"Grrrrr!" Larger than an ordinary wolf, their friend-turned-beast leaped from branch to branch, stalking them with glowing hungry eyes. The lack of recognition in its yellow pupils placed them on edge. "What do we do?" Irene whispered. "If he attacks, we defend until we have no choice but to...kill." Celio spat decisively. "But..." "What? Do you think you can reach him in that state? Look at him, Irene. He's a beast!" As much as it hurt to admit it, Celio knew they wouldn't be seeing Marcus again. If he was like the werewolves in supernatural stories, then there might've been a chance to talk to him and get out of this situation without any bloodshed. However, this beast wasn't like the creature in those tales. The instant it changed, there was only bloodlust, and violence in its eyes. It turned on them, and chased them all the way to this point. While he was lost in thought, the beast flashed to the other side of their barrier. Issuing a deafening snarl, he lunged at the hudd

Irene gasped and sunk to her knees, with tears streaming down her face. "Ella, you're finally here. Marcus...he..." "I know. I used a sedative to calm him down." Ella whispered and held out her hand to pull the woman back to her feet. She found them when the beast was scaling the trees. But she remained in the shadows and watched them fall into desperation. To gain the full loyalty of the regular humans, Ella even manipulated the mutated plants to attack them until they lost hope, before making an appearance. Her methods might be vile, and her schemes sinister. But to imprint a powerful image of herself in the hearts of her future followers, she would've even led mutated animals to encircle them before coming to their rescue. What Ella wanted was to recruit people who would never betray her in the face of personal gain or preservation. And to do that in this crumbling world, she needed to instill both gratitude and fear in the hearts of the weaker humans, which could've only been p