Chapter 121 - LUNA'S BAGGAGE

"I did what you asked. Can I go now?" He could not wait to get out of the wretched place. Freedom? More like hell on earth! When he had been taken out of the dungeons, Dr. Hann had been excited at the prospect of gaining his freedom back from the hands of his long-time business partner.

He hadn't thought twice when he was asked if he wanted his freedom back. The yes had come out automatically. One might wonder why he had agreed that easily, but he had figured if someone could manage to sneak into the palace dungeons, they had to at least be strong or have a strong backer. The man had a mask on his head and had hidden his scent, probably using one of his inventions.

A bag was put over his head the moment he stepped out of the intertwined tunnels under the palace. When a needle was stuck in his neck, he quickly figured that the promise of freedom was nothing but a lie. But he could not find the man that had gotten him out. He had only led him to the entrance of the tunnels after telling him the people on the other side were worried about him and wanted to help. At the time, Dr. Hann thought one of his former patients was repaying him for saving his life.

He knew where he was the moment he woke up, the smell of other werewolves and blood immediately filled his senses, but nothing beat the strong burning scent of wolfsbane that seemed to permeate through the walls. Lo and behold, he was stuck in another prison cell, but he wasn't alone this time. "Did you get captured too? Which pack are you from?" Out of the tens of people crammed up in the cell, only one of them spoke to him. His voice was weak and scratchy.

"Where is this place?" It was only then that he realized the people with him were covered in wounds of all shapes and sizes. Some were still bleeding. Very few things could cause such injuries to werewolves. Their state piqued his curiosity, "What happened to them?"

"Them? They just had a match, lucky them." A look of longing flashed across his eyes quickly before it was replaced with nothingness.

"Lucky? Just a little more and his intestine would be hanging out of his body." He was a doctor, no one understood the human anatomy more than him. If you are thinking he moved to help, you would be wrong. These people had nothing to do with him, so he wasn't obliged to help. The Hippocratic oath? What was that?

"Yup, they are lucky. Only winners get to walk back in here." Winners? To Dr. Hann, these did not look like winners. They were at most close to death if anything.

He could not help but ask again, "What did you say this place was again?"

"Do you really not know or are you acting stupid?"

"How do y... you think you are?" The rest of his sentence was not completed. He quickly realized he was in no place to act all high and mighty. He needed to survive and making enemies with these people was the last thing he should do.

Where else would there be this much wolfsbane scent in the air?"

It couldn't be, could it? "H- hu..."

"Yes, hunters. This is the hunters' lair. Forget the small lairs alphas have been going after, this is the real deal. The other hunters report to them." What wolf did not know about the existence of werewolves? But they had gotten him out of the palace cell. Were they working with wolves? For a second, the thought of the king working with hunters crossed his mind. No one knew how corrupt the man was, more than he did. He had worked with him after all.

He didn't get the chance to ask more. He was rudely dragged out of the cell. He didn't miss the looks of pity on his cellmates' faces either. He also heard their whispers, "I can't believe they are throwing the new guy into the arena on his first day." Not to say he was scared earlier, but his fear tripled. The arena, sounds like somewhere people fought, right? What did a doctor like him know about fighting?

But they were wrong, Dr. Hann wasn't sent to the arena as they had expected. Instead, he was brought to a place that looked so much like the werewolf king's throne room. "Look, our very own celebrity. Welcome, Dr. Hann." The man's tone was dripping with sarcasm. "Guys, give him a round of applause for gracing us with his presence." Dr. Hann had to stand there as the room full of people laughed at him.

Dr. Hann was raging mad from the constant humiliation, but there was nothing he could do about it in his state. "What do you want from me?" He sounded as if he was about to cry, making the men laugh at him even louder. They even went as far as cooing to him like a baby, asking him not to cry. For a proud man like him, this was almost worse than being tortured.

When they saw his reaction not getting worse, the laughter gradually fizzled out, much to the relief of their victim. "What? You aren't even going to say thank you for getting you out of prison?" Thank you? Hadn't they gotten him out of one prison cell into another?

He didn't do as they had asked. "Why am I here?" he asked instead. He still could not figure out what the hunters wanted with him. "You are not really planning to let me go, are you?" If they did, they wouldn't have tranquilized him and thrown him in a cell, would they? Changing places of incarceration does not equate to freedom.

"Oh, we will let you go. Just not now, we still need you to do a few things for us."

"Why should I..." The familiar urn that was brought into the room had his voice getting caught at the back of his throat.

"I will keep this as a form of guarantee. When you are done with everything we need you to do, we will definitely give this back to you." How could he say no? The urn contained the ashes of his special someone. Unlike people who scattered them in their favorite place, he found it hard to let go.

Why had he not brought the urn with him when he escaped? Simple, he had forgotten due to his hurry. "I will give you this and your freedom back when everything is over."

"What do you want me to do?" Dr. Hann resigned to his fate

"It's nothing dangerous...:"

Nothing dangerous began with a 'candid' video of him shifting into his wolf, "Act like there is no camera, be natural! More natural! Cut! Let's have another take." He was a doctor for fuvks' sake. How was he supposed to know how to act? He had to shift over and over again until they got a clip they were slightly satisfied with.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To punish your kind, of course."

Even his appearance at Thompson Springs was organized by them. There were hunters among the reporters ready to whisk him back to their lair. "I did what you asked. Can I go now?"

"Can you go? This is just the beginning, my dear doctor."