Two figures walked silently down a narrow path—Tolu and Leke. The air was still, but heavy, the kind of silence that pressed down on both of them. This wasn't how Tolu ever imagined Leke would find out. He hadn't even gotten used to it himself, much less thought about explaining it to his best friend.
He glanced sideways, mind racing with what this might do to their friendship. Finally, he broke the silence.
"Are you okay?"
Leke shifted his gaze to the blood seeping through his sleeve. "Yeah… I'm fine." He paused, then asked carefully, "So… have you been… this, since birth? Or…?"
Tolu shook his head. "No. Just since the party. I haven't even wrapped my head around it, let alone thought about telling you."
"Oh. Okay." Leke's voice was low, uncertain. After a moment, he muttered, "So what are you, exactly? Some kind of forest jinn?"
Tolu let out a dry laugh. "Come on, you already know the answer."
"We're in Nigeria," Leke said, his face tight. "There's no way you're a… werewolf."
"Then what am I?" Tolu countered, still smiling faintly.
Leke had no answer. He just kept quiet, staring at the ground as they walked. Then, after a beat, he asked:
"Ore… is one too, isn't she?"
That stopped Tolu cold. His smile faded, and he kept his face straight. "Why would you think that?"
"Well…" Leke hesitated. "She's the only thing that's changed with you since all this started. And when you two were in the pool, I could tell she was chasing you. I thought it was just love, but now…"
Another wave of silence fell between them. Tolu finally exhaled.
"Speaking of Ore—I need to tell her what happened. I have a feeling we weren't the only ones who got attacked tonight."
---
At Jide's Mansion
The sound of shattering glass and splintering wood echoed through the mansion. Inside one of the rooms, Jide, his eyes glowing a violent red, tore through furniture and ornaments, every smash a reflection of his rage as he felt the unmistakable bond of his newborns snapping one by one.
The door creaked open and the eldest elder stepped inside. He did not flinch at the chaos. His voice was steady, commanding:
"This is not what your strength is for, Jide. Do not waste it on walls and wood. Your power belongs outside—against those who dare hunt your pack."
Jide froze mid-swing, chest heaving. The silence stretched for a beat before the sound of bones cracking filled the air. His body twisted and stretched, fur tearing through his skin. In seconds, the towering form of a massive wolf stood in the wreckage, red eyes burning like coals.
The elder fell to one knee, bowing low. The alpha wasted no time.
Jide's massive frame crashed through the window, glass scattering into the night as his wolf form landed heavily on the ground below. His chest expanded once before he tilted his head back, unleashing a howl that tore through the stillness of the night. It was raw power, filled with grief and fury—a command no wolf under him could ignore.
From deep within the forest, other howls answered, one after another, until the night vibrated with the voices of the pack. Shadows began to stir in the trees, glowing eyes flickering to life like embers in the dark.
The elder, ige ogundipe mutters " the hunt ends when our enemies are dead."
The elder shifted beside him, fur bristling, his orange eyes gleaming in the moonlight. He fell into step behind his alpha without hesitation. The two wolves surged forward into the forest, and soon, others joined—wolves of different sizes, their paws pounding the earth in rhythm, their howls merging into a single chorus of vengeance.
The hunt had begun.
---
Tolu slipped his phone back into his pocket after finishing his text to Ore. His chest still felt heavy with unease, but sharing the news with her gave him a bit of comfort. He turned toward Leke, his expression tense.
"All the other newborns except me have been killed," Tolu muttered, his voice low but sharp enough to freeze the night air.
Leke blinked, stunned, then leaned closer as if hoping he misheard. "Whoa—wait, wait, wait. How do you know a newborn?"
Tolu took a steadying breath, his eyes narrowing slightly as he explained. "For girls, it's violet eyes. For boys, indigo eyes. That's how you can tell."
Leke tilted his head, still catching up, then frowned with curiosity. "Oh… okay. But…" His eyes focused directly on Tolu's. "I think it's more blue than indigo, though."
That made Tolu pause. He straightened slowly, tension crawling through his body. "What?"
"Well," Leke said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "you said you're a newborn. But your eyes… they don't look indigo anymore. They look more like… blue. Proper blue."
Tolu immediately pulled out his phone and angled the screen toward his face, using it as a makeshift mirror. He concentrated, letting his control slip just enough for his eyes to glow. The reflection staring back at him wasn't indigo—it was a clear, piercing blue that shimmered under the screen's light.
His heart sank. He was sure this change wasn't supposed to happen so fast. Newborns were supposed to take time—months, even years—before their power advanced and their eyes shifted. He swallowed hard, suddenly realizing why he'd managed to hold his ground, even if barely, against their attackers earlier. It wasn't luck. It was this.
Closing his phone with a sharp snap, Tolu muttered, almost to himself, "Well… I guess I'm no longer a newborn. I've… increased in level."
Leke's eyes lit up with the same excitement that always came when he pieced things together. "That's… cool." Then his expression turned thoughtful, his voice dropping as if chasing a theory. "Wait… if it's blue, indigo, violet… then it follows the color spectrum, right?" He stared at Tolu with a sharpness rarely seen in him. "That means the alpha's eyes… would be red."
Tolu stopped walking, staring at Leke, genuinely impressed. His lips curved into a faint smile despite the weight in his chest. For all his goofiness, Leke was brilliant when he wanted to be. "Yes. The alphas—"
The rest of his sentence was cut short. His jaw tightened, and his smile disappeared in an instant as his body stiffened. A low, guttural growl escaped his throat, primal and instinctive, rumbling deep enough to make the ground beneath them feel heavier.
"Tolu?" Leke's voice cracked slightly, fear flashing in his eyes. He remembered the last time this had happened—how suddenly Tolu had lost himself, how dangerous it had been. The memory made his stomach twist. He glanced around, expecting an ambush, his heartbeat climbing. But the street was still, eerily silent. "What's going on?!"
But Tolu didn't answer. He couldn't.
Because he couldn't even hear Leke anymore.
Instead, a deafening sound flooded his mind—the echo of a howl, powerful and commanding, vibrating in his bones. The call of his Alpha. It wasn't just a sound; it was an irresistible command, a pull in his very blood, yanking him toward a single direction. His muscles tightened, instincts roaring louder than his thoughts.
With a violent shudder, his bones cracked and shifted, his body stretching, reshaping. Fur rippled across his skin, and within moments a humongous wolf stood where Tolu had been. His glowing blue eyes burned bright, sharp and alive. He threw one last look toward the horizon as if answering the unseen call, then his massive form bolted forward, claws digging into the ground with thunderous force.
Leke was left standing alone, frozen. He watched helplessly as his friend's towering wolf form vanished into the distance, swallowed by the night. His mouth hung open, his pulse racing, his injured arm throbbing in sync with his fear.
"…Tolu?" he whispered into the silence, though he already knew he wouldn't get an answer.