How to describe a werewolf attack?

Question

In my book, the werewolves don't shape shift into humans, they're werewolves all the time. There are some werewolves that don't attack humans, but the majority does - those packs that don't live within miles of villages that have no clue that they're close. I can write the ones who don't attack very well, but I'm at a part where my characters encounter a werewolf pack that does attack humans and I can't figure out how to describe it just right. I am writing in 3rd person if that matters.

Answer 1

Research how wolves attack.

One important point is that wolves will probably not attack prey that seems too dangerous or merely too hard to catch; they would die out if they died trying, or spent more calories catching prey than it brought them. Your wolves may need to kill, always, to prevent word of their existence getting out. Their victim may find this very creepy. On the other hand, if not, they may merely attack as wolves do, to get food or to drive off an intruder.

Wolves are persistence predators. If they hunt for food or to prevent word catching out, they may trail for a time only to burst into attack when they manage to catch up.

Once they have, they should use wolf pack methods. They should surround the victim and take advantage of having the victim's back to them while the wolves that the victim faces withdraw to avoid injury. If the victim gets his back to a tree, or better yet climbs one, that will make the attack more difficult. They may have to wait until the victim sleeps -- assuming they are determined to kill.

Answer 2

Choose Your Decisions

A Scene is all about decisions. Your key characters have something they want, something that opposes them, and some options for getting around the opposition. They know those options have some risk of failure (and consequences of failure) and have to make the best call they can with limited information.

These decisions are a primary source of tension, and keep the reader engaged.

Example decisions you could use:

• Do I bolt for the safety of the nearby village, or do I try to hold the group together and work our way there more slowly?
• Do I reveal myself as a powerful vampire and save the group, or do I turn into a bat and leave the others to fend for themselves?
• Do I hide?
• Someone is injured, do I carry them or leave them?
• How do I fight? With fire? The sword? Magic?

Pick a Fight that Matches your Decisions

Once you know what options you want your characters to have, it's a lot easier to figure out the flow of the fight. You don't need to choreograph the blow by blow - instead you need to give enough information for the reader to understand what options are available, and why the characters might lean towards one or the other.

If you want the POV character to have to keep the group together in spite of their fear, then that pushes you towards a somewhat slower fight. You have the wolves pick off stragglers at the edges of the group. There's time to talk, even if everyone is frightened.

If you want the POV character to challenge the wolf leader to single combat, that might push you towards a more "stand up fight" where you have good lines of sight, and everyone can see the battle coming for a couple of minutes. That gives your character a chance to step out from the battle line and issue their challenge.

If you want your character to flee in fear, feeling like they don't have any choice but to run, then the fight is quick, and powerful, and overwhelming. There's no warning, and no time to do anything but run.

Flavor your descriptions based on what choices your characters have.