I was still writhing in pain as I sat down, folding my arms tightly across my chest.

“Speak. I’m all ears,” I said sharply, fixing my gaze on Julius.

He snorted, cleared his throat, and began.

“My name is Julius Lucky. What I’m about to tell you is a story my grandfather once told me. I was too young to remember much, just a baby when it all happened. My parents died in a mysterious motor accident. At the time, my mother was heavily pregnant with me.

Fated to survive, I… delivered myself from her corpse. To this day, onlookers can’t explain how I came out of my mother’s lifeless body without any contraction.”

I gasped softly, eyes wide as he continued.

“My grandfather was a witch doctor,” Julius said. “He took me into his temple and raised me to be like him. His name was also Julius. On his deathbed, he told me that if I ever looked into his grey eyes at the moment of his death, I would be blessed with a rare ability—one that would shake humanity itself.

And as fate would have it, I was sitting right beside him when he died. I stared into his bulging grey eyes… and after that day, everything changed.”

I frowned, still unsure. “What rare ability?”

He shut his eyes for a moment, lifted his head, and stared at the ceiling. His breathing grew uneasy, as though speaking was difficult.

Finally, he said in a low, solemn voice, “I can see the past… and the future.”

I flinched. His eyeballs rolled inward until only the whites of his eyes glared back at me.

“Listen, Darius,” he said firmly. “You must be strong. You’ve been fated to save humanity. The tragedy that befell your family the other night—” his voice darkened— “is only the beginning.”

Sweat beaded on my forehead. My whole body trembled. How could a weakling like me save humanity? I could barely save myself.

“Tell me more, Julius,” I said through clenched teeth. “How is that even possible? I can’t even stand up to my bullies, let alone save the world. If I were destined to save anyone, I would’ve started by saving my parents.”

My voice broke. Tears stung my eyes as I sniffled.

Julius’s tone softened slightly. “Perk up, Darius. Listen carefully. Your father was a zoologist—one of the finest the Lord Pack ever knew. He discovered the most formidable strain of the Alpha Virus—an immortal strain unlike any other.

When the Lord Mayor approached him to buy it, your father almost agreed… until he learned of the mayor’s true intentions.”

I straightened up, tension filling my voice. “What evil intentions?”

“Lord Mayor wanted to use the virus to achieve immortality,” Julius said grimly. “Then he planned to wipe out humanity and replace it with his loyal shape-shifters. Your father refused to let that happen, so he rejected the offer.”

Julius’s eerie eyes glowed faintly as he continued. “If I may remind you, your father moved you and your mother to four different packs this summer. Am I right?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes—yes, that’s true!”

“All that time,” Julius said, “the Lord Mayor and his shifters were hunting him. He managed to escape over and over… until the other night.”

My hands trembled as I wiped sweat from my face. Julius’s words filled me with fear—cold, paralyzing fear.

Then he asked, “You have the virus with you, don’t you?”

I froze. My eyes darted to my bag.

With shaking hands, I unzipped it and brought out a small glass vial filled with glowing green fluid. My fingers trembled as I held it up.

“Be careful,” Julius warned sharply. “If it spills, it’s ruined—and with it, your chance to save humanity. Worse still, your enemies will track you down and annihilate you.”

He leaned forward, eyes glowing white again. “What you hold in your hand is four milligrams of the Alpha Virus—the most powerful strain ever created. One milligram is enough to transform you into an immortal alpha werewolf.”

My heart pounded violently. My body was drenched in sweat as I stared at the vial in disbelief.

But Julius’s expression changed suddenly. His eyes rolled back again, his pupils gone. It was as if he was seeing something invisible to me. His eyelids vanished into his skin, and his whole face stiffened.

Then—poof!—he gasped sharply and locked eyes with me, voice shaking.

“We must leave this place now!” he barked. “The Lord Mayor and his shifters have found you. They’re coming!”