Callsign Amarok Ch. 02

Multiple nerves in Orion's head were lanced, summoning brief glimpses of bodies: Shelly, Daws and the rest of the Phantoms who died in that forsaken base. He pictured the African warlord he had killed, seeing him vividly while looking at Sköll.

Fenrir shook his head but couldn't help the slight curl of his lips.

"If it is a trial for power, then you have it!"

The Aspen Alpha presented a bold point to Orion.

"Amarok Orion will fight for leadership of the Mjolnir Pack, using weapons of similar skill!" Fenrir announced.

An audible gasp spread through the crowd that formulated, nearly hundreds of wolves have gathered to witness the affair.

Aurora gaped at her father in shock.

=Be ready for if your mate needs help. His friends will be fast in their actions.= The she-wolf shook her head in denial and had a worried look on her face.

Amarok was very good at fighting but Sköll led the Mjolnir Pack under an iron rule. Lupines have challenged the Alpha before, opportunistic for a chance to lead and run wild. Except they'd all been bested by the man now laying on the ground.

Studying her own male, he had empty and soulless eyes aimed right at the Alpha below.

Would he hesitate? Would he get unlucky and fall under threat?

Aurora worried for her mate's survival but that determined look in his eyes swayed her not to intervene.

Orion's fireteam shared irked expressions for the impromptu brawl. Settling down after catching their leader's locked stare.

"Oh fuck..." Dan whispered.

"Shit.." Tim added.

Avery and Pac looked at Orion hoping he would have some sort of plan. The Phantom took off his bag and combat rig laying it on the ground. Removed his helmet and dropped it. He stood back up facing Avery and handed him his tanto blade.

"Is this necessary?" Was Avery's response.

"The warlord who wiped out my old squad got off easy... I won't make the same mistake. I know this is reckless, so every favor you owe me will cash this off." Orion finally finished and faced Tim. He walked up to the bulky man and ripped out the gunner's bowie.

"God dammit man, what happened to staying together and trusting you?"

"You think he'll run off after I'm done?" Orion inquired with zero.

"No, but..." Tim hesitated.

Orion flicked his view on Avery and Pac.

"He's a Phantom, the black wolf." The pilot approached.

The fireteam gathered around and shared confident nods for their wolf.

"Give him hell and make sure he doesn't come back to haunt you." Tim swayed his LMG.

Orion began to pull away from the group and turned around.

Aurora had hugged him from behind, holding her mate back.

"Just kill him using your weapon..."

"I have to do this Aurora. You said you wanted me as Alpha beside you, this is the quickest way to earn reverence among your pack." He rubbed her hands.

"Then...come back to me... promise me."

Orion was prepared for either outcome. Death or disgrace.

"I promise."

Heart wrenchingly releasing her grip, she let him go forward, towards the insane man tied up on the ground.

Orion heard something move behind him. Using 1 eye he saw Pac holding Aurora, preventing her from rushing back to him.

"Don't let him get the drop." The blonde warned.

Orion pulled out a collapsible baton and swung it open. Bowie in his left while baton in the right, his path was clear.

Only one could make it out, dead or alive.

===Special Chapter)

Nightly silence covered with the ambience of crackling fire spread throughout the Aspen settlement.

The crowd remained still, bewitched by the beginning duel. Respect was passed along to the human for accepting the fight. While some thought it uncouth to play a part in Sköll's provocation.

The oddly dressed human cut the binds holding Sköll's hands and immediately backed away into a ready stance. He wore a mask of indifference showing no emotion and calculating all movement in his mind.

Sköll freed his hands apart and reached down to tear the rope off his legs. He stood up and stared at his enemy with pure malice.

Embarrassingly, losing over hundreds of wolves to only 5 men was shameful. Rage and disgust flowed through him as his wolf surfaced to wear and tear.

"I will wait to take your bitch and break her after I'm finished ripping out your fucking guts." The cocky Alpha grinned after viewing his new enemy.

Sköll towered the human by half a foot and comparing muscles was a joke. Beneath the human's clothes were visible prints of meat but faint. Sköll assumed the human was barely a threat and flexed his own muscles, showing veins and flushes of red.

However, he did catch the human's skill in containing a loose lupine earlier. As well as the sounds of mating.

Sköll licked his teeth and lips, hoping for a quick fight and lust later.

His opponent didn't speak and he was going to take advantage of his clear-cut focus.

Unfortunately for him, the Phantom could already tell that the Alpha wouldn't fight fair. Prepared to pull a counter offensive if the need arose.

"Let it begin!"

Sköll dashed forward and threw a punch. The human ducked and struck him in the calf with a hard THWACK.

"Argh! You!" It was impossible, how had that tiny stick hit so hard? His opponent barely swung from any distance to gain power in the strike.

Recovering quickly and turning around, Sköll again rushed and threw another punch. The human redirected the punch away using the black rod and struck Sköll in the face with the metal around his knuckles. This action stunned Sköll, opening an opportunity to end the fight.

Neither hesitating or flinching away, the Phantom propelled himself towards death and angled the knife.

Getting inches away from slashing Sköll's throat. The Alpha blocked desperately by using a hand and his right was stabbed clean though.

Bringing the blade out and angling again. Sköll stared straight into the eyes of a man with little to lose.

An unwavering and clear embodiment of someone who fought with no fear of death. The Mjolnir Alpha tried challenging by punching, swinging or kicking at openings in the human.

But he was too close, catching each attack with the determination to cause bodily harm.

Sköll was beginning to lose in the mental department, unsettled by the human's glowing glare. He needed something, anything to throw the human off for a second.

There was a human similar to his opponent's flair. Running and struggling to escape somewhere from ravenous wolves, putting up a small fight before being consumed. The sweet and supple flesh he had under the tailored clothing tasted sweet.

Nothing was left after their short hunt.

"Hah.. your friend was delicious... I wonder how your others will taste."

Widespread eyes and relief from gaining ground hit Sköll. He kicked the human in the knee and brought his left hand for a hit. It connected and sent the human stumbling backwards.

This gave Sköll a little breather for pain control and he laughed. Blood and stinging resonated well within himself and he felt a rush of adrenaline flood. Healing had begun and cleared up some major wounds, leaving him better equipped to handle the soldier.

Orion's head kept ringing from the brutal punch and his knee felt swoll. Dropping his baton and holding his ear.

'Eaten..? Fucking eaten?!' He shook away the last suppression of noise and felt blood gather in his mouth.

'Just a cut.' Telling himself as he ran a tongue along some injury in his mouth. That hit had brought his cheek down onto teeth and nothing else. Blood seeped through his lips.

The Phantom opened his mouth and spat out the collecting fluid only to discover multiple people looking at him in shock.

"Y..you're bleeding.." Aurora tried going towards him but one of his teammates stopped her.

Pac brought his gun up and aimed past the Phantom.

"NO! This is me or him, Pac!" Orion waved his gloved hand to hold fire.

The team leader put his sights back onto the prize. Observing marred wounds slowly closing on his target.

"Was it quick?" A hellish and reminiscent expression stared back.

"No...and I'll make sure you lose your ability to walk."

Collecting himself quickly, inhaling and exhaling, tasting the blood of his own veins. Orion retrieved his baton and marched. He spotted a clenched fist with material leaking from Sköll and brought an arm up to shield his eyes.

Sköll threw a handful of dirt at the human and soon received a kick to the family jewels.

He keeled over in pain and held his hurt organs before his wolf took the reins. Transforming instantly into a red wolf, fueling anger to the beast.

Animals that specialized in CQB, primarily 4 legged canines, ruled in agility and flexibility. The teeth from a wolf would puncture and tear while their legs gave them a tighter turn radius. Engaging and disengaging on a dime when their opponents were slow. They could also turn and angle themselves awkwardly to dish out or retaliate damage to their flanks.

No matter how much training a human undergoes, their long limbs and muscles limited them naturally. Many if not all motions were lethargic and wide versus a wolf. However, it would ultimately depend if one was or wasn't prepared to duel with an animal.

And this wasn't anything new to the specialized warrior.

'Different being, different approach.' The Phantom concluded in a static manner, reversing his grip on the bowie with the edge out. He stuck fingers back into a metal frame and committed to injury, accepting that he wouldn't leave unscathed.

The feral animal and human circled each other, trying to discover weaknesses. The wolf was too big and Orion couldn't risk a head on attack. His baton was easily just a dog stick.

Sköll bolted towards Orion and lept for his neck.

"NO!" Aurora screamed.

Orion couldn't hear anything around him. His focus was placed solely on the red wolf in front of him.

He fell to the ground and rolled away from massive wolf jaws and claws coming at him.

Quickly getting back up, still having eyes locked on Sköll, he had to end the fight soon or else he would be at a disadvantage. A battle of endurance was not an option.

Suddenly, Orion rushed Sköll and threw his baton at his face. The red wolf swiped the stick away but the Phantom was on top of him.

Mounting his back and holding a death grip on fur, he stabbed the wolf in the eye. Sköll tried flinging him off but the human held strong while repeatedly stabbing the red wolf over and over again in the face, neck and shoulder.

Sköll doubled over coughing and hacking blood.

Orion released and flew off, rolling away. He moved to retrieve his baton and when he picked it back up, Sköll had gotten up. Looking at Orion in defiance before turning towards the crowd.

He was peering at a kid, who couldn't even be in her teenage years yet. Sköll smiled wolf and rushed her. The crowd dispersed and the child remained frozen, petrified by the bloodthirsty and abominable beast.

'No you fucking don't.'

Orion hastily dropped his baton and whipped out his Five Seven, sending 2 rounds into hind legs, making the animal stumble and snarl onto the ground.

A woman from the retreating group, hopefully the mother, grabbed the child, picked her up and hauled her further into the reforming masses.

"The oldest tradition! Is this how lupines fight?! Taking children as hostages!?" Orion yelled, accusing villagers that if they sided with his enemy then they weren't people who wanted help.

Lupines in human and wolf form erupted in growling at Sköll. They were fuming.

"Sköll! You have sullied the trial, therefore forfeiting your life!" Fenrir turned to Orion.

"You may use anything to end him!"

Orion aimed his sidearm at 2 other furry front legs. Sköll was scared, no human has ever fought him that well in his life and remained determined in the face of a kill.

Thunderclaps sounded from Orion's weapon making everyone wince, except Aurora, her hunting party and the fireteam.

The red wolf limped and slowly transformed back into human form.

"I...you can't!"

Orion holstered his weapon and moved towards Sköll with knife and baton in hand. Once reaching him, Orion slammed his baton on the lying knees and elbows, breaking them with a crunch.

"AARRGGHH!" Sköll howled in pain. Few wolves began chanting his death while others stared on in interest.

Orion leaned down and slammed his baton on the ground, closing it and putting it back in its pouch.

"No, no, no, NO!" Futility attempting to crawl away using a movable arm. He had wild eyes of prey, peering at shadows moving from behind the human. A torch illuminated more darkness from encompassing his struggling consciousness.

The Phantom menace grabbed a handful of Sköll's hair and moved a mouth to his ear.

"You won't die.." Pulling the Alpha's head back.

"Not until I've given you a proper burial." Orion promised, then punched Sköll using Tim's Bowie, breaking nose cartilage.

Searching for the young wolf who tried choking him, another who tried taking on Sköll and the other Alpha.

"How many girls were taken?"

"50." The one who tried getting his own hands on Sköll answered.

Orion stood up and threw away Tim's bowie towards the crowd.

"Anyone else want him?" Asking with seethe. Villagers stared at him with wide and contemplative eyes before shaking their heads, even the wolf who held him by the neck answered in kind.

The Aspen Pack knew that whatever the human was planning, went beyond their imaginations of justice.

"Avery with me. The rest of you get to work!"

Pac, Tim and Dan positioned to barricade the crowd from getting any closer. The gunner leaned down quickly and repossessed a drying blade. Avery approached his victorious team leader with a blank stare.

Orion stood up, whipped off the ice axe attached to his belt, unsheathing and holding it tight.

Eyes from around stared at the jagged blade. To archaic to be used in anything else, other than torture.

Sköll, in the last defiant act twisted his body to strike at the human's shin. The Phantom caught the arm and punctured flesh using the razor sharp tip. Next, pulling to rip, tearing tendons and muscles along the defeated's arm.

Blood spewed out from the horrific slice wound and Orion hooked his weapon into Sköll's calf.

Maddening screams shook the village grounds.

"Fenrir, it's up to you whether you want to see this or not but he's mine..." Orion glared at Fenrir and even the Alpha lowered his head in worry.

A hand settled on Amarok's shoulder and he twisted around to see who it was. Aurora had this pained look decorating her once chippery and happy face.

"C..can I be there for you?" Her wolven instincts screamed at her to get away but she resolved herself for their mate.

Sharing hesitancy with Avery, both soldiers eventually decided to let her join. This would cement herself among the team of humans and proved whether she was fit or not to capture a Phantom's heart.

"Wherever this takes us. Remember that. Or this will be our last night together." Nodding meekly, the she-wolf followed both humans into the umbral forest.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

===Chapter 38 Shocking Scene

-Elves-

Idril and her companion had almost arrived at the local pack until they heard cries of pain, shouts and fighting.

"Avery with me. The rest of you get to work!" A man yelled.

Idril and her companion pulled their hoods up. They traveled tree to tree until they were above a crowd of lupine's around a makeshift trial arena.

"By Corellon." Idril gasped. She saw 2 weirdly dressed men standing over a naked lupine in human form. The lupine's legs and arms were bent in awkward positions, no doubt broken. Brutal and visible seperations of flesh revealed mortal wounds, unallowing their healing abilities to help.

Another cloaked individual met up with the humans and traveled away from the village.

Idril instructed her companion to stay and watch over the Aspen Pack whilst she investigates.

Whatever happened in the darkness shook the experienced elf to the core.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

===Chapter 39 Consequences

-Phantom-

Amarok, followed by his teammate and a female lupine traveled further into the colorless greenery.

They were just about earshot away as Orion entered a small area with a rotting tree, allowing moonlight to seep through broken branches.

"Stuff a magazine into his mouth." The Phantom ordered and Avery complied by shoving a loaded rifle mag into Sköll's lips.

Metal met teeth as he kept his mouth shut. Amarok brought his foot up and stomped the crude gag down. It went straight through, bringing along teeth and ripped gums.

"Ggrrharrrggh!" The Alpha tried screaming but the metal brick was lodged far enough back against his throat to mute any sound.

Aurora stood a ways away and witnessed her mate's will.

"Hey Avery? Still got those bolt cutters?"

Avery walked next to Orion and took off bolt cutters from his own bag

"Castration?" Avery asked in monotone.

"We're cutting it all off." Orion stated.

Sköll was looking at the cutting object, erupting into a writhe, struggling and begging.

"MmMMMMFFF!"

"I don't think you have a choice." Orion replied with nothing.

"This is for them." Avery sweetly added.

Orion put his foot on Sköll's chest holding him down. Avery aligned the tool with the sex organ and bolted, cutting it off.

"MMMMMMM!" Their victim brought his legs into a fetal position, shaking in pure agony.

Orion took his foot off and picked up the cut off extremity with his gloved hand. It was bloodied all over, he dropped it in front of a shocked face. Sköll looked at his body part in dismay.

"This is from me." Orion brought his boots down and completely squashed the organ, sending slime and red all over the ground. Including onto Sköll's face.

A little later Sköll prayed for it to end, a mercy he didn't grant to his poor victims.

"John's dead."

Avery coiled his face into concern.

"How do you know this?"

Orion spat onto his gloves and wiped away drying blood from his chin.

"If it wasn't for his fucked up taunt. I wouldn't have gotten hit." He spat.

"Answers in his fucking stomach."

Avery grew wide eyed.

"Son of a bitch!"

Aurora heard her mate's friend, disgust and anger coloring his words. She felt ashamed for Sköll's misdeeds, even if she had no part or knowledge about it.

The Phantom observed wounds collapsing in on themselves and brought his ice axe up. Tearing and shredding all limbs present over Sköll's body.

More muffled screams and muffled cries encapsulated the surrounding area.

Orion kept tearing into his vulnerable prey until red marks scarred all over his body. He was also fully aware if Sköll was nearing unconsciousness or death. Waving off to let the supernatural healing take its course.

Amarok felt nothing, not even a shred of feeling. This was just karma taking its natural course.

Aurora from a distance and Avery from next to him watched as Orion cut up flesh like calamari. The she-wolf turned away after catching her mate taking off his gloves.

Orion raised the pointed edge of his axe back up and brought it straight down into Sköll's upper intestines. Slicing and splicing with suppressed grunts in the background. He reached in and felt for the internals of the mutilated lupine.

Squeezing a soft and plushy sac, within it was something stringy, a lengthy connection of marbles. The Phantom pulled a sac from the Alpha's chest cavity and ripped it open.

Avery recoiled while Aurora held her nose and breath, shrinking away from the rancid smell.

Orion by now was accustomed to anything disturbing a sane person. Especially after surviving his messed up time on an airbase.

Contents of the stomach were half digested meat, fur and hair. The Phantom scowled as he pulled out a set of tags and threw away the stomach in frustration.