Chapter 1472: A Plan Carved in Moonlight

Lupus had heard the order from Ylva. At first, he might have found it strange, even reckless, but then he caught sight of her face. That smile. It wasn’t the smile of someone admitting defeat. It was a calculated expression, one that told him she had already planned several steps ahead.

Over the years, Lupus had worked closely with Ylva on more occasions than he could count. Together they had plotted against the vampires, finding ways to wound them, weaken them, or avoid falling into direct conflict when it wasn’t in their favor. He knew how her mind worked, how she was not just valuable because of her strength, but because of her ability to think, to strategize, to set pieces into place long before the battle was decided.

So when she called for retreat, Lupus didn’t hesitate. He chose to trust her.

“Listen to her order, everyone, retreat!” Lupus roared, his voice booming across the battlefield.

The command came just as Kai charged forward once again. Timing it perfectly, Lupus lunged and caught the massive wolf’s head between both arms. The two locked into a brutal grapple, a struggle of pure strength, like a wrestling match between giants. Kai thrashed violently, shaking his head, but Lupus refused to release him. If he let go of even one arm, Kai would break free, so Lupus tightened his grip, holding him down with everything he had.

Behind them, the werewolves moved quickly. They stopped engaging with the enemy and turned, retreating in unison. Their strength and agility carried them swiftly across the torn battlefield, dispersing into the darkness.

“What’s going on?” Xin asked, eyes wide as he watched the enemy fleeing.

“Should we… order a chase?” Crawley asked, his voice hesitant.

“No,” Gary answered firmly, shaking his head. “From the very beginning, our goal was only to buy time. With them retreating like this, it gives us exactly that, more time to recover, more time to get our people back to full strength. I want to maximize the number of lives we can save. This was never about eliminating Lupus outright.”

The others exchanged glances but slowly nodded in agreement. Gary’s reasoning made sense, yet Marie’s heart pounded uneasily in her chest. Something about the way Ylva had smiled, the way the retreat felt too controlled, too deliberate, none of it sat right with her.

As the werewolves withdrew, Ylva remained close to Lupus. She turned her head slightly toward him and spoke in a low but steady voice.

“Lupus, hold him there as long as you can. Keep him occupied, while the rest of us get away.”

Understanding immediately, Lupus gathered nearly all the strength left in his body. With a roar, he twisted his arms and hurled Kai across the battlefield. The massive wolf crashed into the ground, skidding through dirt and stone, tearing a scar into the earth. The effort left Lupus’s muscles burning, but he wasn’t finished yet.

Raising both hands, which now glowed with a chilling light, he slammed them down into the ground. The earth cracked, and from it rose four colossal towers of solid ice. They surged upward like mountains, fusing into a wall that cut off the battlefield, sealing the path behind him.

With the barrier in place, Lupus turned and sprinted away, Ylva running beside him. The cold air whipped past as their paws struck the ground, their massive bodies moving in perfect rhythm. For a moment, Lupus almost felt relief, relief to be free of Kai’s relentless speed, to have a brief moment where his claws weren’t locked against the Shapeshifter’s.

But as the silence between them stretched, his curiosity finally broke.

“Why did you order us to retreat?” Lupus asked, glancing at her. “I was locked with him, I couldn’t see everything. What’s the true situation?”

Ylva’s smile deepened, her eyes gleaming under the moonlight.

“Our second wave hasn’t arrived,” she said calmly. “But that doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, you’ve already brought the most troublesome piece straight to their doorstep.”

Lupus’s ears twitched as she continued, her tone both confident and chilling.

“At first, I thought they had somehow managed to gather another Alpha. I couldn’t understand how three Alphas could exist at the same time. But now I see… it isn’t that. It’s the night of the full moon, and their Shapeshifter has entered his true Alpha form.

“And I doubt he has any control over it. The Luna looked inexperienced, too new to have found a way to suppress the frenzy of the true Alpha. In your fight, I saw his speed. He’s fast, faster than most can react to. Catching him, containing him, controlling him? It’s going to be nearly impossible.”

Her words were laced with certainty, and the strategy behind them unfolded in Lupus’s mind as she went on.

“So tell me, what do you think happens now that we’ve left the battlefield? That frenzied Alpha wolf will turn on everyone near him. He won’t distinguish friend from foe. And he won’t be able to ignore Gary either. Even if Gary tried to mask his scent, he’s still too close. And with his nose, he’ll sense immediately that Gary is another Alpha.”

Ylva’s voice grew sharper.

“All of his instincts will drive him into a frenzy. He’ll attack relentlessly. They’ll have no choice but to fight him with everything they have. And since he’s their dear friend, they’ll hesitate, they won’t want to kill him. Fighting something that powerful while refusing to end it? Losses on their side are inevitable.

“And once they’ve exhausted themselves, once they’ve been weakened… that’s when we’ll return. The two of us, in our true Alpha forms, will crush them completely.”

Lupus let her words settle, and slowly, the plan revealed itself with terrifying clarity. His lips pulled back into a grin.

“I see… So that’s it. Then don’t let our forces stray too far. Keep the werewolves near. The closer we are, the stronger he’ll become, and the more devastating the chaos will be for them.”

****

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