Chapter 11: Hybrid Hunt

 They found the tracking device where Viktor said it would be, professionally sewn into Nikolai's coat pocket lining, suggesting Dmitri's people planted it without his knowledge.

Elena wished her cousin hadn't led Viktor to Katerina, but Viktor now had a direct line to Blackwood Estate and the woman he'd been harvesting for eighteen years.

Dante decided to evacuate Katerina to a safe location within ten minutes of finding the device, but Dr. Chen argued that her current condition could kill her faster than Viktor's assault.

Marcus received the call about the hybrid attacks in Seattle while they were debating options, and protecting one woman became secondary to stopping three hybrids who were killing humans in a populated area.

"We go now," Dante said, moving toward the armory. You're with me, Elena. Marcus, secure the attack site with five wolves before human media gets too much footage."

Elena grabbed weapons and body armor a pack member threw at her and was in the SUV before she realized she was about to face Viktor's hybrids for the first time since her transformation.

Driving to Seattle at speeds that should have gotten them pulled over took forty minutes, but Dante had law enforcement connections who cleared their route.

Police tape surrounded Pioneer Square and officers looked shaken by their discovery. Marcus had convinced the detective in charge that this was a federal matter requiring specialized containment, which allowed werewolves to solve werewolf problems without human intervention.

Elena could smell blood from half a block away and knew the hybrids were still nearby despite the bodies being covered.

"They're hunting," Elena whispered, following the scent to the waterfront. "They're trying to feed again after smelling more humans.

Dante ordered the team to flank the hybrids with the precision of years of training. Elena stayed by Dante's side and tried to ignore the pack members' looks like they expected her to lose control like the hybrids.

They found the first hybrid crouched over a homeless man bleeding heavily from claw marks on his chest in an alley behind a restaurant.

The hybrid was half human and half wolf, with painfully twisted body and empty eyes. When it saw them, it attacked without hesitation or plan.

Dante faced the hybrid in alpha form, his black wolf twice the size of the altered creature. The brutal, short fight ended with Dante's jaws around the hybrid's throat until it stopped moving.

Elena felt sick watching it die because she could sense the human consciousness still trapped inside the ruined body, aware and terrified but unable to control the forced transformation.

Since the second hybrid was smart enough to hide, they spent twenty minutes tracking it through abandoned buildings before finding it in a warehouse near the waterfront.

Its skin split where the forced transformation was breaking down at a cellular level, making it worse than the first. It saw Elena and kneeled, whimpering human-like despite its wolf appearance.

It said please through a non-human speech muzzle. Stop it. Pain never stops.

Elena approached despite Dante's growl and examined the forced transformation with her silver wolf senses. She could feel Viktor's serum splicing wolf DNA into human cells, creating flawed connections that broke down with each hour.

Elena could tell the hybrid was dying slowly and painfully, and death would be merciful.

Elena said, "I can stabilize you," unsure but determined to try. "I can stop the transformation from killing you but not make you human.

She touched the hybrid's malformed head and used her powers to repair the genetic damage. She felt the hybrid's cells stop their catastrophic breakdown, but it was imprecise and frustrating like untangling a knot in mittens.

The transformation didn't reverse, but it stabilized into a wolf-like form.

Elena pulled her hands away, unconscious but breathing steadily for the first time in weeks, and the hybrid collapsed. Elena was hopeful that Viktor's damage could be reversed after Marcus checked its vitals and confirmed its survival.

Dante said there's one more, changing from wolf to human as he put on his clothes from the first fight. Different from the rest.

Dante was right—the third hybrid on a parking garage roof was watching them with intelligent eyes that tracked their movements strategically. Due to its full wolf form rather than the twisted hybrid shape, Elena suspected it was one of Viktor's earlier experiments when the formula was more stable.

"You're the silver wolf, the hybrid said, its voice clear despite its wolf form. Viktor said you could fix our damage."

"I can stabilize transformation," Elena said carefully. Did it for the downstairs one. I doubt I can make you human again.

"I don't want to be human again," hybrid said. I want freedom. If you don't surrender, Viktor will release thirty-two of us into the city. Like the first one you killed, most are irreparable. Yet some of us are stable enough to know we're doing wrong."

Where's the facility? Marcus ordered, his gun trained on the hybrid, even though Elena thought bullets wouldn't hurt something with accelerated healing.

"I'll take you there," hybrid said.

You must promise to kill Viktor before he activates the release protocol. He has the cages remote-opened, so the hybrids will spread throughout the city and kill everything they can.

Elena glanced at Dante, who was assessing whether this was another trap or an opportunity. "How do we know you're honest?"

Elena saw Dante's recognition as the hybrid said, "I was a Blackwood pack member." Me, David Chen. Before Viktor kidnapped and transformed me six months ago, I was Marcus's brother.

Marcus stepped forward as his gun wavered, his face a mix of hope and horror. "David died in a car accident," he said uncertainly.

David said Viktor staged the accident and took me to his lab. "I've tried to escape for months, but the serum prevents us from breaking his programming. After hearing about the silver wolf, I thought she could break Viktor's control like she does pack bonds.

Elena felt the pressure of everyone's expectations regarding her decision. If this hybrid was Marcus's brother, saving him could show the pack she was valuable, not dangerous. She would fall into Viktor's hands with less than forty hours before his deadline if it was a trap.

Elena said, "Take us to the facility," making her decision without hesitation. "If this is a trap, I'll permanently remove your wolf and leave you defenseless for Viktor to kill.

David nodded and moved, but headlights illuminated the parking garage roof, freezing him. Isabella Cross exited a black SUV with four wolves, her expression cold and calculated.

"I heard there was a hybrid problem in my territory," Isabella said, eyeing David. "How convenient that Dante Blackwood is cleaning up his mate's Viktor connection aftermath.

Elena, how many hybrids must we find before you realize your existence is causing more problems than it's solving?