Apollo had done exactly as Ice wished, he had run. But in Apollo’s mind, “running away” wasn’t the right way to describe it. If he thought of it that way, if he admitted he was fleeing, then he never would have left in the first place.
No, he saw it differently. He wasn’t abandoning Ice. He was going to Gary and the others, trying to bring them back, trying to give Ice a fighting chance. Who knew? Maybe the other groups had managed to succeed against the wave of werewolves that had swarmed them. Maybe he could find someone, anyone, to come back and help.
But Apollo hadn’t made it far.
The landscape around him was nothing but endless greenery, the restaurant nowhere in sight. His massive paws pounded the ground as his white-furred Altered form tore forward, but before he could reach anything resembling safety, a shadow dropped in front of him.
The first thing Apollo noticed wasn’t his size or his stance. It was his mouth, slick, wet, crimson. Blood.
‘No... no, it can’t be.’ Apollo’s stomach turned to stone. ‘That blood... around his mouth... I knew this would happen. I left him! I knew, and I still left him!’
Rage ignited inside him, hotter than lightning, colder than ice. His throat burned as he roared, his voice raw and furious, veins bulging along his neck even through his massive Altered body.
“You!” Apollo bellowed, his voice echoing across the empty field. “You couldn’t even let us bury his body! You killed him!”
With both fists, Apollo slammed his hands into the earth. The ground cracked under the sheer force, ice and lightning bursting outward together. A fissure ripped through the field, racing toward Lupus until it reached his legs. In an instant, ice climbed up his feet, freezing them solid.
With a single motion, Lupus lifted his legs, the ice shattering like brittle glass. His expression barely changed, save for a hint of amusement.
“Your powers interest me,” Lupus said, his voice calm but edged with hunger. “And the trait of an Alpha interests me even more. You see, it’s not wise for us to eat just anything we find. Sure, our bodies get stronger. But if the beast is too strong... then it changes us. Alters us in ways that aren’t always predictable.”
He clenched his massive fist, his claws gleaming like blades. With a sudden swing through the air, his claws didn’t just slice empty space, they carved across the ground, dragging power with them.
A split-second later, a massive wall of jagged ice erupted, ripping across the battlefield toward Apollo with devastating speed.
Apollo barely managed to dive aside, the frozen shards tearing into the earth where he had been moments before. His heart pounded as his eyes widened at the massive structure of ice that had been left behind.
“Haha,” Lupus laughed, his voice dripping with dark delight. “What a strong elemental power your friend had. The strongest I’ve ever seen. It looks like he was powerful enough... a mythical beast strong enough to Alter my powers after all.
Through Galark’s teachings, Apollo and the others had learned the truth of the Alpha’s nature. Alphas were not just leaders of packs, they carried within them the ability to take on the properties of powerful beasts from the past, enhancing their forms to terrifying heights.
In ancient times, as the history books told it, the beasts that granted such power had been known as Demon-tier beasts.
But the current world no longer spoke in those terms. The Demon-tier rankings had faded into legend, for such beasts no longer roamed the land. Instead, it was assumed that many of the so-called mythical beasts and certain extraordinary Altered that appeared in the present age were fragments of that same legacy, creatures of terrifying strength that echoed those monsters of the past.
Ordinary werewolves could consume beasts as well, gaining strength from their flesh and blood. Sometimes, if fate allowed, rare mutations would occur. But such gifts were never guaranteed. For an Alpha, however, it was different. For them, it was almost a certainty.
Through trial and error, the werewolves had learned much. They discovered that consuming two powerful beasts was dangerous. The body would reject the second essence, unable to fuse with it permanently. At best, the second beast’s strength could be wielded only temporarily, borrowed power that would eventually burn away.
Which meant that choosing what kind of beast to consume was everything. It defined an Alpha’s evolution, locked them on a path that could never be undone.
During Lupus’s reign, he had fought countless Altered. But most had been weak, or human, or vampires whose blood gave him nothing he needed. He was waiting. Searching. Watching for the moment a true opponent would appear, someone strong enough to be worth devouring. A creature whose power could reshape his own and prepare him to stand against the others.
And when he fought Ice, he found exactly that.
For the first time, someone had held him down. Someone had kept him at bay. The mythical beast inside Ice, the Yeti, was the opponent Lupus had been waiting for.
And in doing so, Lupus’s power had grown far beyond its former limits. Not only did he gain an elemental edge, wielding the frozen strength of the Yeti itself, but something inside him had awakened. A new form. A new depth of strength that had not existed before.
Lupus lifted his hand, flicking his claws outward.
They shot through the air like frozen blades, piercing straight into Apollo’s right leg. Frost spread instantly from the wounds, locking his muscles in place, freezing the limb solid.
Apollo stumbled, his body jerking under the sudden weight of ice.
“You’ll do nicely,” Lupus said with a cold smile. His voice rumbled with cruel satisfaction. “A good opponent for me to master my new powers.”
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