Lord Of Beasts

After eating, everyone naturally began clearing the table. Ethan noticed Aunt Clarissa reaching for one of the heavier serving dishes, her hands trembling ever so slightly.

He was beside her before she even managed to lift it.

”Nah.”

He gently took it from her.

”You’ve done enough.”

She tried to protest.

”Ethan, you don’t have to-”

”I know.”

He smiled.

”But I want to.”

He guided her back toward her chair.

For a brief moment, he couldn’t help reflecting on how different he was from the teenager who’d once lived here. Back then, helping around the house had never crossed his mind. He’d been too busy causing trouble somewhere.

Getting into fights, stealing, running from the police, and claiming it was all for his family.

Now, simply washing dishes alongside people he cared about felt nice and peaceful. He joked with Lila, who worked as a cop, while drying plates. Maren complained that he stacked everything wrong, while Clarissa laughed from the table.

Adonis sprinted around the house, pretending to be some a Titled superhero, with his mother, Tasha, trying to get him to calm down. Mark eventually wandered into the kitchen to help alongside Elara, who silently dried dishes beside Ethan, occasionally glancing his way before continuing her work.

For a little while, everything felt normal.

But eventually, Ethan stood up and stretched while yawning.

”I think I’m gonna get some sleep.”

Nobody questioned it.

After everything the two of them had endured inside the Gate, it would’ve been stranger if they weren’t exhausted. However, Ethan’s definition of sleep wasn’t exactly the same as everyone else’s.

Before anyone could say much else, Mark grabbed his keys.

”I should head back too.”

Ethan looked at him.

”So soon?”

Mark shrugged.

”It’s late afternoon, and the Black Howl won’t run itself.”

Ethan had lost track of time.

They had entered the Gate late the previous morning, and roughly an entire day had passed inside. Then there had been treatment, the flight back, and collecting their payment before coming here.

The day had somehow disappeared.

”Alright,” Ethan said with a nod.

With that, the three of them headed for the door, leaving behind the warmth of the family home. Their reunion had been exactly what Ethan hadn’t realised he needed, and now it was time to continue getting stronger.

There was still a series of black suits lurking around, which Ethan was hoping would be enough.

Though deep down he knew the truth.

’If that hooded guy or any half-decent Titled wanted to go after my family, there was little those black suits could do.’

It was a troubling thought, but maybe there was a solution for it...

-

The ride back to the Black Howl was fun, for Ethan at least.

Mark drove ahead in his ageing sedan that sounded like it was being held together by sheer determination. Meanwhile, his friend repeatedly overtook him on the black sports motorcycle he now claimed as his own, occasionally even squeezing through gaps in traffic that barely looked wide enough for a bicycle.

The engine roared every time he twisted the throttle.

Elara clung tightly to his waist, having accepted by now that asking him to slow down was a lost cause. Every few minutes, Ethan would deliberately pull alongside Mark’s window, grin like an idiot, rev the engine obnoxiously, then speed off again.

Mark rolled his eyes.

”Grow up...”

A few seconds later, the motorcycle flew past him again.

”See ya!”

Elara quietly hid her smile behind Ethan’s shoulder.

By the time Mark reached the Black Howl, Ethan had his motorcycle parked outside, leaning on it while smoking another cigarette. The large man climbed out of his car, but instead of heading inside, he turned straight towards Ethan.

”You really gotta quit those things.”

He folded his arms.

”And what are those people still doing around my house?”

Ethan didn’t dodge the question.

He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke before answering.

”I told you earlier, there were some unconscious people, and they carried them off.”

Mark looked puzzled.

”But that doesn’t matter. The real problem is that the dude who runs those UFC events...”

Ethan honestly told him everything he knew, as well as what happened with that unusual man who had been hanging amongst the crowd. He spoke casually, though he was just as worried about their family as Mark, if not more so.

”The black suits are keeping an eye on this place and the house now. And if anyone even thinks about messing with our family...”

His blue eyes hardened.

”I’ll kill them.”

Beside him, Elara nodded once as if to say she would too.

Mark was certain neither of them was bluffing.

After all, he had seen two of Ethan’s three human kills firsthand, and rumours about the Blood Demon made her sound like the literal devil. But unlike his reaction to Mace’s decapitation, Mark’s answer surprised them both.

After a long moment, the large man simply nodded.

”You better.”

He didn’t want to return to the kind of life he had left behind him, one of violence, but if someone threatened his family, he honestly couldn’t say what he would or wouldn’t do.

Most people had a line, and family tended to erase it.

The three of them then descended into the basement of the Black Howl as if that conversation hadn’t taken place. And Ethan had one place he wanted to check out first, also curious.

Mark lifted two of the larger floorboards in the corner, and beneath were two briefcases as well as a small bag of cash. Ethan crouched down and pulled everything out, opening them one after another.

There were bundles and bundles of cash, enough money to potentially even retire on.

That was without including Kaela’s card that Ethan kept with him from their bets that supposedly had no limit.

Mark stared at the fortune.

”Jesus... I never thought I’d see this much money in one place.”

He slowly shook his head.

”And it’s just sitting here under my bar.”

Ethan and Elara, on the other hand, didn’t seem particularly impressed by it, both having something no amount of mana could buy: Titles, with which they could always earn a load of money.

Though looking around at where he was living and thinking about the question of his family’s safety, there was a simple solution.

’I could buy a house and probably still have some left over.’

It was an appealing thought, though he didn’t exactly have fond memories of the place he had in mind.

He pushed it aside.

’Later.’

There were more important things to deal with first.

Ethan grabbed several thick bundles of cash before tossing them toward Mark, who caught them instinctively.

”What’s this for?”

”Keep it and give some to Aunt and the others. Tell them it’s from all of us, and if any of them needs anything...”

He shrugged.

”Come down here and take it.”

Mark looked down at the money in his hands, which he hadn’t even considered touching a single dollar of.

He nodded. ”Thanks...”

But he knew perfectly well it wasn’t really from all of them, and the gesture rubbed him the wrong way slightly. It was only natural to feel like he was being overshadowed, not that he was jealous.

’Or maybe I am.’

Mark wasn’t sure how to feel, but before he could come to terms with himself, Ethan turned back toward Elara.

”Obviously, you can take whatever you want too.”

She looked at the mountain of cash, then back at him and simply shook her head.

Elara had no interest in it.

Seeing that, Ethan tilted his head. ”Is there anything you actually want?”

She nodded.

Though the answer he received threw even him off guard...