"Everyone, pack up," Mathew ordered, his voice cold, empty.
The wind howled through the bloodstained battlefield, sweeping away the last echoes of life that had once thrived here. The ground was soaked in crimson, the air thick with the metallic scent of death. Broken branches swayed eerily, whispering ghostly murmurs of what had just occurred. The sky, once vast and open, now seemed to close in, heavy with the weight of an unspoken tragedy.
I lay on the ground, motionless, my chest barely rising and falling. My eyes were wide open, unblinking, staring into nothingness. Each breath felt like I was inhaling knives. My mind was blank—void of thought, void of reason, void of anything but a single, desperate hope.
"Jason is alive."
No. This wasn't real. This was a nightmare, a cruel illusion spun by my mind to torture me. Jason couldn't be gone. He couldn't.
"Why would my own people betray me?"
The question pulsed through me like a hammer against fragile glass, shattering everything I once believed.....
.
.
.
.
"What about Ella?" Emma's voice broke through the heavy silence, her tone sharp, urgent.
"Leave that bitch here," Mathew spat.
A slow rage boiled beneath my frozen exterior, but my body refused to move.
"Watch your mouth, Mathew." Emma's voice cut through the tension like a blade. "She's one of us. One of the most respected soldier here."
One of you?
Emma... was I ever truly one of you?
The betrayal stung sharper than any wound, twisting inside me like a serrated knife. My mind screamed, clawing for answers, but the only response was the empty, hollow feeling spreading through my soul.
In the background, voices clashed—raised, heated. Team 2 was arguing, their words blending into the howling wind. Emma was fighting. For me? Against me? I couldn't tell anymore.
But none of it mattered.
Jason was gone.
And something inside me was about to break.
Mathew's eyes darkened with rage. "Stop this bullshit, or you'll be counted as a traitor too." His voice was low, threatening, daring her to cross the line.
Eduardo a member of team 2, silent until now, stepped forward and leaned close to Emma. He muttered something under his breath, too soft for me to hear. Whatever it was, it made Emma hesitate. Her jaw tightened, her hands clenched into fists, and after a tense moment, she exhaled sharply.
"Fine," she finally said, her voice hollow. "Let's leave her here. But if Captain allows, I'll come back to get her."
Mathew smirked. "Now, no one would want that traitor in the pack anymore."
Emma ignored him.
She stepped forward, shifting back into her human form. The cold wind bit at her exposed skin, but she didn't falter. Kneeling beside me, she gently placed her soldier coat over my naked body, covering the torn remnants of my clothes. The fabric was warm—too warm, almost suffocating against my frozen naked skin.
More than the wolfsbane bomb, more than the physical pain, the betrayal was what left me like this—numb, speechless, trapped in a haze of denial. Jason was alive. He had to be. Any second now, he'd wake up, smile at me, tell me this was all a sick joke. Any second now...
Emma leaned in, her breath warm against my ear. "Wait. I'll be back in an hour." Her lips brushed against my cheek in a soft, lingering kiss, a silent promise, a flicker of hope in the darkness.
Then, she stood, her face unreadable as she transformed back into her werewolf form.
A chilling howl ripped through the night—"AOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"—a victorious howl, a song of triumph that echoed across the trees. One by one, the team joined in, their voices blending into a haunting symphony. Then, without another glance back, they turned and ran, their bodies blurring into the night, heading back toward the pack—270 kilometers away.
An hour's journey for them in their Hunter Stage.
An eternity for me, left behind in the darkness.
Suddenly, reality hit me. Jason. I needed to check on him. I knew he was alive. He was just acting, making them believe he was dead so they would leave us behind. With that desperate hope burning inside me, I started to crawl, summoning every ounce of strength left in my shattered body just to reach him. But I couldn't. The effects of the betrayal and the wolfsbane were still ravaging my body. I couldn't move—not for the next twenty minutes. I gave it my all, screaming inside my head, fighting against my own paralyzed limbs. I tried so hard that my muscles ached, the pain intensifying despite my body refusing to obey me.
I was trapped.
Paralyzed.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Your uncle Eduardo told me what happened there but listen it from his own mouth.
Here's the other side of the story, from your uncle's mouth.
.
.
.
Hey Mark, It's Eduardo here.
If you were a girl, I would have definitely suggested to your mother to name you after Emma. But you carry my leader's name, and that's enough for me to respect you with all my heart.
I don't know why your parents are writing this book for you, but since I respect your mom a lot—and she's more of a so-called queen—I'll follow her rules.
Your mom just smacked me for writing that last line, haha.
Anyway, here's what happened (I'm not good with writing like your mom. So, i'll describe it under a paragraph).
I always admired the bond between your mom and my friend Emma. They were the best of friends, and I had never seen a connection like that before. That's how I knew how much Emma cared for her. Even when she was away from the pack for six months for the Peace Talk Event, Emma never stopped talking about her. She used to reminisce about their childhood stories, keeping her memory alive. Even when they were fighting because of an heated argument that happened between them before Ella left for Peace Talk at the time, Emma still cared for her deeply.
So that was their bond. It was like Jesu and Eli, but as friends. That's why I decided to help Emma save her friend. Not only because Ella was her friend, but also because she was one of the most respected werewolves in the pack and one of the most powerful. I couldn't just leave her behind, even though my new leader ordered it. But at the same time, I was bound to follow orders.
When Emma and Mathew were arguing about whether to take Ella or not, I stepped near Emma and muttered to her about the plan we were going to execute.
When we left, running in our werewolf forms, Mathew asked me what I had told her that convinced her to come with us. Mathew trusts me the most in the team due to my humble personality, so maybe he believed me when I told him, 'I just told her to convince Captain, and he will definitely listen to us—especially when it's about Ella. And she listened to me.'
'Huh, Cap will never—especially after hearing that she slept with the enemy,' Mathew replied.
After that, we kept running for eight minutes before we started executing the plan.
While running, I suddenly fell, acting like I had slipped. Everyone in the team stopped and was confused—except Emma.
'What happened to you now? Get up! We have to leave. We have to reach the pack as soon as possible and report everything, as we did this mission without any orders from upper management,' Mathew said.
Emma, the doctor of our team, came near me, examined me, and said, 'It's wolfsbane's effect. I think he was near the smoke and inhaled some of the fragrance.'
'Oh gosh, not now! You fucking idiot!' Mathew said angrily, hitting his head.
'What the fuck are we going to do now?! That fucking ALPHA will kill us if he doesn't find Team 2 in the pack!' Mathew shouted in frustration.
'What can I say now? It was all your orders. We just obeyed them,' Emma replied sarcastically.
'Shut the fuck up, you bitch, or I'll send you to the place where I sent that human shit,' Mathew snapped angrily.
Suddenly, Emma stood up, locked eyes with Mathew, and said, 'Oh really? You can't even touch me because you're the one who ordered us to do this mission without upper management knowing. And then you left the leader of Team 1 behind after throwing wolfsbane on her.'
Mathew growled and spat at her head in anger. Suddenly, Haz shouted, 'Both of you, stop fighting, please! We just lost Mark, broke pack rules, and abandoned a fellow soldier. And now you're here fighting? Please, stop this shit now!'
'Haz is right. We should stop fighting and rather focus on what to do next,' Evelyn said.
Meanwhile, I was lying on the ground, pretending to be dying and listening to their bickering.
Emma took a step back when Joss said, 'What do you mean by that? Let's leave Eduardo here with Emma to take care of him. He'll be alright in less than an hour.'
'Yes, Joss is right. Let's do what we've learned in training—leaving the doctor with the injured soldiers if the mission is interrupted.'
'Oh no no no no, I'm not leaving that girl here. I know she'll go after her,' Mathew said.
Suddenly, Emma, in anger, smacked Mathew's head with her own and said, 'First of all, mister, we're in this situation because of your dumb decision. And now you're assuming everyone is a traitor when you're not even a leader officially. Because of your dumb decision, a team member of ours is dying, and we're already late. We've spent one minute and thirty seconds here just arguing. If we don't reach the pack, the Alpha will kill all of us for going against the law. But if we leave, another comrade of ours will die. So it's better to use your empty brain and take an immediate decision right now before things get worse.'
'Woah woah woah, brat! Watch your tongue!' Mathew replied.
'She's right, Mathew. Take the decision now, and I believe Joss is right,' Evelyn said.
Mathew thought for five seconds and then replied, 'Fine... everyone, we're leaving for the pack. Emma and Eduardo, we will meet you there but if you go after Ella, Emma i swear...' Mathew stopped and then said 'MY SOLDIERS, LET'S GOOOOOOO! AOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'
And finally, after a two-minute heated argument, they left for the pack without me and Emma.
Emma sighed and looked down at me. 'Are you okay now, or do you need a little more time to pretend?' she asked with a smirk.
I groaned and sat up slowly. 'I had to make it convincing, didn't I? You almost blew my cover when you got mad at Mathew.'
Emma rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. Look, I don't have much time. I need to go after Ella before they do something irreversible.'
I nodded. 'Be careful. You know Mathew was right about one thing—Cap won't go easy on anyone who betrays the pack, no matter who it is.'
Emma clenched her fists. 'I don't care. I won't leave her behind.'
I sighed. 'Then go. I'll cover for you as long as I can.'
She hesitated for a second, then nodded. 'Thanks, Eduardo. I owe you one.'
And with that, she turned and disappeared into the forest, heading toward Ella.,
Now your mom will continue from here. Good luck, Mark!
It had been 50 minutes since the wolfsbane hit me. I was finally regaining control of my body—just enough strength to crawl, to reach Jason, to shake him awake and tell him to stop acting, to leave this place. My mind was empty, yet at the same time, filled with only one name—Jason. Over and over again.
Maybe this is what trauma feels like—when one thought spins endlessly in your head, a single pain that refuses to fade, something so unbearable that your mind rejects it entirely. I wasn't ready to accept that Jason was dead. Not even for a second. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. How come that much happen in a single day? after everything. Six months of hardwork, gone. The peace talks, destroyed. Mark—my best friend, my advisor—dead. My own friends betrayed me. And now Jason.
It was too much for one day, too much for reality itself. It felt like a nightmare, one I desperately wanted to wake up from. I kept telling myself, this isn't real. This isn't real. But reality was cruel, and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't wake up.
I kept crawling, my body screaming with pain, my mind clinging to denial. And as I finally reached Jason
I forced myself forward, inch by agonizing inch, until I reached him. My shaking hand found its way to his hair. "Jason... Jason," I whispered, a smile trembling on my lips. "Hey, baby, wake up. They're gone now. Stop acting."
Something warm and thick coated my fingers. A deep crimson, pooling against my skin, trickling from his nose and over his broken face. The blood glistened under the dim moonlight, a stark contrast against his pale, lifeless skin. It wasn't just a wound. It wasn't just a scratch. It was final. It was death, wrapping around him like a shadow.
"Ohhh, blood. That's our everyday game, right?" I laughed weakly, waiting—praying—for his teasing voice to reply. He was a hunter. A few injuries never stopped him before.
But silence answered me.
A scream clawed its way up my throat, but no sound came. My body shook violently, and the cold wrapped around me like a vice. I felt myself slipping into the abyss of despair. No. No. This wasn't happening.
Tears blurred my vision, but I pushed through the pain, summoning every last ounce of strength inside me. I had to see him. I had to see his face. I know he's alive.
I gave up my all to sit on my laps to see Jason's face alive and smiling at me.
But when I sat, I saw—
I saw his body—covered in blood, a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should've been. Every second bone inside him was shattered. That's what a werewolf can do to a human. That's how cruel they are.
The disbelief inside me screamed louder than my voice ever could. My mind refused to accept it, but my eyes… my eyes saw the truth.
He was gone.
"No. No, no, no, NO!! JASON!! JASOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!"
Something inside me broke. I don't remember much of what happened next—all I recall is the pain hitting me like a tidal wave, drowning me in madness. My lips moved on their own, whispering, muttering, then screaming—
"I will kill you. I will kill EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
And then—within the blink of an eye—I transformed.
But this time… it was different.
A force inside me awoke, something far greater than before. A power that every werewolf dreads. A transformation that can level cities in mere hours if harnessed correctly. A state so uncontrollable, so devastating, that no werewolf dares to push themselves this far.
A form beyond reason. Beyond fear. Beyond mercy.
A nightmare even to those who call themselves beasts.
A force that turns the hunter into prey.
A state where pain is meaningless, rage is endless, and destruction is inevitable.
A state that no werewolf can control.
A state that is called—
THE RAGE MODE.
Guidance: The fifth and final stage is known as Rage Mode, a rare and dangerous transformation triggered by unbearable pain and fury. In this stage, a werewolf's eyes turn completely red, marking the loss of all rational thought. Their power amplifies by 100%, making them nearly invincible, but at the cost of their mind—unable to recognize allies or even speak, as their consciousness is consumed by pure instinct.
This stage is feared not only for its raw strength but for its uncontrollable nature. A werewolf in Rage Mode becomes a force of destruction, capable of leveling entire cities within hours. Throughout history, only one has ever mastered this power—the Father of All Werewolves. For all others, it is a curse, a descent into unstoppable chaos.
And as I transformed, with my body burning in fury, my voice ripped through the skies—
"AOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
The sound of a warcry. A declaration of wrath. A promise of annihilation.
To be continued....