14

Chapter 14: Unseen Forces

A Heavy Silence

Max remained motionless in the dimly lit room, his body tense from the fight, his mind still racing. The hooded woman—an Alpha—had vanished as quickly as she had appeared, leaving him with more questions than answers. He could still feel the sting of their battle, the bruises forming along his ribs, but the pain was secondary to what he had learned.

Someone had turned Kenneth. And not just anyone—her.

She had admitted to it. Yet she hadn't seemed like a threat. She hadn't tried to kill him. If anything, she had been testing him, almost… warning him.

Max ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. "What the hell is happening?"

He needed to move. He needed to find Kenneth. Now.

But before he could even process his next step, a sudden knock at the door made him freeze.

Three knocks. Sharp. Precise.

His senses flared immediately. Whoever was on the other side wasn't just some random visitor. He was being watched. Again.

Max cursed under his breath. His ribs ached from his earlier fight, and he was in no condition to take on another opponent, but he wasn't about to sit back and wait for whoever it was to come in uninvited.

He grabbed the closest thing he could find—a lamp. Not exactly an ideal weapon, but it was heavy, and it would do the job. Slowly, he crept toward the door, his heart pounding in his chest. The air around him felt charged, like static before a lightning strike.

Another knock.

"Max, I swear, if you don't open this door—"

Max exhaled sharply and immediately dropped the lamp, gripping his chest in frustration. "Frank! What the hell, man?!"

Frank's voice came through muffled. "What do you mean, 'what the hell'? You weren't answering your phone, I had to make sure you weren't dead."

Max hesitated, glancing back at his phone, which sat face-down on the couch. Sure enough, five missed calls from Frank. He groaned, unlocking the door and swinging it open.

Frank stepped in, his usual sarcastic smirk fading the moment he got a look at Max. "Dude. You look like roadkill."

"Nice to see you too," Max muttered, limping back to the couch.

Frank closed the door behind him and crossed his arms. "Alright, tell me what's going on. And before you start, if the story doesn't include why you look like you got thrown off a building, I'm leaving."

Max rubbed his temples. "I got attacked."

Frank blinked. "By who?"

"A werewolf," Max muttered.

Frank let out a low whistle. "That's, uh… that's kinda your thing, isn't it?"

Max shot him a glare. "Not this one. This wasn't some random wolf. This was an Alpha."

Frank's smirk disappeared completely. "Wait. A real Alpha?"

"Blue-eyed, impossibly fast, and strong as hell. Yeah."

Frank let out a long breath and dropped onto the chair across from Max. "Okay. That's bad."

Max nodded. "Yeah. And it gets worse. She knew about Kenneth."

Frank sat up straighter. "Knew about him how?"

Max clenched his fists. "She turned him."

Silence.

Frank's jaw actually dropped, and for once, he was speechless. He stared at Max, waiting for some kind of punchline. When none came, he rubbed his hands over his face. "Oh, that's so much worse."

Max sighed. "She wasn't trying to kill me, though. She was testing me. And when she left, she said something weird—something about Kenneth being a catalyst."

Frank narrowed his eyes. "A catalyst for what?"

Max leaned back, shaking his head. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Frank groaned and slumped in the chair. "You realize what this means, right?"

"Yeah," Max muttered. "We need answers. Fast."

Frank exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Man, I thought my biggest problem this week was gonna be passing my chemistry test. Now we've got Alphas creeping in the shadows and Kenneth possibly being some world-ending werewolf prophecy?"

Max let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. Welcome to my life."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The weight of the situation was pressing down on both of them, heavy and suffocating. Then, Frank clapped his hands together. "Alright. No point sitting here and freaking out. What's the plan?"

Max sat forward, his eyes dark. "We find Kenneth. We tell him everything. And we figure out what the hell is coming."

Frank nodded, standing up. "Cool. But, uh… first, maybe put some ice on your face? You look like you lost a fight to a brick wall."

Max smirked. "I'd like to see you take a hit from an Alpha and walk away."

Frank grinned. "Yeah, well, I plan on keeping my spine intact, thanks."

Max shook his head, wincing as he stood. "Come on. Let's go before something else decides to kick my ass tonight."

As the two stepped out into the night, neither of them noticed a shadow moving on the rooftop above them. The hooded woman stood perched, watching as they walked off into the city.

A small smile tugged at her lips.

"They're finally moving."

With that, she vanished into the darkness once more.

She exhaled, watching as the lights flickered across the streets. Soon, others would come. The Silver Cross Order. The rogue wolves. The ones who feared what Kenneth might become.

--

Perched on the rooftop of a nearby building, the hooded woman watched the city below with an unreadable expression. The confrontation had gone as expected—Max was strong, but still not ready. And Kenneth… he was changing faster than anticipated.

The night air was crisp, filled with the distant hum of traffic and the occasional howl of a lone dog far in the distance. But beneath the city's usual rhythm, something else stirred. A shift in the air. A scent carried on the wind.

Her sharp eyes narrowed beneath the hood.

Two werewolves were approaching.

She didn't move, didn't react, only continued to watch as their scents grew stronger. They were coming for her.

A test? An assassination? A foolish mistake? It didn't matter.

She welcomed it.

--

The first wolf struck from the left, bursting out of the shadows in a blur of motion. He was fast—trained—but not fast enough. The woman sidestepped just as his claws tore through the air where she had been standing a fraction of a second before. Before he could recover, she twisted, slamming her elbow into the side of his skull. The force sent him staggering, growling in frustration.

The second attacker didn't hesitate. A woman this time, moving low, aiming for her legs in an attempt to knock her off balance. Smart, but also predictable.

The hooded woman flipped backward, her feet barely touching the rooftop before she pushed off, twisting midair and landing behind the second wolf. In one fluid motion, she grabbed the woman's head and slammed it into the concrete surface. A sickening crack echoed through the rooftop, and the werewolf let out a sharp, pained gasp, but she wasn't done yet.

The male wolf recovered quickly and lunged again, this time shifting mid-air, his form expanding as thick fur erupted from his skin. His snout elongated, his claws stretching into razor-sharp weapons. He came down on her with all his weight, snarling.

The hooded woman's eyes flashed, and she moved faster than the eye could track. One second she was beneath him, the next she had twisted around, grabbing him by the throat mid-air. With an effortless flick of her wrist, she slammed him onto his back, the concrete cracking beneath his weight.

He gasped for air, his claws swiping wildly, but she dodged each one with precise, inhuman efficiency.

The female wolf groaned, slowly rising from the ground, blood dripping from her forehead. She wiped it away, her eyes burning yellow with fury. "Who the hell are you?" she spat.

The hooded woman tilted her head slightly, as if considering the question. Then, without answering, she stepped forward and drove her knee into the downed male's ribs, pinning him in place. He let out a pained growl, struggling beneath her grip.

"You both attacked me," she said calmly, her voice smooth, almost amused. "At least have the courtesy to tell me who you are before you die."

The female bared her teeth, shifting rapidly, her form contorting into something more monstrous. She lunged forward, aiming straight for the hooded woman's throat.

The hooded woman moved like a ghost, slipping behind the wolf's attack with ease. In a single motion, she reached forward, grabbed the wolf by the scruff of her fur, and ripped her backward with terrifying strength. The female yelped as she was slammed against the ledge of the rooftop, her claws scraping against the concrete as she tried to hold on.

The hooded woman sighed. "Disappointing."

Then, with a flick of her wrist, she sent the female wolf flying over the edge. A short-lived scream followed by a sickening crunch as her body hit the pavement below. Motionless.

The male wolf's eyes widened in horror as he saw his companion fall. He struggled harder beneath the woman's grip, snarling, his fangs snapping wildly. "You—You don't know who you're messing with," he growled, his voice ragged with desperation. "We—we were sent by—"

His words were cut off as the hooded woman crouched down beside him, pressing a single finger to his lips in a mock shushing gesture.

"I don't care," she whispered.

Then she moved faster than he could see. One swift motion, her hand twisting sharply—

Crack.

The male wolf's body went limp, his head lolling unnaturally to the side. The hooded woman sighed, shaking the stiffness from her fingers as she let his corpse collapse onto the rooftop.

She stood there for a moment, listening to the wind. The scent of blood filled the air, sharp and metallic, mixing with the cool night breeze.

Two dead.

No injuries on her part.

Expected.

--

She pulled back her hood slightly, revealing a glimpse of her sharp, angular features. Her blue eyes gleamed under the moonlight, their glow eerily bright as she took one last look at the bodies.

Then she turned her gaze back toward the city skyline, her lips curving into the faintest smirk.

"They're finally making their move."

Without another word, she vanished into the night, leaving nothing but the scent of death and a quiet promise of what was to come.

Pulling her hood tighter over her head, she disappeared into the night.