“Ha!” Innu burst out laughing from the other side of the table, his voice sharp with disbelief. “Are you trying to make a joke or sothing? What do you an, spread the word that we won the war? That’s what actually happened!
“You’re making it sound like we were the ones that lost.”
The sound echoed through the broken restaurant, where cracked glass still crunched under boots and the sll of smoke lingered faintly in the air. The surviving core mbers of the Howlers had gathered at the long table, and though exhaustion weighed on every one of them, the tension in the room kept them awake.
Across from Innu, Luzen’s expression didn’t shift. That thin smile stayed fixed to his face as his cold eyes moved from Innu, to Xin, and then to Marie.
“I’m wondering,” Luzen said smoothly, “do you frequently do sparring among each other in your pack... or your group? If you do, I would be happy to go against him again any ti. It was a joy to fight him.”
The words were calm, almost too calm, but the weight behind them made Innu’s mouth go dry.
He rembered their fight vividly. The sheer power behind Luzen’s attacks. The way every clash had rattled his bones and forced him to fight with everything he had. The only reason he had managed to win was because he had used the environnt, forcing Luzen into tight spaces where he couldn’t move freely.
To face him head-on again? No. That wasn’t sothing Innu wanted to experience ever again.
“Can you explain exactly what you an by spreading the word?” Marie asked, her tone cautious.
Luzen turned his gaze on her, folding his hands together. “What I’m saying is this: the vampires are masters at gathering information. They have networks buried in every city, and they can learn what happens anywhere, if given the ti.”
He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping low.
“This fight... it was between the two of our packs. That ans it would have been difficult for the vampires to get close or observe much. And that is why we need to get ahead of them. Spread the word that the Howlers won, and make it sound like it was with ease.
“They will eventually learn you’ve won, but if we make it appear as though you erged stronger than ever, they will hesitate to act. Fear will slow them down.”
Marie and Xin exchanged a glance.
It made sense. If the vampires were going to attack, the perfect ti would have been right after the clash of the Alphas. They weren’t even hiding the fact that they had left Gary to face Lupus alone, that was the entire point of the battle.
If the vampires learned that all three Alphas were gone now...
“It’s not just the vampires we have to worry about,” Apollo cut in, his deep voice firm. “Don’t we still have to worry about Unzoku? He’s been causing us problems nonstop. If he sees this as a failure, he could co back.”
“Wait,” Olivia said, her brows knitting. “What if Unzoku was the one who caused the three of them to go missing in the first place?
“If he has the power to restrict Gary... and the power to turn Kai into an Alpha... then maybe he was the one who made them disappear.”
The room went quiet at her words. It was an angle that none of them wanted to admit, but one that made far too much sense to ignore.
“Wait...” Luzen said suddenly, his sharp eyes narrowing. “Soone turned one of your mbers into an Alpha? It wasn’t sothing that happened naturally?”
Midwak gave a short nod, his tone grim. “Has your side not dealt with him? He’s a man who calls himself the First Werewolf.”
Luzen went silent, his face unreadable as he processed that. For a mont, it looked like the very na stirred sothing buried deep within his mind.
But then, slowly, he shook his head.
“I can’t say I’ve heard of him before. I’m not even sure if there’s any record of him from the Bookkeeper either.”
“What?” Park blurted, eyes wide.
It wasn’t just him, every Howler around the table stared in disbelief.
Unzoku was beyond powerful, sothing greater than an Alpha. He was ancient, older than any of them, maybe older than the entire Werewolf race as they knew it. How could Lupus’s side, who had centuries of history and bloodlines steeped in tradition, not even know his na?
“Are you sure you’ve never seen him?” Midwak pressed, his voice low and heavy. “We have a few guesses.
“When performing the Ritual, we believe Unzoku is the one the werewolves unknowingly vow themselves to. Lupus made that vow too, so there’s no doubt they had so form of contact.”
Midwak’s eyes darkened.
“Before the fight with you, Lupus ca to us, not once, but twice. First for Gary. When that failed, he ca for Kai, the Shapeshifter Alpha you saw.
“To force the werewolves to clash against each other. That was his plan. So if anyone would have spoken to Lupus... it would have been Unzoku.”
That was when Luzen’s expression flickered. Sothing clicked in his mind.
“Wait...” he murmured. “You might be right.”
He lifted his gaze, his calm tone gone for the first ti.
“There was an attack on the castle. A large part of it was destroyed. So said it was just Lupus training, but... it didn’t seem that way. It didn’t seem that way at all.
“And more importantly... it was after that attack that Lupus changed. Suddenly, without warning, he declared he was going to march on the Howlers. It was... such a sudden change of heart.”
A heavy silence fell.
Many of them wanted to dismiss it, to say Luzen was just searching for a scapegoat. But no... he wouldn’t lie now. Not here.
Right now, Luzen stood in front of the people he now considered his Lunas. He was bound to them by pack instinct, by sothing even deeper than loyalty.
If he said it... he truly believed it.
“This is a big problem,” Austin muttered finally, running a hand through his hair. “We can keep things quiet for a while, but without Kai, Lupus, or Gary... when the vampires learn they’re gone, or if Unzoku wasn’t the one who took them, then we’ll be in big trouble.”
“Our next step has to be to find out what happened to them,” Marie said. Her voice soft.
“Do you have any ideas?” she asked, turning to Luzen.
He only shook his head.
Everyone sat in still silence, their minds racing.
Then, all at once, their heightened senses caught it, the faint sound of soft footsteps crunching across broken glass.
A shadow moved through the doorway of the ruined restaurant.
“I think...” a calm, gravelly voice said, “I might be able to help with that.”
Garlark, the Bookkeeper, stepped into the room.
****
Author’s Note
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