Page 24

Eighteen years ago...

UNKNOWN LABORATORY IN AMERICA

D r. Angor was blatantly frustrated. It is in every step he took as he paced in front of the young wolf's cage.

The wolf was drugged; in pain, horny and restless. Yet, the rage in its amber eyes cannot be disguised as it growled at them from behind the iron bars.

Hector took a step away from the cage in fear, but Dr. Angor paid the cage no heed, "This goddamn animal refused to procreate! It's been a month, dammit!"

"We have thrown every woman his way, and yet, no results at all." Hector couldn't hide his own frustration. "Our women, he tore to pieces, every last one of them. Yet, number 6 can't get his kind's women pregnant either. "

Dr. Angor stopped pacing and glared at the cage in question. His eyes connected with the raging pale-yellow eyes of the wolf, "You, number 6, are not giving us what we want! And we are running out of time, damn you!"

The wolf straightened, stepped back, and threw itself at the iron bars of the cage, howling thunderously. Furiously.

They stepped away from the large cage in hurried footsteps, putting some distance between them and the furious wolf.

But, as usual, seconds after running away, they remember that there is a huge barricade separating them from the wolf, so they stop running and instead, shoot the wolf a glare.

"All these attempts are futile. Stop trying so hard, you are not getting out of here." Dr. Angor intoned with smug frustration.

"So, what are we going to do?" Hector asked him.

A glint entered the doctor's eyes. An evil glint. He seems to be contemplating something.

"I think I know what to do. Why didn't I think about this all these while?" He wondered aloud.

Before Hector can ask what he has in mind, movements behind the cell caught their attention. Hector gasped in surprise, "It's shifting forms!"

"But how is that possible? I thought you injected him like I instructed you to?" Dr. Angor asked in confusion.

"I did. I really did." He answered distractedly.

Wolfariane's body was a mass of pain. The worst of the worst. He feels like countless needles were pinching his entire body, and he will die if he doesn't relieve the ache in his manhood. It's the drug. That goddamn injection.

"I will... kill you. I will kill t...the both of you." The growl tore from deep within him.

"You will never be able to." Dr. Angor replied with a satisfying smile, "Even if you manage to do that, I have an ace in my favor. I have someone who will continue my research, I've been training him for years now. And he's good. Really good."

"He will continue the experiment to find out all your weaknesses so that we can exploit them.

Nothing will stop us from annihilating all of you animals.

We will erase you all from the surface of this earth, except for the soldiers you will breed for us.

We will train them into weapons from day one.

They will answer to us, and do everything we ask of them. They will be the perfect weapon."

Wolfariane struggled to remain in human form. The drugs they pumped into him are too much, too everything. It is threatening to drive him insane...like the other wolves. "You will never get what you want from us...from me." He vowed, "You will never get a child from me. Ever."

"We will see about that, won't we?" He laughed and it grated on Wolfariane's raw skin. "If you don't impregnate a woman today, you will still impregnate one in the future, am I wrong? That child must belong to us. We will come for him...no matter where you hide him."

"I will not spare...any of you. Once I get out of here, I will kill all of you!" He roared before he lost the battle and shifted back into the snarling, enraged, drug-dosed wolf.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor animal." Dr. Angor's lips curved into a smile, "Inject him with another dosage. We need him absolutely crazy and incapacitated for what I have in mind. "

Hector hesitated. More dosage is never a good thing. "I-I will do that. But, what do you have in mind?"

"Bring in his sister." He announced, "There might be a chance that he can be able to impregnate her because their bodies are related.

..since they are family. Yes, I should have thought of this before, dammit.

" His head was working as he thought aloud, "Instead of pairing his sister with the other changelings, we should have paired them together a long time ago.

They might just be what we needed all these while.

" A child. The young Alpha's seed rooted in a woman, fertilizing.

Hector was absolutely horrified, "What!? But Dr. Angor, she's his sister for chrissake. We can't subject him to fucking his little sister, that will be barbaric!"

Dr. Angor waved him away, "Oh, don't give it too much thought, you say it like they are human beings. They're animals, Hector." He turned, walking away from the cells-hallway, his destination being his lab, "Dose him up, and bring in the girl."

If the wolf was howling before, it was nothing compared to the roars that split from its mouth over and over again, at that command.

The wolf roared, howled, and roared.

It was filled with rage. Anguish. And bone-deep pain...

Wolfariane's eyes snapped open, his breathing so fast even to his own ears.

His surroundings were green darkness. Even the light reflection from the window was green.

He'd shifted again to the mountain lion in his sleep. Shit.

Kill, destroy. Kill. Destroy. Kill. Destroy. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill!!! !

Eyes closed back he fought to restrain himself...to restrain that part of him that was half insane. He shifted back to mortal form and got out of bed. The wall clock showed that it's an hour before dawn. He looked back at the empty bed drenched in his sweat.

He hated these memories, hated the pains that came with them, hated the anger and the rage that never goes away.

Whenever he lays down to sleep, his nights are hunted by these. Even his days are haunted.

Footsteps silent, he walked out of the room he slept in. It is only but one, out of the twenty-four bedrooms in his tower. Ismena hasn't woken up from unconsciousness, so he had left his bedroom for her choosing to sleep in another bedroom.

With each step he took out of the hallway, and down the stairs, he felt the tiredness that came from blood loss, and his unhealed bruises, but he ignored them too. He stopped at the second floor, striding in soundless steps through the corridor, with one destination in mind.

Minutes later, he stood inside Nalaila's dungeon room. Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms and just watched her. She is still sleeping. Here is where he always comes after every bad nightmare.

The steady rise and fall of the wolf's body was like a soothing balm to his troubled heart. At least, she is still alive.

His baby sister is alive. That is all that matters.

It doesn't matter that she hasn't taken mortal form in the past eighteen years of her life.

It doesn't matter that she is feral.

It doesn't matter that he is losing her more as days go by.

What matters is that she is still breathing .

He lost track of time, watching the vulnerable little wolf that whimpers and growls pitifully, even in sleep.

Finally, he allowed himself to walk out of the dungeon room; his heart was too heavy, and his mind was too dark.

His next destination was his bedroom. He was surprised to find the room empty, but the scent of her was still fresh in the room. So, he followed it.

Ismena was lost in the stars.

The cool breeze of the night—or is it early morning?—caressed her body so much, she was almost cold. So, she rubbed her bare arms rhythmically, while staring dazedly at the stars in the sky.

She knows the exact moment she's no longer alone because heat flooded her from behind warming its way to her throbbing heart and her lower belly. Only one man can make her feel like this.

"I hope I didn't wake you. I didn't mean to." She whispered, without turning back.

Silence met her words. But only for a few seconds. Then, "No. I woke up long before you did."

"Thank you for taking care of me...again.

I truly do not mean to be a burden. Sorry for retching on you.

..." She apologized sincerely. "I have been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember, I'm not usually so accident-prone or such a trouble magnet either.

" A smile crossed her lips, her eyes glued to the dark sky, "I guess a lot comes from being badly ill. Not just dying."

Now that she is stargazing, he should be in his bedroom behind his office chair trying to get some work done. But instead, he found himself taking steps closer to her to stand beside her on the balcony. Although, he couldn't produce a word.

Ismena doesn't mind, "You know, pre-dying, I was always very busy with work. I had a jerk for a boss, you see. And I didn't have much of a personal life, because I was too ingrained in work. If I had known that one day, I'll be facing death so soon I would have tried to do more with my life."

He didn't say a word, but his presence was enough for her to let out her thoughts, and feelings.

"I would have gone back home more times than I did.

Amelia… my poor mother, Valentina my little sister, and my father Alfred, I would have tried to see them more.

..spend more time with them, you see." She swallowed tightly, "My poor mother will have a heart attack if she finds out that I'm dying again, after escaping death before when I was eight. "

He crossed his arms, and looked up to the sky to try and see the night through her eyes.

Because of the nightmare, his other halves were agitated, raging, and feeling unrest. But now, the wolf stretched out languidly listening to the sound of her voice.

The mountain lion emitted furious growls. .. bloodthirsty...predatory.

"According to my mother, something bad happened to me when I was eight. I can still remember being in and out of the hospital...the pains of every treatment I had to undergo...it was awful." She shivered with the memory.

"What happened to you?" He asked at last.

"I have no idea." She spared him a glance, "I lost the memory.

At first, I was hoping I will remember what happened to me.

..why I was in the hospital for weeks? But my mother was too relieved that I lost the memory.

So, I gave up on it too. It must be pretty awful if my mother was grateful I don't remember, right? "

"I guess so." Silence, "Sometimes, memory loss is a savior." He looked away, "It will be a good thing if I had something like that." Maybe if he did, he will be able to stop hearing Nalaila's pain-filled screams every single time he laid down on the bed to sleep.

"Why? Are there some awful things you will like to forget about completely?" She asked softly.

He thought about it for a while, "No. They made me who I am today. It will be unfair to my people...to Nalaila...if I ever did." He replied at last.

That name again. He has the saddest of looks whenever he calls that name. Ismena has never heard more lonely words before.

Ismena suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to comfort him. She didn't think when she covered the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his midriff .