Chapter 1346: Follow The Trial? “What’s going on? Why can I see this?” Gary muttered, reaching out instinctively. His hand swiped through the trail in front of him, but there was nothing solid there. No substance. Just light. The visible scent shimmered faintly in the air, one of those marks, like the kind he’d seen before from people he’d made a promise or vow with. It was a system thing. A leftover trace. Only this one was off. The color was slightly different. Fainter. Muted. Wrong. He couldn’t say for sure if this was part of the system… or something else. Something from him. His own Werewolf powers. But deep down, Gary knew. He was more confident than ever about who was messing with it. If this really is from the one I made a deal with… he’s able to interact with my Werewolf self? Gary thought. I have to remember, this being, whoever he is, has the power to decide whether we turn or not on a full moon. That kind of control… there’s no telling what his limits are. What he can or can’t do. The trail wound through his apartment, and Gary followed it carefully. It snaked across the floor, glimmering faintly, before slipping right out the window. And what’s with the voice in my head? Am I really supposed to just follow this? Meet him? Gary narrowed his eyes. It feels like a trap. Too perfect. Too deliberate. If he can do all this, then why not just show up here, in my place? This was one of those moments. A literal, teeth-gritting, nail-biting moment. But do I really want to piss this guy off? he asked himself. If I ignored him… who knows what he’d do? And then there was the other side of it, the people he cared about. If I told the others and they came with me, it could get dangerous for them too. No. I can’t risk that. Decision made, Gary pulled the window open. The cool night air rushed in, brushing against his skin. He stepped onto the ledge, crouched low, and leapt. His apartment sat high in the middle of a massive skyscraper. To a regular person, the fall would be fatal. But Gary wasn’t regular. He was Werewolf. As long as he transformed just before hitting the ground, his body could take it. It always had. And that’s exactly what he did. Muscles twisting, bones reshaping mid-air, Gary hit the ground running, literally, chasing the mysterious trail into the night. When Xin had left Gary’s apartment earlier, something hadn’t felt right. There was a knot in her stomach that wouldn’t go away. As she walked down the street, she kept glancing back, eyes lingering on his window every few steps. Should I have stayed? Even just to crash on the couch? she wondered. I don’t want to be pushy, but something about tonight just feels off. Eventually, she gave in to the feeling. There was one person she knew might understand better than her, someone who had been by Kai’s side longer than anyone else. She pulled out her phone. “I’m still awake. I’ll be right there,” came the reply. A short while later, a car rolled up. Out stepped Kai, blond hair a little messy, still dressed in the same clothes he’d been wearing when the group had split up. “Did Gary seriously make you walk home by yourself?” Kai asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Somebody needs to teach that guy some basic manners.” “It’s okay,” Xin replied quickly. “I know that’s not like him, which is why I called you.” “Right. Well, forget being polite,” Kai said. “Let’s just go in. We’re staying the night, whether he likes it or not.” The Howlers were already dealing with too much. They didn’t need another crisis on top of everything else. If crashing on the floor could keep something from spiraling out of control, then Kai was more than ready to do it. Together, they headed back toward Gary’s apartment. When they got there, they knocked. Waited. Knocked again. No answer. Then they started shouting his name. Still nothing. “I can’t sense him inside,” Xin said, frowning. “I think… he’s gone.” “Gone? In the middle of the night?” Kai frowned. “Why?” It was all the excuse he needed. Kai broke the lock clean off with a strong jerk and muttered, “I’ll buy him a new one later.” Inside, they immediately noticed it, one of the main windows in the living room was wide open, letting in the wind and city noise. Follow new episodes on the "N0vel1st.c0m". “Gary, what the hell are you doing?” Kai muttered, walking quickly toward the phone. Xin didn’t waste time either. She ran into the other rooms to check, but came back empty-handed. “He’s definitely not here,” she confirmed. “And it hasn’t even been fifteen minutes since we left.” “I knew something was off,” she added under her breath. “Come on, Gary, pick up,” Kai said, his voice tense as he called him. “Don’t do this to us. I swear, I know you. If you didn’t tell us, it’s because you were trying to protect us. But from what, man? What is going on?!” Gary had been following the trail for a while now. Honestly, he wasn’t surprised when it led him to the edge of a wooded area. Of course it’s the woods, he thought. It reminded him of the early days. Back when he first turned. Back when everything was raw and out of control. This kind of place, trees, shadows, silence, it was perfect for a Werewolf to hunt, to let go. But why here? Why now? “The scent’s getting stronger,” Gary muttered aloud. “It’s… it’s not like anything I’ve smelled before. It’s not Lupus. It’s definitely different.” And it was just one scent. Singular. Isolated. Up ahead, about two hundred meters through the trees, the trail ended. But that wasn’t what caught Gary’s attention. No, his eyes locked onto the massive figure standing at the end of the path. Easily twelve feet tall. Shadowed. Towering. And those eyes… glowing red in the darkness. Gary froze. Red eyes… smells like a Werewolf… but it’s not Lupus. So what the hell is that?