Darius's brown eyes had returned to their reddest color as his wolf ears shot out of his head. The tail had also slipped out of the skin, but it remained tucked inside his trousers. However, his shoes were wrecked open by the clawed toes, as well as the lower half of his trouser legs. His hidden, powerful calves tore them apart, giving him so much speed that he had once grown so proud of.
The pursuers had also let out their werewolf features during the chase. However, they had gone quadrupedal and started gaining on the running father. When Megan, Adrian, and Dylan moved and held onto their dad tightly, Darius managed to duck lower and pick up his pace a lot faster than the rest.
Under the setting sun of that day, the humans all saw how dark blurs flashed by and brought a gust in their wake. Screams echoed all over as the chase went in circles. Darius knew that he couldn't get to the train station at this rate. It's just that… he couldn't outrun them forever.
He just couldn't.
"Daddy, arcade!" Adrian recognized the streets they were running along. He figured that if they cut them loose along the maze-like alleys behind the arcade—where Darius even lost Megan once; they might have a chance. The eldest moved to get on his father's back as if readying to help him lose the pursuers.
"Hang on tighter!" Darius roared in his werewolf voice before breaking through the gate that sealed off the alleyways outside the arcade. When they stepped inside, the strong stench of garbage and whatnot completely disabled Darius's nose.
The werewolves on their tail entered the alleyway without a care, but they shrieked at the foulness of the place. However, they continued their pursuit as long as they had the four targets in their sight.
When a few more of them arrived a couple of meters behind Darius, Adrian reached into his own bag and single-handedly opened the zipper. He grabbed his crayons and crushed them in his fist before throwing them at the pursuers. Some werewolves got the bits in their eyes, causing them to stop and howl at the pain. The ones behind them run into the ones who stopped.
Adrian had a smug grin on his face, but he saw how many of them were indeed running after their father. He had no idea what their father had done, but he wouldn't let them catch their father—no matter what.
"Adrian, hold tighter!" Darius made a sharp turn, making Adrian latch on to his daddy with his sharp claws. When Darius felt it, he knew that the rush of the escape was waking up their blood more and more. However, he couldn't stop until the pursuers were gone.
"Darius Walker, stop!"
A roar came from the side, and a big werewolf jumped at them from the roof. Darius couldn't take another quick turn, or else he would smash against the wall. He could handle the hit, but the pups sure wouldn't. At the speed he was taking, there was no miracle.
It's just that when the werewolf was close enough, Dylan's green eyes flashed again. An invisible wall slapped against the werewolf, and it was so hard that the werewolf was like hit by a truck. Bones cracked, and blood splattered when the poor body was thrown away by the force of the collision. The werewolf volleyed away, causing the other pursuers to howl.
Darius was caught off-guard by that one, so he forgot to keep his eyes on the path they were taking. When Megan screamed, Darius crashed against the wall up ahead. He had thrown Dylan and Megan forward to keep them from getting crushed. Adrian had hopped off as well, catching the two.
"You can't go any further than this…" The lead pursuer slowed down and had everyone else surround the place. He then got bipedal to take a few steps closer. "Come with us quietly, and your life will be…"
"I don't believe you…" Darius spoke as he moved from underneath the broken cement. He pulled his body out of the hole he made, leaving the huge backpack under the rubble. The father then crouched down, assuming more of his werewolf features. In addition to the ears and claws, his face had already contorted to sport the huge teeth he had long hidden.
The lead pursuer got back into a quadrupedal stance as well. It seemed that Darius wouldn't give in until he was either knocked out or dead. As for the children, they were pretty much unconscious from the push, aside from the eldest who was hugging his siblings close to him.
In a cue from their mind link, the pursuers all attacked. A dozen werewolves against one was not a good situation, but they didn't seem to remember something very important: Darius was an Alpha.
Darius's red eyes flashed, and his body shot out as if a bullet. He had hit the werewolves faster than they could even move their bodies. Perhaps they could see him, but they were incapable of evading the incoming attack. Blood spurted from the wounds he carved onto the pursuers, decorating the walls and ground of the alley. The bloodthirsty Alpha was unleashed, decimating the pursuers.
"Dammit, he's too strong." One werewolf hissed and soon noticed the three children. He glared in their direction before charging in for an assault. Maybe, if they got an advantage, the father would stand down and be obedient.
"Adrian!" Darius caught the insolent one's action, but he was busy tearing down around a dozen other werewolves. He wouldn't be able to make it in time.
That was when they all witnessed how the little boy's eyes flashed in blood-red and momentarily ceased movement of everyone in the area against their will. Perhaps they were only aware of the pause because they had the blood of another race. Darius didn't even know what kind of ability this was.
Adrian suddenly used his hand, whose nails sharpened into claws. In one slap, the insolent werewolf was thrown away. However, what was a kid's body tolerance to a smack like that. Adrian didn't know if his arm was busted, but he cried out in pain. It also canceled the momentary pause that they all experienced.
At this, the remaining eleven werewolves… decided to attack the children. They were too strong to be left alone.
"I'm coming!" Darius shot toward them before any of the eleven werewolves could. The father grabbed the three before using his powerful legs to jump and land on the vertical wall. He then shot out again to escape through the end of the alleyway. The light of the streetside was there again, and he was so ready to run for another chase again.
However, one werewolf jumped on his back and made him crash to the ground. He threw the three children out one more time, and they rolled into the streets, shocking the humans walking by.
When Dylan woke up from the throw, he stared at a rushing car headed their way.