The last system ssage left all three of them unsettled.
Up until now, Gary, Kai, and Lupus had assud they were in their real bodies. Everything about the experience felt authentic, their movents, their heightened senses, even the sting of pain when they fought. Nothing had felt like a dream or an illusion. It all worked the way their bodies should, at least sowhat close to what they expected.
So why the warning?
Why would the system go out of its way to tell them that death here was permanent, that this was reality?
“I guess the warning’s there because it’s limited our powers,” Lupus muttered, his eyes scanning the empty landscape around them. “It’s a good thing we clashed earlier. At least now we know what to expect. If there really are other Werewolves here, we can’t assu they’ll be friendly. So might see us as enemies. We’d be fools to get arrogant about our strength.”
“You’re right about that,” Kai said quietly, his fingers brushing his chin as though he was deep in thought.
The three of them stood there for a long mont, their glowing system screens hovering in front of them. Then, almost at the sa ti, they each dismissed the displays. The screens faded from view, leaving only the endless stretch of land before them.
“What now?” Kai asked.
Gary clenched his fists. “We can’t waste ti. Right now, I don’t know what’s happening back in Slough. The Howlers might be in danger, and we’re stuck here with no clue how to return. All we can do is complete these quests as fast as possible. So let’s stop standing around and pick a direction.”
Lupus’s lips pulled back slightly, his sharp teeth flashing. “And you’re fine with tagging along? You’re not worried that, at any mont, I might shove my claws through both of your hearts?”
For a brief second, silence fell. Then Gary frowned.
“I wasn’t thinking that before... but now I am.” His tone was sharp but steady. “Listen, none of us know how this works. Maybe only one of us has to complete the quests. Maybe it’s all of us. Considering we received the sa ssage and were thrown into the sa space, I’m betting we all need to finish it. Which ans, for now, we’re stuck working together whether we like it or not.”
Lupus studied Gary, then gave a low grunt. “Gary, you’re not the only one with sothing to lose. The Werewolves in my pack, they were my family. Do you think I wanted to fight you? Do you think I wanted to see us tearing each other apart? That was never my goal. My heart aches just as much as yours does.”
The honesty in his tone caught Gary off guard. For a second, his anger wavered. He had been harsh with Lupus, harsher than maybe he needed to be. But part of him felt the distrust was still warranted. Lupus had done things Gary could never forgive, and yet here they were, forced into this strange trial together.
“Fine,” Gary muttered. “We’ll put a pin in it for now.”
With no better plan, the three of them picked a random direction and started walking. Their feet pressed into the soft grass as the wind brushed across the vast, empty plains. It gave them ti to think, to talk, and to wonder how they had ended up here in the first place.
“Do you think it could’ve been Unzoku?” Gary asked suddenly. “He was able to do things none of us had ever seen before. He turned Kai into an Alpha. He even controlled you, Lupus, during the attack. Could he be the one behind this?”
Kai shook his head. “I don’t think so. The scale of what’s happening here feels beyond even him. When Unzoku attacked, when he manipulated things, it always seed like he was running out of energy, like he was working within limits. If he had this kind of power, why wouldn’t he just control all of us? Why wouldn’t he turn every Werewolf into an Alpha and make us kill each other?”
He paused, his golden eyes narrowing as he spoke. “No. His actions show he prefers to use the smallest amount of power to create the greatest chaos. Whatever this is... it doesn’t feel chaotic. It feels controlled.”
Lupus gave a single nod, surprisingly agreeing with Kai. Gary said nothing, but deep down, he felt the sa.
As they walked, Gary’s mind churned with thoughts. He raised a hand to his ear out of habit, and froze. His earring was gone. That ant he no longer had access to his hamr. His chest tightened further when he realized sothing else was missing too.
The dallion. The very item that had shone the brightest light before everything went white. The object that had dragged him here in the first place.
“Was it the dallion?” Gary whispered.
Lupus’s head snapped toward him. “A dallion? Did it have an image of a wolf carved into it?”
Gary’s eyes widened. “You know about it? Is that why we’re here?!” His voice rose, his chest heaving as he thought, finally, they might have a lead.
But Lupus shook his head. “I have no idea. All I know is that the Bookkeeper was searching for it for a long ti.”
Gary’s hope dimd as quickly as it had risen. They were back to square one, walking across endless stretches of land with no landmarks, no answers, and no direction.
The plains stretched endlessly, and their feet carried them over hill after hill, their frustration mounting with each step. Were they even in the sa country anymore? Or had the dallion dragged them sowhere else entirely?
Their stomachs began to gnaw with hunger, the emptiness pressing harder the longer they walked. And then, suddenly, Lupus stopped. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air.
“Do you sll that?” he asked, his voice low.
Gary and Kai lifted their heads, sniffing as well. And then both of them froze.
The scent was undeniable. Not animals. Not Werewolves.
“Right...” Gary said slowly, his eyes widening. “It’s humans. It’s other people.”
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