It was a success.

It didn't even take two weeks, and the trap snapped. I was just watching the cameras when I saw movement in the corner. From what I could see, there were four men dressed all in black at the edge. They moved slowly, cautiously, as if something was about to ambush them at any moment. At first glance, it was clear that they were not tourists.

It only took one step, and they would have crossed the line with motion detectors. I was trembling with anticipation. I had been waiting for this moment for weeks, and it was finally here. I wouldn't have liked the hunters to be so close to our village, but this was the perfect opportunity to scare them enough to leave us alone.

“Hunters are here,” I mind-linked Mason and Sam, carefully watching their next steps. They finally took that last step, and a notification flashed on my screen. The sound signal was next.

“We are ready,” Sam assured me. Over the course of a few days, we came up with a plan if the prank would work. Everyone knew what to do, and Sam and Mason were now in place, waiting for my instructions.

The muffled sound of wolves came from the speaker, first a growl and then a howl. It already sounded quite scary from the computer, and I couldn't even imagine how it must have sounded to the hunters in reality. They quickly began to look around. However, they did not know that they had no chance to find out where the sound was coming from. This place had great acoustics, and it carried the sound, so it sounded like it was coming from everywhere.

“They sprung the trap,” I announced.

“How many?” Mason asked. Right now, only the two of them were near the trap. They had so much faith in my abilities, and that the hunters would be too terrified to advance further. If something went wrong, I was the only backup.

“Four.”  The four hunters that were currently surrounded by a dozen wolf holograms. I originally wanted to use more, but I was afraid they would cross over and take away from their credibility.

The hunters quickly drew their weapons, ready to attack. Watching the wolves around them, they moved closer together. I had no doubt that they thought they would be enough. Stupid hunters. The first false wolf went forward. He ran past the four hunters at an unusual speed, landing on the rock behind them. To say they were shocked would be an understatement. I chuckled to myself.

“It’s working,” I reported to the two wolves in charge, hoping I didn’t speak too soon. 

The hunters flailed around, waving their arms faster and faster as the fake wolves ran past them. The plan was to either scare them enough to leave or tire them out enough to make them easy targets. We knew that the illusion would not fool them for long, after all, all they had to do was touch one of the wolves, and they would find out that they were not real.

“Are they fleeing?” Sam’s question popped in my head. Unfortunately, I had to inform him that no, they were not running away. It didn't look like they were going to give up anytime soon, so I had to make a quick decision about whether to join my friends or stay behind.

“Still four of them?” Mason asked and after my answer told me to join them. I didn't hesitate and shifted on the spot to get to them sooner.

The howling of false wolves could be heard from far away.

“Have they noticed yet?” I asked Mason, hoping for a negative answer.

„Nope, but soon. It’s time to join.“  That was another part of the plan - to blend in with the fake wolves so they couldn't tell which was which.

I ran past the two larger wolves, and they joined me in a second. Trying to get closer without being noticed, we split up so that we could each suddenly appear on a different side. Mason was the closest to the escape, Sam was guarding the place closest to our village, and I was in the place where the forest was thickest, as not much room for movement was more convenient for the smaller wolf.

“Something’s not right.” First of the hunters started to catch on. Now was the time. We quickly joined the fake wolves and began growling. The hunters' eyes widened in surprise and their grip on their weapons tightened. Mason attacked first. He jumped right next to one of the hunters, purposely brushing his massive body against his leg. From the hunter's point of view, it must have looked like he missed him at the last minute, but the truth was that Mason was just masking our trick.

“Watch out!” another hunter yelled, frantically looking around. Despite the situation, I wanted to laugh. It wasn't every day that I had the opportunity to see hunters practically defenceless.

I growled loudly and ran at the hunter closest to me. He lunged at me with his weapon, but a bigger and of course fake wolf was running towards him from the other side, and he turned towards him at the last moment. I bit his ankle. Not too strong so he wouldn't bleed too much, but enough to let him know it was time to run.

“What the fuck?!” For a moment, a loud howl drowned out the growling of the wolves. But it wasn't my hunter screaming in pain. No, it was someone else, and mainly for a different reason. We’ve been caught.

I looked at the hunter who yelled. He was young, maybe my age. He looked around confused, looking alternately at the wolf in front of him and at his hand. Then it dawned on me, he must have touched it and his hand went through it.

“Ghosts?” another hunter questioned. If I wasn't in wolf form, I'd fall over laughing. Deciding not to give them a chance to think, Sam and Mason attacked again. More aggressive this time. I joined them and jumped after the hunter who was the first to notice that something was wrong. Since he wasn’t still completely aware of his surroundings, I managed to knock him to the ground. And then it happened. Our eyes met, and I felt like I was frozen in time. I didn't notice movement around me, I didn't notice potential danger, all I could focus on were his eyes.

I was screwed.

My wolf started whining with pleasure, begging me to get even closer to him. That’s how I knew what just happened. I was looking at my fucking mate or better said, my hunter mate. Suddenly I felt sick. This couldn't be happening. I have never in my life heard of a wolf being a hunter's mate.

By the way the hunter looked at me, he also realized that something had just happened between us. I could only hope he didn't know exactly what.

“Wake up, Colbs!” Sam's voice echoed in my head, and I was finally able to tear myself away from the hunter's brown eyes. I have never felt like thanking him more in my life. I shook my head and growled loudly at the hunter in front of me. He also suddenly seemed to come to his senses and quickly got to his feet. Holding the weapon firmly in his hands, he looked at me uncertainly as if he didn't know what to do. Seeing that he was no longer a danger, I decided to go around him and attack the last one of the hunters, who was surrounded by fake wolves.

He noticed me immediately and swung at me with a knife. You could see that he understood that not all wolves were real, but he had no chance to tell which ones were and which ones weren't at first glance. Our scent had long since mixed with the surroundings, and they had no chance to follow it at speed.

I felt the knife go through my fur right next to my shoulder. However, I wasn't the one who reacted to it.

“Enough!” my mate shouted. His eyes were fixed on me, and I started to worry if he noticed that his buddy hurt me or if he even felt it himself. I hoped he was only screaming out of concern for his colleague. That had to be it. There was no way he could feel the bond between us.

The hunters' gazes quickly turned to the youngest of them.

“Wait,” I told Sam and Mason. I didn't know what he was up to, but I needed to find out. I needed to know what he was like.

“Are you out of your mind? They are distracted, now is our chance,” Sam protested. I hoped that at least Mason would listen to me, even though he was the one who called the shots. Mason's eyes met mine for a moment, and he gave a short nod of approval.

“We're leaving,” the hunter resolved. His friends looked at him like he was crazy. We wolves also looked at him as if he had gone mad. At least the real ones, the fake ones continued to run around us.

“We're leaving,” the hunter repeated, now looking at me. I shivered. While I was trying to be subtle, he was doing the exact opposite. Of course, this did not escape Mason, who gave me a strange look. I looked at him and tried to look confused as if I also had no idea what was going on.

Seizing the opportunity, Mason moved away from their only escape and joined Sam and me, growling. That was a clear instruction for the two of us to do the same. Trying to look as big as possible, we decided to scare the hunters until they would run away.

The hunters also united closer together, facing us with their backs to the road.

“Let's go,” one of them said. If I'm not mistaken, he was the one who thought we were ghosts. His eyes continued to follow the wolves around him who were even passing through them right now, and it was obvious that he still didn't understand what was going on.

The remaining hunters no longer protested and also decided to flee. It was a small win for our pack, but for me? I wasn’t sure. Nothing made sense anymore.