The Lure of the Pack Read Free Page A

yet
disturbing satellite imagery on the screen.
    “He’s going to attack the chopper,” said Nick, “look, he’s
on all fours, he’s heading for the tree line opposite them. OH SHIT, HE’S
CLIMBING THE TREES!”
     
    “PEEL BACK, PEEL BACK!” The navigator was panic-stricken;
never in all his life had he witnessed anything like this. “IT’S UNDERNEATH US,
IN THE TREES, CLIMB FOR FUCK’S SAKE, CLIMB!”
    “WHAT’S FUCKING UNDERNEATH US?”
    “A FUCKING WO…”  The navigator’s words were suddenly cut
short as he heard a heavy thud on his left side, the Eurocopter tilting sideways,
its rotors straining in metallic agony as it seemingly spun out of control, the
fearful pilot wrestling with the stick.
    “TRYING TO COMPENSATE! SHIT, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT
THERE?” The navigator was speechless with terror! He had seen the wolf leap
from the trees and knew what was hanging on to the underneath of the Tiger, the
pilot continuing to struggle with the controls, his voice now a panic stricken
yell! “THIS IS TIGER ONE TO CENTRAL CONTROL, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK,” he shouted,
“REPEAT, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!”
     
    The security guard with the communications pack held out the
handset, “it looks like Tiger One’s in trouble.”
    “What? Don’t be stupid.” The burly guard took the handset
from his colleague as away in the distance they listened to the sound of the
helicopter’s whining rotor blades. He placed the handset to his ear and
listened to the terrible yelling over the static, trying to make sense of the
distorted dialogue. “What the hell? Tiger One, do you copy, DO YOU COPY?” There
was no reply, only further screaming. “FUCKING SHIT,” he shouted to his men,
“C’MON, MOVE IT.”
     
    Even in his wolf form, Ash Piper knew the Eurocopter’s
rotors could easily decapitate him. With his overly large canid body relishing
the thought of the hunt, his claws gripped the helicopter’s framework as he
hauled himself up to the navigator’s window.
    As the sound of tortured rotors engulfed the cockpit, the
shocked navigator watched in horror as two piercing red eyes and a snarling
hairy snout, exposing razor-sharp incisors, appeared at the window. Without
hesitating he screamed as the wolf roared, drawing its right arm back, ready to
strike. With a terrifying growl the wolf punched through the canopy of the
cockpit, its huge, clawed hand gripping the hapless navigator’s throat,
dragging his helmeted face towards its saliva-ridden mouth. “HEEEEEEEEEEELP,”
he screamed.
    With its rotors whining, the Eurocopter twisted sharply to
the right, the pilot trying desperately to throw the creature off, the
toughened perspex of the canopy continuing to disintegrate under the hideous
beast’s insidious assault. As a dark blanket of mind numbing fear wrapped
itself around the navigator, he let out his final scream, the beast’s canine
teeth biting deep into his helmet, tearing into the man’s face.
    “GOOOOOOOOOD,” screamed the pilot, the crotch and legs of
his flying suit staining with urine as his bladder succumbed to gut-wrenching
fear.
    Still the Eurocopter spun, the wolf continuing its ravaging
onslaught, but now it was tilting further over to the right, the pilot having
over compensated. With another gut wrenching snarl, the wolf released its
blood-drenched prey and prepared to jump.
    “OH SHIT,” yelled the pilot, “THIS IS TIGER ONE, I’M GOING
DOWN, I REPEAT, I’M GOING DOWN.” With the sound of whining, straining rotors
echoing across the forest, the Eurocopter plunged downwards, the wolf swiftly
launching itself into the trees. The helicopter spiralled out of control,
crashing through branches and smashing into the ground, its rotors breaking off,
scything through the broken foliage like lethal elongated knives. The pilot
screamed again, not just in fear, but in agony as pain tore through his body,
the canopy of the cockpit completely disintegrating as the mangled wreck hit
the