CHAPTER 378: 378-THE STORY OF THE ACADEMY

Author’s POV:

Many Years Ago:

Marilyn had been staring at her husband, and she gathered her courage to ask him,

"Your brother. I have never heard of him."

It was her way of asking what had happened to the brother.

"My father was not like my grandfather," Gabriel whispered. "He was harsh. His sense of duty came before anything. He killed the bad ones before they could grow and hurt anyone. So he did what he thought was the right thing. He killed my brother before he grew up and turned into a monster."

As soon as Gabriel told his wife that, she covered her mouth and a soft cry escaped her.

"Is the same thing going to happen to our children?" she asked, shaking. "If we ask for an antidote, one of them will die?"

She questioned him again.

"I do not want that."

"But we only have two choices. Either we ask for an antidote and save one, or both of our children become monsters along with you."

He explained to her how the injection worked.

Marilyn broke down in sobs.

The alphas returned right after that.

"Well, what have you decided?" one of them asked.

"I do not want to harm anyone. I do not want more orphans to die," Gabriel responded, keeping his eyes on Marilyn.

"Then kill me," she whispered. "End this cycle. Do not create more monsters. Do not let them use our children anymore."

Her request shook Gabriel’s heart.

"No," he said sternly. "I cannot lose you. I cannot lose my family," he hissed.

Her face fell with disappointment. He then looked at the alphas as if he already knew what they were going to offer him.

"Give her the antidote." Gabriel hissed.

"That is the right choice," one of the alphas replied with a pleased smile. "Even if you had refused, it would not have mattered. The north is gone, so it was a wise decision to choose to save your wife."

As soon as the alpha finished, Gabriel’s eyes widened as he shared a startled look with his wife.

"What do you mean?" Gabriel pressed, turning to look at him.

The alphas looked at each other and laughed.

"We did what we had to do. We already entered your lands. We have infected as many as possible. With time, every wolf will turn into a monster, and soon the north will be our biggest playground. We have prepared everything. In a few days, they will wake up again. Until then, there will be cameras and everything else settled," one of the alphas explained with so much enthusiasm that it made Gabriel’s heart twist inside him.

Gabriel started to fight against the restraints aggressively.

"You destroyed the north. You murderers!" he shouted.

"Well, it is no longer a safe place, so we might as well have fun," William retorted. "But that does not matter. Once you people are gone, we will let the world think it was a disease, that someone got infected and there was a monster that spread it. Maybe another wall broke loose and all the monsters stormed in. There are plenty of stories they will tell their kids in the future."

William laughed at the thought of it, but Gabriel felt awful.

"What if I refuse the antidote?" Gabriel asked angrily. He no longer wanted to take anything from them.

"Then we kill you," Alpha Dusk replied, shrugging. "Your wife turns, we kill her, your children will die with her, your legacy will be gone."

Gabriel’s heart started to pound hard in his chest. They noticed how his bones started to crack.

His muscles tightened. His wolf began to show, and it was obvious to them that it was not a normal wolf. Even Marilyn stared at him in shock and fear.

"He is transitioning," one of the alphas remarked, pointing at him and rushing toward the door.

"Stop him," William ordered, and several warriors rushed in.

Before Gabriel could take control, they stabbed him with a needle in the arm.

Wolfsbane spread across him, burning through every nerve and making him collapse back into the chair. He passed out.

When he woke again, Marilyn was awake, but her eyes looked empty. She bent forward slightly, looking fragile.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked her.

She faintly nodded.

"They gave me the antidote," she whispered so quietly he could barely hear her. "They forced it, Gabriel."

She looked at him with nothing but broken wishes in her eyes.

"Our home. It is gone. So many innocent people will turn into monsters. Some will shift because of jealousy, others because of anger, some because of fear. No one knows what triggers them," she whispered, taking slow and heavy breaths.

Gabriel realized something else. They were in shackles, but their hands were tied in front of their bodies.

He reached toward her and placed his lips on her forehead.

"We are not helpless," he told her.

"How so?" she asked softly. "How can we fight all of them?"

Footsteps approached again, and the alphas re-entered. Every time they came in, it felt like watching monsters walk inside.

"So, are you going to obey the alphas?" one of them asked with a smirk.

"What do you want me to obey for?" Gabriel hissed.

"Well, to shut your mouth. Just enjoy what we are doing," the alpha replied, chuckling.

At this point, Gabriel understood why they were not killing him. He understood why they wanted him to obey.

"You are scared of my father, aren’t you?" Gabriel asked.

The alphas’ fists clenched. They knew he was right.

"You think this will last? You think you can control this? Send the orphans into the north? Then what? They will die. Monsters will break out. They will hide in your land. They will attack when you are not watching," Gabriel stated.

The alphas’ faces changed color.

"I can tell you did not make a plan. You did not think it through."

The room went silent.

"You seem to know something. Speak," one of the alphas demanded.

"My grandfather passed down his unusual powers to my father. My father works with your people. You know that," Gabriel said.

Their faces went pale.

"When he learns what you did to me and the north, he will stop helping you. He will cut you off. Then what?" Gabriel pressed.

He remembered how they had first asked his father to come to the south and stay at a hotel.

They knew his father could do what the grandfather used to do, but this time it would be on a larger scale.

They needed his father. Now they had ruined everything.

"When he learns what you did to me, what do you think he will do?" Gabriel repeated.

"Fine," William muttered, finally shaking. "What do you want?"

Gabriel knew there was not much they could fix anymore. The alphas had already ruined too much. The least he could do was create something new.

"I want an academy. I will be the headmaster. My rules. New terms. A fair system. No more orphans dying for your games. Your children will pay for your sins. They will be the crusaders."

As soon as he finished, everyone in the room gasped.