Out of all the werewolves that remained, Luzen was perhaps the strongest left from the Lupus pack, and as one of the Ironfangs, he carried a natural weight of authority over the rest.
And after seeing him effortlessly take down one of their own, none of them doubted that authority anymore.
If Luzen and a large portion of their remaining numbers agreed to surrender, then what chance did the few who still wanted to fight think they had? Even if they tried, how could they possibly see a path to victory now?
That was, until they heard a cry.
“ARGHHH!”
The Ironmasked werewolf, once Ylva’s silent shadow, and now unmasked, let out a guttural, feral scream.
His body trembled, his claws tearing lines into the shattered stone, muscles twitching like cords about to snap.
‘Damn it... isn’t that Ylva’s plaything?’ Luzen thought grimly as he reached over his shoulder and pulled his bow from its strap. His eyes narrowed, instincts screaming. ‘That thing only ever listened to her. And now that she’s gone...’
He didn’t hesitate.
Luzen drew and fired several arrows in rapid succession, the force of his bowstring cracking like a whip each ti.
The first arrow struck deep into the Ironmasked werewolf’s shoulder. Blood burst out in a crimson spray even though the arrows themselves were made of compressed force, nearly invisible to the naked eye. The impact alone was enough to crack the ground beneath him.
But when the next few arrows ca, the Ironmasked werewolf spun suddenly, his claws flashing, slashing through the air and breaking the invisible incoming projectiles apart.
Even Luzen’s eyes widened slightly at that.
“Wait!” Innu’s voice rang out. “Don’t kill him, subdue him! Help subdue him!”
Xin and Marie exchanged a quick look.
Both of them were still in their Luna forms, their power surging through their veins, their bodies far from spent. They didn’t know why Innu was insisting they spare this monster... but they trusted him. That was enough.
They lunged forward at the sa ti.
The Ironmasked werewolf swung his claws viciously toward Marie’s stomach, but her moonlit barrier flashed and absorbed the blow, the shockwave rippling harmlessly around her. Xin took a brutal kick to the midsection that forced the air from her lungs, but she dug her claws into the ground and pushed through it, grabbing his leg and yanking it out from under him.
The werewolf crashed to the ground.
Xin pounced instantly, one hand clamping around his throat.
The Ironmasked werewolf thrashed violently, his massive arms flailing. Marie dove in, seizing both of his wrists. She locked her grip with every ounce of her strength as she realized what Xin was doing, choking him out.
He snarled, kicked, struggled... but Xin’s grip only tightened.
Until, at last, his body went limp.
Standing off to the side, Blake watched the scene silently. He was leaning on his swords just to stay upright, his face pale and sweat-soaked, but his eyes stayed locked on the captured werewolf.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t try to speak.
He didn’t even know how to react.
This was tied to him, but right now, he couldn’t understand how or what he was supposed to do.
Innu ran over, his breathing heavy. “Thank you,” he said quickly. “If he gets back up, you’re going to have to subdue him again.”
The Ironmasked werewolf was clearly wounded and drained, yet despite that, his resistance had shown just how powerful the Luna forms were, especially when Xin and Marie worked together like this.
As the tension settled, Luzen gave a sharp command for all remaining Lupus werewolves to gather up behind him.
It was a clear ssage. They were done fighting. They wanted everyone to see their surrender was genuine.
anwhile, the injured mbers of the Howlers were escorted back into the wrecked restaurant. So were limping, others carried. Ergency dical staff had been called, and the distant sound of approaching sirens could now be heard through the broken streets as ambulances rushed toward them.
Soon, all of the surviving core mbers of the Howlers regrouped outside the restaurant.
They stood together, battered and ragged, their bodies aching, but their minds heavy with the sa question.
“Does anyone know what happened to Gary?”
“We just saw him disappear,” Marie answered. “Along with Kai... and Lupus. We have no idea where they are.”
“Then who’s going to talk to the others?” soone asked quietly. “With Kai and Gary gone... who’s left in charge here?”
The words sank like stones.
Realistically, the only ones left who could take that role were Austin or Innu. But neither of them were trusted to make the right choices when it ca to anything outside of fighting.
And so, naturally, all eyes turned to Marie.
“...?” she asked weakly, her voice cracking.
But no one said otherwise.
So she swallowed hard, steeling herself, and they walked together as a unit across the ruined field toward where Luzen stood waiting for them.
Marie wasn’t truly alone, she could feel everyone’s presence behind her, their quiet support at her back, but it still felt like the heaviest walk she had ever taken.
“Now that you’ve surrendered... what do you plan to do?” Marie said finally, her tone hard. “After everything that’s happened here, we can’t just let you go back to Ruin City. Not until we find out what happened to Gary and Kai.”
“We can stay here until then,” Luzen replied calmly. “And we won’t cause any trouble. We know we lost this war.”
He glanced briefly at the destruction around them. “I’m sure we have bigger problems to discuss anyway. Especially with both of our Alphas gone.”
Marie gave a small nod. She could tell he was being honest, but sothing about it still felt uneasy. From his tone, Luzen truly didn’t know what had happened to the three missing Alphas either.
“Hey, we can’t just do this,” Innu said suddenly, his voice tight. “These werewolves betrayed us. They swore they weren’t going to fight us, and then they killed so many of our allies... so many people who had families... friends...”
“It’s the sa for us,” Luzen interrupted firmly.
His eyes were cold, but his voice was steady.
“You can complain about the circumstances all you want, but the fact is, right now, we’ve surrendered. That ans we no longer wish to fight.
“You might have been fine taking our lives when it was for survival... but do you really think your group has it in their hearts to kill those who have no will to fight anymore?”
His words hung in the air. The Howlers fell silent. They were too soft-hearted for that.
Even if none of them said it aloud, Marie knew it was true. Carrying the weight of sothing like that, executing people who had surrendered, would break them, especially when whoever was in charge was only in a temporary role.
“There is a way for you to trust us,” Luzen said at last.
The group tensed as his gaze swept over them.
“The color of all your eyes,” he said. “It ans your Alpha... and ours... are still alive sowhere. But regardless of that, for so reason you have two Lunas standing in front of you.
“You can bring us all over to your pack. We’ll be bound by your pack’s rules. That way, you’ll know we would have no choice but to be loyal to you.”
***
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