The relay tower had gone silent.
Only the sound of the rain filled the air — steady, cold, relentless.
Kael stood beneath it, his skin still marked with streaks of silver light that pulsed faintly beneath the surface. He felt them move, alive somehow, like veins whispering secrets he didn't want to hear.
Selene knelt nearby, pulling open an encrypted case she'd brought from the lab raid. Inside were three glass vials glowing faintly red, and a sealed datapad with Lucien's insignia: Vanguard Genetics.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "You've been carrying that since the labs. Why didn't you tell me?"
She didn't answer right away. Her hands were steady, but her voice wasn't. "Because you weren't ready to hear it."
He growled softly. "Try me."
Selene took a deep breath. "Lucien's serum — the one mutating you — wasn't built from wolf DNA alone. It was designed using something else. Something older."
Kael frowned. "What do you mean 'older'?"
She finally met his eyes. "Me."
The word hung between them like thunder.
Kael froze. "What?"
Selene's voice was barely above a whisper. "He used my blood, Kael. Half of what's in you right now… came from me."
Kael took a step back, disbelief shadowing his face. "You're telling me I'm turning into this because of you?"
She stood, eyes fierce despite the tears threatening to fall. "No. Because of him. Lucien took my DNA years ago — when I was still part of his program. I didn't know what he planned until it was too late. The hybrids, the serum, everything — he used me as the source."
Kael turned away, jaw tightening. "You could've told me."
"I wanted to," she said softly. "But I knew how you'd react."
He spun back toward her, voice rough. "You think this is about me being angry? I've got your blood crawling under my skin, Selene! I can feel it trying to eat me alive!"
Her voice cracked. "And you think I don't carry the same curse? You think it doesn't burn me every time the moon rises?"
For a moment, the silence between them felt like an open wound.
Then Kael's shoulders dropped. He looked away, his breath uneven. "You said there's no cure."
"There isn't," she replied quietly. "But there's a stabilizer — a failsafe Lucien built into the serum. It was meant to control his subjects."
Kael's head turned sharply. "And you know where it is."
Selene hesitated. "The Metro Core. Deep underground, where he keeps the primary conduit for his experiments. But it's not just a lab. It's where he stores his prototypes — the failed ones."
Kael's eyes darkened. "Then that's where we go."
---
Hours later, they moved through the underbelly of the city — the metro tunnels now a maze of collapsed stone and flooded rails. Eryn led the way, flashlight cutting through the damp mist, while Selene followed beside Kael, who moved with quiet determination.
The further they went, the stronger the hum in the air became — low, rhythmic, almost mechanical.
"Feels like the whole place is breathing," Eryn muttered.
"It's alive," Selene replied. "The conduits run directly through the bio-cores. They feed off heat, energy… sometimes blood."
Eryn grimaced. "Remind me why we're walking toward that?"
Kael said nothing. His mind was on the faint whisper he'd begun to hear hours ago — a voice that wasn't entirely his own.
You were born to lead them, Kael…
Born to transcend the wolf…
He shook his head, trying to silence it, but it came back stronger every time he blinked.
---
They reached a wide chamber — the remains of a metro control hub, now transformed into something unnatural. Vines of metal crept up the walls, pulsing with dull red light. At the center stood a massive glass tank filled with thick crimson liquid. Inside, something floated — a humanoid figure, fused with steel and fur, its face eerily familiar.
Selene froze. "Oh my God."
Eryn's flashlight trembled slightly. "What the hell is that?"
Kael stepped closer, eyes narrowing as realization hit him. "It's me."
The body inside the tank was almost identical — same build, same scars. Only its eyes were empty, lifeless white.
Lucien's voice echoed from hidden speakers, calm and taunting. "Not quite you, Kael. That one didn't survive the transformation. But you… you were my masterpiece."
Kael's claws flexed involuntarily. "Show yourself."
"Oh, I will," Lucien said, amusement in his tone. "But first, I think you deserve to know the truth about your precious Selene."
Kael's eyes flicked toward her. "Don't."
Selene's hands curled into fists. "Lucien, stop."
But he continued, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "Selene wasn't just a test subject, Kael. She was the prototype. The first hybrid — the one who worked. Her bloodline is the blueprint for everything I built. Including you."
Kael turned slowly, staring at her. "Tell me he's lying."
Her silence was answer enough.
Kael's expression hardened, pain flashing through his eyes before he masked it with anger. "You knew what you were from the beginning."
Selene's voice broke. "I didn't choose this, Kael. He made me. I escaped. I've spent every day since trying to stop him."
Eryn stepped between them quickly. "Hey—both of you, not now. We're standing in his nest. This is exactly what he wants."
Lucien's laugh echoed like static through the chamber. "He's right, of course. But emotion makes the best weapons, doesn't it?"
The sound of hissing vents filled the air. Metal claws unfolded from the ceiling as the chamber began to shake.
"Welcome to the Core," Lucien said. "Let's see how well the Alpha handles the truth."
---
Kael's eyes flashed gold. "Selene — get behind me."
But Selene shook her head, her eyes glowing faintly crimson now. "No. I'm done running from what I am."
Together, they faced the oncoming swarm of Lucien's cybernetic horrors. The air filled with the sound of steel scraping against stone, red eyes gleaming from the shadows.
Kael let out a low growl, his voice merging with the beast inside. "Let's end this."
The battle erupted.
---
By the time it was over, the chamber was a graveyard of broken machines. Smoke rose from the shattered conduits, and the red glow faded to black. Kael dropped to one knee, breathing hard, his claws soaked in blood and oil.
Selene knelt beside him, her face pale but determined. "The Core's still intact. If we can access the main node, we can find the stabilizer."
Kael nodded weakly. "Do it. Before he triggers another wave."
As she moved to the control panel, Lucien's voice whispered one last time through the static:
"You think I'm finished? You're both pieces of the same creation. You can't kill what you were born from."
The lights flickered, then died.
In the darkness, Kael reached for Selene's hand. Her fingers were cold, trembling — but she squeezed his back.
"We're not his creations anymore," she said.
Kael's voice was low, fierce. "No. We're his reckoning."