chapter 23- Inflicting Punishment

Author POV

"Thud"

"Thud"

"Thud"

Heavy sounds of steps sound one after another. In the lead was a gigantic wolf, its fur as black as the abyss; even in the darkness of night, its fur was distinctly visible.

It's sight, seemingly unaffected by darkness, stared straight ahead at the man with otherworldly features. 

From the treelines, several wolves stepped out, all of them wary of the man standing in the ruin. But the man, unpertubed, stood still, letting the wolves slowly enclose him in a tight noose formation.

The Alpha, though worried, had to take the lead. With the enmity already established, only one side will remain alive today.

With the wolves numbering 7, the odds seemed in the favor of wolves, as if to mock this thought, the man at the center of the formation moved.

"Woosh"

Stirring up a little sandstorm in his wake, the rocks below, too brittle to carry his majestic steps, cracked.

The man moved with an otherworldly grace, like a ghost in darkness;  he weaved in and out of the formation with ease.

The man appeared to be teleporting; one second he was behind one wolf, then the other instant he was gone.

The entire wolf formation was torn apart.

Awoooo

The despairing howls of wolves sounded one after another, their limbs ripped apart by brute force, flying in the air, leaving a mesmerizing shower of blood in their path.

Jason grinned at this sight, reveling as more and more wolf blood painted the charred rocks below.

Poor teenage wolves; they never stood a chance against Jason.

Even now, Jason hasn't killed them. He simply inflicted injuries that would undo their transformation and turn them into their weak selves.

The Alpha stood still, his mind barraged by the cry of pain, his mind turning numb.

The telepathic network of wolves told him about the pain his pack members were suffering, each getting forcefully disconnected as their transformations were forcibly undone.

The cry of pain echoing in his head slowly disappeared, and the silence slowly brought him out of his reverie.

His huge head shook around rapidly, taking in the sight of his limbless pack members sprawled on the charred ground. Memories flashed in his head of how he trained them to maintain control and how he overlooked their first phasing.

How he consoled them and brought back their confidence when they thought they had become monsters.

Their eyes, once full of vitality and madness, now turn into empty, dead eyes.

The Alpha shook his head and let out an anguished howl.

Not a howl with his snout pointing towards the sky but towards the ground, begging the other packs to come and save them.

The howl echoed in the desolate forest, all the life seemingly destroyed by the return of Jason from death.

The howl dissipated under the moonless night; the despair in Alpha's heart was mirroring that of the darkness outside.

With each passing second, the gloom on the Alpha's face increased, and the desperate cry of help he sounded was not answered by any wolf.

Alpha looked around the charred plains. The sight of his pack members lying dead in craters was sending chills down his spine, but the culprit of the massacre was nowhere to be found.

Alpha scouted the surroundings, looking for the sweet, sickly scent of the perpetrator, but there was no other scent than the metallic smell of the blood of his dead pack members.

The Alpha, grasping the opportunity, made a run for it. With the vampire seemingly disappearing, it was the right thing to do.

All reason left the Alpha's brain; the only thing on his mind was to survive, not even caring about his comrades who might still be alive.

"Woosh"

"Thud"

The mad sprinting of an Alpha left a devastating path in its wake, with boulders crushed and trees uprooted.

The Alpha got injured because of its reckless running, but he didn't care.

"Run"

"Get out of here."

These were the only thoughts running through his mind.

Finally, the clearing was in sight, and the Alpha's confidence increased. With a small howl, he leapt off the small hill.

"Thud"

With a loud bang, the Alpha landed hard on the ground, causing a crater to form.

The Alpha paused; he raised his head to scout around. Taking in the sight and smell of the surroundings.

Under the moonless night, the darkness seemed haunting; there was barely any wind flowing, nor was there the chirping of birds or the sound of crickets. The entire forest seemed to be blanketed in silence.

"Haaaah"

"Haaah"

"Haaaaah"

Only the sound of Alpha's heavy breathing resonated in the background, adding a little life to the desolate forest.

Pressing his snout to the ground, the Alpha breathed in deeply, inhaling a lot of dirt, but the Alpha didn't care about this; his animalistic eyes had happiness in them.

What could give a dying man hope?

Another stronger pack, with more numbers and ancient wolves in it.

Yes, the Alpha was on his way to such a pack. 

After confirming the scent one more time and ignoring the surroundings, which seemed to be getting darker as he grew closer to the location, he kicked off the loose dirt, whizzing off.

The panting of the Alpha got worse with every step; the darkness around him wanted to swallow him, and his own shadow seemed to be stopping his advancement. The trees seemed to be mythical creatures trying to drag him into them.

"Buzz"

A sudden wave of dizziness struck Alpha, immobolizing his whole body; his entire vision became dark.

"Thud"

The Alpha collided hard with the trees, uprooting several of them with his momentum.

"Pant"

"Pant"

"Pant"

The mythical spirit warrior, the equal of the legendary cold ones and one of the most highly decorated alphas in his tribe's history, was panting like a dying dog.

How disgraceful. 

The transformation was undone; pained screams echoed in the darkness, along with the sickening sounds of bone shifting. The transformation, which he seemed to do with ease at the beginning, has now increased in difficulty by a thousand times, and his body is no longer able to support it.

Slowly, he stood up, dawdling on his legs just like a newborn infant, his eyes completely dark with the complete absence of whites.

Using the splinters of the destroyed tree as support, he walked, but his vision seemed to have become dull, with only his nose barely guiding the way.

"Survive"

"Survive"

"Survive"

In the darkness of night, a young man with shriveled-up skin, using a stick as a crutch, walked slowly without knowing the condition of his body. All the injuries and tiredness turned his brain numb, and only the thoughts of survival ran through his mind.

His face is no longer youthful but full of lines, and his frame is no longer as big as before, just a shadow of his previously strong physique.

"Survive"

"Survive"

With the silent muttering, he continued persevering, his only witness being the dirt beneath his feet.

Finally, the limping man made it out of the woods.

With each step, his skin shrieking up even more, his skeletal structure completely visible, who would believe this man was the Alpha of a spirit warrior tribe?.

"Hahahah". The Alpha completely lost himself, driven insane by the despairing situation.

Losing his stick, he fell to the harsh ground. 

Good thing he was slowly losing sense of himself; otherwise, the current pain of his essence being sucked away cruelly would be enough to send him into shock.

He started crawling, going in the direction his instincts were telling him. 

"Thud"

"Thud"

Pairs of light footsteps sounded around the Alpha, and several humans rushed towards him.

Their agility is remarkable; each of their physiques is stout and muscular without affecting their speed; their gaze is extremely sharp; and their skin is a healthy russet color.

"Hahaahaa"

The Alpha, completely oblivious to his surroundings, continued his deranged laughter.

"I know him," said a voice.

"Yes, he is the Alpha of a pack. His pack is a few hundred miles away." Replied with another voice.

"Careful," said another man, staring at the tree line, seemingly sensing the sinister presence in the darkness.

"He brought something terrible here," continued the same voice.

All of them got tensed and crouched over, their entire bodies shaking and letting off steam like a furnace.

"Hahahah!" The Alpha continued his deranged laughter.

"He killed them all." 

"He's the Devil." 

The Alpha murmured, gaining the attention of the pack.

Slowly, the Alpha closed his eyes.

"He can't be killed." 

With this last whisper, his body disintegrated along with the clothes, leaving no evidence behind.

The group got tense seeing the supernatural scene.

The leader among them wasted no time and transformed; the rest of the group followed.

A storm of debate and discussions raged on in the telepathic network, discussing strategies to deal with the current situation.

"Kaach"

With the sound of twigs getting crushed, a humanoid shadow finally revealed itself.