Jayden's body trembled in the presence of the superior Werewolf, and it reacted.
His eyes glowed a deep gold, something that surprised the trio of those who had seen his Werewolf form before.
Jayden went on for a punch, but Ethan casually dodged it and threw a jab of his own, forcing the breath out of Jayden and sending him to the ground.
"I have to thank you, Jayden." Ethan laughed. "If not for you, I would never have met him. And I wouldnt be standing before you now, stronger than you."
Ethan's words confirmed the thoughts of Aiden and Austin, and this scared them to the core.
Jayden got up again, but wobbled and fell again.
Ethan lifted an eyebrow, "Even though you're an Omega, you shouldn't be that weak?"
Jayden was cursing internally, 'Damn it! How am I supposed to beat him in this weakened state!?'
Jayden forced himself to his feet, and ran to Ethan, fist thrown with speed so slow Ethan diudn't bother to dodge.
Aiden realized something. 'On the full moon he was stronger than this, but now there's no trace of the power he possessed. Could it be that unlike other Werewolves, he relies on the Moon's energy?'
Aiden pondered while Jayden was being pummeled to the ground by Ethan.
"This is getting boring, Greystone! To think I had high hopes for you."
Jayden racked his brain, thinking of a way to beat his unbeatable foe.
'Come on, think!!'
Aiden asked Austin, "What's the common factor amongst all Werewolves?"
"Uh, they have a short temper?"
Aiden smiled and proceeded to insult Austin.
Soon after, they were arguing and cursing, much to the surprise of Ethan, the dismay of Maya, and the annoyance of Jayden.
'What are those two idiots doing?' Then he saw Ethan's attention had turned to them, an amused expression on his face.
Ethan was slightly chuckling by now, and turned to face Jayden, when he noticed Jayden wasn't there.
"Argh!!!!!' He yelled as a sharp object lodged itself into his thigh.
'Hmm, the hairpin worked!!'
Jayden had felt bad for stealing Hayley's pin, but at least it served a purpose, right?
Ethan yelled, " You're gonna pay for that, bastard!"
Aiden smiled, "Not what I was expecting, but it works."
Ethan stumbled forward, and held the back of his head in pain.
He turned around. "Where's that son of a...."
His knee snapped from the pain, and so did Jayden's baton, courtesy of Gary.
In seconds, the sound had healed, and Ethan glared at Jayden, his eyes glowing a brighter blue than before.
Suddenly, Jayden couldn't see Ethan anymore, and instantly felt an acute pain in his shoulder.
It had been dislocated.
The sound of bones breaking could be heard as Jayden fell to the ground with a twisted knee.
Ethan appeared in front of him and said, "You were boring, Jayden. I hope your friends are more entertaining."
Jayden said in a low voice, "Don't you dare!"
"Watch me," Ethan replied, as he appeared in front of Aiden, grabbing him by the throat.
Aiden started feeling lightheaded as Ethan slowly squezzed the life out of him.
Austin ran forward, and Ethan met his fist with his free hand, grabbing onto it and sending him hurtling towards the ground.
Jayden felt powerless, seeing his friends being brutalized by this monster.
'I failed, I always failed. I can't protect them, why!!!?'
Anger bubbled in his chest, and he felt something come from within.
The anger turned to rage, his body seemingly responding to his thoughts, as bloodlust overcame him.
The dim glow of his deep golden eyes brightened, as claws elongated from his nails, and his canines turned to fangs.
'Dark Moon or not, that won't stop me!!!'
Aiden was passing out, his consciousness slipping away, when he found himself on the ground.
He gasped for air, and looked around, disoriented.
He heard a voice say to him, "Aiden, take them and run."
He looked up and saw Jayden standing there, his eyes alternating between bright gold and light brown.
His fangs were smaller than last time, and so were his claws. It was clear that he was forcing his body to shift.
Aiden heeded the advice and picked up Maya, who was so terrified she couldn't move, and Austin, who had a broken forearm.
Maya screamed and wailed as Aiden pulled her to the car.
She looked at Jayden with tears in her eyes, causing his anger to diminish.
"Aiden, now! I can't hold on!" Jayden mustered the power he had to hurl himself towards Ethan and threw a fist.
Ethan, who was struggling with his ears due to Maya's scream, was caught off guard by the punch.
Blood trickled down his lip and he smiled. "Let's get started."
He released a flurry of punches on Jayden, who couldnt avoid any of them.
"Let me go!!!" Maya yelled in anger as she hit Aiden on the shin, breaking out of his grip.
Her anger seemed to fill the air, and Jayden's body reacted to her presence.
He looked down, and seconds later, looked up smiling, a large fanged grin.
He lunged forward with a newfound burst of speed, catching Ethan off guard again.
Jayden's claws elongated further as he slashed Ethan's chest and shoulder, drawing blood.
The tables had turned, Jayden now being on the upper hand.
Maya felt happy inside, seeing Jayden was overpowering Ethan, her anger gone.
Jayden didn't need it anymore, he was angry enough to keep his form.
Ethan was on his knee, bleeding profusely.
Jayden threw a fist that contained all his power, but it was stopped in its tracks.
Ethan smiled. "That was a spectacular display, I certainly didn't expect that. But, there is still a clear difference between me and you."
He slowly started to crush Jayden's fingers as he got up.
"I noticed you couldn't get angry enough to shift. What's holding you back, huh?"
He kicked Jayden in the stomach, but didn't let him fall.
"That day, I could feel your rage in the air, that bloodlust. Where has it gone?!"
He broke Jayden's arm, and Jayden roared in pain.
"I was afraid of you that day on the field. Your eyes showing how much you wanted to rip me apart. Look at you now, weak and helpless. Could it be that you're weak because there's no Moon?"
Ethan laughed mockingly. "Pathetic. You don't even deserve to be called a Werewolf. This power is wasted on you."
Ethan broke all the limbs in Jayden's body, and slashes him with his claws all over his torso.
"Let me show you the true essence of being a Werewolf!"
He sank his claws into Jayden's stomach, and clenched his fist.
He lifted him into the air, smiling as Jayden's blood escaped his lips, dyeing his teeth red.
"You call yourself a Greystone, Prince of the City, when you are this weak!?"
He hurled Jayden to the ground.
"This is the difference in power, Jayden. I am a Beta, while you are, and always will be, an Omega, the lowest in rank, the weakest of all Werewolves."
Jayden listened to all this in pain.
'Is he....right? What's the point of being a Werewolf if my power only shows when there's a Moon? I am weak, pathetically weak!! '
He tried to rise, but he had lost a lot of blood, sending him back down.
'Power goes to the one the blame finger is pointed at. I am at fault for being weak, so what should I do?'
Jayden summoned all the willpower he had to say, "I.....am.....not.....weak!!"
He said these words with conviction, meaning every word he said.
"You're right, I am pathetically weak, probably the weakest out there. There is an immeasurable gap between us, but there's one thing I have that you don't."
Ethan smiled and asked, "What could that be?"
"Willpower."
Jayden forced himself to stand, a strange feeling welling up from inside him.
He raised his head to look at Ethan, and the Beta Werewolf stared in shock.
"No....impossible....how could that be!??' He stuttered in disbelief.
For Jayden's eyes had changed. Instead of the bright gold color his eyes usually had, they were a mixture of gold and a faint blue color.
Jayden's body started to regenerate rapidly, as Ethan felt something being drawn out of him.
" As long as I breathe, I will do everything in my power to fight back!!"
Fur began to grow from Jayden's body, as he transformed into his Grey Werewolf form.
Ethan suddenly found himself with a deep gash on his chest, his bones broken.
He was rammed from the side into a tree, and instinctively jumped to the side, evading a clawed hand that left a deep gash in the wood.
The fear Ethan felt before had returned. Jayden was that rage filled monster that had nearly killed him before once again.
Ethan might have changed, but one thing didn't, and that was his character.
He was a coward.
Jayden roared, the terrifying sound reverberating throughout the park and slightly beyond.
Ethan backed off slowly till he hit something hard and fell.
Jayden loped towards him, baring his fangs, when he fell all of a sudden.
Jayden's body started to revert back to his human form, and Ethan took that chance to vanish.
Aiden and Austin ran to their friend, and picked him up.
He was cold, but breathing lightly.
Before they could get to him, however, lights flashed from behind them, and a voice boomed out,
"What the hell happened here!!?"
Aiden, Maya and Austin paled. Of all people to show up, this was the last one they wanted to see.
It was Gary.