we can get the trench finished and the river attached to our channel, we will be successful," Ben said quietly.

"They are ready, sir, don't worry. They know how important this is. They won't fail us," Zephyr promised, nodding toward Ben.

Ben nodded back and looked at Xander. The young wolf was practically salivating over the prospect of the explosion. He was ready to light the fuse.

"Almost ready," Ben said. "Run the semantics by me one last time." He said looking at Xander.

"This fuse is attached to four others, they are placed at intervals of 200 meters. When they explode, the wall will go flying out in all directions. I project the blasts could decimate a few buildings on the human side of the wall. The stones could project up to 200 feet, so we will need to retreat quickly once the fuse is lit. We will want to watch from the hill up the ledge. We will hear 4 separate explosions in order, the first fuse will get lit, then the second, and so on." Xander explained the plan in detail again, reassuring Ben that his attack was coordinated to the last detail. It would succeed, the wolves would win this round of the war.

Ben nodded. "Ok, do it." He gave the signal and the wolves around him retreated into the woods. They had been close to the wall in case Xander had been seen and attacked by the humans before he was able to place the explosives. Luckily, no one had seen him that they knew of. No attacks had come, so no wolves were needed this close to the wall any longer. They swiftly ran up the hill. Ben brought up the rear of the wolves and stood by while Xander lit the fuse. The rest of the warriors and the wolves ready to dig the trench were waiting, about 250 feet away, ready to finish the job they had set out to do.

Xander lit the fuse and set it down, the large sparks spread quickly down the wire toward the wall. Ben and Xander ran back as fast as they could. It would take about a minute for the first blast to occur and they had run to the top of the hill within thirty seconds. They turned and watched.

They could see the fuse with their keen eyes. Ben could even smell the burning of the gunpowder and hear the crackle of the flame as it spread quickly down the fuse. It would be any moment now, they would see the explosion just down the hill. Ben held his breath and waited, taking in every second before the blast.

Then it happened. The wall exploded. The stones went flying through the air, some of the smaller stones almost reached where they were crouching, as Xander had predicted, but the wolves on the hill were just out of reach of the debris. They were safe, and the first section of the wall was gone. A large gaping hole stared back at Ben where a twelve-foot wall had stood just seconds before.

There was dust and debris in the air, it was clouding their view and skewing their noses. Ben couldn't make out any scent other than gunpowder and sulfur, the smell of fire, of explosives. Just as the air was starting to settle, there was a second explosion. It, too, rent through the air, the stones flying through the sky. This section of the wall was further away from them, so they were able to see what was happening better. The dust was blocking the sun, it was hard to breathe through the particles that flew into the air.

Ben didn't hear any screams, so he assumed that so far, their explosions had not hurt any humans. Or, they were all dead and unable to call out for help. He really didn't care which it was. There was a second lull and then the third explosion happened. The air was so full of dust and debris that it was starting to be hard for the wolves to see ahead. They used their shirts as a filter, covering their nose and mouth with cloth to filter out the large particles of dust. They waited, calmly, knowing one more explosion would come before they were able to descend on the land and finish the job.

The final explosion blasted through the air. This was it. They had finished the first stage of the operation.

Ben turned to Xander and said, "Well done, Xander."

Xander was watching the wall, his eyes bright as he took in the devastation. He hardly heard Ben, he was so enthralled with the job he had just finished. His face was flushed

Ben turned now toward Zephyr. 

"Let's get the boys moving. Everyone head down, we've got a job to do," Ben said loudly and the wolves around him all nodded in agreement, their eyes bright with the prospect of victory.

They quietly ran down the hill, everyone acutely aware that the success of their mission was dependant on them not being seen for a few hours yet. 

They ran toward the trench they had spent months digging. Wolves of all ages jumped into the trench and started digging furiously. Ben stood to watch over the workers, keeping a keen eye trained on the opening in the stone wall, waiting to see if they would be attacked. Nothing was happening. It was peculiar, typically there were dozens of humans around the stone wall at this time on the weekend. But now, there was nothing. Ben shifted uneasily, something seemed off. He walked ahead of where the trench was. The men were making good headway, but it would take an hour at least to connect the trench to the river. Once the water was flowing toward their side of the city, they could retreat. There were stones all around, one of the explosions had blasted the earth right at the place where the trench would connect to the stream. It had blasted a hole fairly deep, which helped them make quick headway in joining the trench to the river. They didn't have as much to dig out as they normally would have. The blast had moved the earth and made their job easier.

The workers were mostly silent, with a few grunts, but nothing so loud that a human would hear.

Ben was watching closely, knowing the safety of the wolves working rested on his shoulders. He heard a noise on the far side of the river. It was a young girl's voice calling out. He tuned her out. Her people would be here soon to help.

"Help," she called out pitifully. She was barely loud enough for Ben to hear, much less a human. He crouched behind a pile of rocks and looked around, trying to locate the girl and see if she was drawing any attention. He crossed the river, moving silently through the stream, hopping across rocks that had landed in the stream. He made it across mostly dry.

"Wait, I'm coming!" a bright voice replied, a little frantic. 

Ben put his hand out to tell the workers to be cautious. They kept working, but crouched low in the trench, out of sight. They were moving dirt quickly, pushing it away, and throwing it out of the trench as fast as they could. 

"Where are you?" the bright voice called out. "I can't see you. Are you hurt? Are you stuck? Please, call out to me. I'm coming!"

"I can't move, I'm pinned under this rock. My leg is hurt," the pitiful voice called out. 

"Is that you, Maribelle?" the bright voice asked, shock lacing her words.

"Yes, Olivia, it's me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to go. I just couldn't help myself. I needed to see them," Maribelle answered.

"Oh, Maribelle, you could have been killed!" Olivia said harshly. She was trying to keep her voice down but was not successful.

Ben was watching as he moved slowly among the rubble, but he still could not see the owners of the voices that he heard. He moved cautiously around his pile of stones to look around the rubble. He smelled them first. They were girls. One smelled like flowers and sunshine and the other one smelled mesmerizing. Ben couldn't stop himself, he took in a deep breath and let the scent wash over him. It was intoxicating. His mouth watered. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw her.

Olivia crouched down in front of a large stone. It was pinning a small girl's frock. The small girl had been saved by a sturdy arch that she must have been standing under when the blast occurred. A portion of her dress was stuck under a rock much larger than what either of the girls would be able to lift. One of her legs was stuck under a second rock, the second rock was much smaller but still too large for the older girl, Olivia, to lift. She tried to push the rock off Maribelle's leg, but it was stuck. She couldn't move it.

"What were you doing here?" Olivia asked, glancing down at the little girl. Olivia's blond curly locks were falling in her face, breaking free of the pin holding them back. She pushed with effort, trying to move the stone off Maribelle's foot. Maribelle whimpered pitifully.

"I can't move it, Maribelle. Shoot!" Olivia said in frustration. She looked around frantically. "We need to get out of here. There are wolves nearby, we can't be caught here, they might attack."

Ben stood from his position, a dozen yards away from the girls. He watched as Olivia froze, seeing him. Her face registered her fear. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I won't hurt you," he said in a whisper. "Let me help you free her."

His overwhelming need to protect this human was suffocating. He physically wasn't able to do anything to hurt her, but she didn't know that. He walked forward cautiously, waiting for Olivia's reaction.

She watched him with wide eyes, but let him come closer, holding onto Maribelle's hand tightly.

"Is he going to hurt me?" Maribelle whispered.

"No, I won't hurt you," Ben replied. "Let me help you get free. I can move that stone." He gestured toward the stones pinning Maribelle down. 

She nodded nervously and clutched Olivia's hand tightly. Ben moved forward slowly and crouched down to lift the rock off Maribelle's foot. Olivia reached down and moved Maribelle's foot out of the way. As she leaned toward Ben, she took in a deep breath and gasped. Ben looked at her in surprise. She felt it, too. He shifted and lifted the larger rock pinning the little girl's dress down and Olivia quickly freed Maribelle, lifting the girl swiftly in her arms to carry back toward the humans.

"Who are you?" Olivia whispered, looking at Ben with a frown. She glanced down at his arms and shuddered slightly, unable to keep her reaction to herself. Ben smiled briefly when he saw her pupils dilate in desire. 

"My name is Ben," he said softly. He didn't want to spook her.

"Why are you helping us?" Olivia asked quietly, glancing around and finally seeing the rest of the werewolves. She stiffened in fear.

"I can't tell you that. They won't hurt you. They are under my command," Ben said. 

Olivia nodded and backed away slowly, unwilling to turn her back on the wolves just yet. She finally reached the far wall and took off running as fast as she could, Maribelle tucked tightly in her arms.