The first sign came with the sunrise.
Kael hadn't slept. He stood on the tower's top floor, shirt half torn, the cold air brushing against his sweat-soaked skin. The city below shimmered in early light — quiet now, almost peaceful. But inside him, something was wrong.
His heart beat too hard.
Too fast.
Too loud.
He could hear it echo in his ears, pounding like war drums. His claws wouldn't retract, and his eyes — he could see the faint glow of gold reflected in the glass wall beside him.
Selene stepped in quietly, her boots making almost no sound. "You're bleeding again," she said softly.
Kael looked down. There were faint cracks of silver light running along his arms, like lightning trapped beneath his skin. "It's nothing."
Selene crossed her arms. "That's not nothing, Kael. That's the serum Lucien injected into you during that fight at Vanguard. It's spreading."
He turned toward her, voice low, rough. "I can handle it."
She frowned. "That's exactly what you said before you almost bled out at the docks."
Kael sighed, the sound heavy. "You don't understand. If I slow down, if I stop fighting, everyone dies. I can't afford to be weak now."
Selene stepped closer, her voice steady but softer. "You're not weak, Kael. But if you keep pushing, that thing inside you will win."
He met her eyes — there was defiance there, but also fear. Not fear of death, but of what he might become.
---
Later that morning, the tower's lower levels buzzed with movement. The remaining members of Silver Fang had regrouped. Eryn and two scouts were patching up injuries, weapons laid out across metal tables.
Kael entered, his presence commanding instant silence.
"Status?"
Eryn looked up. "We've got about a dozen left who can still fight. The rest are either wounded or gone. But…" He hesitated, glancing at Kael's eyes. "You don't look so good, Alpha."
"I've been worse." Kael's tone was flat. "We move at dusk. Lucien's base is under the old metro grid. We hit it before he relocates."
Selene, standing nearby, shot him a warning look. "You're in no shape for another assault."
Kael's response was simple — a growl, low and primal. "He took my pack, Selene. He turned my blood into his weapon. I'm ending this before he can turn me too."
The room went quiet again. Nobody argued after that.
---
By nightfall, Kael was on the move.
Westpoint's ruins stretched before him, silent except for the occasional hiss of steam and the distant hum of generators. The streets were littered with shadows — burned-out cars, skeletal buildings, and the memory of chaos.
Selene followed, keeping her distance. She could feel the change in him. His scent was different — sharper, metallic, threaded with something unnatural.
At one point, Kael stopped, gripping a rusted railing as pain racked through his body. His claws dug into the metal, bending it with ease.
"Kael!" Selene rushed to him, catching his arm. His skin was burning hot.
He turned sharply — eyes blazing gold now, veins pulsing with silver light. "Stay back!"
His voice wasn't entirely his. It carried a double echo — the sound of something else speaking through him.
Selene froze. "Kael… what's happening to you?"
He clutched his head, groaning. "Lucien's poison. He… he's rewriting me."
"Then we find a way to stop it!"
"There is no cure," Kael said bitterly. "He told me that himself before I killed his creation. I'm becoming what he wanted me to be — his weapon."
Selene's hand trembled but she didn't move away. "Then I'll fight it with you."
He looked at her then, really looked. Her face in the dim light — strong, unyielding. The half-blood who had risked everything for a dying pack.
Something inside him softened… briefly.
Then the pain came again.
Kael dropped to one knee, gasping. His heartbeat was thunder. His shadow stretched unnaturally long behind him — shifting, flickering, like it was alive. The air around him distorted, the scent of ozone and smoke filling the space.
Selene stepped back in shock. "Kael—"
His head snapped up, eyes now fully molten gold. "Run," he snarled.
"Kael, no!"
"Run!"
The walls trembled. He roared — a sound that shattered glass, a beast's cry mixed with human agony. His veins blazed like molten steel, his teeth elongating, fur rippling across his arms in jagged streaks.
He wasn't shifting normally. This was forced — chaotic.
The demon within had woken.
---
Selene's heart pounded. She watched him thrash, tearing through metal crates, his voice a mixture of pain and rage.
Then, just as suddenly, he went still. His breathing slowed.
"Kael?" she whispered.
He looked up. His golden eyes were clear for a heartbeat — filled with anguish. "It's me," he rasped. "But I don't know how long I can hold it."
Selene dropped to her knees beside him, cupping his face with trembling hands. "Then hold on. You're stronger than this thing. You've beaten worse."
He gave a small, broken laugh. "Not like this, Selene. This isn't war. This is infection."
"Then let me help you fight it," she said firmly. "Together."
For a moment, they stayed like that — the chaos around them quieting, the city's hum fading beneath their breath.
Then the comm buzzed. Eryn's voice broke through.
"Alpha, we've got movement — Lucien's drones, coming from the metro tunnels. You've got maybe ten minutes before they find you."
Kael exhaled shakily, pushing himself to his feet. His body was trembling, but his eyes were steady again. "Then we finish this before I lose myself."
Selene nodded, pulling her weapon. "Side by side."
He glanced at her with a faint, tired smile. "You always did have a death wish."
She smirked. "You make it contagious."
---
Far below them, deep under the metro grid, Lucien watched the readings on his monitors. The serum's reaction in Kael's bloodline exceeded every projection.
"Fascinating," he murmured. "The wolf fights even when there's nothing left to fight for."
Behind him, his assistant — a pale, silent figure — tilted his head. "Should we proceed with Phase Two?"
Lucien's smile widened. "Yes. But not yet. Let him taste the darkness first. Let him fear what he's becoming."
He turned toward the glass, where a holographic image of Kael's shifting form flickered. "The perfect Alpha isn't born," Lucien whispered. "He's forged."