Rain fell like silver needles across the skyline.
Westpoint's towers gleamed beneath it, all steel and light and secrets. But the city didn't belong to humans anymore — not really. It pulsed with something older, hidden in the veins of the streets.
Kael felt it as he crouched on the edge of a rooftop, the storm lashing against his coat. Beneath him, the building glowed with sterile white light — AetherGen Industries, the largest biotech corporation in the sector.
And the new beating heart of something unholy.
Selene crouched beside him, her hood drawn, scanning the perimeter with a pair of thermal goggles. "Two guards at the south wing. No heat signatures beyond level three. Whatever they're hiding is underground."
Kael's eyes flicked down. "Then that's where we start."
She glanced at him. "You're sure about this?"
"I've been hearing it again," he said quietly. "The pulse. Every night it gets louder — like a heartbeat under the city."
Selene's expression softened. "Kael—"
He shook his head. "If it's him, if the First Wolf's trying to come back… I need to know how."
For a moment, she studied him — the exhaustion, the haunted look behind his eyes. He'd barely slept since the battle in Lunaris. His veins still flickered with silver light, and sometimes, when he thought no one was watching, his hands trembled.
But there was no stopping him. Not now.
Selene sighed. "Alright. In and out. No heroics."
Kael gave a half-smile. "You say that every time."
"And every time, you ignore it."
He grinned faintly. "Tradition."
---
The infiltration began at midnight.
The storm masked their descent — two shadows sliding down cables to a lower balcony. The glass doors hissed open under Selene's touch; her codebreaker glowed faintly, sparks dancing around her wrist.
Inside, the building was silent.
Too silent.
Rows of white corridors stretched into infinity, lights humming above them. Security cameras panned lazily, unaware that they were already being looped. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and iron.
Kael's instincts prickled.
This wasn't just a lab — it felt like a tomb pretending to breathe.
They reached the elevator at the end of the hall. No buttons. Just a scanner.
Selene pressed her palm against the glass panel, her pendant flickering with faint blue light. The machine buzzed, hesitated… then unlocked with a soft chime.
The doors slid open.
A cold draft rushed up from below.
Kael stepped in first, his reflection fractured in the mirrored walls. His heartbeat was loud in his ears — thump… thump… thump…
Except one beat didn't belong to him.
---
The elevator stopped with a hiss.
The doors opened to darkness — a vast underground chamber filled with containment pods. Each one glowed faintly, like stars in an artificial sky. Inside them floated shapes — humanoid, but not quite human.
Selene's breath caught. "Gods…"
Kael moved closer to one of the pods. Inside floated a creature — a man twisted with fur and metal, tubes running into his spine. Its eyes snapped open, glowing the same color as Kael's.
Selene flinched. "They're awake."
Kael touched the glass, his fingers trembling. "They're experimenting on werewolves."
"Not just experimenting," said a voice behind them.
They turned — weapons drawn.
A woman stepped from the shadows, her lab coat glinting under the light. She was calm, almost serene, her eyes sharp behind thin glasses.
"Dr. Halden," Kael muttered. He recognized her — she'd once been a geneticist for the Council before disappearing years ago.
"You should've stayed buried, Kael," she said softly. "You don't understand what's happening here."
"Then explain," Selene snapped.
Halden's expression didn't change. "You call it corruption. I call it evolution. The First Wolf was nature's raw design — unfiltered, uncontrolled. We're learning how to harness it."
Kael's voice was low, dangerous. "You're playing god."
Halden smiled faintly. "I'm improving him."
Kael took a step forward. "You think you can control the First Wolf's power? You're making monsters."
Her eyes glowed faintly silver. "You think you aren't one?"
The air shifted — every pod in the chamber flickered. The creatures inside began to stir. Their eyes lit up, one by one, until the entire room was glowing with spectral light.
Selene raised her weapon. "Kael—"
"I know," he said.
Halden backed away toward a console. "You want the truth, Kael? You're not just his vessel. You're his successor. The code inside you — we've been using it to rebuild him. Piece by piece."
Kael froze. "You what?"
She pressed a key. The entire floor vibrated. The pods began to drain — fluid spilling across the steel.
From the largest containment unit in the center, something stirred.
A heartbeat thundered through the chamber. Then another. Louder.
The pod cracked.
A howl ripped through the air — deep, guttural, primal. The glass exploded outward, and a massive form stepped into the light.
It was part machine, part beast — a fusion of steel and sinew, its veins glowing with the same silver Kael carried.
Halden smiled. "Meet Prototype Zero. The future of your kind."
Kael's eyes burned. "The hell it is."
He shifted mid-step, his claws sparking as they hit the ground. The air rippled from the force. Selene fired at the control panels, sparks flying.
The hybrid roared, slamming its claws into the floor. The shockwave threw Kael across the room. He hit the wall hard, pain burning through his ribs.
"Kael!" Selene shouted, dodging a swing that shattered a steel console.
He staggered up, eyes glowing brighter now — the First Wolf's energy rising inside him. The voice came again, dark and close.
> "Let go, Kael. Stop fighting me. You can't win without me."
Kael clenched his jaw. "Then I'll win in spite of you."
He charged.
The battle shook the chamber. Sparks and moonlight clashed as Kael tore into the hybrid, claws shredding metal and flesh alike. Selene moved beside him, blades flashing, her movements fluid as lightning.
But the creature was relentless. Every wound they gave it closed within seconds. Its body was feeding off the same pulse that flowed in Kael's veins.
"Selene!" he shouted. "Hit the core!"
She saw it — a silver crystal embedded in the creature's chest, pulsing with energy. She dove under its swing, slicing through the cables feeding it power.
The hybrid roared, its body convulsing. Kael seized the chance — driving his claws straight into the core.
There was a flash — white-hot and blinding.
When the light faded, the creature was gone.
Kael knelt in the center of the smoking floor, his chest heaving.
Selene limped toward him, coughing. "You okay?"
He looked up at her, his eyes flickering between gray and gold. "No. But it's done."
Behind them, the consoles sparked one last time — and Halden's voice echoed through the static.
> "You can destroy one body, Kael. But the Pulse lives in you. You are the evolution now."
The speakers died.
Selene's stomach twisted. "What does she mean?"
Kael looked down at his hands — the faint silver glow spreading further, tracing up to his neck. He swallowed hard.
"She's right," he whispered. "It's not just inside me anymore. It's growing."
Selene grabbed his hand. "Then we'll stop it."
Kael looked at her — fear and determination mixing in his eyes. "I don't think you can."
---
The city trembled that night.
Somewhere deep underground, unseen circuits pulsed with new life — silver light snaking through forgotten tunnels, spreading like veins through Westpoint's foundation.
The moon rose high above it all — pale, watching, waiting.
And in the distance, Kael's faint reflection flickered in the glass towers — his eyes glowing with the light of two worlds colliding.