“When did you see it for the first time?”
“Years ago, when I was running away from the Beta’s Path. I thought I saw it just for a second, there and then gone. It was just a dream,” I hiss and get to my feet.
“It’s the Ravage Wolf,” Jarek says in a voice that scares me.
He sounds defeated.
“What is the Ravage Wolf?” Cadel asks in his intense voice.
“The Ravage Wolf is the wolf that came from the time of the Ravage Virus. It’s said that people who got the virus became mindless, like feral wolves. Only a portion of the population survived. But since then, people have spoken about a half-dead wolf with eyes that burn. It’s a nightmare creature, and its only purpose is to kill the alphas and omegas that survived.”
“Great,” Mordecai hisses. “So I guess all those rumours of the Culling Grounds having monsters weren’t an exaggeration, then.”
Jarek barks out a laugh. “No, it would seem that we’re all in for a whole new world here in Foreen.” He says the words angrily, with a trace of pain there.
I want to ask him what happened to cause the pain, but we’re not close, and I can’t afford to get closer to them.
“I wonder what other monsters we can expect to see.”
“Who knows,” Jarek says bitterly.
I stand up and look out the window. “Which way to the school?”
Mordecai points, and I unhappily acknowledge that that’s the direction that the Ravage Wolf went in.
“Do we follow behind it and hope it’s not lying in wait or go around and come in from another direction?” I ask.
“Want to go there to the Resistance now?” Mordecai asks with a hint of sarcasm.
“Sitting behind gates appeals to me,” I snap back at him.
He snorts a laugh. “Let’s try a different direction. I do not want to run into that creature if we can avoid it.”
“They say he's unkillable.”
“Everything can die,” Cadel says in a dark voice. “You just need to find his weakness.”
What kind of weaknesses does a monster have?
Chapter 13
Fangs and Claws
Mordecai’s plan is easier said than done. We’re barely five minutes on the street when a group of the Beta’s Path finds us. It could almost have been darkly comedic if they weren’t trying to murder us.
The beta in front still has pimples on his cheeks. He sees the four of us, and his eyes stretch wide open. His mouth gapes, but nothing comes out. He tries again and again.
The street is in shadow, and the world seems eerily quiet. Sinister. They look intimidating with their black robes and gold daggers, but if you look past, there’s nothing but young betas brainwashed into being glorified murderers.
I hate them. It could so easily have been them born into a world of fear and hate.
It’s on the third attempt that he finally manages to let out a pitiful little squeak. The noise breaks his frozen shock, and he scowls and bellows a single word.
“KERES!”
I almost roll my eyes. But he immediately pulls a sword, and the five robed assholes behind him do the same. The sound of swords being pulled has always made me cringe. I have too many memories of watching people I knew die on the end of one.
I’d be worried about this pack of betas, except they are all pledges, and none of them look over eighteen. Kids can be dangerous, and I have the scars to prove it, which is why I’m going to give them one chance to run.
