A heavy silence hung in the air like a curtain between them.
Jayden stood there, hand still pressed against the door, his heart beating against his chest like a frantic drum. He could hear Jessica’s uneven breathing from the other side, he could feel the heat of her heartbreak bleeding through the walls.
But this wasn’t just about heartbreak anymore.
"Jessica," he said again, this time more urgently, voice edged with something raw, something real. "I need you. Please, just hear me out."
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, a low, muffled voice responded—shaky, tight.
"...Danger?" she said softly
Jayden took a breath. It was a start.
"Yes," he said, leaning closer. "It’s about the full moon. About that night. I think... I think I might’ve killed someone... something. Something important."
Another pause. This time longer.
"You don’t even remember what you did that night, do you?" Her voice was quiet. Barely above a whisper.
Jayden closed his eyes.
"No," he replied. "I don’t. Not all of it. Just flashes. But today... a beast came to me."
He pressed his forehead against the door.
"A C-rank Winter Wolf. It didn’t attack. It just looked at me... and howled."
He hesitated. Then said the words that still made his skin crawl.
"And i think it was in pain... emotional pain. The type you feel when you lose someone you care about."
He could almost hear Jessica freeze behind the door. He continued before the moment slipped.
"I think it wants revenge, Jessica. Whoever it lost... I was responsible for their death."
The door cracked open.
Jessica’s face was half-shadowed by the dim hallway light. Her cheeks glistened faintly. She didn’t speak at first, just looked at him—confused, pained, but curious.
"You think this beast is after us?" she asked softly.
Jayden nodded. "I don’t know how, or when... but yes. It could be."
Jessica looked down, wiping her eyes. "And what do you expect me to do about it?"
Jayden stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Help me remember what I did that night. I need to know if you saw anything.
Jessica hesitated. She looked away, hugging herself.
"I didn’t get too close. But... you were indeed fighting beasts that night." she began. "And after a while, you headed deeper into the forest. Moving from place to place as if you were looking for something in particular... and it turned out you were."
Jayden furrowed his brows, he could already take a wild guess.
"Howlers." Jessica continued. "About twelve of them, just playing and goofing around. Until you showed up."
Jayden inhaled sharply, his suspicions had been confirmed. "I attacked them?"
"You massacred them." Jessica corrected. "The whole pack... both the E and F-Ranks, none of them stood a chance."
Jayden’s breath caught. It all clicked. The grief. The rage. The howl. That look in the Winter Wolf’s eyes. It had lost it’s entire pack.
And Jayden had been the one to eliminate them.
No wonder the beast didn’t attack. It didn’t want to win a fight.
It wanted Jayden to suffer.
"But the Winter wolf wasn’t there that night." he muttered to himself.
[I think it caught your scent] Luna chimed. [That’s how it was able to locate you at the alley earlier]
Jessica looked up at him in curiousity, her eyes sharp. "Yes, it wasn’t... but, you said you didn’t remember anything. So how did you know?"
Jayden sighed, his throat tight. "It was a blur. But your words brought it back... some of it."
Jessica exhaled slowly. "So.. what now?"
Jayden sighed. "I... I don’t know. I killed it’s pack... it’s family. So now it’s after mine... after you. All of you."
Jessica remained silent for a while, before she finds spoke.
"Why?" she asked
Jayden raised a brow. "Huh?"
Jessica frowned. "Why would it want revenge? I mean, it’s not like it hasn’t lost members of it’s pack before. So why think of getting retribution now?"
Jayden hesitated. This was a question he had pondered about minutes ago. And he only had on probable answer.
"I broke our deal." he muttered
Jessica scoffed. "You had a deal with a beast?"
Jayden smiled wrly. "Well, not exactly. Thing is, I’ve encountered it once before. And at the time, it was incredibly stronger than me. So it let me go... with a silent pact that we would have a fair fight someday. An honourable fight."
"Wait, let me get this straight." Jessica said. "It spared your life, just so you can get stronger to come back to fight it?"
Jayden nodded. "Yeah... i guess."
Jessica exhaled. "But now it just wants revenge because you broke the deal and killed it’s entire family."
Jayden felt a lump rise in his throat as he heard Jessica’s words. A wave of guilt suddenly washing over him.
"I... I wasn’t in control, Jessica." he defended. "You know that."
Jessica’s scoffed. "Oh... and what about when you got intimate with my sister? You weren’t in control too?"
Jayden remained silent. She had caught him offguard. He could only lower his head in guilt.
"Hm, i didn’t think so." Jessica tutted. "Look, i don’t know what... beef you have with this beast. But remember, you promised you wouldn’t do anything to hurt my family."
Jayden sighed. "I know. And I’m sorry for... everything. I promise to fix this... to fix us."
Jessica snickered. "Don’t get the wrong idea, Jayden. Me talking to you right now doesn’t mean i don’t hate you for what you did. Don’t think you can just talk your way into an apology."
Jayden nodded. "Of course. And I promise that after i take care of this beast problem. I’ll explain everything... and after that, you can decide if you still want to hate me or not." he stated, pouring his heart into his words.
But Jessica kept a straight face, she stared at Jayden with an indifferent expression. "Goodbye, Jayden." she muttered, and without warning, slammed the door shut.
Jayden sighed and walked back to his room, shutting the door behind him.
[Damn, she is really pissed] Luna chuckled
He ran his hands across his hair. "Yeah, she is. But i have bigger things to worry about."
[Yeah] Luna agreed. [You seem to know how to piss women off. I think it’s becoming a talent really]
Jayden raised a brow. "What are you talking about? Jessica is the only girl I’ve offended. I think."
Luna scoffed. [What about the wolf coming for you?]
Jayden blinked. "It’s a female?"
[Yep] Luna replied. [And she has your scent. Meaning she can find this place just as easily as she found you at the alley]
Jayden exhaled sharply. He knew the implication of this. The Winter wolf could appear at any moment and try to attack the family. And he couldn’t let that happen.
"Luna, i can’t sit here and wait for the Winter wolf to find me," he said. "I have to find it first."
[Okay, so then what?]
Jayden’s expression darkened. "I finish this once and for all."
And with that... the shadows deepened. The coming storm—beast or otherwise—was drawing near. And somewhere out there in the wild dusk of Alpha, a creature of ice and fury waited, mourning its loss... and sharpening its claws.
Because it had declared war. And Jayden had no choice but to answer.