When I woke up this morning I felt extremely refreshed. It was the best sleep I'd had in years!

I stretched out, feeling all the muscles in my body being exactly where they needed to be. It was almost like someone had given me a massage while I was sleeping!

“Alex, how do you feel?” I asked my partner. She looked up at me with a shocked expression. “Now that you mention it, I feel amazing!” She said, before stretching herself out. “Did you massage me from head to toe while we were sleeping or something?” She asked.

I snickered a little. “No, I didn’t I think it might have been the hamburgers we ate yesterday. Maybe Ol’ Billy has more tricks than he wants to reveal?” I suggested. “Regardless, I think we should start the day. We need to figure out what went down in the marketplace.”

Alex didn’t argue and we got out of bed before getting dressed.

Alex told me she’d like to stay in our room for the day, and I didn’t argue with her. Omen was a little upset, but he let it go. 'Calm down Omen. So long she stays inside the inn, nothing can go wrong.’

I walked down into the inn and was greeted by Billy. “So, how did you like my special healing burgers?” He asked me.

Oh, so that’s what the feeling was. It healed everything that was suboptimal in my body.

“It was great!” I exclaimed. Billy let out a laugh. “Hey Faron. These three guys came down here this morning and asked for you? I told them you were asleep, and they sat down outside. Just thought you should know.”

I raised an eyebrow. What did they want from me? “Thank you for telling me, Billy. See ya around.”

I exited the inn, and was immediately jumped by Jesse, the ordinary man.

“Hey dude! Sorry about yesterday. We didn’t mean to create a bad first impression or anything. Ah yes, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Jesse, the muscular Colombian right there is David.”

David did a little nod, before turning his attention back to his guitar. “Oh right, the mountain there is Anders.” Anders, the dapper man behind the two bowed politely. “Don’t get on his nerves if you know what’s good for you.”

I nodded at all three of them. “Nice to meet you, but what did you want from me?” I asked Jesse.

Jesse was a little surprised by this question. “Well, I heard you were a good leader. Us three were thinking about setting up our own little settlement, but we’re lacking in manpower. What we need is someone capable who can lead us.” He looked me up and down. “Besides, I wouldn’t say no to being a servant to a great alpha like yourself, werewolf.” Jesse stretched out a hand toward me.

What did he just call me?

Yeah, we’re an alpha. Didn’t you think it was a little weird we were so much bigger than Dawn?

Right, that does make some sense. I shrugged off the conversation I was having with my wolf and took Jesse’s hand. “Okay, what’s your plan?”

Jesse and company had led me out into the forest to a seemingly random location. “This place will be where we build our base.” He told me. “You and Anders are the strongest, so you’ll chop down the trees.” I tilted my head questioningly. “You... You want us to build a town. From scratch.” Jesse looked at me like I was speaking nonsense. “Yeah, duh!”

Allright, this couldn’t be so hard, I guess. “So, do you have any tools or are we punching the trees down, or what’s the idea?” Jesse looked at me again, like I was speaking nonsense. “Just punch the trees down? What, have you never felled a tree? Watch.” Jesse walked over to a tree and pointed at it. “Anders, show him.”

The dapper man cracked his knuckles and walked over to the tree. He winded back his arm before punching the wood. I could see a small crack in the tree bark. I was just about to call them out for being idiots, before the crack was filled with some red energy. The tree suddenly shot into the forest like a bullet.

“Okaaay, maybe don’t hit it that hard next time, Anders.” Jesse said. The tree came to an abrupt stop when it hit the mountain wall, which then cracked and collapsed.

Anders looked down at his fist. He whispered something to himself, before rubbing his knuckles.

My jaw was firmly sat on the floor. Just how strong is this guy??? He could probably punch right through a mountain if he wanted to.

I’d hate to be on the receiving end of THAT. Omen spoke out.

‘Yeah.’

Five hours later, Anders had felled a few more trees albeit a little less destructively than before. To help, I'd transformed into my wolf form and began cutting down trees with my sharp claws. If I applied enough force into my swipes, even wood didn’t stand a chance.

After we’d amassed about 200 logs or so, David spoke up. “To make the perimeter wall, we should cut the trees in half and sharpen the ends of them.” I rolled my eyes, knowing damn well me and Anders had to do that job too.

I laid all the logs into a pile, and I began splitting the logs in two. Anders, not having claws, pulled out a knife and began whittling the logs. Surprisingly, the knife didn’t break. Perhaps it was enchante-

It snapped in two. I let out a little laugh and handed Anders a knife from the mo’or bag.

After Anders got the new knife, he worked much faster, and we got done sharpening and splitting the logs in two hours.

“Okay, now we need to make a wall out of it.” Jesse said.

Sometime later, we made a perimeter wall and a gate at the front. “Well boys, would you look at that.” I exclaimed. “This place is looking pretty good if I do say so myself.”

Jesse, David and Anders all looked in awe at what we had created. “I can’t believe we did all this in the span of 8 hours...”

“Well, there aren’t even any buildings inside. Right now, it’s just a wall, but that’s a start.” I spoke.

I laid down in thought. Even lying down, I was actually just as tall as the other guys here. I was an alpha all right.

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“Okay guys, what should we call this place, then?” I asked the gang.

They all stood in thought, and Jesse was the first to speak up. “I think it's only fair you name it, you’re the boss after all.”

Hmm. How about...

“Valentine.” The name of the city I last visited back in 1895 came to mind.

“Valentine it is then!” Jesse exclaimed. “We should probably head back to town for now, it’s getting to be quite late.

I got off the ground. “Sure thing, just let me change back to human form.” I went behind a bush to hide myself from the gang and transformed back into human form. I got dressed, and we began walking back to town.

“So, Anders. How did you get so strong as to be able to punch down trees like that?” I asked him.

He looked at me in thought, probably debating whether to tell me or not. “Well, I'm possessed by a demonic entity. It’s similar to how you werewolves perceive your wolves.”

How did he know about our wolves?

“It’s name is Luca.” Anders said. “You’d be wise not to get me too angry, as Luca tends to show itself in those situations.” He nervously rubbed his knuckles.

Okay then... Don’t mess with Anders.

When we arrived back at the human settlement, we decided to split up to cover more ground. I went to the market, and the gang went to Billy’s.

At the market, I noticed that Gabrielle’s tent was packed down and I spotted Gabrielle packing all her supplies into various containers.

“Hey Faron.” She spoke. “Business isn’t any good here, so I was just about to move.”

An idea flared up in my mind. “Gabrielle, what do you say about joining my gang?” I asked her.

She looked at me with her head tilted. “What do you mean? Do you have a gang?” She asked.

“Well, it’s only me and three other guys so far but I think it could turn into a big thing.” I thought about Valentine for a moment. “We’ve even got the foundations of a town going already.”

“You know what, that sounds fun. Sign me up!” She exclaimed. “Where is this town at then?”

I regrouped with the gang at the city gates. Alex was with them.

“Hey Alex, did the guys tell you about our plans?” I asked my wife.

“Yeah, I think it’s a great idea! We probably need more supplies if we’re going to be making houses there, but we can start small with tents and the like I suppose. We’re no strangers to sleeping rough, are we Faron?” She looked at me with a smile.

“No, indeed we aren’t.” I smiled back at her.

“Okay team, let’s go back to valentine then!” I exclaimed excitedly.

While we were walking, Jesse pulled me to the side of the road. “Are you sure about this Gabrielle lady? She gives me bad vibes...” He said, pointing fingers at the Werelion.

I simply scuffed at his comment. “Of course, everyone’s allowed into this group, be they werewolf, werelion or otherwise. Hell, even Dwarves are allowed here!”

“Okay, whatever you say boss.” He pulled me even closer before whispering into my ear. “No dwarves though, please? They’re really mean.”

Deep down I agreed with him. “Okay, no dwarves then.” I said, before shoving him off me. “Personal space, please.”

“Sure, whatever you say boss.” He joined up with the others.

Alex nudged my shoulder a little. “These’re sure a weird lot you’ve got gathered here. Are you sure about this?”

“Sure, how bad could it be? If things go south, we could always boot them out of our camp anyway.”

Alex seemed to agree, and we walked onward to valentine.

Once we arrived at the town, everyone began spreading out and setting up various tents and the like.

“Alex, we should probably get to cutting down trees. We’ll need the logs to build proper houses after all.”

Alex agreed with me, and we went outside the city gates and stripped.

Before long, we were both transformed into our wolf forms. “We can use our claws to cut down trees in this form.”

Alex rolled her eyes before letting out a little laugh. “I’ve been a werewolf since I was born, Faron. I know that.” She said, before swiping her claws at a nearby tree, felling it. “Well, let’s get to work then!”

We both started cutting down trees like we were living chainsaws. Trees fell left right and center, all neatly cut at the base.

“Okay, that’s probably enough for now. We only need to build one hut for now, we can cut down more trees tomorrow.”

I got no response from Alex, even though she was just right behind me.

“Alex?”

Faron, I've lost connection with Dawn. Whatever happened to them, it seems they’ve gone unconscious... Or worse...

‘Omen, calm the hell down. Did she say anything before they dissapeared?’

...

‘Omen?’

What the hell is going on? Why isn’t Omen answering me?

“ALEX!” I screamed out into the forest.

I look all around me. It’s just a forest. Then I noticed it. There was a tiny flash of light coming from in-between the trees.

Next thing I know, I was knocked out cold.

Anders’ POV

I was busy setting up my tent, when I suddenly heard Faron’s voice scream out into the forest. He was calling Alex's name? Strange.

“Jesse, did you hear that?”

Jesse looked up from in-between the different tent supplies with a concerned look. “Yeah. He must be in trouble. You should go look for him, if anything happens, send Luca back to camp.”

I agreed with Jesse and set down the supplies I was holding.

Be glad it’s only a week since the last blood sacrifice, else I'd be ripping your friends to shreds right now...

Luca’s voice rang out in my head.

‘Don’t you dare.’

Oho, and what are you going to do to stop me?

I grit my teeth. I knew damn well I couldn’t do anything if he decided to go amok.

‘You get what I mean. Just... Keep your cool, please?’

Boooring.

I shook my head and exited the camp. Now where did he go... Ah.

I looked at the path of destruction he had left. There was a neat line of felled trees going south from Valentine.

‘Luca, speed boost please.’

I got into a sprinter’s position, before launching into the forest.

Sometime later, I arrived at a small clearing.

Anders, there is a fairy nearby. I can feel its holy presence. Can you set me free so I can-

‘No. No way. Just tell me where it is.’

Aww man. Okay, I'll show you.

My vision went black for a moment, and then it was restored again. This time, the only colors I saw were grey and red.

The fairy will show up in your vision as a green dot. Just... Put my demonic energy into your punches and you’ll kill it easily.

I nodded and squinted my eyes.

Suddenly, a green dot flared up. I pointed out a finger and launched a bolt of demonic energy at the fairy.

It missed.

I pointed out all my fingers and requested Luca to guide my shots.

Allright, homing time! Fire it up, Anders!

I released 10 bolts from my fingers, all flying in seemingly random directions, before they began snaking through the forest.

Almost got it... There!

A large red explosion occurred behind a tree.

‘Jesus, excessive much?’

You didn’t say anything about avoiding collateral damage.

Suddenly the tree flared up with neon-red flames, and it was reduced to ash in a matter of seconds.

Allright then.

Faron’s POV

I woke up in the middle of the forest.

What in god’s name happened?

I looked around me and spotted Anders standing inside a clearing in the forest with his hands stretched out.

Faron? Faron!

Omen’s voice called out from inside my mind. ‘Hey omen! Long time no hear!’

Oh, thank God. We were attacked by a fairy, who used isolation magic to sever our connections to each other.

There was a brief pause, before Omen spoke again.

I just got a response from Dawn too; she says they were also attacked in the same manner. Jeez, I'm glad someone killed that flying bastard.

About that. I looked back to Anders, who was now standing with one hand on his head, seemingly talking to himself.

‘I think we have him to thank for getting rid of the fairy.’

I walked over to Anders.

“Hey Anders, thank you for rescuing me and my wife. I owe you my life.”

Anders didn’t seem to hear my words and began walking back toward Valentine whispering words to himself.

Ookay then... I don’t know much about demons, but that must be a pain to live with.

I shrugged, as best my wolf form could, and asked Omen where Dawn and Alex were.

Sometime later, Alex and I'd begun rolling the logs back toward camp. “I think we can make a really nice hut with these.”

Alex nodded and continued pushing the logs. “These are damn heavy though, I'm glad our wolf bodies provide extra strength.”

By the time we reached Valentine, the sun had gone down and the moon was out. I had to physically restrain myself from howling at it.

Alex seemed just as distraught and transformed into her human form. “Transform Faron. It’s easier to withstand the urge in human form.”

Now that we’d reached the city, I had no further use for the strength my wolf body provided, and I switched back to human form.

“Okay, I guess we’ll make the hut tomorrow then. For tonight, we’ll sleep in a tent.”

I walked with Alex into the camp. The rest of the gang was already asleep in their tents.

Apparently, someone had set up a tent for me and Alex, and we snuggled into our sleeping bags.

Alex kissed me good night, and I began drifting off to sleep.