Page 21 of Ruthless Wolf


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Then it hits me.

The Game of the Night is a popular game my father told me about while he was alive. It is the story of a rejected wolf called the Night Wolf who was hated by humans. After their princess goes missing, the Night Wolf finds her lost in the woods and decides to take her into his abode. The humans soon find her with the wolf. Even after the princess tells them that the Night Wolf had been nice to her, the humans don’t believe her and they arrest the wolf, burning him in front of their palace.

The Game of the Night is adapted from the story, except that in this game, the Night Wolf doesn’t get arrested. Instead, he kills all the humans. The legend considered as the origin of the wolves’ hatred for humans. Only wolves know about the story and what it symbolizes in the world of shifters.

The invitation means only one thing—whoever just texted me is a wolf!

I click on the notification and realize I’m being redirected to a website called Games n’ Fun. There I find an inbox with the two messages already waiting for me. Thinking about the possibility of being wrong about the identity of the unknown texter, I type in a message and press enter.

Hi, I'd like to play.

A few seconds of nothing. Then, I see Grindelvi is typing.

We have an inner room but before you can start the game, you have to introduce yourself to others. Are you an Ancient S or an Ancient Otherling?

I know what those two words mean, and it only heightens my suspicion that Grindelvi is one of us. An Ancient S is a code for a Night Shifter while an Ancient Otherling means human.

This texter is trying to find out if I’m a wolf too. A human will have no idea what those two words mean.

However, I have a suspicion that I’ll still go through another test to prove my identity. What if I’m human but luckily pick that I’m an Ancient S? It’s too risky to bring in a random human into the inner room and reveal the world of shifters to them.

I'm an Ancient S.

Good. Click the link I'll drop in your inbox now.

Two seconds later, I'm staring at a link in my inbox. My heart slams against my ribcage as I click on it. What exactly will I find in there? A group of werewolves who might have information about Adeline's pack? Will I be kicked out as soon as I fail the second test, ending up with nothing but an inbox and a stranger's username, Grindelvi?

As soon as I enter the room, the inbox's background changes to that of a snarling wolf. A message appears on my screen.

Welcome, Luke H. to the inner room, an online community of Ancient S. You must share your story with everyone before you play the Game of the Night.

Chapter8

Adeline

“Luke? Hello?”

I move to the door of the apartment again and rap on the wood, waiting for a few seconds before concluding he isn't home.

It's been six minutes since I arrived and the morning sun stinging the back of my neck deepens the burning sensation of embarrassment.

What did I expect? That a man like Luke would give me his home address and patiently wait for my visit?

Partly, this is my fault. I should have given Luke a call before hopping on a bus and coming to his small apartment in Falview Street. Now I'm embarrassed that I’d brought myself here to meet an empty apartment.

Luke lives in a residential building on the second floor. Each floor has separate long verandahs with metal railings that overlook the building's parking lot and standing beside a blue sedan is a middle-aged man who’s been staring at me since I started knocking on Luke's door.

"Miss? Are you looking for someone?" he calls out.

I break into a smile and hope my stinging cheeks haven’t turned red from shame. "Luke Holland? Is he home?"

The man scratches his eyebrow. "He's hardly home but I saw him come in last night. I'm his neighbor on the left."

"Oh." My eyes dart to the next apartment after Luke's. 9A. "Do you know when he's going to be back? Can you tell him Adeline stopped by?"

The man shakes his head and opens the door of his sedan. "I said he's hardly home. Not trying to ruin anything but that man scares the shit out of me. I'm even surprised he's got someone visiting him. Goodbye, miss."

He gets into his sedan, starts the car and backs out of the parking lot. The man's words leave me bewildered. Why doesn't Luke have anyone visiting him? And why is Luke's neighbor scared of him?

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