The Lone Alpha: Rebirth

The sound of water dripping echoed eerily in the dark and smelly sewer, large pools of sewage churned in the canal beside the small walkway, for those that could see in the dark as night tunnel. The sewer looked like a large hemisphere able to contain about three cars side by side, a narrow stone path lay on both sides, and in the middle, a sizeable body of churning...liquid could be seen. Multiple tunnels a few meters in width could be seen connected to the main one, each leading to several parts of the city.

The sound of dripping was soon overshadowed by the echoes of footsteps reverberating off the walls. A figure dressed in a black coat and pants walked hurriedly through the tunnel, blending perfectly with the darkness.

Daniel broke into a sprint, blurring through the tunnels with his strong sense of smell as a guide . He occasionally held his breath as he couldn't stomach the horrible stench for long given his more sensitive than normal sense of smell, only inhaling to pick up a scent and correct or proceed on his path.

After running for a good while, he eventually came across a dead end. His eyebrow merely furrowed in thought for a moment before relaxing. He slowed down his pace to a walk and approached the wall. The expected sound of collision wasn't heard as his body passed through it like it wasn't there, simply leaving a tiny ripple that spread over the deceptive wall.

'Low-level illusion, good for hiding from humans but nothing to shifters.' Daniel thought to himself as he emerged in an even darker tunnel - like the sewer wasn't dark enough- and crudely dug by sharp claws given the rough texture.

Deep growls echoed from within the dark tunnel as two dark silhouettes peeled themselves from the walls, their claws giving off a dangerous glint. With his powerful eyesight, Daniel could see as clear as day and he could tell that these two were a tad shorter than the one he fought yesterday, and they were clearly weaker.

They growled menacingly and bared their fangs at him, their way of telling him to back off. Their beady eyes narrowed dangerously and their sharp buck tooth chattered in slight apprehension.

He chuckled in amusement as he kept his pace, his brown eyes began to glow yellow, like torches in the dark. They both let out a low roar as they pounced at him from both sides, their aim... to kill. They arrived in less than a second given the short distance but that was more than enough time for Daniel to react.

Slapping away a claw aimed at the right side of his face and shifting his left shoulder backward, he easily dodged the other coming from his left side. He clenched his fist and struck out within the same second, delivering a heavy punch that knocked the rat into the wall of the tunnel. Without pausing, he struck out with a sidekick at the other, similarly sending it crashing into the wall even harder than the first.

 They let out pained moans as they both slumped to the ground, a shallow hole left in their place. Daniel walked towards the one on his left, his yellow eyes sending a shiver down its spine.

It let out a shriek of pain as Daniel crushed both its legs with a stomp. It shivered in pain and fear as Daniel walked towards the other, who by now was almost on its feet, its expression one of anger.

"Too weak." Daniel said as he easily dodged its tail swipe. Not one to let an opportunity pass, he grabbed its tail and pulled it towards his incoming fist. His first cleanly connected with its jaw and it was sent back into the wall, limply falling to the ground.

It groaned in pain as it felt its bones breaking, both femurs broken in the same fashion as its partner. Grabbing both their tails, Daniel proceeded to drag them towards the dim light at the end of the tunnel. Weakened and in pain, they could only accept their fate of being towed.

He emerged a few moments later into a large cave about nearly the size of a football field. A dim crystal hung at the top of the cave, giving off a very dim glow that was barely useful to humans, but then again none of the inhabitants were human. The place was literally crawling with were-rats, numbering nearly fifty at a rough glance.

At the center was a throne made of rocks and on top sat a particularly bulky-looking were-rat that made the others look like scrawny kids. Its tail was as thick as a person's thigh and the muscles on its arms were even thicker, it was simply a hulking mass of muscles.

"Didn't expect them to be this much." Daniel said with a raised eyebrow as he took in the size of the horde. Most starting packs usually contain about 7-15 betas though that depended on the Alpha's strength, most would prefer to have low numbers that were easier to manage before expanding, and more often than not, a pack size was usually a rough estimate of the Alpha's strength. So theoretically the larger the pack the stronger the Alpha has to and will be. So seeing a pack numbering nearly fifty simply meant the Alpha's strength was no joke even if they were only rats.

Daniel walked forward unperturbed, despite the nearly fifty pairs of eyes trained on him and the oppressive glare of the Alpha.

"You should train your horde more, these guys lack hospitality." He said, throwing both rats at the base of the throne. They slammed into the throne with a bang, shaking a couple of stones loose. This earned him multiple snarls and growls at his obvious show of disrespect.

The Alpha coldly stared at him from his throne a few meters high, its dark-grey eyes seemed to give off an eerie glow and an oppressive aura emanated from its very being. Its inch-long claws scraped the sides of its throne which was clearly heard in the awfully silent cave.

"So you're the one who dared to kill one of mine." A deep voice rang out from the top of the throne, echoing strongly from either sheer power or the acoustics of the cave.

"He's only dead because you failed to keep him in check, his actions would have or probably already drawn hunters here. An annoyance I do not appreciate." Daniel said in a cold tone, his gaze fixed on the figure sitting on top of the rock pile.

"While I admit he was a bit out of line to leave traces, it was not your place to interfere." The Alpha said, his cold tone sending shivers down the rats' spines.

"This city is the Wayne Pack's Green Zone, no hunting is allowed here, especially one so reckless that would alert hunters. Green zones are meant to be hunter free or at least not actively on their radar but your betas action has put this place at risk." Daniel said, his tone even colder.

"I do not fear the hunters or the Wayne pack." The Alpha said with a snort, an expression of ridicule in its eyes.

"You should be, more of the Wayne pack than the hunters." Daniel said as his eyes narrowed.

"You're all cowards running with your little wolf tails behind your legs, if the hunters come then I'll kill them all no matter their numbers." The Alpha said in a cold tone, his aura suddenly grew more oppressive as he made his declaration.

"A tiny Alpha like you would get minced by a mere Peak D-squad and if you have as much strength as your mouth, maybe a weak C-rank squad would be required to take you down. Any more than that would be overkill." Daniel snorted, his tone bland.

The Alpha only glared in response to his statement, its dark grey eyes giving off an intense glow.

"I came here to give you one last chance to leave this city and take root elsewhere or I would be forced...to kill...every...single...one of you." Daniel said in a cold tone as a bloodthirsty aura oozed off him, pressuring the weaker ones in the cave.

The Alpha chuckled as it slowly stood up, its intimidating figure standing at well over 7ft tall. Its muscles flexed on its rat-like body as it raised itself to full height.

"I would very much like to see just how you're going to do that."

With a shake of his head, Daniel slowly took off his coat revealing his toned upper body with muscles in all the right places and in just the right amount that didn't make him bulky.

"Dad always said talk first punch after. I already gave you your chance, now it's time to do things my way," He said as he tossed his coat into the air and onto a tiny ledge where it hung perfectly. "Remember! you asked for it." He added as he cracked his neck, his yellow eyes glowed even brighter as he began to shift.

'Wish mom had gotten me one of those enchanted pants instead now I'm gonna have to rip this one'. He said internally as his figure expanded and easily ripped his jeans apart. His body swelled, growing in height and mass. Thick dark-brown fur grew from beneath, splitting his human skin apart.

He groaned as his bones cracked, bent and grew and his nails tore through their limits, growing several inches long. His legs lengthened, the bone near his ankle snapping and bending backward with a crack. His spine stretched and contracted, strengthening to hold his massive form. His mouth lengthened into a snout filled with rows of sharp teeth and his ears grew longer. A little tail protruded from the base of his spine as it let out a final crack and contracted to suit his current form.

While this might have looked like it took a while, it happened within a few short seconds.

His yellow eyes gleamed like torches for a moment before dimming as he stood up on his hind legs, over 7ft tall and only about a head shorter than the Alpha, with razor-sharp nails that gave off a shiny glint and fangs that struck fear.

Rooooooooaaaaaar!!!!

He let out an earth-shaking roar of defiance and provocation, instilling fear in the hearts of the rats. A predator has been released among prey and the only reasonable outcome would be guaranteed, slaughter.