The first sign came at dawn.
Kael's reflection in the cracked mirror didn't blink when he did.
He gripped the edge of the sink, breathing hard, watching the faint silver flicker crawl under his skin like restless lightning. His pulse beat faster, then slower, then not at all for a moment — the rhythm of something that wasn't human anymore.
Selene stood by the doorway, arms folded, her eyes shadowed with worry. The hideout's lights flickered above them, the hum of generators echoing through the silence.
"You didn't sleep again," she said quietly.
Kael's voice was hoarse. "Couldn't. Every time I close my eyes, I see… them. The ones from the pods."
"You mean the hybrids?"
He shook his head slowly. "No. I mean me. Hundreds of me. Like they copied my code, my blood. The Pulse—it's rewriting everything."
Selene moved closer, her boots soft against the concrete floor. "You need to rest, Kael. You're burning out."
He looked at her, his pupils slitted like a wolf's. "I'm burning up. There's a difference."
She wanted to reach for him, but the glow under his skin scared her more than she'd ever admit. His body was changing — subtly at first, then more violently. The veins along his arms pulsed faintly silver, like circuitry. His senses were sharper, his anger quicker, and sometimes when he spoke, the voice that came out wasn't entirely his own.
The others in the pack had noticed too.
---
By midday, tension filled the safehouse like static.
Riven, the scarred Beta, leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "He's losing it, Selene. You saw what happened last night — he tore through a steel door like paper."
"He was protecting us," she snapped.
"He was barely himself. You call that protection? I call it instability."
Lira, the youngest among them, looked up from her seat by the fire. "He wouldn't hurt us. Not Kael."
Riven growled. "That's what you think. But if that thing inside him takes over, none of us will survive."
Selene glared at him. "You think I don't know what's happening? You think I don't see it every time he looks at me?"
The room fell silent.
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky — a low, steady growl that felt like the world was warning them.
Kael stood at the doorway, silent, listening. His eyes had dimmed again, human for now. But he'd heard every word.
"You're right," he said quietly.
Everyone turned.
Riven stiffened. "Kael—"
He raised a hand. "No. He's right to doubt me." He stepped forward, the faint hum of the Pulse vibrating in his tone. "Whatever's inside me… it's not stopping. It's spreading. I can feel it moving through my blood, rewriting everything that makes me—me."
Selene stood. "We'll find a way to stop it."
Kael smiled faintly — tired, broken. "You keep saying that."
"Because I mean it."
He turned away. "Then you better hurry."
---
That night, the rain came again.
Kael stood on the roof, staring at the city lights. Each drop that hit his skin hissed faintly, steam rising where water met heat. He didn't feel cold anymore. He barely felt anything at all.
Then he heard the whisper.
> "You can't run from me."
His head snapped up. The air shimmered — the reflection of his own face appearing across the mirrored windows of the next building. But the reflection smiled while he didn't.
> "You think you can fight the code, Kael? You are the code."
Kael clenched his fists. "I'm not you."
> "You're exactly me. They built you to contain me. But you failed."
The reflection reached out — its hand pressing against the glass as if the barrier between them was thinning. Kael stepped back, breathing hard.
> "Let me in, Kael. The Pulse will stop hurting once you stop fighting it."
He growled — a sound more beast than man. "I'll die before I let you take me."
> "You might."
The reflection faded, but its voice lingered in his skull like static.
Kael dropped to his knees, clutching his head. The world tilted, a flash of silver light cutting through his vision. Images burst behind his eyes — wolves screaming, metal fusing with flesh, the First Wolf tearing through the night sky.
And in all of it, he saw her — Selene, reaching for him, her voice drowned in the roar of the Pulse.
Then — darkness.
---
When Kael woke, he was lying in the center of the hideout, surrounded by scorch marks. The walls were cracked, the air thick with smoke.
Selene knelt beside him, her hands shaking. "Kael—what happened?"
He tried to speak, but the words came out in two voices — his and another, layered over each other.
"I don't know," he gasped. "I blacked out—then… I saw everything."
Selene touched his face. "You're bleeding—"
He caught her wrist before she could wipe it away. "It's not blood."
The smear glowed faintly silver.
Selene's eyes widened. "Kael—"
He stood, staggering. "I can't stay here. If it happens again, I could—"
She grabbed his arm. "You're not leaving!"
He looked down at her, his expression torn between fury and heartbreak. "If I hurt you… I won't forgive myself."
"Then don't!" she shouted. "Fight it, damn it! You're not alone in this!"
Something flickered behind his eyes — the faint warmth that had always been there.
He reached out, brushing her cheek with trembling fingers. "You always believe in me. Even when I stop believing in myself."
"Then believe in us," she whispered.
For a moment, the storm inside him went quiet.
But only for a moment.
A pulse tore through the building — invisible, deafening. The lights shattered, the air screamed, and Selene was thrown back.
Kael stood at the center of it, eyes blazing silver-white. The markings on his skin formed sigils now — geometric, alive, pulsing. His voice was layered, no longer just his.
> "The Pulse has awakened."
And then — silence.
When the light faded, Kael was gone.
---
Selene woke hours later in the ruins of the safehouse. The others were gone. Only his scent remained — rain, smoke, and sorrow.
She staggered to her feet, staring out into the dying night. The moon hung low, flickering like a heartbeat.
Her voice broke when she whispered, "Kael… please
don't let him take you."
Somewhere, in the distance, a howl answered — deep, echoing, ancient.
Not entirely Kael's.
Not entirely the First Wolf's.
Something new.