Injured

Max was able to see his entire life flash in front of his eyes at that exact moment. The faces of his friends and family, memories of good and bad things immediately surfaced in the face of death and all he could do is watch as the giant wolf slowly closed his mouth.

'I still had so many things to live for' Max sadly thought while inspecting his memories. He knew that what he lived so far could be called just a preparation for the future, his awakening only being the stepping stone of many memories that still had to be made.

He was only eighteen and had yet to go through life, through adventures where he would make life-long memories after all.

Max felt strange, the time around him felt stopped but he could still see slight movement every so often in the wolf's maw, closing toward him.

'What can I do in this position?' Max thought while wondering if he was dead, being only able to see the last scene he saw during living.

He concentrated on ways to escape but quickly felt powerless against the situation.

'I don't know if this will work but I have to try' Max finally thought of a solution. It all depended on how the wolf will react to all of this. He then began to relax, his anxiety and fear subsided while being in terms of getting killed, at least he tried his best.

Time slowly picked up the pace and Max was able to sense that.

'I don't taste really good!' Max shouted in his mind, not having the time to say it out loud.

Black flames erupted from his body, immediately enveloping him while stirring upwards towards the wolf's belly. The flames reached the wolf immediately, spreading on its chest which resulted in it panicking.

The wolf already had Max's arm inside his maw by the time the flames hit his body and as he closed his mouth trying to get away from Max he took the latter's arm which was bathed in black flames with him.

Max felt a piercing pain, drawing out tears from his eyes in an instant as blood sprayed uncontrollably out of his body. He looked at the wolf that roared while quickly backing away from Max whose entire body was filled with black flames.

Max didn't bother to look at it anymore, shifting his gaze on the horizon knowing that he didn't have the strength to do anything anymore. He felt tired and cold, the only warm sensation being the blood that slowly filled the area around him.

'Is this really how I die?' Max asked himself as he looked at the sun out in the sky, its rays falling on his limp body that was slowly changing in color.

The wolf currently examined its body, the black flames conjuring and expanding on its fur continuously. It tried rolling on the ground and hitting the trees with the parts of the body that were enveloped in the flames but nothing worked in subsiding them. It whimpered as the flames grew stronger, covering its body completely from the outside but also from the inside.

As Max's severed hand entered the wolf's mouth it immediately swallowed it, the black flames still stirring on it. Once the hand got inside its stomach the flames continued to grow in size and at a fast pace nonetheless, now travelling through the trachea; the flames sprouting out through its different body cavities, aiding the flames that conquered it from the outside.

The flames didn't burn the skin or fur of the beast but it still felt afraid, knowing that it was slowly becoming weaker.

It rampaged around, disregarding any rational thoughts that it was able to manage slightly before, doing everything it could for no more than a few minutes, finally succumbing to its exhaustion.

The flames still swilled on its body and it didn't seem to subside even after, making it inapproachable by either of the three that finished killing the low-grade wolves a while ago.

"MAX!" It was Dylan who shouted; he wasn't able to see what happened to him before, being caught up in his own fight, but he still heard Bryce shout Max's name, his tone changing from one of agony to anger in a short interval.

The beast was still rampaging around at this point so they got as close as they could to Max after the black flames around him disappeared, shielding him from the beast that madly moved around the place trying to extinguish the flames on its body as well.

Dylan rushed at Max, immediately arriving by his side before holding his head tilted upward. He gripped Max's chest while his hands trembled sporadically showing no signs of stopping.

A small beat was felt on his finger, this little action making him calm down a little as he felt Max's weak pulse and alongside it a small sniff of air.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED T-o do Bryce?!" Dylan's shining red eyes shot glares towards his friend, his voice breaking in the process of shouting.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Bryce responded back with a furious shout of his own. He turned toward the wolf that now laid unconscious on the ground before kicking the ground powerfully. Dust mixed into the air as the earth shook slightly as from the wolf's head shot a bloodied spike that broke through its skull, making sure it never got back up on its feet again.

"YOU'RE ALPHAS AND DON'T KNOW?" It was Ernie that interrupted, not being able to hold his anger in anymore. He didn't care about Max at all but he cared about his two friends a lot and seeing them panic over a normal human seemed pathetic in his eyes.

"YOU CAN JUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY DYLAN! WEREN'T YOU THE ONE THAT BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ME FOR HIM? JUST BECAUSE HE WAS UNDER YOUR PROTECTION?!" Ernie continued, not holding back on the words he restrained himself from saying before. He berated Dylan on his past actions and now was shaming him for not thinking of taking responsibility. He couldn't just watch anymore.

"Isn't it too soon?! What if I DO! I DO TRANSFORM HIM! THEN WHAT?... What if the leader doesn't accept him and just kills him?" Dylan went through a myriad of emotions, from doubt to anger and then fear.

"IT'S YOU THAT TAKES RESPONSIBILITY DYLAN, HE WILL BE YOUR BETA AND YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF HIM… Unless of course, you just end his misery right here and right now!" Ernie replied back once more, again showing the fact that he didn't really care about Max's life.

The shield that was flung away in the bushes a few meters away from Max shook slightly before it shot toward Ernie, Matt was angered by his last statement.

Ernie caught Matt's sudden charge with ease, stopping the shield from advancing forward before growling.

"Stupid relic! SIT!" And with those words he swung Matt into the ground, shattering the earth who now kept Matt deeply rooted under it.

Matt didn't move anymore, feeling powerless against the other.

"Bryce! What should I do?!" Dylan asked, he wanted so badly to transform Max but still felt fear enveloping his heart. 'What if he gets killed by him? What if he despises himself after doing so?' Lots of questions flown through his mind but they all revolved around these two main ones.

"J-just do it Dylan… I'll vouch for you and maybe he'll get accepted even if he wasn't ready. We'll work something out…" Bryce also knew the consequences for doing such a thing but it wasn't really a choice, they either transformed him or killed him. There was no time to get him to a place that could heal him.

Dylan nodded, looking lost before clarity reflected from his eyes. He grabbed Max's right hand, ripping the group's emblem from his cuff before biting into his own hand, blood immediately starting to spill from the wound he just opened.

Blood mixed with tears from Dylan fell on Max's face before the former opened Max's mouth, dropping the emblem inside Max's mouth and squeezing his fist, streams of blood spilling inside his mouth making Max's body swallow both the emblem and blood subconsciously.

The other two stopped arguing while this all happened, looking towards Dylan whose tears flowed around his sharp face.