The reason everyone imdiately noticed Garlark entering the room was simple, he wasn’t one of them.
Even now, he still belonged to the Lupus pack.
The sight of a wolf from the rival side calmly stepping into the ruined restaurant made several of the Howlers tense up, chairs scraping the ground as they half-rose to their feet, ready to shift if they needed to.
They hadn’t seen him once during the battle. And to appear now, when the war had just ended and their Alpha was missing, set every nerve on edge.
“It’s okay.”
Luzen lifted a hand slowly, his calm voice carrying enough weight to make them hesitate.
“He’s the Werewolves’ Bookkeeper,” he explained. “He does not fight. He does not take sides, even when two Alphas clash against one another.
“His duty is to teach the Alphas the ways of our kind, to preserve our history. He is not here to harm anyone.”
The tension in the air eased slightly.
Even though many of the Howlers were still agitated, Garlark had an aura about him, sothing strangely calming, almost like the presence of a Luna wolf. It seeped through the air and softened the atmosphere, and one by one, they sat back down.
“I was wondering where you went,” Slit muttered from further down the table.
It was the first ti he had spoken. His voice was rough, uneasy, like it scraped out of him. Even though he now stood under the Howlers’ banner, it still felt unnatural for him to speak openly.
“You were right by my side during the battle. I thought you would have gone back to Ruin City.”
Garlark inclined his head slightly.
“I am fully aware that my turning up here, now of all tis, may co as a surprise,” he said evenly.
“I have been doing what all of you are doing, assessing the situation. And while doing so, I also conducted so investigations of my own.”
His eyes swept slowly across the table.
“I think it’s best that I first explain, as Luzen did, what my position is, and the role I play.”
Garlark’s tone was quiet but carried, and the room fell silent as he began.
He told them how long he had been part of the pack. How he had served since the days of Lupus’s rise and even before that, during Dean’s era.
He had guided them both.
Taught them everything about what it ant to be a Werewolf, not just fighting or power, but traditions, the history, the sacred laws of the pack.
The Bookkeeper always remained. He lived beyond Alphas, passing from one generation to the next.
And just as he had once been taught, he too had taken on an apprentice.
That apprentice remained secret. No one knew their na until the ti ca for them to inherit the role. When that day arrived, the Bookkeeper would bring forth the book that held the legacy, and the apprentice would be marked as the next in line.
“The Bookkeeper carries not just the book,” Garlark explained, tapping his temple. “We carry the mories of our predecessors here, in our minds.
“That is why I am called what I am. I record the events of the present and preserve the events of the past.”
There was sothing in the way he spoke, a stillness, like deep water. It wasn’t boastful. It was simply fact.
“Before I suggest anything or tell you what I have learned,” Garlark continued, “I think it is best that you move over to the Howlers’ side.”
Several of them frowned.
“Do it,” he said. “That way, you can be certain the words I speak will be the truth.”
Xin stood slowly.
She hesitated for just a mont, then stepped toward him. Placing her hand gently on the top of his head, she closed her eyes and called on the Luna’s power that now surged within her.
Energy stirred, swirling between them like invisible threads.
Then it sank into Garlark, and just like that, he was part of the Howlers.
When Xin lowered her hand and returned to her seat, sothing strange happened.
A faint shimr rippled over her skin.
The glow that clung to her Luna form began to fade. She blinked, confused, and then gasped as her body shrank back to normal, fur vanishing, claws withdrawing. Her uniform, stretched and torn from the transformation, now hung loosely on her fra.
“Wait...” she said breathlessly. “We... we changed back?”
Marie stared down at her own hands in shock.
She was changing too. The silver gleam of her eyes dimd, and her Luna aura broke apart like mist. In seconds, she was simply Marie again, tattered Howlers uniform and all.
“I thought... I thought we were going to be stuck in that form forever.”
“There is a limit,” Garlark said calmly.
His words drew their eyes back to him.
“To how long the True Forms can last. Just like everything else, when the energy dwindles, you will revert. The passing of energy flows between the two of you, as it did when you first unlocked the form.”
He folded his arms, eyes thoughtful.
“It is believed that the True Alpha is ant to go on an endless rampage, feeding off everything it defeats, replenishing its energy with every life it claims. In that way, it can remain in its form almost indefinitely... as long as it is fighting.
“But if the fighting stops... if there are no more lives to consu... it will fade.”
The room was silent.
“In this case,” Garlark continued, “we can assu the sa thing has happened to the others. Wherever they are, their True Alpha forms must have broken.”
For so reason, the way he said it didn’t sound like re guessing. It sounded like sothing he knew, built on knowledge far older than anything they had.
“I want to suggest a few things,” Garlark went on.
“First, that so of our werewolves return to Ruin City. We need to know what is happening there, and if Lupus or any others appear.”
Xin and Marie exchanged a glance. That made sense.
“Second,” he said, “that all of our spoils of war, the armor, the weapons we used in this battle, be handed over to you.”
Xin blinked, startled.
“You... you’d really give us all that?”
Garlark nodded.
“You are the victors,” he said simply. “It is only right that the strongest among us carry the strongest gear. Now that we are all part of one pack... it should all be used to strengthen that pack.”
Xin let out a soft breath. She hadn’t expected them to give up so much without a fight.
She wasn’t sure if it was just because they were part of the sa pack now... or if they truly respected her and Marie as Lunas.
Either way, it was good news. It would be a massive boost to the Howlers’ strength.
“Now that we have that settled,” Garlark said at last, lowering himself into a seat, “let tell you... about the dallion that was around Gary Dem’s neck.”
****
(Been packing all day. More packing and a train ride tomorrow , uploads will be at all sorts of tis I don’t have internet using Mobile Data.
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