Lupo

Drunken Warg
When Lupo wasn’t hunting in the forest, he was chasing girls in town. With every drink his charm grew, and he regaled his admirers with tales of daring traps, the play of respect between cunning prey and patient tracker, how arm sure and arrow true, he had countless times saved his brothers from the frenzied retribution of a wounded beast. One cold cloudless night he was stumbling home drunk, a beautiful woman on either arm, his clumsy footsteps guided by the bright light of an enormous full moon. A shadow spilled across his path, and he saw a pack of wolves crossing into the forest. At their head was the most regal creature he had ever seen: a wolf so huge its towering shoulders blotted out the moon. Impossibly silver eyes gazed into his heart, saw the desire there and left a dire warning. A promise of violence. Lupo blinked free from the trance, finding the wolves gone and the girls long fled. Head reeling, he careened home to wake his brothers. They rushed silently through the forest, the thrill of the hunt a sobering force that pushed his drunken stupor down and propelled him forward, faster, ever closer to his quarry. Soon they were on top of a small group of stragglers out of pace with the pack. They closed in with deadly efficiency, killing before the wolves could so much as yelp a note of warning. As his brothers pulled their bloody knives free, a grating low growl heard somewhere in his mind chilled Lupo to the bone. He fumbled for his bow, clarity giving way to surging panic and inebriation. The giant wolf exploded forth into the glade, tearing into his brothers with abandon as his arrow flew harmlessly into the brush. Silver eyes peered out over a heap of mangled wolf and human corpses. Blood mixed with blood, congealing into a dark pool that reflected the milky moon. The majestic wolf lifted Lupo with its red maw, dumping him face first into the pool and holding him down with a massive paw. You killed my sons. Your pack is lost. But you will still hunt. Your wish for greatness will be your curse. Drink.