"Dalin Ravencourt. No wonder a rare beauty and talent like you would be here," Adyr said, completely ignoring Cole. He gave a slight bow, placing his right hand over his chest in a gesture that mirrored a proper gentleman’s greeting.
Dalin looked every bit the arrogant young noble—fiery red hair, matching eyes, and sharp features that made her seem fierce yet oddly charming. She had the kind of presence that made her superiority feel natural, almost earned. Just one look, and it was easy to believe she belonged above others.
Her expression softened slightly at Adyr’s greeting. She turned to Cole and said, "Is this the guy you were talking about? He doesn’t seem that bad."
Cole’s eye twitched at her words. Trying to steady his voice, he forced a smile. "Don’t let the sweet talk fool you. He’s a nobody—always flirting with every girl he sees, trying to climb his way up by playing the victim."
Then, smirking, he gestured at Adyr’s clothes. "Just look at him. Still wearing that university uniform everywhere. What kind of loser does that?"
With those words, the distant look returned to Dalin’s face. Elegance was what she valued most, and aside from Adyr’s posture and words, nothing about him seed elegant.
"Hmph. I almost let Selina’s lapdog fool ," Dalin said with disdain. "Soone like you doesn’t belong here." Her voice turned sharp.
Cole, sensing the shift, grinned with satisfaction.
Adyr, unfazed, gave a casual shrug and laughed. "You’re right. Then this dog will take his leave. See you around." He turned and began walking toward the elevator.
"You what?" Dalin blinked, montarily thrown off. She couldn’t tell if he had just insulted himself or was playing with them.
But Cole wasn’t going to let him walk away that easily. He grabbed Adyr’s shoulder and yanked him to a stop. "You little shit, you’re not going anywhere until we say so."
Adyr halted under the pressure. Cole was a mutant, and his grip strength alone was easily twice what Adyr could manage right now. Judging by his posture, he’d made so progress in the ga, too—stronger than before.
But Adyr didn’t care about the power gap. He had no ti to waste on aningless drama.
Slowly, he turned his head. The smile from monts ago had vanished. In its place was a blank, unreadable expression.
He looked Cole in the eyes, deep, endless black eyes that gave away nothing, and spoke calmly, "You tired of your life or sothing?"
Cole froze.
Adyr looked weaker and much shorter than him. Just by appearances, anyone would’ve said Cole had already won the dominance ga. But what he felt in that mont wasn’t just intimidation—it was sothing primal.
His instincts surged. Every part of him scread that whatever he was touching wasn’t human.
For a brief mont, Cole tried to dismiss the fear as irrational. But without realizing it, his hand had already let go.
He didn’t know what kind of wild animal he had grabbed, but his instincts did. The thing standing in front of him, staring straight into his soul, wasn’t just dangerous.
It was a forr serial killer who had taken hundreds of lives. And compared to him, wild beasts were ta.
"Woof!" Adyr barked suddenly at the pale-faced Cole, making him flinch and stumble back in fear.
Then, laughing out loud at his reaction, he turned his back and walked away, hands in his pockets.
Everyone stood frozen, stunned—except for one.
Dalin. A faint blush touched her cheeks, her eyes lit with excitent. She looked like a child who had just found a long-lost, cherished toy.
—
When Adyr got ho, he inford his sister Niva about the updates regarding their mother and that she might return later than expected.
Though Niva tried to hide her worries, Adyr noticed them, and it unsettled him.
He wasn’t used to this. He disliked anything that felt out of control. When he ca ho, he wanted stability. It didn’t matter if it was monotonous; what mattered was that nothing caught him off guard and everything stayed in its place.
But that night, sleep escaped him. Nightmares he hadn’t seen in a long ti clawed their way back from the past and haunted him until morning.
By the ti the sun rose, his mood was at its worst in years. Still, he masked it with practiced ease and left for headquarters.
After the usual routine—checking the forums for new threads and updates, finding nothing of value—he headed to the playroom and logged into the ga.
Today, he planned to take out his frustration on a few unlucky wolves.
—
He opened his eyes to the quiet chatter of the villagers.
As usual, Vesha was at the center of it all, addressing their concerns with calm confidence. But the mont she saw Adyr wake, she hurried to his side.
"How do you feel? Did you get enough rest?" She asked, though there was a subtle shift in her tone, like she had sensed sothing off in him.
"Yeah, I’m fine. Ready to go," Adyr said with a smile, masking his restlessness a little more tightly.
Before heading out, Adyr decided to eat the breakfast they had prepared. This ti, he didn’t need to call over the children who had been watching him—they ca on their own and joined him around the al laid out on the floor.
He let them stay as he ate and chatted with them. Their presence, though small, helped push back his worries and quiet the constant paranoia, if only for a while.
Seeing him relaxed in their company, the other villagers didn’t interrupt.
Once he had eaten and felt ready, Adyr left the shelter to the soft murmur of whispered prayers.
This ti, no eyes followed him with doubt. The prayers weren’t just for his safe return but for his triumph. They already believed he had what it took to wipe out the wolves.
—
"There’s not much ti before the hunter pack leaves the cave," Adyr murmured, sitting on a high tree branch as he observed the cave’s entrances.
While watching them yesterday, he had paid close attention to the stronger wolves—the ones that left with the alpha for a few hours to hunt before returning. He was waiting for that exact mont to make his move.
"Today, I’m not logging off without taking a few lives with my own hands," he muttered, his eyes darkening as he continued to watch the cave in silence.
Reviews
All reviews (0)