Chapter 298

Chapter 298
Him pov

The news hits me like a punch to the gut. Dominic is gone. Again. The fool. I should’ve locked him up tighter, but I thought the sedation and the injuries he came to heal would hold him down long enough.

Now he’s loose, and if he gets to Constantine or those cursed bears, everything I’ve worked for will burn to the ground.

I can’t let that happen.

I pace back and forth in the center of the camp, the night air thick with smoke from the fires burning in the pits around us. My men watch me, waiting for orders. Most of them don’t know Dominic escaped yet, but the ones who do are nervous. They know what’s at stake.

“Gather them all,” I bark at one of the lieutenants. “Every single man and woman. Now.”

The lieutenant nods and runs off, his boots crunching in the dirt. I can feel the weight of the moment pressing on my shoulders. This is it. If Dominic spills what he knows, the monsters will have the upper hand.

No. That won’t happen.

I step onto the raised platform at the edge of the camp. From here, I can see everything - the tents, the training grounds, the buildings with the cages where the hybrids are held. My creation. My army. They are the key to our victory, the proof that we humans can fight back and win.

The men and women gather quickly, forming a rough circle around the platform. Their faces are hard, their eyes sharp. They’re ready to fight - I’ve made sure of that.

When the last of them arrives, I raise my hand, and the camp falls silent.

“Brothers, sisters,” I begin, my voice steady and loud. “The time has come for us to take back what is ours.”

The hunters cheer, fists raised in the air, but I hold up my hand again to quiet them. “For too long, we have lived in fear. Fear of the monsters who walk among us, pretending to be like us. But they are not like us. They never have been.”

I pause, letting my words sink in.

“They are stronger, faster, more dangerous. And yet, they demand to live alongside us as equals. They want us to believe we can have peace and that we can share this world.”

I slam my fist down on the wooden railing in front of me. “But there can be no peace!”

The crowd roars again, louder this time.

“Do you know what peace with monsters looks like?” I shout over them. “It looks like submission. It looks like humans bowing down to creatures who could rip us apart in an instant. Is that what you want? To kneel before them? To let them take everything we’ve built and call it justice?”

The hunters yell, “No!”

“That’s right!” I shout back. “No. Never. We are the rightful rulers of this world. We built it with our hands, our blood, our sweat. And we will not let monsters take it from us.”

I see their faces now, twisted with anger and determination. Good. They need to feel this, they need to understand what’s at stake and how much we can lose unless we fight back.

“Dominic has betrayed us,” I say, my voice dropping lower, but still carrying across the crowd. “He was one of us, but he let his weakness consume him. He let the monsters get inside his head, and now he’s out there, working against us.”

A ripple of murmurs spreads through the crowd, but I silence it with a glare. “It doesn’t matter. Dominic is just one man. He can’t stop what we’ve started. He can’t stop us from doing what must be done. He gave us the key to our weapon and for that, we are grateful.”

I take a deep breath and step forward, gripping the railing tightly. “The monsters are gathering. They think they can fight us. They think they can win. But they don’t understand what we’ve become.”

I turn and point toward the cages at the edge of the camp. “Bring them out,” I command.

Two men step forward, each holding a large set of keys. They move to the cages, unlocking the heavy doors. The hybrids step out, one by one. Half-human, half-monster. Their eyes glow in the firelight, their muscles rippling with unnatural strength. They are my greatest achievement.

“These creatures,” I say, turning back to the crowd, “are proof that we are not weak. They are proof that we can fight fire with fire. That we can use the monsters’ own power against them.”

The hybrids growl and snarl, their claws scraping against the ground. Some of the hunters shift uncomfortably, but I press on.

“We have the advantage,” I say. “We know their weaknesses. We know how to hunt them, how to kill them. And now, we have the strength to do it. These hybrids will lead the charge. They will show the monsters that they are not invincible.”

The crowd is silent now, hanging on my every word.

“This is our moment,” I say, my voice rising. “This is the beginning of a new era. An era where humans take back their rightful place at the top of the food chain. An era where monsters are nothing but a memory.”

I raise my fist in the air. “Tonight, we march. Tonight, we fight. And tonight, we win!”

The camp erupts in cheers, the sound echoing through the night. The men chant my name, their voices filled with rage and determination.

“Release the hybrids,” I command.

The men holding the keys nod and step back, opening the cages fully. The hybrids step forward, their eyes locked on me. I can feel their power, their hunger, and their hatred. They are ready.

As the hunters and hybrids prepare for the march, I step down from the platform and move toward the edge of the camp. The night is quiet now, but I know it won’t stay that way for long.

Dominic might be out there, trying to stop us, but it doesn’t matter. The war has already begun.
And I intend to win.