As time passed, Greyback began to grow impatient.
Rage was devouring his reason.
He could not understand.
He could not understand why the mongrel before him, whom he regarded as a plaything and a pet, could withstand so much damage.
Why his will remained as unbreakable as steel.
"Roar!"
Greyback let out a roar of utter impatience and abandoned all probing attacks.
He poured all his strength into his next lunge, hurtling like a black cannonball to crush Lupin completely.
An opening.
A cold gleam flashed through Lupin's eyes.
The instant Greyback lunged before him, countless full-moon nights torn apart by pain flashed through Lupin's mind.
The complicated looks in his friends' eyes, mingling fear and pity, flashed before him.
So did the decades of self-loathing and endless struggle, curled up in dark corners.
All the pain, all the humiliation, became the last fuel supporting his tottering body at that moment.
The one he needed to defeat had never been Greyback alone.
It was also his former, weak self, trapped by a curse for his entire life.
He did not dodge.
Instead, he charged into Greyback's embrace against that reeking gust, in an almost self-destructive move.
Greyback was ecstatic.
He instantly slammed this reckless fool to the ground.
Dust flew.
He pinned Lupin's chest firmly beneath his knee and opened his gaping, bone-crushing maw, aiming for Lupin's vulnerable neck.
This was his favorite position for finishing off his prey.
He would slowly, luxuriantly savor that beautiful music as his victim's throat bones shattered.
The werewolves of the Ashen Claw cried out in despair.
Marco almost lost control and rushed out of the mine.
Yet Douglas merely stood there calmly, watching Lupin pinned beneath Greyback without making a move.
As though he were admiring a gladiatorial fight whose ending he already