Chapter 2

Franni swivelled back, attempting to find out who dared blast her with the plasma ball, and her stare met that of Asteria, popularly recognized as a Nemesis. She let out a loud gasp of surprise and anxiety.

According to a misconception, she means folktales. Nemesis is a goddess of religious retribution and vengeance who would show her wrath on any human being who committed hubris. She was said to have betrayed her sister, who also happened to be her mother, during the first ancient war and joined forces with the Stone out of the desire for power.

What interests her most is: what is she doing amidst the werewolves. How does she even find her?

Franni knew this was not going to be a straightforward crusade between the two of them, but she was not ready to give up either.

She stood up, dusted her costume, and took a fighting perspective. Then she motioned for her to come back again.

Asteria held a smirk on her lips and sabotaged her with the silver whip in her hand. Franni instantly flinched to the left, and she could feel the heat of the leash on her cheek.

"Did you remember those silver whips soaked in wolf’s bane?" Franni's wolf whispered in her head. "If it accidentally hits you, then I will not be there to help. And do not forget, the former mark has not healed." The idiot wolf mocks her.

Franni dismisses her wolf and uses her vampire momentum to charge toward her Nemesis, landing a blow to her jaw. It caught her unawares, and she spit out blood.

Franni speculated that she did not expect that attack. But Asteria [Nemesis] did not look bothered by the blow, even though it drew blood from her lips. But she smirked and urged her to assault again, which happened to be Franni’s enormous negligence.

Even her wolf attempted to instruct her on the trap, but she was too deaf to be attentive. She barrages Nemesis again with a blow on the lower abdomen, but Asteria counters by grabbing her by the neck.

Asteria mumbled a word that she could not hear clearly because of the pain she was feeling in her neck as she kept on strangling her. Franni was sure that she had never felt so vulnerable as this in her life.

She even tried summoning her wolf out to alleviate the situation, but the Junk would not respond, which made things unbearable for her.

"Why can’t you call upon that vampire strength of yours?" The moron mocks

"Shut up, garbage." She snapped back. "You know, if I die, you go with me." She clarified it for her.

"Then I would be glad to see the moon goddess once again," Junk acknowledged nonchalantly, "and I would be happy to get paired with someone more reasonable than you."

Even though Franni could tell that Junk was punishing her intentionally, she still felt the impulse to help in the fight. "I am sorry, fra; just help me first," she begged. This is the first time she will be using her wolf’s name since she learned how to control her power.

But what choice does she have?

"Okay, close your eyes and count 1–5." Junk elaborated.

Before she could even think of closing her eyes, she felt her body slamming into the big oak tree twice. Before Franni could redress, Asteria gave her two heavy punctures on the belle, and Franni felt her life draining away. It was like being hit by a metal hammer weighing about 50 tons. She could even feel her wolf wince in pain.

"That serves you right," she thought inwardly.

She felt herself wolfing out.

‘Finally, this is the duration for which I would retaliate.’ She thought to herself.

She tried to grab Asteria’s neck and push her, but she ended up coughing out more blood instead.

"The plasma ball I hit you with is a power drain and life stinks. I guess it has begun to work." Franni heard Asteria mumbling under her neck.

She heard her wolf crying out in pain, but she tried to fight it. That is why she loves and cherishes her. She is a fighter and would never give up.

She tried summoning her witch side, but it did not yield to her signal. She coughed out more blood, and her nose started bleeding, the same with her ear.

Franni was sure the only reason she was still alive was because of her wolf’s long-lasting endurance, but only if she had come out earlier; maybe they still had a chance to circumvent it.

She felt her body going limp, and Asteria dropped her to the ground. She towers above her, and Franni can feel the terror that was visible and written on her face.

Junk endurance is the reason she is still breathing.

Franni could see that Asteria was getting ready to finish her off while she was lying down like a log of wood, unable to protect herself.

Feeling helpless and hopeless, she closed her eyes in anticipation of her death.

She could not even believe that her aunt would end up killing her despite her wolf’s brutality and hard training. Indeed, a battle is not won by fighting alone, but by using strategy.

The loud sound of a horse jolted her out of her thoughts, while a look of disappointment was written on Asteria’s face.

Franni sighs in relief when she mysteriously vanishes.

"Hey, big sister," A young boy’s voice called her name. Without being told, she knew it belonged to her brother, Rey. "I can’t believe you are lying down like a fallen tree despite your boost." Rey mocked her sister.

Franni knew she could not blame him, but only if her wolf had come out earlier. She heaves in relaxation and authorises the darkness to take over her; but not without the idiot she called wolf mocking her again, even when they are both on the brink of dying.