MATED TO MY BULLIES
Bolts strain.
And then, impossibly, her transformation stabilizes.
The random mutations stop spreading. Her body settles into a new form. Not quite human. Not quite a wolf. Not quite anything I've ever seen. She's a horrifying fusion of species, covered in fur and scales and armor plating, with limbs that look like they belong to different creatures entirely.
But she's conscious. Those reptilian eyes are clear and focused. Fixed on Rick with hatred that burns like acid.
"Incredible," Rick whispers. "She's adapted. Her healing factor restructured her entire genetic code to accommodate the destabilization. She's not dying. She's evolving."