The Lycan King's Fate Calling (Shawn Gibson and Sylvia)

Crystal's POV:

After learning that Rufus and I were from the imperial palace, the two clowns struggled with all their might. I was caught off-guard, and almost failed to subdue them.

Fortunately, Rufus acted quickly and knocked them unconscious. He then grabbed a chain lying nearby and locked them inside a closet. He also made a call and dispatched his men to take these two back to the palace for interrogation.

"This is a significant lead," Rufus reassured me. "We should be able to find Arron soon, don't worry." He then took a clown costume from the racks and handed it to me. "Here, put this on. Let's try to catch up with the group that just left."

"Right!" I took the brightly-colored clothes and hurriedly put them on, as well as the mask that came with the set.

From what I could tell, there were very few she-wolves in the gang. To avoid stirring any suspicions, I plucked a makeup kit and a wig from the dresser. I was planning to darken whatever patch of skin I had exposed. Luckily, the room had all kinds of cosmetics and paints, and with some effort, I finally looked like a common laborer who had been slaving away in the sun.

To wrap things up, Rufus donned the hat that one of the clowns had been wearing before putting the other one on my head.

"Let's go."

He made to lead me out of the dressing room, but we stopped short as we heard frantic footsteps from outside, followed by a loud banging at the door.

We exchanged a glance and immediately got into a fighting stance.

"Is everything okay? Why are you taking so long? Can't you even do something so simple, huh? We've been waiting for you all this time!"

It sounded like the she-wolf in the pink mask, whom I had already pegged as the most arrogant of the group. She yelled and pounded on the door.

"Where are they? And why is the damn door even locked?"

We soon heard the jangling of the keys, and one was inserted into the door knob.

I grabbed Rufus' arm in panic. "We can't let her in, or she'll definitely see through our disguises."

As luck would have it, the two clowns we had locked away seemed to have woken up at this point. They had no doubt heard the she-wolf, too, judging by all the racket they were making from inside the closet.

If the she-wolf came inside, a fight

would inevitably ensue, and while we could certainly defeat her, we don't have a third person to take her place. Her absence would surely be noted by her comrades.

Rufus gestured at me to be quiet and gave me a reassuring nod.

I returned it and loosened my grip on him.

I watched as he held his hand over his mouth and lightly coughed, and then he spoke in a voice that sounded uncannily similar to one of the clowns we had captured.

"We'll be right there. You should go downstairs and wait for a little longer."

"Hurry up, you bastards!" The

she-wolf kicked the door impatiently, but no longer tried to open it, thank the Moon Goddess. "The car is sitting behind the four yellow trash cans near the back door."

"Got it," Rufus replied, successfully fooling the she-

wolf.

We waited until everything was quiet again, and then we moved. The two clowns in the closet were still making some noise. Rufus strode

over and flung its door open, and the clowns fell out while holding on to each other.

Rufus made quick work of knocking them out again before stashing them back inside.

He had just finished scribbling a note for his men to let them know where to look when the she-wolf returned.

Rufus' expression tensed, and his eyes flashed at the door. My chest tightened as well. I could almost taste my fear on my tongue.

A couple of knocks came at the door, and then the she-wolf yelled, "Don't forget to bring the red box down! The boss needs it!"

I swiveled around and found the said box in one corner. I shuffled over and opened it to find a pile of protective suits inside. "Yes, of course, we'll bring it with us!" Rufus called out.

At last, the she-wolf left, and everything was silent again.