Chapter 73
REID:
“What is wrong with him?” Diana, who just approached, asks. I know it is her even though I am not looking at her.
I have full focus on Hunter who has already gone down to the ground. His situation has worsened because he now looks red all over. I cannot even place my hands on what triggered him to be this way.
I finally respond to Diana’s inquiry. “He is at the point of going berserk.”
“Berserk? Is this because of me?” she asks.
“Not at all. The Abomination caused this on him. It is a long topic to discuss if I am going to go into the details with you.”
I am glad he has not gone wild yet. I think he is fighting the urge to let the whole thing take control of his senses. Because if not, he should have switched already.
Diana confirms my thoughts. “Whatever it is that he is fighting against, he is doing a pretty good job holding it off.”
I nod. “So I see.”
“What are we going to do now?”
I look back for a second at Venice who just asked that. She looks all panicky as she stands in between the Red Legion warriors that were here with us. Seems she cannot hold in her emotions. Perhaps being a witness of Hunter not being himself once before.
“We just have to wait for Ryu to be back with the chains.” is what I tell her.
All of a sudden, Hunter rises to his feet. And for a moment, I thought he was going to attack me. My instinct takes over because I quickly move two feet backward, colliding with Diana who was standing right behind me.
But as soon as Hunter gets up, he also goes down again. He must be really fighting the urge so bad.
“You need to do something quickly. He cannot hold it any longer.” Diana's cautious tone reaches my hearing. Although my mind is in a disarray at the moment that I find it hard to process what she just said in time.
I am still trying to figure out what to do when I hear the sound of running footsteps from behind which prompts me to look back. And when I do so, I can see Ryu approaching with chains in his hands.
He is not approaching alone because he has with him two warriors. I could tell that they were senior warriors judging from their intensity while keeping up with Ryu’s pace.
“Everyone should move back now!” I instantly instruct the crowd gathered around me and the fighting Hunter and they adhere to my instruction quickly. Gives enough space for Ryu to go through.
I turn to look at Hunter. But I have not gotten a closer look at him when I am suddenly knocked down to the ground. I quickly recover from that to see a boot approaching my face. And my instinct kicks in as I roll away from there to avoid being stomped.
I make it to my feet to see a raging Hunter. He has finally given in to the feeling. I guess I should have expected that before letting my guard down a few seconds ago.
It was at that moment I realize how much I have screwed up. I forgot to take the precautionary item with me to use against Hunter should in case he ever goes through such a stage again. Little wonder I had no idea what to do with him.
I am not going to let that put me in complete disarray as I have to put Hunter down before he goes completely out of control. His growls are what fill the air at the moment as he stares at me with so much hate in his eyes.
I was aware that he was ready to charge at me. So before he could take a step away from there, I have gone at him instead. We both crash into each other midway, with him gaining the upper hand as I go down to the ground. But that was my plan all along. Because I wanted to get something done that way.
I hastily get up to my feet once more and then charge at him again before he could attempt to. This time I do not crash into him because I was now aware of what strength he possesses. What I do in place is avoid him and then swiftly circle around him until I am right at his back.
The moment I was able to get behind him, I aim for his neck which I grab in no time with my hands, chokeholding him that way.
With his elbows, he starts to hammer at my sides, almost making me let him go. But I persist with that until I finally get him down to the ground with my hands still wrapped around his neck.
I look up quickly and yell at Ryu, “Now!”
He and the warriors come rushing in with the chains which they quickly use to tie him down first via the legs. His struggle as they do that increases. Instead of snarling like he has been doing since, he starts to scream in pain. I think the chains were affecting his being already.
When they finally get it done with the legs, they come for the hands. But before they could begin, Hunter had thrown me off him. Which means he could be free to do what he wants now.
But I was not going to let that happen. Because I have recovered quickly like I always do. I watch him shove away one of the warriors. And before he could do the same to the other, I have jumped on his back again as I chokehold him once more.
He refuses to go down to the ground this time around so I set in for another plan.
“Hand over the chain!” I tell the other warrior that was about to be shoved off before. And he hands over the one he has with him.
I feel the chain burn through my palm but I fight through that and quickly use it around the raging Hunter even though it was not convenient to hold him with one hand.
His scream of agony as the chain goes around his body is what torments me for a bit. Almost weighs me down until Ryu gets his own collection of chains around him. That is when we finally get him to submit.
I collapse to the ground in pain soon after Hunter’s body goes limp. I have to catch my breath right now. It was one hell of a ride trying to get Ryu down. Feels harder than the last time he was in this state.
“I think he evolved,” I say out loud to the hearing of whoever wished to listen to me.
“I think so too. He seemed harder to take down this time around.” Ryu agrees with me.
A few seconds later, I sit up and look first to the side to see the unmoving body of Hunter. I was glad that we were able to get that done already.
Then I look at the other side at where those that were watching the whole thing go on were standing. Venice still looks all panicky while Diana’s expression states she cannot understand what just went down not too long ago.
“Got something you want to say?” I ask her because I could obviously feel her gaze lurking around Hunter.
“Is this the only solution you have to put him down each time he is in this state?” she asks.
“No,” I get up from the ground, dusting off whatever particles had gotten to my body from the whole wrestle. “We have something else but I guess none of us were prepared that such would happen today which is why no one has it on him. Or do you have yours with you, Ryu?” I throw the last statement at my head warrior.
He declines by shaking my head which I nod to because I clearly understand. I am also in the same situation so there would be no need to ask him why he didn’t bring it with him.
“And what was your second option?” Diana asks a little while later.
“Bane,” I say, much to her confusion.
“How on earth is that going to work on a berserk being?”
“If the chains could work, then why can’t the bane do the same?” is my response to her.
“You don’t seem to be getting the full picture here, Alpha Reid. Okay, I understand the need to use something that weakens wolflings. But how do you think it would get the job done on a wolf that is not in his right senses? It cannot work. And it could even backfire on you because you are most definitely not immune to the scent. Unless you are a member of the Red Legion which you are not.”
I give her a funny look. What was that about? Was she trying to rub it on my face about how much low I was in comparison to her and her kind? She had better not.
I didn’t want to prolong the issue. So instead, I exit the area, leaving Ryu to see to how Hunter’s body would be transported to his room.