Wolf Language

"Kyah! A monster!" Maya shrieked, running behind Calix.

Calix drew his gun again and pointed it at the beast, who halted upon realizing he was armed. He had been training all his life for this, but fuck, this guy was enormous! It made him feel inferior.

Even with his back slightly hunched, the werewolf had the height of an average high school athlete, which was understandable, as Khalil Chua played volleyball while in human form. Now that his body mass had been redistributed to make the form of a bi-pedaled werewolf, he appeared taller. It must be the fur.

But the question was, how did he transform this fast? Or was it a different werewolf?

Calix placed his index finger on the trigger and braced himself for the recoil, gripping it with both hands. He could have aimed for Khalil's heart in the elevator when he stabbed him, but he didn't. He wanted to ask Klein first how would he feel if he kill the werewolf. They were friends.

Klein didn't seem bothered that the guy he had been hanging out with was a werewolf. Otherwise, he would have informed Calix right away that Khalil was at the school. But he didn't. He even hid the fact that he got scratched by this guy until Calix confronted him about it.

Did they talk? Did Khalil try to persuade Klein into becoming a werewolf like him? There were many questions running in Calix's mind as he pondered if he should shoot the werewolf or not. He shouldn't even be hesitating right now, but Klein...

'Would Klein hate me if I kill his friend? Or would he praise me for killing the monster that hurt him?'

As he pondered about these questions, the werewolf had caught a whiff of his hesitation and charged towards them. Calix steeled his resolved and fired.

"No!"

The bullet embedded into a wall, stopping the werewolf from his tracks.

Calix looked behind him, to the girl who pushed his shoulder, and scowled. "Why did you do that?!"

"You'll kill him!"

"That's the point."

Maya shook her head and ran in front of him, barricading herself between Calix and the werewolf. "You can't. He's my savior!"

Calix's jaw dropped. "Hah?"

Maya swiveled to face the beast several feet away. "I've read this in a novel. I think he came here because he thought I'm in trouble. He's... he's my secret admirer who is also secretly a werewolf!"

Calix had thought that Klein was a little strange with the way he's taking the entire werewolf thing differently, but this girl was on an entirely different level. He had the urge to drag his palm across his face because of her.

"Look, it's okay. This is just a misunderstanding," Maya explained to the werewolf, then gestured behind her. "I don't know this hot guy over here. But I think he could be potentially my friend's secret boyfriend."

The werewolf roared in rage that made both of them jumped.

"I-I think he doesn't understand me," Maya said to Calix. "Do you know what kind of language werewolves speak?"

Calix shook his head. How the fuck would he know?

"Okay, let me try this." Maya cleared her throat. "Awoo~!"

Calix snorted a laugh as Maya started mimicking the sound a wolf would make while she made wild gestures with her hands. "Are you doing sign language?"

Maya stopped growling and gave Calix a belittling stare. "It's a wolf language. Only a few knows about it."

"Okay?" Calix played along. "And what did you tell him?"

"I'm just trying to explain that you are not my boyfriend, but Klein's—"

Khalil's snarl turned more menacing, his claws and canines swearing they'd tear them to pieces as he charged at them at full speed.

Calix didn't waste more time. He heaved Maya to his shoulder and bolted to the stairs, ignoring her shrieks of protest. As much as he wanted to shoot, the recoil of a 500 magnum bullet could injure him if he shot with one hand carelessly.

Upon reaching the lower floor, Calix dashed to one of its rooms and threw Maya onto the floor unceremoniously to lock the door. He had just taken two gasps when the door already blasted open behind him, detaching it from its hinges.

But he was ready.

Calix held the gun in position, removed any uncertainty from his mind, and fired. The recoil rippled in his arm, and the blast that echoed inside the room almost deafened him, but years of practice had toughened him up.

The pained roar that followed didn't deter Calix to fire again. Khalil dropped on one knee, blood dripping from his wounded thigh while clutching his injured shoulder.

Two more bullets.

That wasn't enough, though. Regardless of how powerful the gun was, it could only injure the werewolf, but it won't slow down its insane regenerative ability. Not unless it's made of silver. Silver can disrupt the regeneration. But his bullets weren't silver. The only silver Calix had were his dagger.

"Find a fire exit and leave," Calix said to Maya.

Still sprawled on the floor while clutching her ears, Maya looked up. Her jovial smiled had been replaced with fear as she stared at him, and then at the werewolf by the door. It must have dawned on her by now that she wasn't living in her werewolf romance fantasy.

This was real.

And Calix didn't have the heart to tell her that the person behind the claws and fur was none other that her other friend, Khalil Chua—a werewolf who had preyed on innocent people like Klein.

Like his sister.

Calix needed to hear his motives first. Only then he could decide if he should kill him or not.

Maya pushed herself up as steam rose from the werewolf's body, giving off a smell of burning flesh. Her legs wobbled, but she slowly made her way to the door with her back pressed against the wall.

Calix kept the gun pointed at the werewolf's head, making sure he wouldn't suddenly attack any of them.

"Kle... in..."

They both froze as Khalil finally spoke. His voice croaked and disconnected.

"I... need to... see... Klein... He's... in... danger..."