Looking at Grandma Mel’s Bakery, Ethan had even more trouble thinking of it as the secret hideout for a pack of werewolves. The place wasn’t decrepit, there wasn’t a sinister vibe hanging in the air, the building in front of them looked like a regular old bakery.

  There was a window that displayed the baked goods, a flowery canopy over the front door, and a couple of tables outside where people could enjoy their fresh pastries when the weather was good.

  With all the bright colors on the exterior, you’d be more inclined to mistake the place for a florist shop than a monster’s lair.

  “I swear to God,” Ethan muttered darkly. “If Vlad is fucking with us, I’m going to test all my silver weapons out on him!”

  “He’s not,” Purebred whispered. Ethan didn’t notice before, but the wolf-girl had stiffened up the moment they neared the bakery. She stared at the little shop as if it were the gate to Hell itself. “They’re here… I smell them…”

  “I thought you couldn’t-”

  “Their scent is everywhere,” Purebred answered, her tone sounding like she just spotted a serial killer walking across the street. “They’ve been all over the place.”

  “So this really is their base…” The werewolf said nothing, not that she didn’t need to. The Gifted both knew they found their quarry.

  Worldlessly, Ethan removed his bag and took out his weapons. He slipped a silver ring over each finger and took out his silver-wrapped clubs.

  “So…” Ethan began as he gripped the golden sticks. “How do you want to do this?” The villain looked at Purebred and waited for a response. But none came; the only sound that came from the werewolf was the puffs of quick breaths that slowly got faster and louder.

  By the time Ethan realised Purebred was hyperventilating, it was too late. With a cry of, “I can’t do this!” the dog-girl spun around and bolted down the back alleys. Ethan swore under his breath and turned to follow her, but Purebred was already a good distance away from him by the time he started running.

  “No choice,” Ethan grumbled. He knew there was no way to catch the werewolf as a human, so he’d have to shapeshift. Lunging forward, Ethan turned into a Cheetah and charged after Purebred. His new, powerful legs made him fly across the ground and close the distance with the girl in no time.

  Purebred turned her head to see what was chasing her and was shocked to find another animal on her flank. She screamed as Ethan tackled her from the side, and the two animals ended up tumbling to the floor.

  Scrambling to his feet, the villain quickly jumped on top of Purebred and pinned her to the ground.

  “You can’t run from this!” Ethan snarled.

  “Y-You-?!” the girl spluttered as she stared at the cheetah in shock and confusion. Ethan was aware he just revealed his shapeshifting power to her, but decided to table his frustration for later.

  “Do you want to spend the rest of your life running away?” Ethan asked instead. His harsh tone making Purebred wince. “Because if the pack is willing to come to a place like this just for you, they’re not going to stop hunting you, no matter how much you run.”

  “What else can I do?!” the she-wolf cried out.

  “Fight back,” the wukong growled. “Make them stop.”

  “Seriously?!” Purebred asked with a bitter laugh. “That’s your answer?! “Fight back”?! You don’t know these guys like I do! They’re bigger, stronger, and outnumber me! And if I try to fight them, they’ll do terrible things to me!”

  “They’ll do that to you regardless!” Ethan shot back. “Those wolves don’t care about you. You’re a resource to be used. It doesn’t matter if you rebel or comply; they’ll use you up until you break. Then afterwards, they’ll throw you away like garbage and replace you with another sucker.”

  “Don’t talk like you know anything about this,” the dog-girl spat bitterly. Her normally chipper personality was gone, replaced by a sad bitterness that glared at Ethan indignantly. “You don’t know what it’s like to be hunted by monsters that think you owe them your life!"

  “Oh yeah?” Ethan asked coldly. There was a moment of hesitation as the villain realized what he was about to do. Showing off a bit more of his powers was one thing, but telling Purebred his backstory was something else entirely. Normally, Ethan would never think of sharing his story with someone else, but that familiar resentment in Purebred’s eyes made all reservations disappear.

  “You never did ask why I became a villain,” Ethan continued acidly. “Did you think I put on this mask and decided to wreck up shops because I’m bored? Right now, there’s a kid in this shithole city who’s forced to do all the homework for his scumbag classmates. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he has to work his fingers to the bone at his own home so a bitter old man can feel big and strong. He’s been alone and helpless for years, and if he screws up even once, the entire town comes together just to make his life even worse! The only reason he’s getting any sleep nowadays is because he found a way to clone himself!”

  There was a moment of silence as the two Gifted animals stared at each other. There was an odd feeling in the air that wasn’t quiet tension but it wasn’t comfortable either. The quiet was finally broken when the wolf hesitantly spoke.

  “That kid… He’s you?” Purebred stared at Ethan with an emotion he couldn’t identify. It gave the villain a weird feeling, but the boy was too irritated to identify it.

  “No,” Ethan snarked. “It’s some random punk I brought up for no reason. Of course, I’m talking about me! I have to deal with my own bullshit in life! I may not be getting hunted by werewolves, but don’t talk to me like I’m some privileged asshole who never struggled a day in his life!”

  Another stretch of silence as Ethan waited for Purebred to process the information. The werewolf looked at the wukong with a complicated gaze before lying her head down in surrender. Ethan climbed off the she-wolf and allowed her to climb top her feet, but he didn’t change back into his human form just in case.

  “You gonna run off again?” Ethan asked pointedly. He sat on the ground in his cheetah form, but was ready to spring into action if Purebred tried to flee.

  “I… don’t know,” the wolf girl admitted. “I want this to be over… but if I get near them again after finally getting away from them…” Purebred started shaking again. Even if she wasn’t going to run, she would certainly break down before any of the fighting started.

  Ethan stared at the trembling werewolf for a few seconds, trying to think of what to do next. This would be when a villain would snap at her. Bully the wolf-girl into moving forward despite her fears. Purebred didn’t seem to have a lot of willpower, so that approach could work, at least until she came face to face with her old pack, and her actions would be based on who scared her more. Even if Ethan could intimidate Purebred, the pack would be the scarier threat with their numbers alone.

  Another way would be to manipulate her. Say anything that needed to be said to give Purebred the confidence she needs to face her fears. It didn’t matter what Ethan said, or if he couldn’t keep whatever promises he made, so long as they pushed the werewolf forward under her own power, it would work. The only problem with that was that while Purebred may be a bit naive, she didn’t seem stupid. Ethan would have to choose his words carefully or else Purebred could pick up any lie he told.

  The indecision on what villainous action to take stalled Ethan so much that when Purebred looked at him for some kind direction, the villain automatically allowed his inner Nice Guy to take over.

  “Let’s try this,” Ethan began placatingly. “I send a few of my clones in to scout things out, and then we can head back and make a proper plan of attack. Sound good?” Despite not sounding very villainous, Ethan didn’t hate the plan. Even if it was just to pacify Purebred and it came from that damnned Nice Guy within him, it was a good idea. Gathering information before a fight could only be beneficial.

  Purebred didn’t say anything for a while and just stared at the ground. For a second, Ethan was worried she’d reject the idea simply to keep avoiding the pack. But, after a moment, she gave the slightest hint of a nod.

  “Good,” Ethan huffed. A part of hims till wanted to storm the shop and kick out the monsters the old fashioned way, but decided to stick to the plan. It was the smarter option and it would keep Purebred from running out on him.

  Ethan’s birds kept following him even after the meeting with Vlad. There was no reason to dismiss them, especially since they could warn him if another Hero was on their way.

  Now he had a new mission for them. Turn into bugs and slip into Grandma Mel’s Bakery. One by one, his bird clones shifted into mites and slipped into the building. Ethan closed his eyes and focused on their views as they scuttled through the bakery.

  The interior was just as typical as the outside. A simple dining area with a counter that held both the cash register and a display case to show off some of the products. From that simple glance, a normal person would assume that was all there was to the store. Minus the kitchen, but who would want to go into the kitchen. But Ethan knew differently, and wasn’t going to quit without a thorough explanation.

  The villain made his clones spread out and examine every nook and cranny for whatever secrets it held. Whether it was a hidden entrance or a simple clue to the Werewolves’ real location, Ethan wouldn’t rest until he found it.

  But just as Ethan’s bugs found an oddly deep crack in the floor, he heard Purebred scream. His eyes snapped open, and he saw the she-wolf pressing herself down onto the floor while staring up in pure terror. Ethan followed her gaze and swore under his breath.

  Staring down at them from the rooftops, were two shadowy figures with glowing eyes. Even though Ethan couldn’t make out a lot of details, he knew what they were and what kind of trouble had found the two Gifted.

  A heavy thump in the darkness warned Ethan of a third creature before it stepped closer. A massive beast stepped out of the darkness on two legs, its powerful claws hung casually by its side, and its snout was twisted into a malicious and unnatural grin. A massive red-furred werewolf slowly walked out of the darkness and towards the two of them.

  “There you are, sister,” the werewolf spoke as it stalked its way over to the cowering Purebred. The creature's voice was far deeper and gutteral then Ethan had ever heard. Compared to Purebred’s werewolf voice, this new one sounded almost demonic. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  “L-Leave me alone!” Purebred shrieked as she scuttled backwards.

  “Is that any way to greet your family after so long, sister?” the creature responded, still slowly marching forward. “Especially since you came to us.”

  Ethan finally returned to his human form and leapt between Purebred and this new werewolf. He held out his batons like a drummer ready to go wild on his instrument. The red wolf stopped in its tracks and stared at the villain before letting out a lighter growl that might have been a laugh.

  “You even brought a snack,” the creature sneered. “How thoughtful, sister.”

  “I-I’m not your sister…” Purebred muttered. The small bit of defiance made the she-wolf tremble in fear, while the red-wolf glared at her like she just accused it of being an overweight poodle.

  “And I’m not your snack,” Ethan snapped. “You try and bite me, and I’ll make you regret it!” The boy tried to sound more confident than he felt. He doubted his body’s natural defense against vampires would work against the werewolves, so the makeshift silver weapons were all he had.

  The red-wolf did not seem impressed. It let out another growl-like laugh before stepping forward once more.

  “Out of the way, morsel,” it said, not even looking at Ethan and keeping its eyes on Purebred. “You had best stay out of our family’s affairs if you want to live.”

  The creature kept moving forward, intending to forcibly move past Ethan to get to Purebred. It even raised one of its arms to knock Ethan aside like he was a wayward balloon.

  Irritation spiked within Ethan at this casual dismissal. It reminded him of the way his classmates expected him to slave away for them like it was the only reason he existed. The villain was already going to counterattack, and this reminder of his pain made the boy strike harder.

  As the werewolf’s claw neared Ethan, the wukong slammed down one of the silver batons on top of it. It wasn’t a little smack, but Ethan was surprised to hear and feel the monster’s fingers breaking as he slammed the weapon down on them.

  The werewolf let out a high-pitched yip and jumped backwards, holding its injured paw. It stared at Ethan in shock for a few seconds before glaring at him with intense anger.

  “The little morsel has claws,” the beast snarled.

  “No,” Ethan replied. “The villain has silver. And he’s going to make you choke on it if you don’t leave town right now!” That got a dark chuckle from the beast, who continued to glare at the boy.

  “How about you crawl back to whatever comfy home you came out of and we might just forget about you,” the monster countered. “We’re going to be so busy reuniting with our prodigal sister here to remember a tiny little gnat like you. At least, until we fully take over this town.”

  “Fuck you,” Ethan snarled. “This is my town! I’ve got enough bullshit to deal with, I don’t need a pack of overrated mutts moving in to mess things up!”

  “You poor thing,” the beast sneered. “Tell you what. How about you drop those sticks, and I’ll rip your throat out. It’ll be a relatively quick death, and you won’t have to worry about anything ever again.”

  Ethan watched as the beast wriggled the fingers of its injured paw. The boy was certain he had broken a couple of bones, but the hand moved without any complaints from the werewolf. Whether the creature had a healing factor or just good pain tolerance, the boy couldn’t tell and had no way to ask.

  “Tempting,” Ethan snarked while gripping his batons. “But I got a better idea. How about I force-feed you one of these chains and see what happens? I’m not sure what swallowing a chunk of silver will do to a werewolf’s body, but I imagine it’d be pretty messy.” A noise that could only be a growl of anger came from the massive wolf.

  “I’d like to see you try,” the beast challenged. Ethan was about to step forward when he heard Purebred scream. Instinctively, the villain looked up to see if more werewolves were joining the fight, but saw that the two rooftop spectators were gone now.

  Fearing the worst, Ethan whirled around and saw Purebred surrounded. Four Werewolves encircled the werepuppy as she cowered in the street. Ethan expected the creatures to jump her, but instead they just stood there while an old woman calmly walked toward the shaky girl.

  “Zoe,” the woman began in a calming tone. “Why did you run away from us?” That woman had to be Grandma Mel, the matriarch. Ethan was about to rush over to Purebred’s side, but a mass of fur slammed into his back. The werewolf from before tackled Ethan to the ground and pinned him down. It made sure to grab Ethan’s wrists to avoid the silver rings and batons.

  “Don’t interrupt,” the beast growled, its tone rising slightly as it took the upper hand. Ethan tried to wriggle out of the beast's grasp, but it was like being pinned by a block of concrete. The monster didn’t budge, so Ethan was trapped. He could still use his shapeshifting trick to slip out, but one look at Purebred’s situation made him rethink that idea.

  There were five werewolves in total--make that six, because there was no way in hell Grandma Mel wasn’t one of them. Ethan was doing fine against the red-wolf until he got blindsided and grabbed. One mistake in a 1v1 fight and he was screwed. Even if he got free, Ethan didn’t like the odds if he took on the whole pack at once.

  If Ethan got free and attacked, he’d be on his own since Purebred wasn’t in a state to help. Even if she got the nerve to fight back, the villain doubted she had the strength to put up a proper fight, and even then they’d still be outnumbered.

  Not to mention, for whatever reason, the werewolves weren’t trying to kill Ethan just yet. For all the aggression the red-wolf had, all it did was tackle him to the ground. Ethan didn’t know why the beast was holding back, but he was certain if he made himself enough of a nuisance, that restraint would disappear.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  There was no denying it. Ethan was in over his head.

  ‘We have to get out of here,’ the boy realized. ‘Regroup and think of a new plan of attack.’ It was the only idea that made sense. Ethan had underestimated the werewolves’ strength and needed to rethink his approach.

  But first, he needed to get himself and Purebred out of this mess. Ethan sent a quick command to his clones and waited for his chance. He just had to hope Purebred could keep her cool long enough for him to get ready.

  “After everything we’ve done for you,” Mel continued in a disappointed tone. The old woman continued to simply stand in front of the trembling dog and talk to her like she was a misbehaving child. For her part, Purebred was once again laying on the floor, trying to avoid Mel’s gaze but there was nowhere to escape, either from her or the other werewolves that encircled her. “How could you be so ungrateful?”

  As if a switch had been flicked, Purebred suddenly lost her nervousness. Her head snapped up to glare at Mel, something that briefly surprised to old woman.

  “You tricked me!” Purebred spat. Anger mixed in with her fear, and despite her hunched and trembling frame, she glowered at Mel as her repressed feelings came tumbling out of her maw.

  “You said you’d help me! That you’d take me in and help me get my life together! Then you locked me up and turned me into THIS!” Purebred’s entire body shuddered as if her soul was trying to break out of a cage the hard way. There were tears in her eyes as she crumpled back down onto the ground as she began sobbing softly.

  “I trusted you… I wanted so badly for you to be the family I never had… And you did this to me…” Ethan stared at Purebred in shock. This was the first time he’d heard a snippet of what the girl went through.

  Of course, that was his own fault; Ethan made it a point not ask about the she-wolf’s pain and suffering. The villain wasn’t supposed to care about some random girl’s sob story. It made sense at the time, but now, Ethan was sickened with himself. He was so focused on his own problems and treating Purebred like a nuisance, all the while she’d been suffering all this time.

  ‘Get it together,’ he told himself. ‘You didn’t ask because you're a villain! You're not supposed to be sympathetic! Don’t let the Nice Guy control you!’

  “Still such a selfish little brat,” Mel responded with a shake of her head. She didn’t raise her voice, but her tone grew a touch colder. The old woman still had the demeanor of a lecturing grandma, but there was a note of danger in her words. “After all we done for you, this is how you repay us? We took you in when no one else would. And I do mean that.”

  Mel leaned over and glared down at Purebred as she continued to cry silently on the ground. The dog-girl tried to put on a brave face as she stared at the old woman, but her tears and terror were evident to anyone watching.

  “No one else would take you in, Zoe,” the old lady continued, her voice becoming hard and sharp. “Because you're not some poor, forsaken child running away from a broken home. You came from money. Big money. Your parents were important people, and they wanted you to be important, too. But you couldn’t handle the pressure and ran away like the weak little girl that you are.”

  “You don’t know them…” Purebred rebutted weakly.

  “Does it matter?” Mel scoffed. “Who would hear your story and not see you as an ungrateful, spoiled brat. Most people could only dream of the wealth and status you were born into, and you threw it all away.” The old woman glanced at Ethan, and she grew a sickeningly sweet smile.

  “Does your friend over there know about this? That the poor little werewolf he’s risking his life to save is just a pathetic rich girl that can’t recognize a good thing when it’s right in front of her?”

  “I wasn’t lying to him!” Purebred wailed.

  “You just didn’t tell him the whole truth,” Mel added with a cruel laugh. “How conniving, Zoe. I didn’t think you had it in you.” Mel continued her laughter while Purebred sobbed harder on the ground.

  Ethan watched with rising anger. How dare that bitter old hag talk to Purebred like that! Who cared if Purebred was rich! That didn’t mean she didn’t have problems! If that wasn’t bad enough, Ethan knew gaslighting when he heard it. Mel would say anything she needed too to get Purebred to do what she wanted, consequences be damned!

  The second Ethan freed himself, he’d run up to that wrinkled old cunt and smash her jaw in! Then he’d take Purebred far away from these beasts and-!

  Wait… No, Ethan can’t do that.

  Ethan can’t save Purebred; he was a villain. Villains didn’t save people; they harmed them. But… Ethan didn’t want to be a villain to hurt everyone; he just wanted to get revenge on the people who hurt him. This was never about being a villain to everyone; it was about making a select group of people suffer.

  But could Ethan afford to bend the rules of villainy just a little bit to help Purebred? His reputation was already stuck in the Heroic role, and that Nice Guy within him wasn’t going away anytime soon. Could he really afford to be the Hero right now?

  Ethan looked at Purebred. He took in how she lay on the ground crying while that hag Mel kept laughing like she was watching a child do something stupid. The werewolves around her were either glaring or growling, ready to tear her apart the moment she even thought about resisting.

  Just one kid against all these bastards that felt like they owned her. She didn’t stand a chance. Not on her own.

  Suddenly, Ethan remembered what Uncle Sunny said about Zoe, how she was like him. “A lost soul with nowhere to go.”

  ‘Fuck it,’ Ethan thought with determination. ‘I’ll make an exception for her.’

  Ethan shrank down using his shapeshifting, but rather than slipping out like last time, Ethan shrank himself to slip the silver rings on his fingers under the red-wolf’s paws.

  The creature shrieked in pain and jumped off Ethan. But the boy wasn’t going to let the monster get away with pinning him. The second he was free, Ethan spun around and struck the werewolf as hard as he could with his silver batons. The weapon hit the creature in the side of its snout, and like their time there was a loud crack as the silver-coated weapons did massive damage.

  Ethan watched in satisfaction as the monster fell to the groan of pain. But he didn’t allow himself to enjoy the sight for long, as he learned his lesson about turning his back on werewolves.

  Ethan whirled around and, sure enough, his escape didn’t go unnoticed. The werewolves surrounding Purebred were all glaring at him now, and the hostility they showed the werepuppy before didn’t hold a candle to the hatred that they threw the wukong’s way.

  “Oh, dear,” Mel said with a disappointed sigh. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Before she could give her boys a command, Ethan acted first.

  “Now!” Ethan commanded his clones. Instantly, the gnats he sent into Mel’s bakery burst out of the shop. All of them were in their human form and charging the werewolves while screaming at the top of their lungs.

  The monsters spun to face this new threat, making yelps of surprise as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by masked men with sticks. Ethan took that moment to rush over to Purebred and drag her away from the beasts.

  “Move!” Ethan yelled as his clones descended on the werewolves. Purebred had been shocked into a stupor over the sudden onslaught of Ethan clones, but the second the real Ethan shouted at her, she was moving. The two Gifted bolted down the street as fast as they could, with Ethan returning to his cheetah form to give him some extra speed.

  It wasn’t long after Purebred escaped that the werewolves finally reacted. The surprise attack bought the duo a few seconds, but the shock quickly faded away. Ethan didn’t look back to see the fight, but he could feel his doubles get destroyed. The second the man-wolves started fighting back, a chunk of his small army disappeared almost instantly.

  “Boss!” one of his clones called out to him. “Don’t stop running! We’re getting slaughtered!”

  “Yeah, I got that!” Ethan replied. He glanced back to make sure Purebred was behind him. The girl was panting to keep up with him, which was good, but the motion let the villain see just how badly his duplicates were fairing.

  Ethan saw a werewolf eviscerate one of his clones with a single swipe of its claws. The double faded into nothing the moment it was defeated, and the wall of bodies that kept the monsters off the fleeing Gifted was getting smaller with worrying speed.

  “Hold them off as best as you can!” Ethan ordered, more to feel like he was doing something other than running for his life.

  “That was the plan!” Ethan could feel his copy’s resolve through their link and the clones redoubled there effort to fight off the beasts. It wasn’t enough though, the villain could still feel the doubles fading away far too quickly.

  Ethan was already running as fast as he could, but it still felt painfully slow. It was a matter of seconds before the werewolves destroyed the last duplicate and started chasing them. Ethan didn’t know how fast a werewolf could run, but something told him he and Purebred wouldn’t keep their head start for long.

  They had to hide, but where? The first place that came to Ethan’s mind was the factory, but it was too far away. Not to mention, if they don’t run fast enough, they could just lead the beasts back to it.

  ‘Shit!’ Ethan thought as he remembered a key detail about werewolves, or more accurately, dogs in general. The villain remembered that canine’s were famous for their sense of smell. Werewolves were their own hunting dogs, so they could easily track them down even if he and Purebred gave them the slip. All running did was buy them time.

  “Homework clone!” Ethan called out. “Look up how to lose a hunting dog that’s got your scent!”

  “On it!” the Homework clone responded. Ethan didn’t have to explain the situation to it, which was good seeing as time was far too precious right now.

  Ethan expected the double to report back almost instantly, but it took a while for Homework Clone to get back to him. By then, loud howls were coming from where the werewolves were. Most of the copies Ethan sent after them were gone, and it wouldn’t be long before their head start ended.

  “I can’t find anything!” Homework clone finally responded. “Everything I’ve found is only about how to confuse the dogs long enough to run away. There’s nothing about how to actually erase your scent!”

  “Dammit!” Ethan swore. “Well, what did you find?”

  “The best I got is to either spread your scent around so the dogs don’t know where to look or to cover your scent with an even stronger one like perfume.” Ethan couldn’t tell if he was imagining the tension in Homework Clone’s voice, but he supposed it didn’t really matter. “But all of that is just a stall! The dogs would eventually pick up your trail again!”

  “Fuck!” Ethan swore. In the distance he could hear the sounds of scrapping claws and padding feet as the werewolves finally started to give chase. And to make matters even worse, the sounds were slowly and steadily getting closer. Ethan needed to find some way to lose the werewolves, but any trail he leaves behind, they’ll just follow. He’d have to find a way to move in ways they can’t follow him.

  ‘Werewolves can run and climb,’ Ethan thought. ‘But they can’t fly. If I flew away, they couldn’t follow me, even if they smelled me. That should throw them off and let me escape, right?”

  Ethan didn’t know how tracking via scent worked, but right now, it was the best plan he could think of. But it had a hitch. Ethan couldn’t take Purebred with him if he flew away. Not if he used his usual method of flight, anyway.

  A sense of dread mingled with Ethan’s fear as the finer details of his idea came into light. If he wanted both of them to escape, the villain would have to carry Purebred within a flying cloud. Something he hasn’t done since what happened with Cotton.

  While Ethan has generally moved on from murdering the cop, the deed still scarred him in a few ways. He hadn’t been as enthusiastic for cloud surfing since that day, and the idea of carrying Purebred the way he carried Cotton bothered the boy in a way he couldn’t explain.

  A howl that was far too close echoed throughout the night, and Ethan quickly shoved all the hang-ups he had about the plan out of his mind. Now was not the time to let trauma weigh him down. He needed to do what he had to do to survive the night.

  “This way!” Ethan barked as he ducked into an alleyway. He didn’t look back to see if Purebred followed him, just hoped the girl had enough sense to keep listening to him.

  The villain turned back into his human form and summoned another batch of clones. The doubles quickly went to work raiding the nearby dumpsters and trash can for their contents and smashing them onto the ground.

  “W-What are they doing?!” Purebred asked as she stuck to Ethan’s side.

  “Buying time!” Ethan responded as he ducked into another alley. This time, he stopped dead in his tracks and slammed Virga into the ground to force the she-wolf to stop as well.

  “What are you doing?!” she screamed in panic. Purebred looked back to where they just came from. There was snarling and the sounds of combat as the werewolves engaged the newly created clones. Like before, the sounds were too close, and Ethan could feel his clones disappearing with alarming speed.

  “Hold still!” Ethan ordered as he held his hands out.

  “Wha-Huh?!”

  “No time to explain, just trust me!” Ethan tuned out the violent noises coming from nearby as he focused on forming a cloud around Purebred. The next few seconds felt like eternity as patches of Purebred’s golden fur suddenly turned white as bits of cloud finally started forming around her.

  “Wh-what the hell?!” the werepuppy exclaimed as she noticed the suddenly expanding mass of fluffy foam around her.

  “Stay still,” Ethan reiterated. Despite her shock, Purebred stayed in place as the cloud formed around her. Once Purebred was completely covered, Ethan hopped onto the cloud and shot into the air. There was a brief yelp of surprise from Purebred, but she didn’t budge or ask questions, deciding to place her faith in whatever Ethan planned.

  The wukong rocketed in the air as fast as he could go. He didn’t stop rising until he passed natural clouds and took it as a sign he was in the sky proper.

  It was then that Ethan took a moment to breathe. Even if the Werewolves could still smell him, they couldn’t fly. Unless they could sprout wings, and with how this night went, the villain wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

  Deciding to test his luck, Ethan made one more bird clone and had it fly down to survey the monsters. Ethan was worried that they’d be able to smell him on the bird, but even if that were the case, the double should be out of their reach.

  And if it wasn’t, then Ethan would get a heads up on anything the werewolves had against flying enemies.

  Ethan focused on the bird’s vision and watched as it neared the alley where the boy set up his impromptu ambush. The alley was covered in trash. The smashed open garbage bags spilled out their contents and covered the backroad with rotting litter and other unmentionable substances.

  Ethan didn’t notice it at the time, but the garbage was much more putrid than he thought. The adrenaline kept him from noticing, but the rancid stench of old filth was powerful enough for even his unaugmented nose to pick it up through his clone.

  The werewolves certainly didn’t appreciate the stink, not if the angry growls and violent headshakes were any indication. Ethan watched as the beasts stumbled about the rancid alley and took reluctant sniffs. Though every time they tried, they’d get a whiff of putrid filth and then let out a loud whine or an irritated snarl.

  Watching a bunch of monsters act like spoiled children forced to pick up trash would’ve been funny if it hadn’t been for the life-or-death chase a few moments ago.

  After a moment of watching, Ethan was finally convinced that they may just have lost them. While the beasts stumbled amongst the trash, none of them looked up at his bird clone that perched on the roof near them. It should have carried his scent, but none of the werewolves noticed it. Was the trash that potent, or did his doubles not have a scent? It would explain how his mini-army caught the pack by surprise.

  “Ethan,” Purebred called out. Her nervous voice was muffled by the cloud, but Ethan could hear her clearly. “C-Can I move now?”

  “I wouldn’t recommend it,” Ethan replied. “I’m not sure how sturdy you are, but I doubt you’d survive a fall from this height.”

  “Uh… Where are we?”

  “The sky.”

  “T-The sky?! Like… up in the air?! Where planes go?!”

  “Yup.”

  “…Well,” was Purebred’s reply. It came out as a shaky laugh that seemed near hysterical but the she-wolf kept herself together. “They certainly can’t get us up here.”

  “Good to know.” Ethan continued watching the wolves through the bird clone’s eyes. Eventually, one of them found the duo’s scent through the mess and the hunt continued. Ethan began drifting away from the area to put more distance between himself and the monsters. The last thing he or Purebred needed was the werewolves finding them just by looking up.

  Ethan watched carefully as the beasts came into the alley that acted as his makeshift launch point. There, the werewolves slowed down as they started looking confused. Then they started looking upwards, trying to see why the smell was going that way.

  Ethan hoped the monsters would give up then and there, but instead, the cryptids brought out their claws and started scaling the buildings. The pack split in half to better spread out and search.

  It was here that Ethan finally noticed there were six werewolves instead of five. Mel must’ve shifted to join the chase, but for the life of him, Ethan couldn’t tell any of the werewolves apart. They all had dark colored fur and the lighting made it hard to tell them apart, even the red-wolf the villain fought before was difficult to pick out without squinting. Purebred was the only one who stood out with her blonde fur.

  Ethan watched with bated breath as the werewolves reached the rooftops. The monsters took a moment to look around, then look back to where the scent was coming from, and then did a few double takes as their confusion only grew. The villain waited for one of the monsters to figure out what happened and glance upward for any sign of them. But nothing like that happened.

  Instead, one of the wolves threw its head back and let out a loud snarl, one of frustration and defeat.

  “We did it,” Ethan sighed in relief. “We lost them.”

  “Thank God,” Purebred huffed. Then came a moment of heavy silence as Purebred tried to think of what to say next.

  “Ethan…” she tried. Whatever the she-wolf was trying to say, she struggled to get it out. “What Mama Wolf said back there… It’s…”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Ethan interrupted her. “I know gaslighting when I hear it.”

  “Yeah… but… she wasn’t lying.”

  “Of course she wasn’t,” the villain huffed. “All good liars know how to twist the truth to suit their needs. You don’t need to worry. I don’t care if you used to be rich. It’s not like I’m going to ask you for a loan. After becoming a villain, stealing anything I wanted has become second nature. Money is kind of useless to me right now.”

  “You’re not going to say I’m overreacting for running away?” Purebred’s voice held a vulnerability that made Ethan uncomfortable. The girl was at the end of her rope, and she was practically begging him to be her lifeline. The Villain and Nice Guy within him were at war over how to react to her, but Ethan had already decided to help Purbered, so he might as well go all the way.

  “Zoe,” Ethan began. “I don’t know what you dealt with in your past, and I don’t need to. I know what it’s like to suffer under bastards who think they own you. If you were full of shit, I’d be able to tell.”

  Even if Purebred was “overreacting” as Mel claimed, she was clearly in a worse position with the pack. Regardless of her past, Zoe was suffering the same way Ebenezer did. That’s all Ethan needed to know to be on her side.

  Purebred didn’t respond, but the air felt a bit lighter after Ethan’s words. With nothing else to do, the wukong flew back to the base. He made sure to take a longer and more complicated route on the way back, just in case.