It had already been an eventful day for Gary, but there were still many things he needed to do even after facing Billy. First things first, it was time to regain some Energy. To do that the high schooler visited his new favourite alleyway. The number of rats didn’t seem to have reduced, something he was actually thankful for.

His natural speed was slow, making it hard to catch the critter. Fortunately, Charging Heart allowed him to turn the tables. He could also catch several of them at a time before the effect wore off, making him earn a net plus. Gary continued even after his Energy had completely filled up, only stopping once he got a notification.

[Daily quest complete]

[5 Exp received]

[395/460 Exp]

‘I didn’t get anything for risking my life fighting Billy… I need to figure out how to beat him somehow.’ Gary thought as he made his way to school to not be late for rugby practice.

On the way he received a text from Innu, who was informing him that Billy might have broken his ribs, so their training would have to be put on hold for a while. He also informed him that he would go to Kai to sort something out.

Gary had actually been looking forward to their training, hoping Innu might be able to teach him a few things. The fighter had been his best shot at gaining some sort of edge over the Omega wolf. Unfortunately it seemed as if they would have to wait for Innu to get better first. Gary texted back ‘Another time then.’

The only question was, how much more time did they exactly have if Billy even attacked his targets out in the open now?

At school, Gary did his usual practice. At the start of the practice Mr Root went on to mention an important message to them all.

“I know the school has already had its silence and given their blessings, but Barry was an important part of our team and loved rugby. So if there is anything we could do for him it would be...To WIN THIS UPCOMING GAME!”

The students found it a bit awkward that it seemed like Mr Root was trying to encourage them through a death, but the kids weren’t really that affected by it. To them it just felt like Barry had moved or something, it was hard to process a death like that.

Still, there was a certain person who was affected and had returned to the field. Gil…the only thing was, Gil didn’t look to be exactly the same as he once was before.

He had dark bags under his eyes. There was also good news. Tom was sitting over by the bench watching the game with his typical attitude of not caring in the slightest about it. Seeing this, Gary lifted his arm up after a good 20 minutes of practice and requested he have a break.

Mr Root, seeing that unlike yesterday Gary was playing well actually agreed to this. He was far more concerned with Gary getting an injury at this point.

“Hey, so you look a lot better.” Gary said, sitting down on the bench next to him.

“Yeah, I’m all fine now. I think they might have even straightened my teeth even better.” Tom said, delivering a smile. “Fortunately, they didn’t make me too handsome to hang out with you.”

Both Tom and Gary laughed for a few seconds but then there was this awkward silence between the two of them. It was like they had forgotten how to interact with each other. The truth was, Tom wanted to ask Gary something but was too afraid of the answer.

He had heard of Barry’s death, and there was something telling him that Gary…might have had something to do with it. Of course, it wasn’t like he could outright ask him. If he wasn’t then Tom would have just insinuated that his friend might have killed someone in cold blood.

And if he was… well then Tom felt like he was also partially responsible for it. If he had confessed to their bullying before it had gotten out of hand, things might have ended very differently...

Neither option had a happy ending, so instead Tom decided to ask something else.

“I can see that there’s something on your mind. I just want you to know that you don’t have to worry about me anymore. Whatever happened to Barry, it looks like Gil is feeling too down to be targeting me anymore.”

Garry would normally be very elated about Gil no longer bothering his best friend, but Tom was right, his mind was elsewhere and it wasn’t focused on Barry or his involvement in the bully’s death. He had gotten over that far quicker than he believed to be normal, suspecting either his system or his new existence to have some role in that, but right now all he could think about was Billy.

“Tom, I have to tell you something.” Gary began. “I think… no, I was pretty sure there was another one like me out there. I mean another … you-know-what.” Gary finally admitted. This was news to Tom. Out of all the things he had expected Gary to say this wasn’t one of them. He was at a serious loss for words.

“I could kind of feel it. It's like, the two of us seem to be fighting over who should be the leader, the Alpha like you said, and today… I ran into him.”

“You ran into another one of your kind? Was he older than you? Was he always a werewolf like you? What did the two of you speak about?” Tom suddenly bombarded his best friend with a barrage of questions. However, Gary just shook his head. Looking into his eyes, Tom could tell he was concerned about this, almost frightened.

“That guy wasn’t like me. He didn’t exactly invite me over for tea and biscuits to talk. No, I found him in the midst of attacking innocent people, hurting others, so I tried to stop him. It was strange. It felt like he was stronger than me, but for some reason he ran away from me. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I can’t wrap my head around it. I was hoping you might have an answer.”

Tom thought about it for a while. He had actually done the research in that regard before spoon feeding it to Gary who had tuned out after the first bit. In the end, there was only one thing he could think of.

“I’m not sure. I only know as much about werewolves as what we’ve learned. Maybe he’s waiting for the upcoming full moon? I mean according to lore that's when you're both meant to transform and be at your strongest. If he’s an Omega like you, maybe he wants to fight you at your strongest so he can make you submit fully to him.” Tom theorised.

For some reason, some part of Gary agreed that this would be the ‘honorable’ thing to do. Because whenever he was thinking about time, Gary was always referring to the full moon. It was almost as if that was the date set for when their match would be held. If so, that would mean Gary had until the full moon to get stronger.

——

It was later that night, that the clock passed midnight and the timer moved forward once again.

[Your bloodlust grows]

[5 days until the next full moon]

——

Gary was still excluded, so he missed a very big event in their class.

“Alright everyone, so today we have a surprise transfer. Honestly even though we weren’t expecting this so much and so soon, but they have their reason. I want you to please welcome your new fellow student.” The teacher started the day, allowing the newcomer to say a few words.

The door slid open and a boy walked through, having both his arms in badges as well as his side.

“Everyone, it’s nice to meet you. My name’s Innu.”

****

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