CHAPTER 5: The Fighting Back Part

The first blast cracked the air, and I didn't think I moved.

My body shifted faster than I thought possible. The crack of my bones, the pull of my skin and the reforming of my muscles. It was all background noise. My vision sharpened. My hearing split the night into pieces. Silver fur bloomed across my skin.

Heat shimmered behind me as something exploded against a tree trunk.

"Down!" Kieran's voice rang through the chaos.

I ducked just in time to avoid a second blast. My new instincts steered me inches from death. In one fluid motion, I leaped forward, landing in a crouch, halfway between human and wolf.

A hybrid.

Something new.

Three masked figures emerged from the brush. They wore black tactical suits that buzzed with faint energy. Their weapons pulsed with sickly green light rifles. But they are not humans. Council-grade tech.

I didn't wait for them to fire again.

I surged forward, claws slashing. The first man barely had time to raise his rifle before I tore through his reinforced vest. Blood spattered the leaves. He dropped with a muffled cry.

I stumbled back, gasping. My heart hammered. God, I just killed someone.

But there was no time to stop.

The second hunter aimed. His rifle began to hum louder.

Move!

Before I could act, a black blur shot past me. In his wolf form, huge, powerful and frightening, Kieran had hurled himself upon the hunter, like a wrecking ball, crashing the man into a rock with a sickening crunch.

Only one left.

He was smarter, stepping back, lifting a spear tipped with a glowing core. It pulsed, targeting me.

My wolf growled deep inside. Not again.

I ducked and rolled just as the spear released a silent wave of energy that withered everything in its path. The trees which it struck turned black, their barks flaking off in pieces, their leaves drying to dust.

I sprang at him.

The hunter twisted fast, but not fast enough.

My claws slashed across his chest. He screamed and retaliated, plunging a short blade into my side. I gasped, heat flooding my torso. The pain was white-hot.

Snarling, I bit deep down into his shoulder.

His scream died before it fully left his throat. We hit the ground together, but only I rose.

I stumbled back, panting, the knife still lodged in my ribs. Blood soaked through my hoodie. I shifted back into human form, trembling, half-naked, and smeared with blood and mud.

The clearing went silent.

No wind. No birds. No footsteps. Just the quiet horror of what I'd done.

Three men lay dead.

Kieran, now human again, crouched beside me. His shirt was torn, his face bruised, but his eyes stayed locked on my wound.

"You're alive," he said simply.

I dropped to my knees. "I killed them."

"They would've killed you."

"I didn't hesitate. I didn't even think. I just wanted to."

Kieran didn't speak at first. He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I didn't stop him. I didn't move at all.

"That wasn't me," I whispered. "That was her."

"It was you," he corrected gently. "But it was also her. You're the same now."

"I don't want to be."

"I know."

My breathing slowed. The smell of blood filled the air: metallic, sharp, real. I looked at the bodies, at my hands. They shook. I felt cold and hot at the same time. My vision blurred.

"The first kill is always the hardest," Kieran said quietly.

"You make it sound like there'll be more."

"There will be. Unless we stop them first."

I stared at him. "How many have you killed?"

"Enough."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I can give you right now."

I touched the knife in my side. It hurt, but not as much as it should have. "Am I healing?"

"Faster than normal. It's part of what you are now."

"What I am," I repeated. "A killer."

"A survivor," he corrected.

"Same thing, isn't it?"

Kieran's eyes softened. "Come here."

I didn't resist as he drew me close, holding me like he'd done this before. As he had expected I would snap at that unless he braced me.

He didn't say comforting things. He didn't promise it was over.

But the manner of his hand against the back of my head, the manner of his breath which stilled my own, which renewed me.

For the first time, I didn't feel completely alone.

"I keep thinking about Liam," I whispered against his chest.

"He's safer without you."

"I know. But it still hurts."

"It's supposed to."

I pulled back to look at him. "Does it ever stop? The guilt?"

"No. But you learn to carry it."

"How?"

"By remembering why you did it. By making sure it wasn't for nothing."

I studied his face. There were lines around his eyes that hadn't been there before, or maybe I just hadn't noticed them. "How long have you been carrying yours?"

"Since I was fifteen."

"Jesus."

"My first kill was another subject. One who'd gone feral. I had to choose between him and a family of four." He paused. "I chose the family."

"That's different. You were protecting people."

"So were you."

"I was protecting myself."

"Sometimes that's enough."

Minutes passed in silence.

Then Kieran stood. "We have to go."

I stared at him, hollow. "Go where?"

"There's a place. A safe one."

"For monsters?"

"For survivors."

I didn't move. "I can't go back to Liam."

"No."

"He'll think I'm dead."

"That's better than him becoming a target."

I looked up, blinking against the tears. "You're saying I can't ever go back."

Kieran's voice was quiet. "I'm saying this is the start of something new. And if we don't move, they'll send more."

I forced myself up. My legs barely held. "Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't," he said. "But you already do. Even if you won't admit it."

That made me pause.

He wasn't wrong.

And that scared me more than anything.

"Fine," I said at last. "But I want answers. Real ones."

"You'll get them."

"And clothes. I need clothes."

Kieran actually smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

As we turned to leave the clearing, I took one last look at the bodies.

I felt guilt, yes. But underneath it, I felt a relief. I was still alive.

I'd done what it took to survive.

I was becoming exactly what they feared, and it wasn't bad at all.

"Will they come after us?" I asked as we walked.

"Eventually. But not tonight. We bought ourselves some time."

"How much time?"

"Enough to get you ready for what's coming."

"And what's coming?"

Kieran's jaw tightened. "War."

In the trees behind us, something blinked. It blinked just once. A pinhead sized red dot.

Miles away, in a lab filled with humming lights and glass walls, a man watched the feed fade out.

He didn't look surprised. He tapped the screen once, then scribbled on a tablet:

Subject Seven, First Kill Confirmed. Proceed to Stage Two.

A slow smile crept across his lips.

"Welcome to the real world, little wolf.”