chapter 2: the wolf who ruled the land

Someone was following him.

"What time do you get off class again?"

Hiro doesn't answer. He's been checking his back frequently because he was sure someone was following them. He saw a shadow, and he felt an energy. It's not just someone, it's someone supernatural. Of what kind, he still doesn't know. But the day’s not going to end without him finding out, that’s for sure.

"Hey."

The man beside him pokes his cheek, startling him. He laughs awkwardly and faces the road, their intertwined fingers swaying as he walks him to his building.

"Around six, I think. Why?"

He looks up at him and smiles when he does the same.

"I'm going to fetch you, of course."

They stop in front, unclasping their hands. Hiro hides his in the pocket of his jeans shyly, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Okay, I'll see you later,” he says curtly, feeling a little awkward at the thought of them spending another time together.

The other guy leans in and plants a kiss on his forehead. It's warm and nice, he closes his eyes. It's only been a week.

"I'll see you."

He waves before retreating. Hiro waves back and waits for him to be gone before deciding to climb up.

He hasn't made his first step yet when another guy blocks his line of vision, with the same energy the stranger from a while ago—the one following him—was emitting. But he knows who this guy is.

It's Jun Masamoto.

Tall, and handsome, with masculine features and textbook brown eyes that turns gold every time he doesn't get what he wants. He's a werewolf.

"What?" He asks and crosses his arms.

Three days ago, in the shower room, Jun accused him of being a witch, with only the faded half lotus scar on the back of his shoulder as a basis. Hiro didn't know what to do then, he just ran away without even disputing his accusations. He thought Jun would bother him about it in the following days to come but he's suddenly nowhere to be found after that… until now.

"You're a White Lotus witch. Admit it."

There's a line of gold running along his pupils, and his lips are quivering as if he's about to show his fangs any minute now. Hiro trembles, but he fixes his posture and stands straight. Werewolves can very much smell fear, especially if they were this close to each other. Hiro wasn’t exactly afraid; he was taken aback that he suddenly got caught.

"What is it to you?" He snarls, trying to get past him and that's when he bares his fangs. In broad daylight too, what an asshole.

"Come with me."

"Why would I?"

"Something bad is going to happen to that lovely mortal of yours if you don't."

Once or twice, Hiro had thought of this before. That being in a relationship with a mortal would come at a cost, especially since he's aware that the town he lives in is infested with ruthless supernatural beings whose only personality is to kill and hold onto whatever means of survival despite being superior to mortals who can actually die on the spot. It was foolish of him to think the times are different now that the vampires have learned not to drink from flesh. Apparently, it's the aggressive weres he must worry about.

"Okay, fine. I'll come," he surrenders, and watches as Jun's eyes struggle from turning back to brown. He remembers it was a full moon last night. That must've messed him up. "But if something still happens with Jaewan, I'm going to hold a grudge on you, and it won't be pretty."

His warning was only answered with a scoff. What a shame. The next thing he knows, he's inside the werewolf's car. Which smells like a lot of axe spray mixed with toxic masculinity. There has to be a plastic bag somewhere in the compartment to throw up into. Werewolves are such pain in the asses.

Usually, it takes him more threats and persuasion to give in. But his usual state changed five years ago when he was shunned out of his own coven, hindering him from doing magic. That means he can't actually protect himself… and maybe even Jaewan too. Even though he's still not sure if he’s really in love with the guy.

Hiro was born without having the ability to do magic. He was branded as a siphon, someone who draws energy off immortality, in his case—he uses the coven's immortal likeness to that of someone who cannot be killed. Unlike vampires, who were once—and still are—called abominations of nature, witches are called forces. Their powers are given by the Earth, and they die like normal people, decaying and turning into dust to give back everything they've been given. So, it was a pretty big deal for the coven to have a witch with no powers, and they all thought sooner or later, he would manage to siphon off all the remaining energy of the coven and leave them with none. That's why when he turned 18, he was shunned, banned from getting magic altogether, forever.

Hiro doesn’t know if it’s really the reason or not. Or if what they think is true or not. Although he had come to accept his fate as a lone covenless witch without the means to do magic, Hiro still thinks what was done to him isn’t something families do to each other. But there was nothing he could do about it because it’s been years. He calls himself a mortal-adjacent.

Some herbs help neutralize the energy around him, but it could only do so much. Somehow, werewolves aren't the only supernatural being to get messed up by the full moon. And last night, he had probably experienced the worst headache of his life. He needs to do magic again.

The car stops in front of a white overlooking mansion, with a wide lawn and a reflecting pool, shrined with tall Greek columns and golden statues. The gate opens automatically, and the car drives past it, around the fountain and in front of the stairs leading to the main door. Hiro refrains his jaw from dropping. It must be far from the city. The arc from a while ago says they're at the end of Falconshore, by the boundary. He wonders if this is where Jun lives.

"Get out," the werewolf says, closing the door behind him.

Hiro huffs and glares at his retreating back. They're known for being aggressive, but Hiro thinks there's really no need to show aggression for no reason at all. He gets out of the car and crosses his arms, following Jun as the wooden door with a carving of the sun overlapping the moon opens. They were met with a grand marble staircase, and a bunch of mortals in uniforms, not much startled from a visitor and certainly not asking for help either. Hiro concludes that they were compelled. He gives Jun the stink eye when one helper catches the coat he threw before it hits the floor, hanging it on the rack. Hiro does the same by himself, already bothered. A vampire must live in the house.

Jun heads upstairs and Hiro follows him silently. He notices that the wolf has a few bruises on his ankles and wrists, still yet to be healed. It must be from the chains he used to tie himself up. Werewolves are now forbidden to roam the city every full moon. They're not conscious of their surroundings and they're very dangerous especially since they don't really use their brains once in transition.

Hiro used to hear all the stories about them. The coven says witches are the most moral supernatural being on Earth because they are guided and shaped by nature. They abide laws and treasure their limited lives more than anything. Protecting the coven is at the top of their priority.

The next are the werewolves, who are considered as children of the moon. They are birthed through a stone given by the Goddess herself. They come in packs and are loyal. But of course, there are instances where some may go feral because not everyone can handle the feeling of breaking all the bones in their bodies whenever they transition and being chained up. These feral wolves are something to look out for during full moons. Those who choose not to have a pack are called lone wolves. He had never seen one before. He rarely leaves the coven back then because a witch is pretty useless without his magic.

The last creatures, and probably the ones with the least regard for morality, are the vampires. The undead. Vampires have always been the topic of the bedtime stories to scare the children in the coven. Growing up, Hiro had heard all of what they could do, how they did it. And he knows every word of it is true. Vampires are ruthless, they fear no gods nor goddesses. Once the daytime fades and bleeds into nighttime, they terrorize the city with their fangs and bloodlust.

Hiro had seen one himself.

Through eyes like burning gold and veiny skin, sharp claws plunging into the heart of one of the witches who tried to brand him with the fiery stamp of steel halfway through, an unfinished lotus mark burned on the back of his shoulder. Hiro was seven, and the vampire had saved him.

But the memory was a blur now. All he remembers is that it's the first time he witnessed a witch's funeral.

The kind of spells they learn inside the coven were those that can protect them from vampires. His mother told him that once a supernatural being dies, despite all the powers it was given, it is supposed to stay dead. Wolves die of old age; witches surrender their powers to nature. But vampires can live for more than a hundred, maybe even a thousand years, and that ruins the balance. That's why they are the most loathed supernatural creature. They don't turn back in what they were given.

As a kid, it fascinated him how there can be beings who were able to live through generations. One who could live through different passages and timelines. He wondered if they ever got lonely, from seeing a city burned down to ashes to seeing it get rebuilt, from watching a tree die to seeing a sapling grow. A life through the vampire's eyes. It must’ve been just as tough to live long as it is to die young.

The staircase ends at a spacious hallway, the ceiling too high that he had to squint to confirm if it was endless. He realized that it's covered in glass, and he can only see his reflection as a small dot. The subtlest shade of ivory was splashed on the walls, with sculpted headings and a few framed paintings that look like it was bought in auction. When he focuses his eyes in front of him, he sees a figure.

Two figures. A short woman wearing a three-piece suit, her hands are covered with black leather gloves, and she's got a serious look on his face. Soft eyes, button nose, cupid-bow lips. Her hair is the color of fallen leaves during autumns and there's a small, heart-shaped mole on the upper side of her cheek, just below his eye. She looks young.

She's a witch. But he doesn't feel any connection to her. It means she's not from his coven.

She's talking to a guy wearing a simple grey long-sleeved shirt and jeans. With ebony hair in soft curls covering his forehead, longer on the sides, sharp jaws, and plump, plushy lips. He's significantly taller than the witch and unlike the latter, he's got a perpetual smirk on his face.

This one… he doesn't know what he is.

But his energy was overwhelming, that was out of question. It ripples past every nerve in his body, awakening his senses, and giving him just the slightest bit of hope that what's prickling him is something transcendent, not just his imagination doing the trick, not just another relapse.

It almost feels like he can do magic again, just by the aura lingering off him, traveling straight to his fingertips. He shakes his head at the thought. The man wasn’t a witch from his coven, it couldn’t be.

Jun clears his throat, and that's when the attention of the two is caught.

"Jun."

The taller guy walks closer to them, Hiro holds his breath, observing him. There's a line of art in vivid black ink on his chest peeking through his shirt, and his eyes are brown and warm. When their gazes locked, a line of gold circled around his pupils, glowing for a split second and then it was gone.

Yesterday was a full moon… but there's no way this one was a wolf.

"You must be the White Lotus witch," he raises an eyebrow, and tilts his head as if examining him. A ghost of a smile forms in his face, staring straight into his eyes, he continues, "Show me."

Hiro squints in confusion. He turns his head to Jun as if asking what the unknown supernatural manbaby wants. Jun gestures on his shoulder, and Hiro "Ah"s at the realization that he's got a half-scar to prove that he really is a White Lotus witch. What was the deal with White Lotus witches nowadays anyway?

He was hesitant at first until Jun turned him around by force and lowered down the sleeve of his shirt, showing the small half-lotus scar on the back of his shoulder. He scowls at him in annoyance but doesn't resist. It was engraved in there by flames. The elders say it wouldn't hurt because fires are elements of nature, so it was impossible to affect a force like the witches. But Hiro remembered how hot it felt, how the burn throbbed and ached, and he remembered screaming his lungs out, the least he could do, until he was saved.

There was a slight touch he felt when the man sauntered even closer, fingertips skimming on time-healed scar, as if tracing every remaining petal. Hiro catches a glimpse of sunlight reflecting from the massive glass windows to that of the hand on his shoulder. He's wearing a silver ring with a bright blue stone encrusted in the middle. He lifts his head in shock, confusion masking his expression when he recognizes what kind of ring it was. He’s seen it before.

"What are you?" He asks meekly.

"What do you mean? You don't know who I am? What am I?" The man says, voice laced with disbelief. Hiro shakes his head, and truthfully so, because he really has no idea. He's seen someone wear the kind of ring he's wearing but he's sure as hell he's not one of those.

There was a roar of laughter that followed when he shook his head. Hiro flinches.

"Oh wow, you're hurting me, witch." His lower lips protrude, and then his mouth breaks a laugh again. "He doesn't know what I am, Jinny. Very cute," he faces the other witch and says the last words sarcastically.

"Joaquin," Jun calls. Hiro realizes that his name is Joaquin when the guy turns to face them again. "I have to apologize."

"For what?"

"He's not a witch." Joaquin's eyes narrowed; Hiro listened closely. "He's a siphoner, which means he can't do magic."

Oh. So Jun knows. Right then, he wonders what the hell is he still doing there? He seems to be useless as it is. He has so many questions and he still wants answers. For one, what does Joaquin need from him? There was no way he’s standing in front of someone whose existence is ambiguous if it’s just for show.

Joaquin purses his lips, and then he nods, "What's your name, witch?"

"Hiro Kitagawa," he answers.

"Rip my heart out, Hiro."

His voice was cold when he said it with finality, every word was sharp and piercing, and his eyes were challenging him to do it.

Hiro looked around to find that nobody was batting an eye. As if it wasn't a rare occurrence for the psychopath in front of him to just ask anyone to rip his fucking heart out. And he had never killed a man nor a supernatural. Ripping one's heart out equates to death. No being had managed to live from it. At least none that he knows of.

"What?"

"Rip it out, witch."

His face was inches apart from him now. He reaches for his hand, a rough tug asking him to open up. Hiro tries to get away, but it was an exercise in futility. There's another ring of gold glowing around Joaquin's pupils before he leads his hand on top of his chest, on his skin, and then slowly sinks inside of it. Hiro's eyes widen when he feels something beating on his palm, and before he could even scream, Joaquin pulls away. There's a hole in the middle of his body and his eyes turn into pure gold as he falls dead on the ground.

His heart was on Hiro's palm, blood splattered on his face.

"What the fuck?!"

Jinny walks up to him and hands him a towel, carefully taking the heart in her hand and throwing it away.

"It's a full moon last night. He's trying to restart some shit in his brain. Usually, it's Jun who does that but unfortunately today, it's you. I apologize," The witch says calmly, she raises a finger and the helpers scramble to make the surroundings spotless again.

Hiro stares at Joaquin's lifeless body on the marble granite floor. He wipes his face off his blood hysterically. "Is he… is he dead?"

Jinny scoffs, "That's silly," she shakes his head unbelievingly. "Joaquin cannot be killed."