Chapter 79: Not healing
Thor
The hunt had been satisfying.
I stood over the beast’s lifeless body as I shifted back into my human form, blood dripping down my skin and clinging heavily to my body. The metallic scent filled the air around me, thick and exhilarating.
It always felt good after a successful kill.
The beast lay sprawled across the forest floor, unmoving now, its massive body torn open from where we’d brought it down.
Rex and Axel stood nearby, both still alert despite the victory.
Rex remained in his human form as planned, a sword resting easily in his hand while Axel stood tense beside him, ready to transform at any moment if danger appeared.
It was a routine we had perfected long ago.
One hunted.
One guarded.
One stayed human in case we encountered people.
Simple.
Efficient.
Necessary.
But as I stared down at the dead beast, satisfaction slowly faded from me, replaced by something heavier.
Unease.
I exhaled slowly, disturbed.
Rex’s expression mirrored my own thoughts exactly.
The hunts were becoming harder.
Every single time we entered the forest, there were fewer beasts to find.
And it wasn’t winter yet.
We couldn’t even blame the weather.
The prey was disappearing long before the cold season arrived, and that worried me more than I cared to admit.
Soon we’d have no choice but to rely on the reserves we’d been storing.
None of us wanted that.
If winter came and the reserves ran out too quickly, the pack would starve.
"We need to keep hunting," Axel said suddenly, concern darkening his gaze as he looked toward the beast. "This, along with the others we caught, still isn’t enough meat."
Rex lifted two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly, the sharp sound echoing through the forest to alert the other hunting teams of our location so they could come retrieve the carcass.
"The meat we’ve hunted so far isn’t enough," Axel repeated grimly.
"And it’s getting worse," Rex added quietly.
He sniffed the air again, but there was nothing.
No prey scent.
No movement.
Nothing.
"At this rate..." Rex sighed, trailing off.
He didn’t need to finish.
We all already knew.
If things kept going like this, the pack would slowly starve to death.
And if that happened, we’d be forced to move the entire pack elsewhere.
Migration.
The thought alone irritated me.
Worse came to worst, we might even need to start attacking nearby human villages again. We’d done it before when food became scarce, though never enough to draw dangerous attention toward us.
Still, if something was affecting the beasts here, there was no guarantee another territory would be any different.
"Do we even know what caused this?" Axel asked. "What if we migrate and the situation still doesn’t improve?"
I nearly rolled my eyes.
"Then we find something that works," I snapped.
We weren’t children.
We couldn’t sit around worrying endlessly while the pack starved.
If hunting humans became necessary, then so be it.
Whatever strange thing was affecting the forest could be dealt with later.
I looked northward, deeper into the forest.
"We should head further north," I said. "That beast was running in that direction for a reason."
Neither Rex nor Axel looked convinced.
Still, they didn’t argue.
That was enough.
Without wasting another second, I shifted back into my wolf form and lunged forward into the trees.
Behind me, I heard Axel transform as well while Rex stayed human, sprinting after us with unnatural speed.
We moved quickly through the forest, weaving between trees beneath the darkening evening sky.
Night was approaching.
And none of us wanted to remain deep in the forest after sunset.
The creatures that emerged at night were wrong.
Dark.
Twisted.
Their bodies looked like living shadows covered in thick black slime.
Even I avoided them when possible.
Sometimes I wondered if they were born from dark magic itself.
We continued deeper north until suddenly a familiar scent hit me sharply.
Human.
More than one.
I slowed immediately.
Axel and Rex must have caught it too because both of them stopped behind me.
I stared ahead through the trees until I finally spotted them.
Six humans.
All male.
Tall.
Armed.
And the way they stood made something deep in my instincts stir uneasily.
They didn’t look like prey.
They looked like predators.
A low growl rumbled from my chest as a warning to Axel and Rex.
But Axel only growled louder in response, clearly irritated by my hesitation.
"Attack," he growled back confidently.
And honestly, under normal circumstances, I would have agreed instantly.
Humans were weak.
Axel and I alone could easily slaughter them.
Even with their steel and iron swords pointed toward us, they should have been no threat.
But something felt wrong.
None of them panicked.
Not one.
That alone was enough to make me cautious.
But Axel had already charged.
I cursed inwardly before lunging after him.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
Maybe they were simply brave fools.
I bared my teeth, preparing to crush the nearest human beneath my jaws—
Then a loud booming sound exploded through the forest.
The sound echoed violently through the trees.
I flinched instinctively, startled by the unfamiliar noise.
Another growl ripped from my throat as I searched for the source—
Then Axel cried out in pain.
I snapped my head toward him.
Blood soaked the fur around his neck.
He stumbled backward violently.
Shock froze me for half a second as I stared at the strange object clutched in one of the human’s hands.
What the hell was that weapon?
Another deafening boom rang out.
Then another.
The humans immediately started retreating, realizing whatever strange weapon they carried wasn’t working as intended anymore.
But this time I didn’t hesitate.
Rage exploded through me.
I lunged straight at them.
Branches snapped beneath my weight as I tore into the first human, ripping him apart before he could scream properly.
The second tried to raise his sword.
Too slow.
I crushed his throat instantly.
The human holding the strange weapon swung it toward me again, panic finally entering his eyes.
But now I understood enough to avoid it.
I dodged sharply aside the moment the weapon lifted.
Another explosion tore through the air.
The shot missed me completely.
I grabbed a broken branch in my jaws and hurled it straight into him with enough force to send him crashing backward with a scream.
Then I reached him.
And tore him apart.
Silencing him permanently.
One by one, the rest died the same way.
Violently.
Quickly.
Mercilessly.
Only after the last body hit the ground did I finally feel pain burning through my leg.
I looked down sharply.
Blood.
Steel swords barely pierced my skin.
Arrows almost never did.
But whatever that weapon had been...
It wounded me.
And that worried me far more than the humans themselves.
I immediately turned and dashed back toward Axel.
The moment I reached him, my entire body went rigid.
He had shifted back into his human form.
And he was bleeding heavily onto the forest floor.
Worse—
His wounds weren’t healing.
