(Note: I have been waiting at least a taon and a half for this moment. Keeping this secret has been the hardest thing I've ever done and I'm super excited to finally reveal it to you all.)

Chapter 8: Return of a Hero

Evening had come. Viggo was sitting at his desk, back at his main campsite deep in the Northern Region. He didn’t move, simply keeping his elbows on his desk, fingers interlocked, and resting his chin on his hands, a look of contemplation on his face as he stared at the entrance to the tent. Robert stood at Viggo’s side, looking at him, until Viggo spoke.

“Do you know why you failed today?” he asked, rhetorically. “You failed because you lack the ability to comprehend unconventionality and unique problem solving. You treat every opponent the same, believing one tactic will work on them all. But you must realize, this is not true. To defeat an enemy, you must know your enemy. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, their philosophy, their very moral code. This is why you fail, Robert. You lack imagination and creativity. That is why I will be taking over from now on.”

Viggo stood up out of his chair and began walking around his desk, and toward the entrance to his tent, holding his hands behind his back.

“Don’t worry, you’ll still retain control of the Crimson Pack. But now you’ll do as I say. And I will succeed where you have failed. There are things in this world that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, nor to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them. And that is exactly what I will do.”

The araw was growing late in the Western Pack. Kyle and the northern mga lobo had stayed behind to help bury the dead mga lobo and drag the human bodies out of the territory but had left soon after. Stinky and the others then began to get rid of all the things the humans had left behind during their retreat. Various pieces of furniture and weapons. Some of the pagkain they kept, mostly the meat, but got rid of everything else. They dragged everything to a spot just outside the territory where it slowly rotted away over the years.

As late evening approached, the pack was madami or less back to normal. Kate had taken border patrol and Stinky and most of the others were gathered in the valley, talking.

“I don’t think this is the end,” he said, “not sa pamamagitan ng a long shot.”

“I agree,” Lisa replied. “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of those humans. It’s only a matter of time until they come back.”

“Well, in that case, we need to be extra careful,” Runt said, but stopped before he could continue.

He noticed that Stinky was looking toward the forest, his nose twitching, and a confused look on his face.

“Stinky?” he asked. “What is it? What do you smell?”

“I…don’t know,” Stinky replied. “There’s someone coming.”

“Who is it?” Oscar asked.

“That’s the part that troubles me,” Stinky replied. “No, it can’t be,” he sinabi to himself in disbelief.

The others looked at each other worriedly. They noticed a figure slowly approaching through the trees. Stinky stared at it in awe as it got closer.

“Stinky,” Claudette said, “who is it?”

The figure emerged through the trees and everyone stared at it, mouths open and eyes wide in shock.

“Dad.”