CHAPTER 189: CHAPTER 189: THE KUMIHO’S FALL

Scott and the pack appeared in front of the old Hale house after stepping through the portal.

Lydia didn’t hesitate. "Guys, follow me." She said, then took off running at supernatural speed. Scott and the others followed closely behind.

---

Meanwhile, the Kumiho, leading Coach deeper into the woods, suddenly felt uneasy. A wave of danger crept over her. Glancing up at the branches, she spotted several crows watching her.

’Something’s not right... those crows look weird.’ she thought.

She turned to Coach. "Keep walking deeper into the woods." She ordered.

Then, without another word, she bolted in a different direction, thinking. ’My instincts have kept me alive for hundreds of years, and I’m not going to stop listening to them now. I better leave this town tonight.’

---

Back with Scott and the others.

Lydia suddenly stopped in her tracks. "She’s running away."

Allison frowned. "How? Did she sense us?"

"I don’t know." Lydia replied.

Stiles asked. "What about Coach?"

Lydia closed her eyes for a moment, focusing. "He’s still walking deeper into the woods. The Kumiho ran off in a different direction. But she hasn’t escaped. My crows are still tracking her."

Scott nodded. "Alright, let’s move. Once we catch Coach’s scent, we’ll split up. Isaac, Erica—you two go after him. The rest of us will chase the Kumiho."

They started running again and soon caught the scent of both Coach and the Kumiho. Isaac and Erica followed Coach’s scent while Scott and the others went in another direction following the Kumiho.

---

The Kumiho, sprinting through the woods, noticed three crows still trailing her. No matter how fast she ran, they remained behind her.

’Damn it. These crows definitely aren’t normal if they can keep up with my speed.’ She cursed mentally. ’I’d better get back to town. Maybe whoever’s after me won’t follow me there.’

She pushed herself harder, pouring all her speed into her escape. But just as she was about to break through the treeline and return to town, she heard something and turned her head to see a few blurs coming toward her fast.

Panicked, she turned to flee the other way—only to come face to face with a shape of darkness that materialized into Scott.

She froze, watching him warily. "Who are you? Why are you chasing me?"

Scott didn’t bother to talk to her. Instead, he looked at his pack behind her. "Which one of you wants to deal with her?"

Kira stepped forward, her eyes glowing red. She unclipped her katana that was disguised as a belt from her waist, and said calmly. "Since she’s a fox, I’ll be the one to handle her."

Scott nodded. "Alright." He walked back to stand beside Stiles and the others.

The Kumiho glanced at Kira, instantly feeling the strength radiating off her. She could tell Kira wasn’t someone she could defeat.

"I didn’t offend you." The Kumiho said, trying to talk her way out of the situation. "Why are you attacking me?"

Kira’s expression turned cold. "You ate three people in our territory. And you just tried to eat our teacher. You seriously think you didn’t offend us?"

The Kumiho’s face paled. "Wait... when you say your territory, do you mean... you’re from th-the McCall Pack?"

Kira’s eyes narrowed. "I can smell your fear. If you were so scared of us, why did you dare to stay in our territory?"

’Damn it, what should I do now?’ The Kumiho thought. ’I was being careful not to be found by the McCall pack, but it looks like I wasn’t careful enough. I should’ve left earlier.’

She glanced at Scott and the others, then back at Kira, weighing her odds. ’I probably can’t outrun them... but maybe if I grab this girl, I can use her to escape.’

Without warning, she shifted. Her eyes glowed red, and darkness poured from her body. Then the darkness started moving toward Kira.

Kira didn’t wait to see what the darkness would do. She used her lightning ability, coating her body and katana with lightning, then moved like a flash of light, slashing across the Kumiho’s torso.

The Kumiho barely dodged, but a deep gash tore through her from shoulder to abdomen, numbing her limbs with electricity.

But soon she recovered from the electricity, and her wound healed. She shifted to her animal form, a dark fox with red glowing eyes and nine tails, larger than a normal wolf.

After shifting into her animal form, the Kumiho unleashed her darkness ability, surrounding Kira, Scott, and the others in a thick black fog.

Taking the opportunity, the Kumiho turned and bolted toward town, thinking. ’I knew that little bitch was strong, but I didn’t think she was that strong. But if I can make it back to town, I might be able to survive. The McCall Pack won’t dare attack me in front of ordinary people.’

But just as she ran a few meters, she heard a thunderous rumble above her. Before she could react, Kira appeared in midair, flipping as lightning surged through her body. She struck the Kumiho with a lightning-coated kick so powerful it shattered the creature’s spine and slammed her into the ground, creating a crater beneath her.

The Kumiho lost consciousness, shifting back into her human form—laying in the crater naked, smoke coming from her mouth from the surge of electricity.

Kira blinked and said. "Oops... I think I went a little too far."

Scott and the others approached. Stiles looked at the scorched Kumiho and said. "You should hold back a little, Kira. If you kill her, no one will be able to read her memory or absorb her powers."

"But I did hold back." Kira said. "I didn’t even use all my strength."

Stiles pointed at the Kumiho. "You call that holding back?"

Scott chuckled and said. "Alright, Kira. Don’t worry about Stiles. Go ahead—read her memory and absorb her powers."

Kira nodded, stepped forward, and inserted her claws into the back of the Kumiho’s neck. Her eyes glowed as she absorbed the powers and memories.

After a moment, she stood up and said. "This bitch has lived for 700 years... and she’s killed and eaten a lot of men."

Allison asked. "Was she here alone?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah. She came to Beacon Hills about a month ago."

Scott walked over and finished off the dying Kumiho, then incinerated her body with his fire ability. "Let’s go find Isaac and Erica."

As they walked, Stiles turned to Kira. "So... what abilities did you get from her?"

Kira replied. "I can control foxes now—like Lydia does with crows. And I inherited her darkness ability."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "What exactly does her darkness ability do?"

Kira answered. "That dark fog she released before she tried to escape was supposed to make us trapped in illusions. I can do that now, if people get trapped in my dark fog, they’ll start hallucinating. I can also use the darkness to control people like puppets... but they’ll be emotionless, like zombies."

Stiles blinked. "So that’s what she was trying to do with that fog. I thought she was just trying to blind us."

Boyd said. "Too bad for her... we’re immune to poison and mind control."

Stiles asked. "Wait, what does poison have to do with it?"

Cora replied. "I think her darkness works like a poisonous mist—it needs to enter your body to affect your mind. Right, Kira?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah. It seeps into people’s bodies and corrupts their minds. So it is like a poison."

As they spoke, Isaac and Erica arrived. Isaac was carrying an unconscious Coach over his shoulder.

Scott frowned. "What’s wrong with him?"

Isaac said. "I couldn’t snap him out of his trance. And when I dragged him to bring him here, he started struggling and wanted to keep walking deeper into the woods."

Scott turned to Kira. "Can you get the darkness out of him?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Great." Scott said. "Let’s take him back to his office first."

Scott opened a shadow portal to Coach’s office. "Wait here, guys."

He took Coach from Isaac and stepped through the portal. Kira followed behind him.

In the office, Scott placed Coach in his chair, and Kira put her hand on him, and dark smoke began pouring out of his nostrils.

"He should be fine now." She said.

Scott nodded. "Alright. Let’s go."

They stepped back through the portal and returned to the others. After the five-minute cooldown of the shadow portal, Scott opened another one back to the ranch, and they returned to the pack house.

To be continued... 😊