"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."

– Matthew 5:14-15

Meanwhile, driving in her SUV as fast as she could without being pulled over, Kayla successfully fled the scene with Ryoko sleeping in the backseat of the car. Kayla turned on the satellite radio to calm her nerves; it was a nightly FM radio show called “The 1300,” which talked about current events all over the world.

Immediately, Kayla turned off the radio. She didn't want to hear more about it. She remembered the entire incident in London better than anyone else. It was a complete and utter nightmare. Still, to this day, she can smell the burnt flesh of her comrades and innocent people. But she has other problems to worry about.

Arriving at the main entrance of Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Kayla got out of the car and wasted no time carrying Ryoko out of the car and going to the nineteenth floor as she ran up the flats of steps. Less than a minute later, she went into her luxury suite where they were staying.

As she got in, another small female wolf kemonomimi, was and had long jet-black hair and purple gradient eyes. She was wearing a tank top with shorts. She sees Kayla carrying the limp body of Ryoko from the kitchen and immediately freaks out, “Kayla-chan, what happened?”

"What do you think, Ayeka?" Kayla answered as she quickly went into Ryoko's room… and walked up to the bellboy who was tied up to Ryoko's bed. She plopped Ryoko on her own bed and cut him loose, dragging him out of bed and taking his clothing with him to the door. "You! Leave! Now!"

“But, can I get a shower first?” the disheveled bellboy pleaded.

“Use another room,” Kayla denied as she threw him out of the suite.

Being the oldest of her squad, the female wolf kemonomimi was and had long jet-black hair; Ayeka Junichi had her fair share of battles and shortcomings. Eventually, ending up at the Oleander as somewhat of a motherly figure to a bunch of up-and-coming soldiers in a never-ending war with no clear-cut winner. Many people would despair and become jaded in Ayeka's position.

Yet her courage to rebuild herself and try again illustrates her positive outlook in life. She had often lost her way too many times as she should. But in the end, she learned from this and could move on. Hopefully, her new colleagues would do the same or fail to try.

Seeing this erratic behavior, Ayeka held her friend and tried to console her as she was breathing heavily. “Kayla-chan, calm down. What happened?”

Kayla tried to calm herself by looking around the room. She just couldn’t believe what just happened. How could anybody have found out about this? How could they take out the Killer Queen? She regrettably came to terms with the reality. “They took them out.”

“What?!” a woman with a sharp tone exclaimed.

Kayla and Ayeka turned around to see a young, long, silver-haired, red-eyed wolf, Kemonomimi, bluntly introduced as she stood there with her arms crossed, while nothing but a t-shirt.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Someone got them. Shayna, her inner circle, everyone. They’re all dead,” Kayla explained.

“Impossible…” Ayeka was at a loss for words.

"See, I told you! I said that fuck-head is playing for keeps now!" the silver-haired Kemonomimi accused.

“We don’t know that for sure, Natalia,” Kayla said.

The young silver-haired wolf kemonomimi's full name is Natalia Silvestri. For Natalia Silvestri, being a lone wolf was never easy. Not having a family, MUSCA was her only family. Some say he can't choose his parents or his siblings. And many times, she wishes she had.

As beautiful as she is antisocial, she is the exact definition of a loner. Being raised in an environment where being a bully and a deviant is necessary can do that to you. Let's say she had learned a lot from her peers and superiors.

“Okay, okay. Let’s just all recollect for the time being,” Ayeka rationalized the situation. “Did you actually see this person, Kayla-chan?”

“No, I did not…” Kayla denied. “But Memento showed up when we did.”

“Then it’s not Memento,” Ayeka concluded.

“Well, you don’t know about that either! You weren’t there!” Natalia debated as the three moved their conversation to the kitchen.

Ayeka was more annoyed than worried as she went to the refrigerator and got herself a can of sparkling water. “By the looks of things, Shayna-sama had a lot of enemies way before we ever met her. Let's face facts, she was living on borrowed time."

Ayeka continued as she opened the can of sparkling water and poured it into the glass, "Keep them hungry and, at the same time, have them well-fed. Her methods worked, considering. If only someone didn't light that fuse, we would've had another global war on her hands. But that never happened. 'The grandmaster's beloved pet puppy fucked up everything for us.' Her words, not mine…"

“I am so sick and tired of this trip down memory lane!” Natalia resented.

“In short, I’m surprised they lasted this long,” Ayeka examined the glass of sparkling water, watching all the little bubbles flowing to the surface as she gave every one of the meaning and purpose. “When it comes down to it, we are all survivors. That’s what we do best. We survive.”

“Ah, but of course. Using necessary evils to survive,” an unknown female voice spoke as the four turned around only to see another woman behind them.

It was a tall Korean fox girl with long charcoal black hair and ocean blue-slitted eyes. Her attractive measurements are an example of an hourglass body type, wearing an elegant short red kimono robe with stylish design details, high-waisted deep garnet red geo-fire printed leggings, and high-heeled boots.

“WHOA! WHO IN THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” Natalia shrieked.

“Pardon my bold interruption, ladies, but I am here on behalf of his Majesty. I have arrived here tonight to bestow upon you an important announcement; to be sure such information is handed to the person in charge,” The female fox kemonomimi announced.

I didn’t feel her aura… Who the fuck is she? Kayla thought.

Ayeka, however, tried to make the best of the situation. This girl was just a messenger, “His Majesty? Where did you come from?”

“My dear girl, I was here the entire time,” she boasted.

“YOU WERE HERE THE ENTIRE TIME?!” Natalia yelled.

“Yes, even when you all brutalized that poor bellboy who gave you all room service. Not you, Natalia, being so squeamish. But I am not here to handle such transgressions. Allow me to—”

Natalia was fed up. She wasn’t going to give this little pissant an inch. She grabbed the little Fox girl by her collar as gentle feminine laughter came from her lips and carried into the air. It seemed so out of place, but Natalia didn't even pay any attention to it.

The mysterious Fox girl's approach was silent and graceful beyond anything Natalia, a trained professional killer, had ever experienced.

The first counter sent tremors of pain throughout her entire body when her dual knife chopped Natalia’s neck.

The next knocked her down to her knees, paralyzed in sensation by using a couple of open palm strikes to the abdomen.

Then the third rendered any kind of consciousness as she grabbed her by the hair and hammer-fisted Natalia at the back of her neck, sending her to the ground.

Afterward, the remaining two wolf girls stood in awe as the fox girl unflinchingly continued where she left off, “—formally introduce myself to you all. My name is Noel Moon, senior royal advisor of Imperatoris De Neque, our new Daemon Emperor.” She finished with a devious smile.