You Will Fear Me

Twenty minutes ago…

The old speaker was buzzing, spewing out halting words that sounded like an old man who was wheezing his last breath. It was placed atop of the kitchen counter and everyone was silent when they listened — Sebastian was sure that they had repeated it again and again along the journey back and it was only him and Keith who needed this information.

"...has been spotted approximately four days ago. The Federation has deemed the Three Headed Infected to be the most dangerous of all. So far, it's been proven that 90% of the people who have come into contact with it — and especially its blood — will be infected by the Moon's Curse almost immediately."

Sebastian could feel Keith stiffen almost imperceptibly beside him. Yes, the Three Head might have been killed without any casualties yesterday but Sebastian had had a mouthful of its blood inside his mouth.

If the news was true, then he would start to show initial symptoms soon. Sebastian's face did not change as he registered the information and he didn't acknowledge Keith's anxious glances either. He would be the first one to know if something was wrong with his own body and so far, none of such things happened.

Sebastian would kill himself first before he could turn into those creatures.

[Don't give yourself away.] He told Keith through the mind link.

The voice continued. "Not only that, they seemed to have gained various evolved abilities. A friend of mine has gotten his mind manipulated and ended up killing two of the people in my team. I've heard another who could poison werewolves to death from afar. So please… if you receive this message, please get as far away as possible from the Three Headed. It took us half of our team to annihilate one. It's so powerful, maybe ten times more powerful than the Two Headed…" More rustles and muffled sobbing, and then the recording was cut off abruptly with a sharp click.

Heavy silence descended among them.

Javier cursed under his breath. "We found it among the stray belongings and also… there were three mangled corpses not far from it. We didn't give it a thorough check fearing that the smell would soon draw the Infected in but judging from the marks on their bodies, I'd say that it was done by a Three Headed." He rubbed his face roughly. "Fuck… you should have seen it. It's so…" He shook his head as if to shake the image away. "...gruesome. It's nothing like I have seen before."

"Great." Arlene deadpanned. She had long hair before she departed, but now it's been cut short to her shoulder and she looked utterly done with this shit. "We are barely getting by and now, the evolved Three Headed are coming. At least we will know to avoid it so we won't get infected."

"You will still get infected even without coming into contact with the Three Headed though," another piped in.

Honestly, Sebastian couldn't remember all of their names. They were… a team, yes. A haphazardly put together team. A group of desperate people brought together by the instinct of survival.

Sebastian only remembered Javier and Arlene because they were mates — the only pair of mates in their team — and it intrigued him to witness their interaction.

But no matter what, these people weren't his. Not the members of his pack. Not the wolves approved by the Alpha within him. They were rogues, and it had been instilled into him not to put his trust in rogues. Not that he had any choice to begin with, when their huge pack had been reduced to a meager five. Pathetic.

Ever since the virus outbreak, they truly resembled beasts driven to a corner. They had no idea when they would wake up one day to see their pack members reduced to hideous, bloodthirsty creatures. It resulted in cracks in their otherwise solid relationship. Werewolves were getting wary of each other and in the end, they chose to go on each of their own ways.

It was their punishment, Sebastian told himself. They deserved this.

"Thank you for bringing us this precious information." Sebastian nodded and carefully didn't tell how their basecamp had been invaded by a Three Headed just yesterday and the aforementioned's corpse was still hidden inside the basement.

Someone snorted audibly and the atmosphere turned still for a second.

Sebastian still didn't react, only showing his usual impassive look. He knew what those people saw in him; born an Alpha, but pitifully un-Alpha like. Sebastian was the embodiment of calm water; serene, dull, placid as opposed to the image of the usual Alpha; hot-blooded, competitive, charismatic. It was no wonder that these people didn't see eye to eye with him.

Even Keith was more Alpha-like than him.

Sebastian discreetly gave his Beta a warning look and Keith reeled backward, gritting his teeth so hard to hold himself back from beating the person who had insulted Sebastian to pulp.

Javier gave an awkward cough and as if someone had just flipped the switch, everyone was moving again with a more frantic energy. Bustling around the kitchen to treat the injured, skimming through the cabinets for snacks — anything.

But then, another man spoke and shattered the thinly tied peace yet again. The same who had scoffed earlier, he noticed. "When do you plan to tell us, Alpha Sebastian?" The last two words rolled off his tongue in deep mockery. "I heard the news from Sven that the Moon Goddess—"

"Dan!" Keith growled and pounced forward to shut him up. Right, Dan was his name, Sebastian recalled. But it was too late because Dan evaded Keith slickly and continued to run his mouth.

"—is already awake. Was it three days ago? Don't you think the timeline coincides strangely with the Three Headed's appearance?"

There was a second of pin drop silence before the calm exploded to pieces.

"She's already awake?! Really?!"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

Sebastian clenched his fists tightly, the bulging veins on his forehead unnoticed. Take a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. He repeated the motion until the urge to gouge Dan's eyes out and forced them down his throat disappeared and he was an unbothered lake again. He had known these people's goals. They were helping him but at the same time, they also had their eyes on Her Excellency.

The government had announced it right before Sebastian decided to fuck them all and brought Her Excellency out of that goddamn place.

She would either be salvation or destruction; there was no in between. And they could only find out the truth once she was awake.

"...Alpha Sebastian? Have you found out about the curse?"

The line of Sebastian's thought broke off as he lifted his head to finally scan everyone's faces for the first time. He saw hope, desperation and greed. They were waiting, hanging desperately onto his words in hope for liberation. Yet for some reason, Her Excellency's face flashed in his mind. Her gentle smile, her soft-spoken words, the way she fought, the twinkle in her eyes when Sebastian played the violin for her, also her tears…

No, his wolf growled. Protect her!

"Come on, make up your mind." Arlene added in frustration. "As long as you give me the word, I will dispose of her quietly."

Sebastian stiffened and his pupils dilated, lips pulling back into a silent snarl. Unfortunately, no one noticed because they were too shocked by Arlene's straightforward words. Keith was saying something to salvage the tense situation but Sebastian had already sunk deep inside his mind. His wolf was howling, pacing around restlessly and itching to get back to Her Excellency, to confirm her safety with his own hands.

She's not safe! His wolf howled angrily. She will be killed by these people sooner or later!

Unforgivable. A deep growl escaped his throat and in an instant, all eyes turned to him, shocked. Sebastian seldom asserted his dominance in others, hating how he would often make people — even his own parents — look at him as if he was a monster or worse, scampered away in fear. He had learned it the hard way.

But now, he found that he couldn't care less.

"S—Sebby…" Keith sputtered and tried to hold him back but Sebastian easily shoved him away in lieu of prowling toward Arlene, murderous intent rolling off him in waves, so thick that one could cut it with a knife.

Arlene's eyes widened in horror and her body slumped to the ground, trembling like a newborn fawn. No one moved, not even a hint of breathing could be heard.

Sebastian towered over her, eyes glowing in genuine threat. "If I hear this kind of sentence coming out of your mouth again…" His eyes scanned around before stopping at the pale faced Dan. A sadistic satisfaction bloomed in his chest at the vivid fear emanated from them. "...I will shred you to pieces. You will fear me more than you fear the Three Headed."