54. No Way Out

Then, something else caught his eye. Swapper. The shadowy figure still stood there, unmoving. But something was different. Jayden froze when he noticed something he never expected. Swapper’s face was streaked with silent tears. Confusion flooded through him. Why? Why was Swapper crying? As if hearing his unspoken question, Swapper finally spoke, his voice strangely soft. "We are bound to the ones we choose," he murmured. "Until we shift back into our true forms." His tone had something almost… human. "That means when you cry, I cry. When you laugh, I laugh." And just like that, his form began to dissolve, shifting and twisting. Within seconds, he was no longer the strange, shadowy entity that haunted Jayden’s every move. He had returned to what he once was—a shadow of a wolf, just like before. The shadow wolf moved with a swift motion, heading silently toward the pond. It lowered its head, dipping its muzzle into the dark, reflective surface of the blood. Thick, crimson liquid clung to