The three of them that were picked were just as surprised as everyone else present. For a brief mont, there was a silence that felt heavier than the tension already hanging in the air. The words Steve had spoken still echoed, not because of their volu, but because of their aning. Out of all those gathered, out of two full packs facing one another, it was them who had been chosen.
They had travelled with Jack’s pack. Fought alongside them. Walked among them. Yet now, in front of both forces, they were being singled out.
At first, so believed it was a mistake.
A provocation, perhaps. A way to shake Jack’s side, to stir emotions before the battle began. That was often how conflicts started, small words, deliberate insults, monts ant to provoke rash decisions. Yet the more people looked at the three standing there, the harder it was to dismiss what Steve had done as accidental.
There were two reasons it felt far too deliberate.
First, all three had joined at the sa ti. They had arrived together, moved together, and even now stood shoulder to shoulder. Second, there was sothing else, sothing that set them apart from the rest of Jack’s pack. Sothing Steve had clearly noticed.
Their eyes.
They were different. Not hostile, not weak, but lacking the sa belonging the others carried so naturally. They were not bound by pack in the sa way. Not yet.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked, his voice low, a restrained growl vibrating beneath his words. “You expect those in the sa group to fight against each other? That proves nothing.”
Jack stepped forward slightly, his presence alone causing several of Steve’s pack to tense. The weapons on his back shifted with the movent, heavy and unmistakable. His gaze never left Steve, but there was a flicker of sothing else behind his eyes, confusion, perhaps even disbelief.
Jack had been suspicious of the three when they first arrived. He would be lying if he claid otherwise. Yet sothing had changed since then. Sothing important.
Lilly.
She had spoken highly of Lupus. Repeatedly. With sincerity. Jack trusted her instincts more than his own, and Lupus had proven himself when it mattered most. Jack owed him his wife’s safety. That alone made the idea unbearable.
“I’m not selecting them at random,” Steve replied calmly, folding his arms. His voice lacked anger, yet it carried weight. “Look at their eyes. They are not officially part of your pack. The three of them are Ogas, are they not?”
A murmur spread through both sides.
“So doesn’t that an,” Steve continued, unbothered by the reaction, “that they are free to fight on our behalf? There’s no rule saying they must stand with you.”
“Why don’t you choose three of your own?” one of Jack’s pack snapped. “Or is your pack really so weak that you need outsiders to fight for you?”
Jack raised his hand imdiately, silencing the voices behind him.
“Enough,” he said. Then, turning back to Steve, his tone hardened. “They may be Ogas, but we accept them here. We don’t force loyalty. They chose to stand with us. That’s all that matters.”
Steve tilted his head slightly, studying the three once more. There was no malice in his gaze, only calculation.
“Really?” he asked. “If they are Ogas, then they are still free to choose. So why don’t we let them decide?”
The mont the words left Steve’s mouth, sothing changed.
The world around the three of them seed to fade, just slightly. Not enough for others to notice, but enough for them to feel it. A familiar sensation washed over them, cold, chanical, unavoidable.
A system screen appeared.
[Choose one of the Alpha Pack’s side.]
It was clear. Direct. Unforgiving.
‘Damn it...’ Gary scread internally.
His heart pounded as his eyes darted across the words. This wasn’t subtle. This wasn’t a suggestion. This was the system forcing their hand, here, now, in front of everyone.
Kai’s hands lifted instinctively, fingers digging into his hair as if that might sohow shake the thoughts from his mind.
“This isn’t canon,” he muttered under his breath. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. This decision shouldn’t be happening like this.”
His thoughts spiralled rapidly.
‘Is this appearing because we interfered too much already? Because we saved Lilly? Because we stepped where we weren’t ant to?’
“If we join now,” Kai continued quietly, his voice strained, “we’re fully involved. There’s no stepping back after this. And we still don’t know what the dallion, or the system, is trying to show us.”
“Or,” Lupus said slowly, “this was always going to happen.”
Both of them turned to him.
“The quest never failed,” Lupus went on. “No matter what we did. It kept guiding us here. Maybe no matter what choices we made, it was always leading us to this mont.”
That thought had been growing in Lupus’s mind for so ti. Certain events didn’t add up. Jack’s rage. Steve’s readiness. The timing of everything. If Lilly had died, this outco made sense. But she hadn’t.
So why was this happening?
It almost felt as though the world itself was bending events toward this confrontation, forcing both Alphas toward conflict regardless of interference.
Maybe Lupus was just trying to justify his actions. Maybe it was easier to believe they hadn’t changed anything at all.
Kai, anwhile, looked like he was on the verge of losing his mind.
“Fine,” Jack said, his voice cutting through the tension. “I’ll accept that.”
He turned his full attention to the three of them now.
“What will you do?” he asked. “Will you fight for Steve?”
Every eye was on them.
The murmuring stopped. Even the forest seed still.
Gary swallowed. His thoughts raced, but one thing stood out above all else, the reason he had co here in the first place.
Less blood.
That was always the goal.
They already knew the truth. Vampires were involved. Unzoku was manipulating events. The cause was clear enough. Whatever lesson remained, it wasn’t going to be learned through slaughter.
The duel was inevitable now. But choosing the side that would minimize loss, that still mattered.
Lupus and Kai both turned to Gary.
It was his decision.
“I want to choose the option that causes the least amount of bloodshed,” Gary said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
Steve had tried to talk. Jack hadn’t. Steve had proposed a duel to prevent war. Jack had arrived ready to fight.
Gary lifted his head.
“We will fight for Steve and his pack,” he said.
The words landed heavily, sending a ripple through both sides.
Jack’s eyes widened.
Steve’s expression, however, barely changed, though there was sothing there. Relief, perhaps. Or confirmation.
The system screen vanished.
****
*****
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