Bluebird didn’t answer his friend straight away. Instead, he sat there, elbows resting on his knees, eyes narrowed as he mulled in his thoughts for a long while. The silence stretched on between the two of them, heavy and uncomfortable, until eventually he let out a slow breath and finally spoke up.
“You’re keeping sothing from ,” Bluebird said. His voice wasn’t accusatory, just weighed down. “The fact that you think fighting against Steven is ant to stop all of this... it seems quite crazy to . Truly, it does.” His brows knitted together. “But at the sa ti, I know what happened to . I know what I went through. And I am one of the Heroes that was part of Dragon’s Revenge... so I can’t disregard it completely.”
He leaned back, looking more tired than Jack had seen in a long ti.
“But you should also know this,” Bluebird continued. “I only got through what I did because of those around . I would have never survived, never overco any of that, if I had been alone. Back then, all of you carried when I couldn’t carry myself.”
His eyes softened.
“So,” he said at last, “I accept your help. But Jack... you should lean on our shoulders a bit more. You shouldn’t try to hold everything inside and walk forward alone. And it’s not just you, this applies to all of us. You don’t need to face this by yourself.”
Jack didn’t tell him why. He didn’t tell him the truth behind his fear, nor what Unzoku had said, nor what he believed was coming. He couldn’t, not yet. Instead, he bowed his head deeply.
“Thank you.”
After leaving Bluebird, the day continued and the pressure on Jack only grew. By midday, he had asked for the Werewolves to gather in the center of their base. The call had been unusual, urgent enough that everyone imdiately stopped what they were doing.
The eting place was the large open square where local shops lined the curved stone paths, wrapping protectively around the flowing fountain in the center. It was a communal area, a place of noise and life, but today the atmosphere was heavy.
Jack stepped out onto his balcony, overlooking the entire gathering. His expression was serious, more serious than most had ever seen it.
“We haven’t had a eting with the entire pack in a long ti,” one of the pack mbers whispered. “Has sothing happened?”
“Is it to do with Bluebird returning yesterday?” another asked. “I heard people saying sothing... strange happened. Sothing big.”
“What did happen?”
“I don’t know. I just know sothing happened.”
Gary, Lupus, and Kai stood among the crowd as well, each looking up with their own expectations and worries. They said nothing, but all three were tense.
Jack glanced to his left. Usually, Galdark would be standing right beside him, but the man had still not returned. He had inford Jack earlier that he would be off searching for a particular soone who might be able to help him, a discreet way of saying he was looking for Lenny Steel.
Jack himself had tried searching for Lenny before but had never been able to conduct a full search. Duties to the pack, to the kingdom, to Lilly... everything held him back. But Galdark was a Werewolf, one of the best trackers among them. If anyone had a chance of finding the man, it would’ve been him.
But even so... he hadn’t made it back.
Jack placed both hands on the railing, letting his voice project across the wide space.
“Everyone, thank you for gathering here today!”
The murmurs died instantly.
“I’m sure you all know that our kind, us Werewolves, are different from others,” Jack continued. “And even we have a history that is hard for us to escape from.”
Faces shifted uneasily. So already sensed what was coming.
“I am afraid,” Jack said slowly, “that due to a decision I have made... the entirety of Bronzeland is now suffering.”
A wave of shock spread through the crowd. Even those closest to Jack had never heard him speak like this, so openly blaming himself.
“Many of you might not understand,” Jack added. “And I’m not asking you to fully understand. But today...” His jaw tightened. “Today, I have decided to march... and go against the other Alpha pack.”
Gasps filled the air. Even the three outsiders reacted strongly.
“So it seems it was going to happen anyway,” Gary muttered under his breath. “Even with Lupus interfering.”
Kai folded his arms. “Which ans whatever happened was tied far deeper than we thought. We couldn’t stop it.”
Although he didn’t say it aloud, Gary’s expression showed his disappointnt. There was no hatred between the packs. They were different, yes, but rivals by circumstance, not by choice. A fight between them would serve no one.
Jack continued speaking.
“Fighting against others who are like us... when we have no hatred for them... I know it will be difficult. I understand if you cannot bring yourself to do it.” His eyes moved across the wolves below. “So if you do not wish to fight, you are free to remain here. I will not hold it against any of you.”
So shoulders sagged in relief. Others stiffened with determination.
“In one hour,” Jack declared, “those who are willing to journey with , to head against the other pack, please et at the front of the North Gate.”
He stepped back, leaving the crowd to whisper and debate among themselves. But no one received more confused looks than Gary, Lupus, and Kai. They understood more than the rest... but still not enough to stop what was coming.
An hour passed quickly, and soon the group gathered outside the gate. Around thirty people stood ready, armored, ard, and silent.
“There’s more here than I thought,” Kai whispered. “I expected maybe ten.”
Gary nodded. “It’s still smaller than Steve’s pack. A lot of people chose not to fight. Can’t bla them. Maybe they just don’t want to go up against Steve.”
“Oh? It’s you three?”
A familiar voice approached from behind. They turned to see Bluebird strolling toward them.
“I’ve been aning to ask how you’ve been doing,” he said casually.
Nearby Werewolves stared wide-eyed as one of the fad Heroes spoke so comfortably with the newcors.
“What are you doing here?” Kai asked bluntly.
“Well, that’s not very nice,” Bluebird joked. “First ti I see you in a while and it’s almost as if you don’t want here.”
Kai didn’t reply.
Bluebird sighed lightly. “I’m here because Jack asked to co. He’s worried he might not be able to do what needs to be done.”
Then his tone shifted, soft, serious.
“But to tell you the truth,” Bluebird continued, “I also wanted to speak with you three. The issue surrounding Jack... the things happening around him... I have a feeling he might be walking down the wrong path. And if he is, then I may need to be the one who steps in.”
His eyes hardened.
“Just like he did for at that ti.”
****
(Notice: I will be at a Webnovel event between the 15th to the 20th of December, during this ti Chapters will be coming out at strange tis and likely one Chapter a day.
There will be a live streaming of the event, so be sure to check it out when you can, on webnovel’s instagram there will be a notice.)
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