Waiting at the entrance of the cave, she suddenly hears an animal roar: « RROOOAAARRR—GH! » After that, only various growls, whimpers, and other sounds used to express oneself in animal language, not to mention the Chinese she vaguely caught.
After several minutes, the werewolf comes out of the cave, crossing paths with yumiel, stopping in front of her before growling at her. He moves closer and closer to her face, his foul, drooling maw hanging open. Amused by the situation, she grins widely, showing her two canines protruding from her teeth. He doesn't like that.
« RROOOAAARRR—GH! » He roars right in her face, splattering saliva all over it, some of it even getting into her mouth because of her wide smile. Disgusted, she spits on the ground and wipes her mouth.
« You fucking asshole piece of shit! »
Pulling her daggers back close to her and pointing them at him, the werewolf tenses his muscles, ready to fight as well.
« That's enough! I'll handle it. »
The small wolf approaches the werewolf coming out of the cave, then suddenly begins to grow, going from 50 cm to over a meter. His fur changes, shifting from gray to dark black. With every step he takes, he grows larger, surpassing 2 meters.
« 你以为你能挑战我?»
Continuing to walk toward the werewolf, the small wolf who had only been 50 cm now measured 3 meters, still growing slightly.
Whimpering and making himself small, the werewolf begins to shrink, returning to his human form. The fur falls to the ground or retracts into his skin, his wolf jaw pulls back into a human face, his tail does the same. Bones can be heard shifting and snapping back into place.
Slowly, he gives way to a young adolescent, no older than about 15 at most. Tanned and handsome, chestnut hair, amber-yellow eyes. Not really different from when he was a werewolf—except for one thing: he was naked.
Despite all that, what bothered her the most was his age. She hated kids.
« Uh, so… I don't really know what to call you. You didn't tell me he was a kid? »
« You can call me Alpha, and I did tell you—anyway, in any case, he's with you now. Follow me, we're going to rejoin your friend on the battlefield. And take good care of him. »
The werewolf—or rather, Tāo—stays close to yumiel, then starts sniffing her from head to toe. She mutters to herself, « No, you didn't tell me. »
Heading toward where Jack is, Jùnyǔ joins the walk.
« Junyu, I think you should stay here and go your own way. Where we're going, I wouldn't bet much on your skin. »
Alpha, beside them, nods in agreement.
« And our contract? »
« Don't worry, it still stands. Let's just say it'll start later, considering I have to go back to my country… »
While she was talking, Tāo started sniffing her face, making her stop mid-sentence. She pushes him away and resumes—only for him to come back, sniffing her hair. Yumiel restrains herself, on the verge of exploding.
« Could you stop, Tao? »
He looks at her with a questioning expression, then says: « 你很臭.» Alpha chuckles lightly.
« What did he say? »
« Don't take it the wrong way, he said you stink. And you're still getting the pronunciation wrong. It's Tāo, not Tao. »
Yumiel's nerves snap. She really wasn't patient—and even less so with kids—grabbing Tāo by the collar. Tāo growls at her, glaring daggers. Alpha intervenes, placing his massive paw between them. Yumiel lets go.
« Come now, you're part of the same family now, so get along. »
Alpha translates it into Chinese for Tāo, who stops growling and lets out a soft whimper, almost like a soothing song, before licking yumiel's nose. Alpha immediately sees yumiel's irritation spike and warns her in advance.
« Don't get angry. That's how we wolves show trust in one another, and it's also a sign of reconciliation. »
« Great. Can we go now? Because it's not like my teammate is alone in the middle of a battlefield or anything. Junyu, we'll get in touch when the situation in the world gets better, okay? Take care of yourself. »
She heads toward the battlefield. Alpha remains still, watching her go, before calling out: « It's the other way… and your friend isn't alone. The whole pack is over there. »
She turns around and follows Alpha through the forest, still accompanied by Tāo, who stays close to her.
Through the forest, everything seems so calm. She runs while contemplating the starry sky, until she sees smoke rising in the direction of the city. She picks up the pace, quickly reaching the outskirts of the city.
« Looks like the battle moved—and shifted a bit. »
Several buildings had been reduced to blocks of concrete. In the wide streets, bloody battles were raging between soldiers and wolves. In that chaos, yumiel saw neither Jack nor Alan and headed deeper into the city.
« Alright, I'll leave you here. Thanks for everything. Though honestly, apart from dumping a shitty kid on me and stopping me from killing my prey, I'm not sure I should be thanking you. »
She leaves immediately, followed by Tāo, who, as he goes, throws a glance back at Alpha before joining yumiel. Alpha howls, then circles around the city to enter from another side.
Yumiel and Tāo enter the city, inevitably passing through the battlefield. Yumiel recalls her daggers and sends them flying to carve a path, slicing and stabbing enemies close to her. Strangely enough, even in the heart of the battle, no wolf attacks them.
Searching for Jack through the mess, she decides to move away, climbing to an upper floor of a building to get a better view. Scanning the streets, she still doesn't see him. She decides to move to another building, heading for the stairs, but Tāo grabs her arm, pulling her toward the roof.
« What? »
Tāo begins to transform, growing before her eyes. His jaw lengthens, fur spreads across his body, his tail slowly emerges. Most impressive of all are his bones, stretching and dislocating, the pain clearly visible on Tāo's face.
Seeing this genetic marvel just waiting to be explored, yumiel smiles stupidly. It slightly frightens Tāo when he sees her expression, before he steps forward, lifts her with one hand, and sets her down on his back.
Clinging to his back, yumiel doesn't really understand what Tāo has in mind.
« If this is for a rodeo, I'm good, thanks. I can walk by myself, you know. »
Before she can climb down, Tāo runs, accelerating faster and faster before leaping into the void. Yumiel clings to him, gripping his fur tightly. Tāo catches himself on the wall of the opposite building, digging in his claws and running straight up it.
As Tāo climbs the building, she glances down, watching the ground fall away beneath her, clinging even tighter. Reaching the top, he moves to the other side. Yumiel climbs down and looks into the street on that side of the building, seeing, at the far end, Jack rampaging like a madman in the middle of helpless soldiers.