Dusk settled over the forest west of Mohawk Valley, heavy and damp. The path leading from the main road quickly narrowed into a thin hiking trail that wound between Douglas firs and moss-covered boulders. Drizzle hung in the air rather than truly falling, clinging to hair and jackets in a fine, persistent layer of chill. The wind had been sharp near the road, but deeper in the woods the trees absorbed its force, creating a hushed, dim space scented with wet bark and earth.
Ithilien walked with steady purpose, her hands tucked into the pockets of her coat. Marco kept pace easily beside her, a flashlight dangling from his hand, still switched off. The farther they moved into the forest, the more distinctly Ilien began to sense the wolves. At first it was only a subtle tension in the air, then clearer signals—scent, energy, alertness.
A faint smile touched her lips, half mocking, half understanding.
Naturally. In case we forgot who we're speaking to.
She could feel how widely they were positioned. Deliberate. Calculated.
When they reached the clearing, four massive silhouettes already stood in a loose semicircle between the trees—Kidd, Levi, Colton, and Christian in their wolf forms. Silver and dark fur glistened under the damp evening light.
Kidd sensed her before he saw her.
Jasmine.
The scent slipped beneath his skin like warmth on a cold night. Adrahil lifted his head, tense not with threat but with something more primal. The surge of excitement was sudden, unexplainable, immediate. Kidd did not move, yet his focus narrowed to a single point. Ithilien stepped into the clearing calmly, without hesitation, as though the presence of four powerful wolves was the most natural thing in the world.
Moments later, the snap of branches sounded from the trail. Zane and Carter emerged from the half-darkness, bringing Thiago with them—and a new boy, Zeke.
Marco switched on the flashlight and set it on a fallen log at the center of the clearing. White light spilled outward, slicing through the gloom and sharpening the outlines of fur, tree trunks, and faces.
Zeke froze.
He stared.
Four enormous wolves. Then two more. Thiago standing among them, already accustomed to the sight.
Instead of shrinking back the way Thiago once had, Zeke straightened, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"Wait—hold on. So what does that mean?" he laughed nervously. "I'm one of you too? Oh my God…"
Carter snorted softly.
"In short? Yeah."
Kidd shifted into his human form without haste, as if deliberately lowering the temperature of the moment. The transformation was smooth and controlled, bones adjusting beneath skin in a quiet, efficient sequence. When he straightened, his voice was calm, steady.
"We brought you here because we need to talk about your upcoming shift."
Zeke blinked, still grinning, though the humor faded slightly from his expression. He didn't yet understand what it meant to stand before an alpha, didn't consciously grasp why his blood seemed to hum a little faster under Kidd's gaze, but instinct nudged him toward respect. There was something about Kidd's presence that dominated the clearing without effort. He radiated composure, yet something in his eyes hinted that the calm might only be the surface of something far more formidable.
Zeke nodded, then glanced at Marco.
"Hey… aren't you the doctor who took my blood?" he asked, pointing at him with faint recognition. "I didn't know we needed a physician for a werewolf transformation."
He laughed, relaxed and almost exhilarated, as though the idea of turning into a wolf was not just natural but thrilling.
Marco did not return the smile.
"Actually, we need to talk about more than just your shift," he said evenly, and the tone alone was enough to pull every eye toward him. "Not all of you have met my sister. This is Ithilien. Her presence tonight is necessary."
Several gazes shifted in her direction.
Colton, still in wolf form, tilted his head, studying her with open curiosity. After a moment he shifted as well, the transformation brisk and unceremonious, and looked her over without subtlety.
"Hey," he said lightly. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like a vampire?"
Christian snorted. The twins, still wolves, let out short, amused huffs that were dangerously close to laughter.
"Jesus, Colt, you don't say that to a she-wolf," Zane groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
Ithilien regarded Colton without offense, her expression cool but faintly entertained.
"Yes," she replied calmly. "I hear that quite often. Has anyone ever told you that you almost smell like a wolf, puppy?"
For a split second, silence fell.
Christian lost it first. He burst into laughter so abruptly he had to brace his hands on his knees. Levi let out a sharp bark of amusement before giving in fully, laughing without mercy.
Zane shook his head with exaggerated disappointment.
"Colt, I told you. You don't open a conversation with a she-wolf by calling her a vampire."
"I thought it was a compliment!" Colton protested, throwing his hands up. "Pale, ethereal, immortal vibes!"
"Puppy," Carter cut in, shaking his head with a laugh. "And in public…"
"Technically speaking, I smell one hundred percent like a wolf," Colton muttered defensively, attempting to salvage what little dignity he had left. "That is biologically accurate."
"Almost like a wolf," Levi corrected with a grin. "Which means you're still missing something."
"Maybe try 'you look like someone who could kill me with a single glance,'" Christian suggested helpfully. "That one always works."
Zeke watched the exchange with growing disbelief and excitement.
"Okay," he said, shaking his head in awe. "This is officially the best secret society I could've ended up in."
Thiago smiled faintly, noticeably more relaxed than he had been on his first night in the clearing. The tension that had hovered at the beginning of the meeting loosened, replaced by something lighter, almost ordinary.
Ithilien observed them without smiling, yet a soft glimmer of amusement flickered in her eyes. She could feel their energy—young, strong, synchronized. The pack was stable. Cohesive.
Kidd watched the exchange in silence.
Adrahil remained alert but calm. Laughter did not weaken the structure; if anything, it reinforced it. A pack that could laugh was a pack secure in its strength.
When Colton tried once more—
"You're funny."
"Deadly," she replied instantly, her tone lazy, dismissive. She did not take a single word he said seriously; he was nearly ten years younger than her, and it showed.
"Colt," Zane warned.
"…and I'm not a puppy," Colton insisted stubbornly.
Christian clapped him on the shoulder. "Sure you're not, Papito."
Another wave of laughter rolled through the clearing.
Kidd lifted a hand, and his voice cut through the humor without rising.
"That's enough."
Look at me, flashed through his mind. Only at me.
But her eyes remained fixed on Thiago, who stood slightly apart, still processing everything. A flicker of irritation tightened Kidd's jaw. Why wasn't she listening…? Listening to what? Your thoughts?
The laughter faded almost instantly. The shift in energy was smooth, as though an invisible switch had been flipped. Instinctively, the pack arranged themselves into a semicircle around Marco, Ithilien, and the two younger wolves.
Kidd looked first at Zeke, then at Thiago.
"Marco insisted we all be here. That means there's a reason."
Only then did Ithilien look at him, as though the gesture itself were a deliberate concession. For reasons he did not fully understand, that pricked at his pride.
What alloy was this strange girl forged from, that she carried herself almost commandingly in the presence of an alpha?
Ridiculous, he thought, studying her coolly.
To his surprise, Ithilien met his gaze without hesitation. The challenge in her eyes sent heat rushing through his veins before he could temper it.
How dare she—
A second later she seemed to realize how it might be interpreted. Her lashes lowered, hiding the blue of her eyes, and she did not lift them again.
The forest grew quiet once more.
Marco waited a moment longer, ensuring that every pair of eyes was on him, then stepped closer to the beam of the flashlight. The cold white light sharpened the angles of his face and deepened the shadows beneath his eyes.
"What I'm about to tell you doesn't concern only Zeke," he began evenly. "Or only Thiago."
The woods around them were still; even the wind seemed to soften.
"Several years ago, a group of scientists in Indiana, working in cooperation with the Council, initiated a project under the codename Fenrir. Officially, it was described as a research program. Genetic analysis of the wolf population. Long-term projections. Safeguarding our future."
Zeke frowned.
"Safeguarding it from what?"
Marco glanced at him briefly.
"Extinction. Weakening bloodlines. Loss of control over the shift in future generations. At least, that's how it was presented."
Kidd remained motionless, but his focus sharpened visibly. The name of the project was not unfamiliar to him. Rumors had circulated years ago, whispers of something ambitious and dangerous, yet the Council had silenced speculation quickly and thoroughly.
"Fenrir was based on a viral carrier," Marco continued. "A biologically modified one. The virus was designed to transport a specific protein sequence that, in theory, would strengthen the shift, accelerate regeneration, stabilize transformation, and increase overall physical resilience."
"An upgrade to the species," Levi muttered.
"That's what they called it," Marco admitted. "Controlled evolution."
Ithilien didn't take her eyes off Zeke, as if she were studying his reaction more than her brother's words.
"The problem," Marco went on, "was that wolf biology isn't a mechanism you can safely 'fine-tune.' The shift isn't just physiology. It's a balance between instinct, consciousness, and the energy of the pack. In the first phase of testing, the results were unstable."
Thiago stiffened slightly.
"Unstable how…?" Carter asked, quieter than usual.
Marco chose his words carefully.
"Increased aggression. Loss of synchronization with the alpha. Temporary disconnection from pack signals. In some cases, the body reacted excessively—as if something inside it was trying to take control of the transformation instead of supporting it."
Kidd felt Adrahil stir beneath his skin.
Disconnection from the pack.
Noise.
Thiago's words from that night resurfaced with unsettling clarity.
"I was only involved in the first phase," Marco added. "I worked on analyzing the preliminary data. When serious complications began to emerge, I left for Oregon. Officially, the project was shut down three years ago. The Council dissolved the experimental division. Documentation was to be secured. Samples destroyed."
"Officially," Kidd repeated quietly.
Marco nodded. "Yes."
Zeke let out a short, nervous laugh.
"Okay, wait. Are you telling me someone tried to turn us into… super wolves?"
"This isn't a movie," Ithilien replied coolly. "It was an attempt to accelerate evolution. And evolution does not tolerate haste."
Marco met Kidd's gaze.
"In Thiago's blood sample, we found an active Fenrir carrier. In Zeke's sample as well."
The silence that followed was different from before. Heavier. Sharper.
"In lower concentration," Marco added. "But unmistakably present."
Thiago went pale.
"So I…?"
"You're not an exception," Marco answered calmly. "And that's precisely the problem."
Levi swore under his breath. Zane dragged a hand over his face.
"How many more?" Kidd asked.
Marco glanced into the dark forest, as though the answer might be hiding between the trees.
"We don't know."
At last, Ithilien shifted her gaze from Zeke and looked toward the alphas.
"If someone restarted the project, this isn't a single experiment," she said steadily. "It has to be part of a larger pattern. Someone had access to young wolves before their first shift. Someone introduced the virus under the guise of routine medical testing."
Zeke fell completely silent. The excitement had drained from his expression, replaced by something far more serious.
"Will it change me?" he asked quietly.
Marco did not soften the truth.
"It already has. The question is to what extent—and when it will manifest."
Kidd stood motionless, yet something about him shifted. The alpha's presence thickened—not aggressive, but concentrated.
"Who knew about the project besides the Council?" he asked.
Marco hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"Enough people for something to survive beneath the surface."
The forest remained still.
Fenrir was supposed to be dead.
And yet it stood among them now—unseen, but undeniably real.