Wolf on the Loose
(Khumo Mabe's POV)
The second Titan's howl ripped through the night, I didn't think.
I ran.
My legs just… took over. Instinct slammed the gas pedal before my brain could even register what was happening. I bolted out of the yard, heart pounding, lungs already burning. Titan wasn't the same fluffy retriever anymore—he was a goddamn nightmare beast, and the sound he made felt like it branded itself into my skull.
Branches whipped my face as I tore into the woods behind my house. My body moved faster than it ever had before, like adrenaline had turned me into some parkour track star. I was jumping trees, clawing bark, leaping from branch to branch like some animal.
But no matter how fast I went…
He was right behind me.
Titan wasn't following like a dog anymore. He was hunting me. His claws shredded the earth, tearing through undergrowth like tissue paper. Every step shook the ground. His growls vibrated in my spine, hot breath snapping at my heels.
And the worst part? Everything in his way died.
I heard it—bones cracking, animals shrieking one second and silenced the next. A rabbit tried to dart across the path; Titan crushed it mid-sprint. A deer leapt away—he pounced and ripped it in half like it was nothing. Blood sprayed the trees, the air thick with copper.
And through all of it… my mind was nothing but one word
Run run run run run run run run run run run run RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN—
It was like my head had turned into a broken record, hammering that mantra over and over. My vision blurred, my chest screamed for air, but I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I was dead. No—worse. If I stopped, Titan would get me.
I glanced back once, and that was a mistake.
He was bigger than before. His muscles bulged, his glowing eyes locked on me like a target he couldn't let go of. His jaws dripped blood from whatever unlucky thing he had just mauled, and his teeth glinted in the moonlight like blades.
And he was smiling.
Like he was enjoying this chase.
"Shit—shitshitshitshit—" I muttered, voice cracking between gasps. My body scraped against bark, my hoodie tore, sweat and blood mixing down my face. My whole world had boiled down to survival.
Leaves crunched. A shadow leapt.
Titan slammed into a tree I'd just launched off, the wood exploding in splinters.
I didn't even know how I was keeping ahead of him. My legs felt like lead, but something inside me—whatever had awakened when Titan changed—was keeping me alive. My movements weren't normal. I was faster, sharper, reacting before my brain even finished processing.
But Titan… Titan was evolving with every step.
The forest felt smaller, the trees like prison bars about to snap. His howls echoed, chasing me no matter how far I sprinted. My ears rang, my chest was fire, and my mantra only got louder.
RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN.
The thing was…
I wasn't just running from Titan anymore.
I was running from myself.
Because deep down, I knew it—
I was the reason he became this monster.