The pain exploded through Marcelline's body like wildfire, starting in her chest and radiating outward until every nerve was screaming. Her bones began to crack and reshape with sounds like gunshots echoing through the quiet forest.
"Marcie!" Ethan lunged forward, trying to catch her as she collapsed, but her skin was burning hot to the touch. "Jesus, you're on fire—what's happening?"
She couldn't answer. Her throat was changing, vocal cords stretching and reforming so that only animalistic sounds came out when she tried to speak. Her spine arched impossibly as vertebrae snapped and lengthened, her ribcage expanding with wet, sickening pops.
Marcelline's clothes shredded as her body grew larger, more powerful. White fur erupted across her skin in patches, and when she opened her mouth to scream, fangs had replaced her human teeth. Her hands clawed at the ground as fingers elongated into razor-sharp claws.
The transformation seemed to last forever, every bone breaking and healing, every muscle tearing and rebuilding. When it finally stopped, something massive and white stood where Marcelline had been.
Ethan had scrambled backward against a tree, his face ghost-pale in the moonlight. The creature before him was easily the size of a small horse, covered in pristine white fur that seemed to glow. Its eyes burned gold, and when it breathed, steam rose from its nostrils in the cool night air.
The wolf turned its massive head toward Ethan. Those golden eyes fixed on him with an intelligence that was both familiar and completely alien. Somewhere deep inside the creature, Marcelline was screaming, but she had no control over the body that had once been hers. She was trapped, a passenger in her own transformed flesh as the wolf stepped closer.
"Marcie?" Ethan whispered, his voice barely audible. "Are you... is that you?"
The wolf lowered its head and sniffed him, taking in his scent with flared nostrils. Ethan went perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe as the massive creature studied him. Up close, he could see the power coiled in its muscles, the deadly sharpness of its teeth.
A low growl rumbled from the wolf's throat, not entirely threatening, but not reassuring either. It was the sound of a predator deciding whether something was prey or not.
Ethan looked like he was about to faint, his green eyes wide with terror as he pressed himself against the tree trunk. "Please," he breathed. "Please don't hurt me."
The wolf stared at him for another heartbeat, then suddenly threw back its massive head and released a howl that echoed across the entire valley. The sound was primal and haunting, filled with loneliness and confusion and something that might have been grief.
Before Ethan could react, the creature turned and bolted into the forest, moving with impossible speed between the trees. Within seconds, it had vanished completely, leaving only the echo of its howl hanging in the night air.
Ethan remained frozen against the tree for several minutes, shaking uncontrollably as he tried to process what he'd just witnessed. When he finally found the strength to move, he pulled out his phone with trembling fingers and ran toward town, leaving the bridge and waterfall behind.
Somewhere deep inside the creature, Marcelline was screaming, but she had no control over the body that had once been hers. She was trapped, watching through eyes that weren't hers as the wolf moved closer to Ethan.
"Marcie?" Ethan whispered, his voice barely audible. "Are you... is that you?"
The wolf lowered its head and sniffed him, taking in his scent with flared nostrils. Ethan went perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe as the massive creature studied him. Up close, he could see the power coiled in its muscles, the deadly sharpness of its teeth.
A low growl rumbled from the wolf's throat, not entirely threatening, but not reassuring either. It was the sound of a predator deciding whether something was prey or not.
Ethan looked like he was about to faint, his green eyes wide with terror as he pressed himself against the tree trunk. "Please," he breathed. "Please don't hurt me."
The wolf stared at him for another heartbeat, then suddenly threw back its massive head and released a howl that echoed across the entire valley. The sound was primal and haunting, filled with loneliness and confusion and something that might have been grief.
Before Ethan could react, the creature turned and bolted into the forest, moving with impossible speed between the trees. Within seconds, it had vanished completely, leaving only the echo of its howl hanging in the night air.
Ethan remained frozen against the tree for several minutes, shaking uncontrollably as he tried to process what he'd just witnessed.
When he finally found the strength to move, he pulled out his phone with trembling fingers and ran toward town, leaving the bridge and waterfall behind.
Deep in the forest, the wolf ran through the darkness with Marcelline's consciousness trapped inside, helpless and horrified. The creature moved with speed, leaping over fallen logs and weaving between trees at a speed that would have been impossible for any normal animal.
What is happening? Marcelline screamed internally, her mental voice high with panic. What is happening to me?
But there was no answer, only the sound of paws hitting earth and the rush of wind through white fur as they ran deeper into the wilderness.
The wolf seemed to know exactly where it was going, following paths that Marcelline had never seen before, heading toward the heart of the forest where humans rarely ventured.
The creature's senses were overwhelming. She could smell everything, every plant, every animal, every drop of moisture in the air.
She could hear insects moving in the undergrowth, the flutter of bat wings overhead, the distant sound of cars on the highway miles away. It was too much, too intense, like being flooded with information her human brain wasn't designed to process.
Oh my God, she thought desperately as they crashed through a patch of dense undergrowth. Oh my God, what am I?
The wolf ran for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Finally, it slowed as they reached a wide river that cut through the forest like a silver ribbon in the moonlight.
The creature padded to the water's edge and lowered its massive head to drink. Marcelline could taste the cold, clean water, could feel it soothing the wolf's throat after the long run. The reflection staring back at them from the dark water was alien and terrifying, golden eyes in a face that was part human intelligence, part wild animal.
What... Marcelline's mental voice was barely a whisper now, broken with shock and terror. What...
That's when she heard it. Another voice in her head, separate from her own thoughts but somehow familiar. Young, confused, and just as scared as she was.
I am Nylaxa, the voice said, trembling with uncertainty and fear. And we... we are the last Lycan.