It had been close to two hours since Wang Bao and Mika had started searching through the corridors, and they were still running tirelessly. Wang Bao had stopped multiple times already because of how tired he had become, and he was losing hope in finding the dungeons like this. It didn’t help that they had been going in and out of empty rooms to hide from people looking for them. After stopping for the nth time to catch his breath, Wang Bao heaved the bag on his back to his front before looking down at Mika to say.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to find the wolves, Mika. This place is like a maze and I feel like we’re bound to be caught soon. Do you think we should head back?”
Mika shook his head causing Wang Bao to sigh tiredly; Mika then ducked down and scratched at the bag to warn Wang Bao. Knowing the signals Mika would give him after spending so long together in this predicament, Wang Bao attempted to find a safe place to hide. He ran down the long stone corridor that looked like every other corridor they had gone down, before he found a large bathing area; the scent of natural spring water was overwhelming but it helped hide their own scents. The bathing area was the only room that had an open doorway, and Wang Bao ran to the far wall beside the doorway to hide beside the shelves people used for holding their clothes.
After a few tense seconds, Wang Bao could hear multiple footsteps pass through the corridor. When he heard the sound pass by them then soften, Wang Bao Wang Bao felt it was safe enough to peek out of the doorway and he crept towards the entrance of the bathing area. When he peeked around the doorway, Wang Bao saw Mana and two guards walking down the corridor in the direction they had been going. As soon as she was gone, Wang Bao asked Mika in a hushed voice.
“What room did she come out of, Mika?”
Mika only needed to sniff the air once before he scratched forward then right. Wang Bao tried to twist the doorknob, but it was unsurprisingly locked. Wang Bao then tried to shoulder-barge the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. Before Wang Bao could hurt himself or make enough noise to alert someone, Mika jumped out of the bag and squeezed himself under the door. Wang Bao had seen this earlier, but it was still amazing to see; he watched in awe as Mika’s body squished down to slip under the door before he heard the lock being pulled open. Without hesitation, Wang Bao opened the door before quickly shutting then locking it. When Wang Bao turned around, he was surprised to see they were in a bedroom; all of the rooms they had hid in so far had been either empty or storage rooms. The room itself was large but there wasn’t much inside, only a large bed, dresser, bookshelves and a large mirror hanging on the wall opposite the door.
Before Wang Bao could try and look around for anything that would lead them to the dungeons, Mika scurried over to the large mirror and scratched at the wooden frame with his claws. Wang Bao quickly joined him and tried to pull the mirror off of the wall, but it wouldn’t budge. Wang Bao was half tempted to smash the mirror because of how long it had taken them to get this far, but he held on a little while longer before losing all of his patience. For his final attempt, Wang Bao decided to push on the mirror and he felt the entire frame slip back slightly before a quiet clicking sound happened; all of a sudden, the mirror opened outwards towards Wang Bao and he stepped back before he could get hit. In front of both Wang Bao and Mika was another tunnel, only this time it headed down rather than straight ahead.
Mika went to run down the dark pathway, but he was quickly stopped by Wang Bao asking in a hushed voice.
“Mika, can you find your way back to Alo?”
Mika quickly turned around and nodded his head. Wang Bao then crouched down to tell Mika in a serious voice.
“Good, bring everyone here as fast as you can. If anyone sees you, just keep running until you’re back at Alo’s room, okay?”
Mika nodded again before he sprinted towards the bedroom door; Wang Bao watched as he slid back under and he hoped Mika would be safe until he got back to Alo. Instead of heading down the dark pathway because he was too scared to go alone, Wang Bao searched the bedroom in the hopes of finding something useful, but he came up empty handed. After sitting on the bed for a few minutes, Wang Bao decided to bite the bullet and head down the dark pathway by himself. When he stepped through the mirror doorway, he made sure to close the door behind him but he quickly regretted that decision. Wang Bao was instantly thrown into a world of darkness, and the only way to move forward without falling was to get down on his hands and knees. With slow precise movements, Wang Bao crawled down the pitch black path; his breath echoed off of the stone walls, giving the task an even more eerie feeling.
After a while, Wang Bao’s hands were numb from the ice cold ground while his knees were in agonising pain; the pain brought back memories from the palace that he didn’t want to think about right now, and he wondered how much longer he would need to travel before reaching the dungeons. Before Wang Bao could become too pained to carry on, he suddenly heard a whimpering whine from a dog. He instantly stopped to wait and hear if any other sounds followed the painful cry, but the air suddenly felt too silent and he hurried down the rest of the way at a fast crawl.
. . . . . . . .
Nakai hit the ground after falling for a slow five seconds. Despite having prepared for the fall with three layers of body cushions and his body armour, Nakai felt the heavy impact shock his body painfully. His legs were affected the most and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand if he tried; With barely enough strength to crawl away from the grotesque minced meat he was laying on, Nakai dragged his body towards a dry space of ground before laying on his back with a loud groan. With the last of his strength, Nakai swiped his armour cuff and breathed deeply while he took a little rest.
Some time passed before Nakai suddenly jolted awake. He didn’t know how long he had been asleep but he could feel his legs had recovered enough, and he stretched out his stiff body before getting up. Once Nakai was on his feet, he took in his surroundings and found he was in a large empty stone room that had an open entryway. Nakai wasn’t able to see where the doorway led since the entryway faced a wall, but he could hear sounds coming from down the hall and he quietly crept closer to the entrance. The light in the wide corridor allowed Nakai to see without having to strain, and as soon as he glanced around the corner, he saw all of Kang’s wolves were chained and locked inside individual large cages. Thick metal collars bound their necks that had thick tubes coming out of them. Nakai was too far away to see whether they were being given something through the tube or if blood was being taken out, but he knew he couldn’t allow them to stay like that.
Nakai glanced around his dimly lit surroundings until he found another room like his a little further down the hall. Staying low, Nakai ran towards the next room before darting inside. The room luckily had two doorways and the second doorway looked out into the dungeons fully, allowing Nakai to watch over the dungeons fully. He counted close to thirty guards standing around the large cages, allowing four to five guards per wolf. Nakai knew it would be a struggle to take on so many guards at once, especially once he opened fire and he continued scanning the walls of the wide open room; after a couple seconds, Nakai could see a pale figure crouched down in a stairwell on the same side of the cages, but the stairwell was hidden enough since it was close to the corner of the dungeons. After straining his eyes, Nakai suddenly recognised the figure as Wang Bao and his heart jumped anxiously, unfortunately Nakai and Wang Bao were the furthest apart they could be in the dungeons thanks to his own room being close to the other corner of the dungeons. Nakai didn't want Wang Bao to be caught in any sort of crossfire, and he tried to come up with a plan to get the wolves out safely, while also protecting Wang Bao when he suddenly heard the low hum of an elevator.
At first Nakai hadn’t noticed but in the middle of the dungeons was a spread out pulley system, and he watched as a large section of the main hall lowered down into the dungeons to form a ramp. Mana along with five guards moved down the ramp at a quick speed when her loud voice abruptly echoed off of the cold stone walls with a piercing shriek.
“Kill them, Kill them all!”
The guards all stared at Mana in surprise and confusion since she was usually more well mannered. Seeing that the guards were reacting too slowly, Mana gave an angry scream before stomping over to the first cage. She was about to press a large blue button that connected to the collar of the wolf inside the cage when a loud gunshot echoed off the rocky walls. Before the echo could finish, Mana let out a blood curdling scream. The guards all turned towards her and saw her hand had been shot, leaving the palm with a gaping bloody hole. Before another bullet could wound her, a guard jumped in front of her in time to take a bullet to his shoulder. As soon as Wang Bao heard the first gunshot, he backed away and up the dark stairwell until he could no longer see the fight. Once the echo of the bullets quietened, Wang Bao suddenly heard loud footsteps behind him, and he spun on his heels before throwing a blind punch. Wang Bao’s fist connected with an unknown face but he quickly recognised the sound of the person grunting in pain, and he shouted Zhang’s name out in confused relief. As soon as Wang Bao pulled his suddenly bruised fist back, he heard Zhang say in a shocked voice.
“You punched me!”
Before anything could be said or done about Wang Bao’s sudden attack, Alo pushed past the two of them to see what was going on; diagonally across the dungeons he could see Nakai step back to hide behind a wall for cover before a flurry of bullets rained against the rock. Alo then looked towards the large cages and the devices they were connected to before pulling Mika out of his shirt; Wang Bao saw Zhang do the same with Luka before Zhang stood beside Alo, waiting for instructions. With his eyes still on the wolves, Alo instructed Luka and Mika in a stern voice.
“You two go to the cages and see if you can find a way to free the wolves. Zhang, we'll grab a guard and go from there.”
Wang Bao was left standing in the dark with nothing to do, and he asked Alo in a quiet voice.
“What should I do?”
As soon as Alo heard Wang Bao’s question, he dropped the bags from his shoulders and told Wang Bao in a stern voice.
“Once the wolves are free, you will need to spray this stuff on their necks. As soon as they are healed enough to fight, it will better our chances of getting out of here.”
Wang Bao gave a firm nod while he crouched down to open Nakai’s pack pulled out a can for each hand and nodded firmly. At the same time, Mika and Luka jumped down from Alo and Zhang, running across the dungeon grounds towards the cages. Because the guards were preoccupied with shooting at Nakai, helping the mink brothers to climb into the furthest cage without being seen. As soon as they reached the cage, Mika and Luka squeezed through the small grates of the cage before climbing up the hind legs of the chained wolf. When the wolf felt something small running up his legs, he kicked away violently, but he quickly recognised the scent of the two minks and steadied his body to let them work.
With Luka and Mika working hard, Alo and Zhang focused on the guards. Majority of the guards were making their way towards the area where Nakai was hiding, but a couple were still positioned by the cages to keep a watch on the wolves. Wang Bao hid in the shadows of the stairwell while both Zhang and Alo ran up behind two of the closest guards; the two Werebeasts dragged a guard each back to the stairwell before anyone could notice, and they knocked the guards unconscious before taking their weapons. Wang Bao made sure to stay out of the way while Alo and Zhang kicked the guards out of the way, stuffing a handgun into their pants while holding a automatic rifle each. With weapons, Alo scanned over the area of the dungeons again and searched for a place to head to that was covered enough for them to shoot at the guards while also staying protected.
Directly across from them was a set of rooms that looked to be old cells; their rocky walls had collapsed but it had enough coverage for Zhang and Alo to hide behind. The distance was also shorter than running directly to Nakai. Alo pointed out the section to Zhang while saying in a loud voice, the gunfire echoing around them loudly.
“Nakai is diagonally across from us, if we can get to the old cell area, then we can spread the amount of gunfire being put out.”
The two men took a deep breath each before they sprinted across the room, shooting as they ran. Alo also made sure to shoot the two guards they had taken the weapons from, lest they wake up and try to hurt Wang Bao. Just as they made it across the dungeons to the old cells, all of the guards aimed their guns towards them and opened fire. They were lucky enough to have made it behind the rocks without being shot, and Alo looked towards the second doorway of the room Nakai was hiding in; he didn’t need to watch long before he saw Nakai peek out from behind the doorway at him, and they signalled for each other their next plan of attack. Once Nakai dipped back into the room, Alo whispered to Zhang.
“Aim for their ankles, Nakai will be aiming high.”
Zhang gave a firm nod before the two of them stood up, shooting at the ankles of the guards while Nakai aimed for their chest and heads. The plan worked and all the guards dropped to the ground, either dead or dying but they couldn’t rest for long. From the stone ramp leading back to the main hall, more guards sprinted into the dungeons, each of them holding guns. The three of them stuck to their aiming low and high plan, but with the large number of people coming in, their success rate of killing some guards didn’t have much of an effect. Nakai quickly ducked back into the room once a flurry of bullets pounded into the stone walls around him, and he quickly reloaded his guns. Alo and Zhang also ducked back down for safety before checking their left over ammunition. Nakai was able to fill one handgun completely with bullets while the rest of his guns were useless. Alo and Zhang were in worse condition since they only had half a round in each gun.
In the far cage, Mika and Luka had succeeded in removing the collar, however they weren’t sure about how to remove the large needle from the wolf’s neck without causing too much damage. Before they could reach any conclusion, the wolf shook its head roughly, causing the needle to rip out of the side of its neck painfully. With the wolf free enough to escape the cage on its own, Mika and Luka quickly ran to the next cage to free the other wolves. The wound from the needle wasn’t deep enough to cause the wolf any harm, and he let out a low growl before lunging forward. The guards that had opened fire against Nakai, Alo and Zhang instantly turned around but had no chance of fighting back since the large silvery wolf was both too strong and quick. Without stopping for a break, the lone wolf sprinted towards the other guards heading down the stone ramp, his black eyes filled with a desire to spill blood. Mana had been forced back up the stone ramp as soon as her hand had been injured, but when she caught sight of the silvery wolf escaping his cage, she let out a guttural scream before jumping forward, landing on four large black paws. She ignored the guards that tried to hold her back and sprinted down the stone ramp, her black eyes set on the silvery wolf.
In the second cage, Luka and Mika used their sharp teeth to gnaw through the wires connecting to the collar and chains. With a loud thud, the heavy metal chains dropped to the floor of the cage before the wolf shook his head fiercely, forcefully removing the needle from its neck. While the wolf shoved its way through the cage, Mika and Luka scurried over to the next cage. Once Wang Bao saw the second wolf leave his cage, he knew he would have a hard time using the spray cans to help heal the wolves but he didn’t want to stand back and watch the fight, he wanted to help in some way or another. Not too far from the stairwell, Wang Bao could see a few dead guards that still had their guns. Checking his surroundings, Wang Bao saw no one was focusing on him and he swiped over his armour cuff then quickly sprinted forward. Skidding to a stop beside the closest guard, Wang Bao ripped the automatic rifle out of the person’s hands before searching around the large room for a target. He had never actually shot a gun before and the only lessons he had had, was when he was a young child because his Father had wanted to teach him the importance of hunting. Wang Bao had never had the stomach for violence or blood though, and his lessons were cut short because of this. Wang Bao caught sight of one smaller wolf with brown fur and stood up from the ground before aiming towards the wolf. His arms felt awkward holding the heavy weapon, but he was less prepared for the intense kickback from the rifle and despite hitting Mana with two out of the tens of bullets, his body was thrown back into the ground painfully.
Mana had originally had her sights on the large silvery wolves running rampant, but as soon as she felt the two bullets collided with her side, her attention suddenly diverted towards Wang Bao. He was still laying on the ground since the wind had been knocked out of him, and Mana let out a nasty growl before darting towards him. Before she could get too far though, the third silvery wolf lunged out of his cage at an intense speed, sending the front of his cage into the side of Mana’s body; her body was thrown sideways and she rolled along the dusty stone ground with a whine. Because Mana was running on pure anger, her attention was easily grabbed and she quickly scampered to her feet before baring her teeth at the silvery wolf standing between her and Wang Bao. Mana wasted no time and lunged forward with her mouth open wide, wanting to take a bite out of the wolf’s throat.
Now that three out of the five wolves were free, Mana’s guards all dropped their weapons and changed into the wolf forms as well. This allowed Alo, Zhang and Nakai to run out from their hiding spots to join the fight properly. Nakai wasn’t looking to kill any of the wolves if he could help it since it would take too much time and energy, instead he sent heavy blow after heavy blow from his fists, colliding with the skulls of the brown wolves one after the other before knocking them unconscious. Alo and Zhang also attacked the numerous wolves head on, but because their strength was less than Nakai’s, they had no choice but to kill. While Zhang was preoccupied with kicking the head of a wolf that dove towards him, Alo ran to the middle of the room in order to help the silvery wolves. He had his eyes set on a silvery wolf that had two brown wolves on his back with another two wolves trying to nip at his ankles. Alo gained enough speed to quickly jump forward, tackling the two wolves off of the silvery wolf’s back.
Wang Bao didn’t take long to catch his breath that had been knocked out of his lungs, and he set his sights on the last wolf that was in the cage. He sprinted to hide between two cages while Luka and Mika worked hard to gnaw through the tough wires. Their jaws were tired but they powered through. Before they could finish, Wang Bao shouted to the silvery wolf with a stressed expression.
“We need more wolves. Don’t join the fight once you're free, you need to get up top and signal to Kang that we need his help.”
The wilvery wolf’s eyes narrowed while a low growl rumbled through its chest. It was only a few seconds later that Luka and Mika bit through the last of the wires and the collar opened, dropping to the ground with a loud thud. Both Luka and Mika suddenly jumped onto Wang Bao’s shoulder while the silvery wolf rammed against the front of his cage, ripping the needle out of its neck in the process. Picking up speed, the large silvery wolf sprinted across the large space of the dungeons towards the stone ramp, despite having multiple wolves close on its heels, the silvery wolf never stopped to fight. With no more wolves left to free, Wang Bao ran with the two minks on his shoulders back to the stairwell. There was not much they could do any more since Wang Bao wasn’t strong enough to use the guns, and it would be too dangerous for any of them to enter the fight.
Across the way, Mana had received a few deep bites to her back but she had done more damage to the silvery wolf opposite her; the silvery wolf was now the colour of a deep crimson because of its large amount of blood loss, but the wolf didn’t turn away. Diving forward again, Mana snapped her jaws around the wolf’s ankle with a tight jaw, causing the wolf to howl out in pain. Not too far behind them, Nakai had just attacked another wolf, but he had his eyes set on Mana. Taking off in a sprint, Nakai suddenly lifted his right foot and booted the side of Mana’s head. The kick was so powerful that Mana’s vision went black for a couple seconds; she was instantly thrown away from the silvery wolf who could only collapse to the ground, but Nakai didn’t want to stop at one blow like the other wolves he had attacked. Nakai wanted Mana to feel pain, and he slowly stepped towards her while saying in a dark voice.
“I’m not done with you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Nakia was close enough to grab two fistfulls of Mana’s fur and roughly pulled her back to her feet before sending a heavy headbutt against her nose. Mana could only whine out in pain because of the harsh attack, but she was able to roughly shake Nakai’s hands off of her soft fur. Before Nakai could grab hold of her again, Mana lunged forward with her teeth bare as she tried to break Nakai’s armour cuff. Nakai was quick enough to move his arm back, and her sharp teeth grazed along his armoured stomach instead. THe two continued to attack and defend against one another’s quick and powerful attacks. They were both breathing hard and in pain but neither one wanted to give in or run. With Mana continuously aiming for Nakai’s armour cuff, she was finally able to latch onto his wrist before biting down on the hard metal, despite breaking a few teeth, she was able to breakaway a small chunk, causing Nakai’s armour to retreat back into the cuff. Nakai didn’t care if he was wearing winter gear or armour; he continued to send quick punches and kicks towards Mana without any mercy. Mana was forced to jump back and dart to the side before she was finally able to lunge forward at Nakai’s waist; with a quick nip, her broken teeth sunk into Nakai’s side and she felt deep satisfaction in the metallic flavour of his blood.
While hiding inside the stairwell, Wang Bao and the minks waited anxiously for the fight to stop when they suddenly caught sight of Zhang sprinting towards their area of the dungeons. His hands covered in blood while three wolves sprinted after him; Wang Bao also caught sight of another wolf sprinting towards Zhang from the side. Placing both Mika and Luka on the ground, Wang Bao picked the gun up that he had stolen and shot towards the wolves behind Zhang; he was lucky enough to miss Zhang’s head, hitting the wolves with enough bullets to halter their steps, but the wolf from Zhang’s side suddenly tackled into him and knocked him to the ground. Luka let out a loud shriek before sprinting towards the wolf that was about to bite into Zhang’s chest. Before the wolf could lunge forward, Luka jumped up and scratched at the wolves black eyes, his paws moving at a fast speed until both sockets were hollowed and dripping blood. The wolf shook its head and howled in pain from Luka’s attack when Zhang suddenly booted its chest. Zhang was quick to get back on his feet and pulled the wolf into a headlock, at the same time Luka scurried up onto Zhang’s shoulder when he suddenly heard a loud crunch from the neck of the wolf being broken. The duo weren’t given much time to rest since the three wolves from earlier surrounded Luka and Zhang with their white teeth bared.
From the stairwell, Wang Bao suddenly shouted to Zhang before throwing the gun in his hands. The throw wasn’t great, but Zhang caught the automatic weapon and started to spin in a circle while firing at the three wolves. More wolves circled around Zhang as their companions dropped to the ground, and when one would try to lunge forward, Zhang would simply kick the side of it’s head and send it flying sideways. Once the gun was empty, Zhang was quick to react and he dove forward, shoving the hot barrel of the gun into the eye of a wolf before pulling it out, giving the same treatment to another wolf that tried to attack him from behind. Luka also didn’t sit idle as he jumped from wolf to wolf, clawing at the wolf's soft parts before Zhang would come along to finish them off. Zhang’s confidence in the fight slowly started to fall though when more and more wolves started to surround them, leaving no gaps to run. Zhang didn’t give up though and he kept fighting against the wolves despite his legs and arms bleeding profusely from the various bite and claw marks.
Just when Zhang felt he could no longer lift his arms to defend himself, a loud and clear howl echoed around the room. The crisp sound caused everyone in the room to freeze aside from Mana and Nakai. All of the other wolves felt their blood run cold, and once the second howl rang through the air loudly their tails dropped between their legs while they cowered into themselves with a high pitched whine. The remaining conscious silvery wolves didn’t cower away but they didn’t continue to fight either, instead they threw their heads back to join in on the howl and after the sound died out, a low vibration could be felt in the ground. Wang Bao and Mika huddled together as the earth shook; they couldn’t help but look around with wide eyes before a grand sight could be seen at the top of the stone ramp. Kang along with twenty other wolves stood at the top of the ramp and stared down into the dimly lit dungeons, a low growl emanating from their chests. All of the cowering brown furred wolves didn’t dare to look at Kang as they huddled into one large group, awaiting their next orders from their alpha.
Now that the brown wolves refused to fight, Alo saw no point in carrying on and he limped over to where Wang Bao and Mika were. Wang Bao knew Zhang and Alo would be in bad shape, but he didn’t expect it to be as bad as they were. When Alo finally made it over to the stairwell, one side of his pants were soaked in blood while his arm and hands were littered with deep bite marks. Wang Bao was surprised Alo’s arms hadn’t been bitten off from how deep some of the bites were, and he quickly started spraying over Alo’s visible wounds. Alo had to sit down though since his leg was giving him the most grief, and his tired body slowly slid down the dusty rock wall with Wang Bao following all of his movements. Mika was still a mink and he ran over to Alo, wanting to climb up to his shoulder but he was too scared to get any closer, in case he caused Alo more pain. When Alo’s forearms and knuckles were covered in a black paste, Wang Bao told Alo to remove his pants since the wound on his leg wouldn’t stop bleeding; as soon as Alo managed to get his pants down to his knees, Wang Bao could see a large bite mark on the quad section of Alo’s thigh. Wang Bao knew Alo was lucky to have been bitten on the front of his thigh, rather than the inner section since he would’ve already bled out. While Wang Bao used another spray can to take care of Alo’s leg, Zhang limped over with Luka on his shoulder. He wasn’t bleeding as badly as Alo, but he wasn’t in great shape either.
Wang Bao had a stressed look on his face since he didn’t want to stop taking care of Alo until his wound was completely healed, but it was clear Zhang needed medical attention as well. While Zhang slid down the rocky wall beside Alo to take a rest, he pointed to Nakai’s open backpack before asking Luka.
“Can you grab me a can, Luka?”
While Luka ran over to Nakai’s bag, Nakai himself and Mana were still deep in their fight. Both of their bodies were covered in bruises and blood, while their limbs had grown tired and heavy. When Mana had first heard Kang’s howls, she had grown apprehensive since she knew she wouldn’t be able to take on the alpha with the current state of her body, but when she saw Kang tend to his own wolves first, she suddenly had the courage to carry on fighting with Nakai. The only strength Mana had in her body was condensed into her bite, and she continuously darted forward to snap at Nakai’s stomach and ankles. The constant dance was annoying to Nakai, and he stopped his movements to allow Mana strike; her broken teeth sunk into his ankle painfully but Nakai countered quick enough with a ruthless stomp to the top of Mana’s head. Mana instantly saw stars before her vision turned black; she could barely feel Nakai kick her limp body off of his ankle, but she tried hard to stay conscious as she stood back up on her four paws. Seeing her perseverance, Nakai couldn’t help but scoff before commenting.
“I’ll give you credit for never giving up...But there are times where you need to learn when to stop.”
Mana shook her dizzy head as she steadied her trembling legs, wanting to lunge at Nakai again but Kang was finished checking over his wolves, and his large body dove towards Mana’s smaller frame from her left. The two wolves collided with Kang looming over her with a dark powerful aura; Mana didn’t want to stop now, and she tried to attack Kang but her movements were too slow. Kang opened his large mouth and bit into Mana’s neck with enough pressure to puncture her skin, and he quickly let go once she went limp. Although blood was dripping from the large amount of injuries on her body, Mana wasn’t dead yet; her breathing was haggard, and Nkaia could see her chest rising and falling quickly before she shifted back to her human form. A silver wolf that had changed to his own human form came over and draped a fur blanket over her naked body before lifting her up, carrying her limp body up the stone ramp and out of the dungeons. The other wolves, both silver and brown, also changed into their human forms to make communicating easier.
Kang returned to his injured wolves to check on them once more while Nakai searched the crowded room for Wang Bao. When he finally caught sight of him by the stairwell, Nakai could see Wang Bao was also looking around anxiously and he made his way over, despite the intense pain in his ankle. Nakai was only a few steps away from Wang Bao when the latter finally caught sight of him, and Wang Bao ran the last few steps to Nakai. Although Nakai was exhausted and sore, he picked Wang Bao up and held him tightly; he felt he could finally breathe easier knowing Wang Bao was finally safe. Wang Bao was also relieved to see Nakai still in one piece, and he used the spray can in his hand to spray over the wounds he could see on Nakai’s shoulder and neck while Nakai asked in a stressed voice.
“Are you okay? Did you get injured anywhere?”
Wang Bao could feel Nakai try to pull away so that they could look at eachother, but Wang Bao was too focused on taking care of Nakai and he replied with a serious expression.
“I’m fine, Nakai. Put me down so I can spray you, you’re bleeding like a stuck pig.”
Nakai chuckled lightly before letting Wang Bao stand on the ground; Wang Bao tried to spray Nakai’s forearms since they were bleeding from the cuts caused by Mana’s teeth, but he was stopped by Nakai pointing to his ankle. Without hesitation, Wang Bao knelt down on the blood covered ground and coated Nakai’s ankle in a thick layer of the black paste. Wang Bao also made sure to take care of some of the other cuts and scrapes Nakai had on his legs that he could see, and by the time he stood back up, Alo and the rest of the group were making their way over with Mika and Luka sitting on Alo’s and Zhang’s shoulders happily. By the time their group had reconnected, the rest of the dungeon was empty aside from them and Kang who had also changed to his human form and walked over to them. The strong aura from earlier had completely vanished as he looked more like an upset parent. When Kang made it to beside Nakai, he apologised to everyone sincerely.
“I didn’t think Mana would react like this when sending everyone down the mountain. My wolves and your group were put in danger because of my carelessness, I’m very sorry.”
Nakai held Wang Bao’s waist to keep him still since he was trying to lift his shirt to continue spraying whatever wounds were on his body, then replied to Kang in a serious manner.
“There’s no need to be sorry, Kang. If she hadn’t taken us, she would’ve attacked your tribe once Lani had come back. She’s been working on this attack for six years and has killed a lot of innocent people . What will you do with her?”
Kang looked down out of both sadness and shame from what Nakai had said before looking back up, a more hopeful expression on his face while he said.
“She will be punished appropriately along with any other pack mates that refuse to change packs.”
From the other side of Nakai, Alo and Zhang widened their eyes from the shock of hearing what Kang had said. It was unheard of for other wolf packs to take in whole packs, and Alo couldn’t help but ask to clarify if that is what Kang had meant.
“You plan on taking her wolves in?”
Kang turned towards Alo and nodded his head while answering.
“Of course; I made a mistake by shunning Mana and shaming her bloodline all those years ago. If I want to make sure no one else follows in her footsteps, I have to also change my own ways of doing things. To be honest, I think...I think I should have realised this a long time ago.”
Nakai knew Kang wasn’t solely talking about his mistakes with Mana and he hummed in agreement. Kang saw no reason for them to stay any longer in the dungeons, and he helped the group with their bags before leading them up to the main hall. Everyone from Mana’s den had also been called to the main hall to hear the news of what will happen to them and Mana. Kang knew there was no need for Nakai and his group to stay and hear his waffle, but he also wanted them to rest before travelling down the mountain again. Before joining the rest of the wolves, Kang said to Nakai.
“There has been a lot more snowfall over the last few days. Stay here until our business is taken care of, then the wolves will take you down the mountain properly. That way your group can heal a little and have some hot food; you all look like you need it.”
There was no way Nakai was going to try and venture down the mountain in his current state and happily agreed. Wang Bao was also delighted to hear about food since he had been starving from the moment he had woken up. Nakai and Kang said a few more words between themselves before they finally parted ways. Because everyone had a room already, Alo led the way down the familiar corridors until they reached the three rooms that had been appointed to them. Zhang and Luka were in the first room, with Alo and Mika entering the next one. Nakai and Wang Bao had never been assigned a room but they took the third one anyway; Inside the room Nakai could see a small bathroom through an open door opposite the bed and he headed straight for it after dropping his and Wang Bao’s bags on the floor. The entire time since reconnecting, Wang Bao had tried spraying over any small wound he could see on Nakai’s body, leaving the Giant in small black mounds of paste all over his arms and back; however Nakai was wanting a shower more than anything and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see Wang Bao going through his bag in order to grab another can of medicine. While entering the small bathroom, Nakai called out to Wang Bao in a light voice.
“Wang Bao, I’m fine, now. My ankle was my worst injury so there’s no need to cover the rest.”
The sound of the shower running covered Wang Bao’s scoff towards Nakai’s words, and he quickly entered the bathroom with another can in his hand. While watching Nakai remove his blood stained clothes, Wang Bao couldn’t help but reply in a bitter voice.
“Why can’t you let me take care of you? You’re always caring for me.”
Nakai barely had time to tell Wang Bao he was fine, when the young man was standing beside him and lifting his arm up. He had forgotten about the bite mark on his waist, and he couldn’t stop from wincing at the sudden pull on his side when Wang Bao lifted his arm. As if proving his point, Wang Bao glared at Nakai like a scolding mother before spraying over the bite wound. Wang Bao also took the opportunity to spray over various cuts and scrapes Nakai had on his stomach and chest, before Nakai finally pushed him away with a gentle hand. The room was now filled with steam and Nakai stepped under the shower head; as soon as the water hit Nakai’s dirty body, the damp patches of blood ran down his tanned skin and down the drain. Nakai had to rub over the drier patches with his hands since they were more stubborn, and to his side Wang Bao was slowly undressing himself.
By the time Wang Bao was actually naked, Nakai had cleaned his body for the most part with only his back left to do. Before Nakai could reach for more soap, Wang Bao squeezed himself under the water as well and ran his fingers over Nakai’s back tenderly. From behind him, Nakai heard Wang Bao say softly over the sound of the water.
“Let me take care of you.”
