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nThe fact that every Howlers member aside from him had resigned from Westbridge was no joke. Gary was now worried that something very bad must have happened to his friends. After all, he had only received a personal message from Kai yesterday, and he had never contacted him.

nIf it had just been Innu who had decided to leave the school, he might have understood it. After all, he had apparently been filmed, yet for all three to disappear without any prior notice, something was definitely up.

nImmediately, Gary pulled out his phone and started writing in the group chat.

nI just found out that everyone but me has to decided to drop out or transfer.

nWhy didn't anyone tell me?

nAre you guys okay? Did any of you get hurt from the fight?

nThe Werewolf was undergoing a mix of emotions. Worry, mixed with anger, as well as sting of abandonment. Lately, he had gone through so much with them, so he was prepared to go through thick and thin with them. Seemingly getting ghosted by all of them was making him fear for the worst.

n‘I don't understand, aren’t I part of the Howlers as well, aren't I meant to be your friend?’

nJust when he was about to message each one of them individually, his phone vibrated, and he could see that he finally got a reply in the group chat.

nMy bad, Gary, I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t get the chance to write to you. This is something that we all agreed on without you. Don’t worry, everyone is fine and well. Just enjoy your day at school and come to the Wolf’s Pool Club afterwards.

nThe green haired teenager didn't know how to feel about it. The pumped up adrenaline in his body had faded, yet one of his worst thoughts had turned out to be true. The group, that he had always felt like he had belonged to, since he had founded it together with Kai, had done something without him.

n‘Why would they do that?’ Gary wondered.

n——

nEventually, the school day was over, yet the high schooler had barely paid attention to any of his lessons. His mind was too busy deciding how to react to his situation. Should he go in and accuse them all for abandoning him? Should he pretend as if everything was normal?

nUltimately, the teenager was aware that worrying about it was just making matters worse, especially since he couldn’t fix something that had already happened. He just hoped that there was some reasonable explanation for their behaviour.

n‘If only Tom was here, then I would at least have someone to talk to about this stuff. … stupid no phones rules. At least he said he would be back before the full moon…’ Gary thought to himself as he walked up to the door and pushed it open.

nEntering the establishment, the pool club seemed to be as busy as usual. There were plenty of customers who had become regulars, and Austin's friends were doing a great job waiting on everyone.

nHowever, all the attention was on the latest addition of the team. White had quickly become the store’s idol, which most likely also translated to extra sales. Even now, as Gary had entered, nobody was paying him any heed, yet he could see a group of boys staring at the waitress.

nOther than Miss Degrace, the teenager didn't see any of the others, so he could only assume they were downstairs. He went into the storage room that had doubled as Kai’s office. Walking down the stairs, he could already hear the voices of the other gang members.

nHe was a bit surprised when his nose could pick up another presence, that of his Beta Werewolf, Olivia Pearl. Kai, Marie, Austin, Innu and Olivia turned around and they all gave him a smile. Marie had the awkwardest look on her face, seemingly feeling guilty.

n“Guys… So do you mind explaining to me what is going on now? … Please don't lie to me. I thought everything was going our way for once, but should I take it that Howlers are no longer a thing any more?” Gary decided to be frank. Throughout the day, that was the worst possible outcome that he could think of.

nAlthough it had never been the high schooler’s idea to create this gang, it had become something like a second family to him, so he didn't want this to be the end of them.

n“What? No, of course not!” Marie vehemently denied that. “I’m sorry, we kept you out of the loop. Let me explain, so these guys don't mess it up, alright? I don’t know if you know or not, but it turned out that the gang fight had been filmed.

n“While they mainly focused on you against Kirk, all of us were shown. I was even recorded using knives. Admittedly it was in self defence, so according to Mr Vula I shouldn’t get in trouble with the police, but there were consequences we had to deal with yesterday.

n“Although we didn’t appear too clearly, those who know us, should be able to recognise us. It was kinda impossible to get back to school, you know.”

nHearing this, Gary understood where Marie was coming from. After all, he had heard all his classmates talk about Innu, and none of it had been flattering.

n“On top of that, with the Underdogs and Grey Elephants in shambles we are the only big time gang in Slough, which no one can deny any more. This means that even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t actually be safe at school. In fact, we would probably endanger everyone near us just by attending.”

n“That's not the only reason.” Innu chimed in, stepping forward. “All of us have already decided, Gary. There is no real point in us going to school any more, it would just be a waste of everyone’s time. This is the life that we intend to live from now on.

n“I have people that rely on me now, so I need to bring in the money. Not in the future when I grow older and get a degree, but I need to look after them now. Surely you understand, right?”

nIndeed, as someone who had been in Innu’s situation not too long ago, how could he not sympathise. In fact, it was something he had been considering himself as well.

n“Then I will-“

n“No.” Kai immediately interrupted him. “Gary, there is a reason why we decided to do all of this without informing you, and that's because, if anything, you have done far too much for us already. The others might not know the entire story about why you helped me create the Howlers, but I do… you agreed to my plans because you didn’t really have another choice if you wanted to continue your normal life.

n“Part of the reason I gifted you that mask was, so you had the chance to live that ordinary life, even if it’s just a lie. Gary, I asked everyone to keep quiet about it because I knew you would stop going out of solidarity, that’s just the type of person you are, but right now, the thing that is keeping you going, is the fact that you could end up with a normal life at the end of this.”

nGary opened his mouth to give a reply, but in the end no words came out, because the words were true. The Werewolf still wasn't able to fully commit himself to this lifestyle. On top of that, if he did, it meant it would be dragging his family and close friends like Tom into this, maybe he would even have to cut ties.

nMarie’s mother was already involved in this, then there was Austin, who they knew little about but seemed to have already considered this lifestyle. Innu had already stated why he needed to do this, then there was Kai, who he actually knew little reason about why he was doing this in the first place. Either way, they had more reason to do this than him.

n“I understand… I'm just glad that I will still see all of you still.” Gary let out a sigh. To which the others all smile.

nAfter that little talk, it was time the group went into business. Kai gave everyone an update about the current situation. It turns out that the Grey Elephants are practically no more, and that includes their territories they used to run.

nThe few members that they had were disbanded, and without a leader, there wasn't much they could do. On top of that, those that had tried to rally up the members had been attacked by an unknown force.

nHowever, no one had taken over their territory, and no one dared to. Kai had assumed that was because of the Howlers. So it looked like their plan was working so far.

n“Which means that the Underdogs are the only ones that we have to focus on, right?” Gary summed it up. “So when do we take them out?”

n“There are a few things that I need to sort out before then. We need to get everything perfect, so we can get to Damion. If we don't get him, then it means that the Underdogs will always be able to reform. Right now, our best approach is to let some time pass and wait for the other gangs to choose a side.” Kai answered. “Don’t worry, it won’t be long. At most two weeks. That timeframe should allow Damion to call in every favour he might have, so that we can completely crush him.”

nThe others nodded, but Gary was a little worried. Two weeks' time meant after the full moon. If Olivia turned out to become uncontrollable on the full moon, there was a good chance that he would have to kill her to protect the others.

nWithout the Beta Werewolf, he doubted the members of the Pincers would be so courteous like they had been so far. Right now, while they had Olivia, especially after her upgrade, they needed to attack now.

n‘Attacking the Underdogs will be dangerous, but there shouldn’t be too many members left. I’ve also placed a Mark on Damion, as well as Gil, so we could simply ambush them if the opportunity arises. With my upgrade in strength, maybe there is no need to put them in harm’s way. If we do it close to the full moon, Olivia and I should be strong enough to handle them on our own.

n‘You guys decided this all on your own without me, so I guess it's time I start acting on my own as well.’

n*****

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