### **Chapter 3: The Binding of the Werewolf System**
Jason awoke slowly, his senses dulled by the lingering effects of the brutal beating he had endured. As he blinked into the darkness, he realized with a start that the pain that had wracked his body was gone. Confusion swept through him as he sat up, his hands instinctively running over his torso, searching for the bruises and cuts that should have been there. But there was nothing. His skin was smooth, unmarred, as if the violence from earlier had never happened.
He struggled to his feet, his heart pounding as he tried to make sense of his situation. The alley where Kevin had left him was empty, the night air cold against his skin. Jason's mind raced, his thoughts swirling in a chaotic mix of fear, confusion, and anger. His eyes were drawn to his neck, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized that the locket—his wolf locket—was missing.
Panic surged through him as he frantically searched the ground, his fingers scraping against the rough pavement. The locket was the last gift from his parents, the only tangible connection he had left to them. Losing it was unthinkable. He scoured the area, overturning debris, his desperation growing with every second that passed. But no matter how hard he searched, the locket was nowhere to be found.
Grief overtook him, a heavy, suffocating weight that pressed down on his chest. The loss of the locket felt like the final straw, the breaking point after everything he had endured. He stumbled back home, each step heavy with sorrow and defeat. When he finally reached his small, cluttered apartment, the silence of the empty rooms only amplified his despair.
Collapsing onto his bed, Jason buried his face in his hands and cried. The tears came hard and fast, fueled by the cumulative pain of years of bullying, betrayal, and now the loss of the locket. He cried until he was drained of energy, his body trembling with exhaustion. Eventually, the emotional and physical toll took its toll, and he fell into a deep, restless sleep, his dreams haunted by the events of the night.
Morning came slowly, the pale light of dawn creeping through the curtains. Jason stirred, his mind still foggy with the remnants of his grief and the confusion of the night before. But as he lay there, trying to pull himself from the depths of sleep, a voice echoed in his mind, startling him fully awake.
"14 days remaining until the full moon."
Jason's eyes snapped open, his heart racing in his chest. He bolted upright, looking around the room, but there was no one there. He was alone. The voice, however, was unmistakable. It had been clear, calm, and completely unnatural. His hands trembled as he rubbed his temples, trying to shake off the disorienting sensation of hearing a voice in his own head.
"What... what was that?" he whispered to himself, fear creeping into his voice.
There was no answer. The room remained silent, save for the faint sounds of the city outside. Jason's breathing quickened as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He was on the verge of convincing himself that he had imagined it, that it was just a figment of his exhausted mind, when the voice spoke again.
"Your bloodlust is increasing."
The words reverberated through his mind, filling him with an icy dread. This time, there was no mistaking it. The voice was real, and it was inside his head. Panic gripped him as he scrambled to his feet, his back pressed against the wall as if trying to distance himself from the invisible intruder.
"Who... who are you?" he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. "What is this? What's happening to me?"
The voice responded immediately, its tone unwavering and emotionless. "You are bound by the werewolf system."
Jason's heart skipped a beat, his blood running cold. "Werewolf system? What are you talking about? I'm not—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the voice interrupted, more insistent this time. "You have been chosen. The system is now part of you. Your transformation is tied to the cycle of the moon. 14 days remain."
Jason's mind raced, trying to grasp the enormity of what he was hearing. None of it made any sense. A werewolf system? Transformation? Bloodlust? It sounded like something out of a fantasy novel, not something that could happen in reality. But the voice in his head was real, and the fact that he was healed from injuries that should have left him bedridden only deepened the mystery.
"Why me?" Jason asked, his voice trembling. "What does this mean? What am I supposed to do?"
The voice did not answer his questions directly. Instead, it repeated the same phrase it had before, as if it were a programmed response. "You are bound by the werewolf system. 14 days until the full moon."
The weight of the words pressed down on Jason, leaving him with more questions than answers. He knew he couldn't ignore this—whatever was happening to him, it was real. But the thought of being turned into a werewolf, of losing control, was terrifying. He didn't know what to do or who to turn to. The fear of the unknown, of what was to come, gnawed at him.
Jason spent the rest of the day in a daze, his mind fixated on the voice and its ominous warnings. The fear of the transformation, of becoming something monstrous, loomed over him like a dark cloud. He knew he needed to find answers, but where to even begin was beyond him. The world around him felt distant, as if he was seeing everything through a foggy lens.
That night, sleep did not come easily. The voice's words echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of the countdown to the full moon. And as he lay there, staring at the ceiling, he couldn't shake the feeling that his life had been irrevocably changed. The world he had known, the one filled with mundane worries and everyday struggles, had been replaced by something far more dangerous and mysterious.
And as the days passed, the voice's warnings became more frequent, a constant presence in his mind. "13 days until the full moon." "Your bloodlust is rising." Each day brought him closer to a reality he was not prepared to face.
Jason knew that the time for answers was running out. The full moon was approaching, and with it, a transformation that could not be stopped. He was bound by the werewolf system, and there was no turning back.
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This chapter delves into Jason's confusion and fear as he awakens to find his injuries miraculously healed but his wolf locket missing, along with the first ominous warnings from the werewolf system that now resides within him.