Chapter 1376: Howlers Fall Apart (Part 1)
There were multiple signs, subtle, yet undeniable, that something had gone wrong.
The first red flag: Kai was no longer showing in the system. That alone was enough to make Gary’s stomach twist.
Then there was the air around him. When Gary had gotten close to Kai, there had been a strange scent, something off, something irritating. It wasn’t just the smell; it was a feeling, like his instincts were trying to scream at him that something was wrong. But Gary had pushed it all down. He buried every red flag, every gut instinct, because… in that moment, he was just relieved.
Relieved that Kai was still alive.
He had approached him with hope, looked him straight in the eyes, and the moment he did, Gary knew.
“…Unzoku,” Gary muttered, his voice low but steady, never breaking eye contact.
“Right,” Kai replied, his voice filled with bitterness. “It was Unzoku. He did this to me… he made me into this!”
The others in the group could hear pieces of the conversation, shouted fragments carried through the air, but they didn’t dare move closer. They stood frozen, trying to process what little they understood.
“It doesn’t matter, Kai,” Gary said, his voice now louder. “What matters more than anything is that you’re alive. While you’re alive… we can figure this out. We can fix this!”
“How?!” Kai shouted, standing up abruptly.
He swung his hand, and though it barely grazed Gary’s arm, it startled him. There was no force behind it, no intent to harm, but Kai recoiled instantly. He looked down at Gary’s hand, then back at his own trembling one, and backed away as if afraid of himself.
That’s when they saw it.
Kai’s eyes, burning red, were now clearly visible.
Some of the students didn’t understand what it meant. But others did.
Midwak, standing in the search group, narrowed his eyes. He had seen that look before.
“He’s been made into another Alpha…” Midwak mumbled under his breath.
He hadn’t meant to say it loud. But with superior hearing, others around him heard every word, including Kai.
Kai flinched. His hands shot up to cover his ears as if trying to shut the truth out.
“No… No. No!” Kai cried out. “Look at the situation! How are we supposed to fix this?! Things are already changing, and it’s only been a few minutes!”
He shuffled backward, step by step.
“I’m not part of the pack anymore. I’m not a Howler!” he shouted, and with that, he ran.
He bolted deeper into the forest, his body already shifting. Muscles elongated, bones cracked, fur burst across his skin, Kai was transforming into his wolf form as he disappeared into the trees.
Gary reacted instantly.
Without hesitation, he transformed too. His body erupted into its powerful wolf form, and he chased after him at full speed.
But something became clear very quickly, Kai was fast. Incredibly fast.
Maybe even faster than Gary in his fully transformed state.
“KAI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Gary yelled as he pushed through branches and shadows. “You can’t just run away from your problems! Every challenge we’ve faced, we’ve faced together! We solved it, together! This is no different!”
Kai could hear him. Of course he could. But every word Gary shouted cut deeper, not physically, but emotionally.
The truth was… when Unzoku had changed Kai, it had all happened so suddenly. Right outside the battlefield. A strange, overwhelming energy had engulfed him, and he hadn’t even had time to fight back.
And by the time Kai came to… Unzoku was gone. Vanished without a trace.
Now, as he ran, Unzoku’s final words played on repeat in his head. And suddenly, things began to make sense.
Unzoku’s true target hadn’t been Gary, it had always been Kai.
How could Unzoku enforce his twisted will on the Howlers? How could he create chaos with the least effort but the greatest effect?
By creating another Alpha.
The laws of the Werewolves were absolute. There could only be one Alpha. And now, in the most crucial moment, there were two.
And Kai… he didn’t believe the Howlers could survive that.
So he did the only thing he could think of.
Unzoku hadn’t dragged him into the forest. Kai had run there himself.
But even as he ran, there was something he didn’t understand, why did he stop?
Why hadn’t he kept running? Why didn’t he disappear so far that no one could ever find him?
Maybe… a part of him wanted to be found.
Maybe he just couldn’t let go of everything, the people, the memories, the bond.
Maybe, deep down… he hoped things could still work out.
But the moment he saw Gary’s face again, that fragile hope shattered. His fear came rushing back.
And this, this chase, was the result.
“I won’t let you run away!” Gary shouted, the moonlight empowering his form. His energy surged, Lethal Pounceactivated.
His body sprang through the trees, bouncing between trunks like a streak of darkness. Once. Twice. Again.
He zigzagged through the forest, using Lethal Pounce repeatedly, until he finally crashed into Kai, tackling him mid-run.
The two of them tumbled violently across the forest floor, rolling through leaves and dirt until the momentum died down.
Both reverted back into their human forms mid-fall, Gary landing on top, knees pinning Kai’s arms down against the ground.
They weren’t tired… but they were breathing hard.
Panting from adrenaline, from tension, from everything.
They didn’t speak at first. They just stared at each other.
Moments later, the others arrived, catching up and halting a few meters away. None dared get closer. They simply stared, frozen, at the scene before them.
Then… the silence broke.
Tears fell from Kai’s eyes, sliding down his cheeks.
“What am I supposed to do, Gary?” he sobbed, voice barely holding together. “What am I meant to do?”
“I can’t… I can’t be the reason the Howlers fall apart. I can’t be the one who destroys everything we’ve built…”
His words cut through the forest like a blade.
And everyone there felt it, truly felt his pain.
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