For the Howlers, things were as busy as ever. Although, thanks to Kai and his systems, there was a lot less burden on the other members. In the first place, he didn't quite trust most of the core members with dealing with delicate matters, which was why he was having a hand in everything instead.
This left many of the core members to their own devices. Although they could now travel out of Slough without much problem, and Kai even suggested they take a trip to Notsburg once in a while, most of them rejected the offer.
Since Midwak was still there, there was a sense of uneasiness. Even if he was meant to listen to them due to the special Pack rules, it just felt strange to rely on some magical power.
One of the members in question, Innu, was outside an apartment block. He had a large cardboard box in his hand, and he was sweating going in and out of the room.
"I can't believe we're moving!" Kevin said, as he moved a much smaller box out of the room. "Man, brother is really the best."
Innu smiled as he heard this comment, and puffed out his chest slightly.
"It's true, I never thought this would happen." Suzan said as she was lifting a heavy box and started to grunt, but Innu quickly went over and grabbed onto the box before it fell over. "I mean, you even managed to convince that stubborn Kai to give funding towards the new orphanage."
Suzan had officially adopted Kevin, the only survivor of the Black Rock orphanage in the past. After what had happened, Suzan wasn't sure if she could ever do the same type of work again and Innu wasn't going to force her if she didn't want to.
He would continue to support the two of them as much as possible. Eventually though, Suzan realised it was in her nature to look after young ones. She kept paying out of her own pocket for kids she would see on the street and more, and she had decided to open up the orphanage again.
There was still no official funding for the orphanage, which meant it would have to be privately owned, which also meant that Innu was putting all of his money towards Suzan's dream.
Although before the Howlers were doing well, Innu still wasn't living a lavish life, and many arguments between Innu and Kai were caused because of this, stating that more money needed to be put towards the orphanage.
Now though, with the Scatterbugs' funds, they were able to upgrade the orphanage and on top of that, Innu was able to move Suzan and Kevin to the same apartment block that Gary's sister lived in.
"This is all because the Howlers actually managed to take out the Scatterbugs!" Kevin was excited, and of course after the last incident they were involved in, they had come to learn Innu's position in the gang.
"You must've kicked some serious butt, when you were there!" Kevin excitedly said, as he threw out some punches and kicks in the air, but soon stopped as he looked at Innu, who wasn't smiling and instead felt like he broke out in a sweat.
'Kicked some butt?' Innu thought. 'No, that isn't what happend at all. I was barely helpful at all.'
Flashbacks to the fight were coming into Innu's head. Of how strong Midwak was, how weak he felt, and how Marie had almost been killed multiple times, even though it was his role to protect her.
After helping the others move, Innu had found out that one of the rooms in the apartment block belonged to him. According to Suzan and Kevin, they had always wished for Innu to stay with them, it was just they never had a big enough place for it.
Of course, Innu was overjoyed at this fact, since he had been living on his own for a while. He was so excited that he too had decided to move out that day and move in with the others.
When he was unpacking things into his room, his hands soon fell onto the red axes, and once again, he was left thinking about the fight from before. In fact, it was more accurate to say that it had never left his mind since they had left Notsburg.
'These red axes, they're powerful, but I still can't use them properly, and it makes me wonder, with just these alone, how far can I go? If the Howlers start to get involved with bigger gangs, other tier 2's and 1's, even other werewolves… I don't think I can keep up.'
It was obvious that Innu wanted to get stronger, he didn't want to get left behind and wanted to still help the Howlers. As a core member, he felt like it was only right that he was as strong as the others.
Innu felt like his skills were one of the best. There was always room for improvement, but compared to an Altered, that wasn't the type of strength that he needed. The axes gave him a boost in power and although he could use them, how to use them to their full potential he had no idea.
Which was why he was also thinking of alternative solutions. Having taken over Notsburg, the Howlers' funds were more than capable of buying an Altered solution. Whether that was by making contact with NIRV, or one of the other groups, or even the auction house… they could buy a solution.
The auction house wasn't for a while, and honestly Innu wasn't so sure about becoming an Altered. It meant getting attention from a lot of people, and there was always the chance that his Altered form wouldn't suit him. Innu also liked fighting with weapons and his own hands and fists and felt like he would never use the transformed state, it just felt like a waste.
This led to the other solution he was thinking of, perhaps asking Gary to turn him, just like Kai had been turned. Gary seemed reluctant to do something like that, and for the same reasons as becoming an Altered, Innu was against the idea.
'Think then… is there a way for me to get stronger… to have the power to compete with Altered, by just staying as I am?' Innu thought.
That whole night, after moving in, Innu was stuck in his room trying to rack his head. The other two were concerned as he hadn't even come out for dinner, but they left him on his own, as they were sure it was something important.
'Damn it! Why did everyone have to get so strong and so fast? I have to compete with that damn bull man, how is that even fair!'
——
Eventually, Innu had fallen asleep thinking about it all night and the sun was starting to rise. He looked out the window and could hear the sound of kids talking, and more.
"When did I fall asleep?" Innu said to himself, rubbing his eyes. When he took a second look out of the window, it hit him. There was a way for him to get stronger the way he wished.
Innu was leaned up against a wall, as he tapped his foot away on the ground. Eventually, a bell was heard and a rush of school students started as they left their school.
"Hey… isn't that Innu, what is he doing here, didn't he drop out of the school?"
"Who?" another student asked.
"Ah, he wasn't here for long, he transferred and then dropped out."
Ignoring the words of the others, Innu continued to wait, until he had finally found who he was looking for, he almost leapt from the wall as he stood in front of one of the students.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Blake asked.
"I need to talk to you about something."
While talking, the two of them headed to a nearby park and were now sitting on a bench next to each other, he had heard everything that Innu wanted to say.
"So you want me to train you?" Blake replied.
"Yeah, I mean it makes sense right? You're an Altered Hunter and you guys learn to take out Altereds even though you aren't an Altered yourself. There has to be a way the top guys take out those things without turning into them." Inuu explained.
"There are maybe some things I can show you, but you have to know that I'm basically a beginner Altered Hunter myself. I don't know all the tricks that my dad knows or those above him.
"Although I could teach you what I do now, there is a bit of a problem."
"Problem… what is that?" Innu asked.
"If you really want to get stronger, and want to learn the techniques of an Altered Hunter, then you would have to join us, you have to become an Altered Hunter."
*****
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