Chapter 381: Energy Dampener
The high-speed trek back to Emerald City was a blur of rushing wind and displaced air. Jayden didn’t slow down until he reached the quiet, familiar street of his neighborhood.
He scaled the side of his house with practiced ease, his arms still bulging with hyper-dense muscle to support the massive weight of the Winter Wolf.
Because she was far too large to fit through the sliding glass door of his balcony, Jayden engaged his Intangibility, extending the quantum field to envelop the beast in his arms. Together, they phased seamlessly through the solid glass and stepped into the pitch-black sanctuary of his bedroom.
Jayden gently lowered the massive wolf onto the hardwood floor and immediately drew the heavy curtains shut.
With the moonlight blocked out, the room was instantly illuminated by the ethereal, pulsing white glow radiating from the Winter Wolf’s fur.
Jayden dropped to one knee beside her, studying her condition. Her chest was rising and falling in a steady, rhythmic rhythm. The plasma burns and lacerations inflicted by the EVA agents were already knitting themselves back together, fueled by the latent mana she was drawing in.
She opened her icy blue eyes, looking at him with a lingering wariness, but the feral hostility was gone. In its place was a quiet, profound gratitude. He had saved her life. Jayden offered a faint smile, though he knew if she understood that his original motives weren’t entirely altruistic, she might not look at him so softly.
"Luna," Jayden whispered mentally, watching the erratic energy fluctuations rippling beneath the wolf’s glowing coat. "How long is this Evolution going to take?"
[Well...] Luna hummed. [There is no definitive timeline for an evolution of this magnitude. It could take minutes, days, weeks, or even months, depending on her core’s ability to stabilize the ambient energy she’s generating and absorbing]
Jayden rubbed his forehead. "I can’t keep a beast this massive hidden in my room for months. The EVA is going to be tearing the continent apart looking for her."
[You need not worry about detection, Jayden] Luna assured. [The energy dampener secured to her ankle will perfectly conceal her signature for as long as she draws breath. There is currently no scanning technology on this planet capable of piercing its encryption]
Jayden exhaled a long sigh, the tension uncoiling from his shoulders. He crouched lower and gently rested his hand on the thick, soft fur of the Winter Wolf’s neck. "It’s going to be okay," he murmured to her. "I won’t let anything happen to you."
As he stroked her fur, a strange, overwhelming sensation washed over him. It was a deep, profound instinct to protect her—a primal urge that completely transcended his original, calculated goal to simply tame her for her power. He wanted to keep her safe. He didn’t fully understand why he felt this sudden, intense tether to the beast, but it was undeniable.
Just then, the handle to his bedroom door clicked.
"Jayden, could I spend the night in here?" Jessica’s voice drifted in as she casually pushed the door open, wearing her pajamas. "Tasha keeps disturbing me to braid her—"
She froze dead in her tracks as she saw the scene of the bedroom.
Jayden’s heart nearly stopped. He had been so entirely lost in his thoughts and focused on the wolf’s aura that his instinct hadn’t registered her footsteps in the hallway.
Jessica’s eyes went wide as saucers, reflecting the eerie white glow of the room. She stared in absolute, paralyzed horror at the massive beast lying casually on Jayden’s floor. Her chest hitched instinctively, and her mouth opened to let out a blood-curdling scream.
Jayden blurred across the room in a fraction of a second, appearing directly behind Jessica before any sound could escape her lips. He clamped his gloved hand firmly over her mouth and wrapped his other arm around her waist to keep her steady.
"Shh, shh, it’s okay. It’s me," Jayden whispered urgently into her ear. "Don’t scream. The beast isn’t going to hurt you. I promise."
Jessica’s heavy, panicked breathing was loud in the quiet room. She was trembling against him. Jayden held her firmly but gently, waiting agonizing seconds for her racing heart to steady. Slowly, her chest stopped heaving.
"I’m going to let go now," Jayden whispered. "Don’t yell."
He slowly dropped his hands and took a step back. Jessica stood frozen for a moment before whipping around to face him. Jayden offered a wry, apologetic smile. Jessica looked at him, then looked back down at the massive wolf, who was watching her with weary, glowing eyes.
Jessica took a deep, shuddering breath. "W-What..." she stammered, keeping her voice to a frantic, furious whisper. "What the hell is going on?! Is that a beast? In your room?!"
Jayden grabbed her arm and pulled her fully into the room. "Yeah. She’s a Winter Wolf. Well... ’the’ Winter wolf."
Jessica shook her head in disbelief. "Winter wolf?" she murmured, gesturing wildly at the floor. "Why is she glowing like a radioactive nightlight?!"
"She’s going through some sort of evolution," Jayden explained quickly.
Jessica’s eyes practically bulged out of her skull. "She’s ranking up?! And you brought her here? Are you insane?!"
"I didn’t know where else to take her!" Jayden defended in a harsh whisper. "The EVA had a strike team on her. They were going to kill her."
Jessica looked like she was going to pass out. "The EVA?! But doesn’t that mean... she’s a B-Rank beast?!"
Jayden winced slightly and offered a slow, confirming nod.
Jessica grabbed her hair in pure panic. When he had said the beast was evolving, she assumed it was some stray D-Rank moving up to C-Rank. She did not expect him to have a literal, walking natural disaster currently resting on his area rug.
"Oh my God," Jessica breathed, pacing a tight circle. "Oh my God. We need to tell Dad about this. Right now."
"No!" Jayden grabbed her shoulders, stopping her. "You cannot tell anyone. The EVA knows the vigilante took her. If they somehow find her here, it won’t be hard for them to connect the dots and know that I’m the vigilante. And that won’t be good, for any of us."
Jessica stared at him, the terrifying reality of the situation sinking in. She forced herself to calm down, exhaling a long breath. "Okay. Okay. I won’t tell anyone."
Jayden let go of her shoulders, offering a faint smile. "Honestly, I thought you’d be more excited. You weren’t acting like this when I brought Skye home."
Jessica glared at him. "Skye was the size of a giant golden retriever and she wasn’t glowing like a nuclear reactor!" She crossed her arms, giving him a deeply critical look. "And what is your deal, anyway? You can’t just keep taking in every stray FEMALE beast you find out there!"
Jayden opened his mouth to defend his completely non-gender-specific taming habits, but before he could speak, a voice echoed from the hallway through the crack in the door they had forgotten to secure.
"Jessica, are you in here?" Tasha pushed the door open, stepping into the room. "You promised you’d braid my—"
She froze instantly. Her eyes locked onto the massive, glowing B-Rank anomaly. Her breath hitched, her chest heaving as pure horror washed over her face. She opened her mouth to scream.
Without missing a beat, Jessica lunged forward and clamped her hand tightly over Tasha’s mouth, perfectly mirroring what Jayden had just done to her.
Tasha’s muffled squeaks of terror died down as she darted her wide eyes between Jessica and Jayden. Finally, she glared at Jessica and aggressively motioned for her to remove her hand.
"Do you promise not to scream?" Jessica whispered sternly.
Tasha nodded frantically and Jessica slowly pulled her hand away.
Tasha instantly whirled on Jayden, her voice a sharp, furious hiss. "I demand an explanation. Now."
Jayden sighed in defeat. "Okay." He walked over and firmly shut the bedroom door, locking it. He motioned toward his mattress. "You guys might want to take a seat."
They did as told, and for the next few minutes, Jayden stood by the glowing wolf and explained everything—how he had tracked the explosion, found the EVA agents attacking the exhausted beast, orchestrated the distraction with the lesser pack, and brought her home in the hopes of protecting her and eventually taming her.
Tasha sat on the edge of the bed, listening to every single word with a deeply critical expression. When he finished, she looked down at the massive wolf and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"So, that means the EVA is actively looking for her right now," Tasha deduced.
"Yeah, but her energy is concealed," Jayden assured her, pointing to the metallic band on the wolf’s ankle. "They can never trace her here."
"But what if they do?" Tasha countered.
"They won’t," Jayden promised firmly.
"Okay. Fine. So what exactly happens when her evolution completes?" Tasha asked, her anxiety rising. "She becomes an A-Rank?"
