CHAPTER 56: A BREWING CONFLICT

When she heard my words, a hint of curiosity flashed across her tear-stricken face.

"Help me? There is nothing you can do to help," she said.

"I can’t heal your wounds, so you’ll most likely succumb to it, but I can help you get revenge on the one who caused them."

"You think you’re strong enough to beat the moon princess?!"

"I think I’m strong enough to help YOU defeat the moon princess."

I wasn’t one for picking fights, so even if I could beat her, it was unlikely that I would ever face her. Unless I was forced to do so.

"Maybe you can’t beat her on your own. But with my help, your odds are better."

"You would do that?" she asked.

"In exchange, I want you to tell me everything you know about the monsters that fell from the sky."

That was what I was really after: her knowledge.

"Huh? I don’t know much. What do you want to know?" she asked without any hesitation.

"Tell me everything. Everything you have learned while studying them, and I’ll help you get your revenge. Deal?"

She stared into my eyes for a while without saying a word. Her face was flushed from all the crying. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was wondering if she really was so pathetic as to put her life in the hands of a teen not even 18 years old. The woman in her felt her pride being threatened. But there was a side to her that wanted to be comforted.

She was longing for it, and I could see her vulnerability in her eyes. For some reason, the more I looked at her, the more she began to squirm, and her face began to turn red. Her sweaty thighs rubbed against each other as her breathing grew ragged.

"Okay, fine. I accept."

"Good."

I slowly released my grip on her and got to my feet. I then extended my hand to help her to her feet. She hesitated at first but then grabbed hold of my hand, and I pulled her up. I would call what happened here a success.

Without any hesitation, I turned on my heel and left.

"I’ll see you tomorrow, Master," I said, shooting her a wave as I walked away.

...

The next three weeks passed in a blur. I was slowly becoming accustomed to being a part of the pack. My days mostly involved training with Nyra. I outsourced the hunting to my shadow hounds. They were the ones who filled my weekly quota while Nyra and I exchanged tricks we had picked up along the way. She even told me her theory on how the different monsters evolved.

She believed that the weaker monsters like the zombies evolved at level 5 and the ones at the rank above zombies evolved at level 10. The information in itself was limited, so I would have to find a way to figure out things for myself. That would have to be done once I’d gotten my pack in order.

Meanwhile, the situation in my current pack wasn’t too good. The Nyx pack was getting a little too brazen. Just last night, there was a dispute on our territory where several of the werewolves in our pack were killed. Naturally, Alpha Roran was in a sour mood about it.

It felt as if a war was brewing, but I wasn’t sure. I felt as if Roran had something else up his sleeve. I was curious as to what it was, but I wasn’t curious enough to try to find out.

Currently, I was lazing around at the river. It had become a constant habit of mine as of recently. I enjoyed the warmness of the sun against my skin, but just then I heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward me. Moments later, Nyra was standing over me. She looked panicked.

"There is trouble," she said, practically fuming.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"It’s Roran. He’s planning a truce with the Nyx pack."

A truce? So that’s what he had been planning. Still, I didn’t get the reason for Nyra’s panic.

"Isn’t that good news?" I asked, but my question seemed to anger her.

"It would be. It would stop all the bloodshed for once. But the problem is how he plans to create this truce."

"How?"

"Through marriage," Nyra said, her eyes flashing with anger. "He’s planning to marry his son off to the moon princess."

"Hmm?"

So that’s his game. I could see how this would be a problem for Nyra, considering the moon princess murdered her entire pack.

"It will never work," she said. "No one can tame a monster like her. They haven’t met her, so they don’t understand. She is barely even human. She is more like a wolf in human form."

"Is she really that bad?" I asked. I’d heard her name so much that I couldn’t help but feel a bit curious about what she was really like.

"She is the worst," Nyra said with conviction. "When I stared into her eyes, I didn’t see an ounce of empathy. Nothing that tied her to us. She is more like an animal than anything. We have to be prepared in case something happens."

"Do you have something in mind?"

"Maybe... They are planning on going north to visit the Nyx pack in their settlement. Being one of the four pillars of the pack, I must go with them. I want you to accompany me. With you there, if something happens, then I can handle it."

So her plan was to use me. Nyra and I had a deal, so I couldn’t exactly say no. Plus, the poison was taking its toll. She was much weaker than before. She spent most of her days in bed puking blood. She couldn’t walk, much less hunt, most of the time, so my shadow hounds had to take care of most of the hunting. Though my hounds didn’t seem to mind the hunt.

But it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to the poisoning.

"Okay then, I’ll accompany you and the others."