I: It's The Beginning....Of The End

Somewhere In Greece, 1800s

"YOU WORTHLESS PUP! Leave mine sight before I set your siblings loose." Bellowed a deafening growl. Several howls, barks and snarls rang through the night as a giant wolf-like humanoid stood over me. Blood stained fangs only inches from my snout and the stench of rotting flesh engulfed what limited fresh air there was. My stomach churned, my throat retching at the vile smell that I'd been forced to endure.

The beast pulled back, scoffed and grabbed a thick silver chain with a massive silver paw. As he did, echoes of heavy breathing, claws scraping against the concrete and low vicious snarls filled the darkness before me. Although my first instinct was to flee, my body wouldn't comply as it just shrunk down as small as possible which wasn't that hard since I was the runt of my family. A weak whimper barely escaped my lips.

"-la!" Came a faint echo.

I blinked, believing it to be nothing but my imagination. My eyes focused on the nightmare that was unfolding in front of me. The beast's mouth had now curled into a spine-chilling, malicious smile.

"Akela!" Called the echo once more, this time there was a hint of worry and concern that rang with it. Why did this voice sound so familiar?

"So you have chosen to ignore my warning? Well, you shall have to suffer the consequences." The creature turned towards the darkness and pulled on the chain.

"Here my children, I offer you this-" Silence for a split second as the beast looked back at me still sporting that evil smile. "-toy." He finished giving the chain one final tug. My heart was pounding like a thousand cannons simultaneously exploding inside my chest. I knew too well what was coming and while my mind screamed for me to flee, I was betrayed by my legs still frozen to the same spot refusing to move out of terror. My eyes were glued on the sound now approaching me from the dark. Chains rattling, claws grinding against concrete, large tongues smacking against lips, lustful snarls and growls and worst of all, deep crimson red eyes fixated on their prey. Me.

They stalked closer and closer their snarls growing ever louder. One of them stepped into a small spotlight

and what was shown was so terrifying that even the god of the underworld, Pluto, would have nightmares.

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, 2012

"AKELA!" I gasped as my eyes shot open, my breathing raspy and heart rate elevated. It was only a dream; no, a memory of a nightmarish life lived long ago. A reassuring hand rested on my back as another scratched behind my ear. Instantly, my body fell into the hand, muscles that were no long tense relaxed and my heart beat slowed.

"Are you okay Keli?" Asked that same familiar silvery voice. Rotating my head round, I came face to face with a welcomed sight. It was Steve Rogers, my oldest and dearest friend sporting his red, white and blue Captain America suit. His beautiful blue eyes glistened with concern as he gave me the once over. After a few seconds, I swallowed tapping my nose under his palm as a positive sign.

"That's good. You had me worried there old girl." Steve chuckled stroking the side of my head. Once again I leaned into his hand, closed my eyes and wagged my tail contently. It was ridiculous really, when I was around Steve I seemed to feel like a pup again though I wasn't impressed by him calling me 'old girl' and I let him know it by lightly nipping at his arm. The captain just chuckled.

A sardonic laugh erupted from my left. Instantly my eyes snapped round, my ears perked forward and my lips curled. I knew that laugh. Peering across the table, a dark haired man with a goatee and sunglasses stared at me with a smirk etched onto his sun-kissed face. Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry to interrupt such a sweet moment between you two love birds, but could we get back to the business at hand?" He remarked, eyeing me. A low growl rumbled in my chest as I bared needle-like teeth. Of course I'd taken into account Tony's use of the words 'love birds' which had I been in my human form would have caused me to blush endlessly. Eyes narrowing and hackles raised, I continued to snarl until I felt movement beside me. Steve had stood up and I could have sworn I saw the faintest glimmer of a blush on his pale cheeks. Really? Did Steve just blush? Could that be a positive sign for me? I thought hopeful.

After breaking my focus from Stark, I returned to resting my head on the metal floor as Steve, Tony, the science doctor - Bruce Banner - and the Asgardian Thor talked. The hot topic, another Asgardian by the name of Loki. Thor - who must have been at least seven foot tall - had said that Loki was his adopted younger brother. I'd scoffed under my breath at this; clearly adopted was the operative word as the two of them were complete and total opposites. I couldn't return to my deep slumber as the memory I'd had shook me more than I'd initially thought so I simply rested my eyes and listened silently to Steve and the others. Hypnos however, had other plans, casting his sleep dust and caressing me into a deep slumber once more.

A sudden bang woke me with a startle, alarms were blazing and people were rushing around while injured. I felt the metal ground beneath me tilt to one side as I scrambled to my paws. Looking around, I noticed that Steve and the others had all gone. How long they'd been gone, eluded me. The authoritative voice of SHIELD director Nicholas J. Fury shouted orders as he tried to drown out the alarms and settle everyone. The dark-skinned, one-eyed man turned to face me.

"Agent Canis, make sure Loki stays in his cell. " He ordered sternly before turning back to help with stabalising the Helicarrier. Doing as ordered, I bound out of the front deck and up the long corridor. Passing agents both injured or otherwise, I began thinking about Steve. Where was he? Was he okay? And where were the other Avengers? Making a mental note to go search for them once I'd made sure Loki was still secure in his cell, I slid round the corner and stopped. Something felt off; I knew I was outside the right room but it was weird. My brows furrowed and ears twitched.

Glancing round the corridor as if trying to figure out why I have the off feeling, I spotted the bio-metric scanner. Though I did have both a wolf and human form, 99% of the time I was a wolf. It was nothing special size wise since I was most likely the size of a Great Dane which was small considering the size of the rest of my family. I pressed my nose against the scanner to verify my access. Fury would have naturally wanted both wolf and human bio-metrics just in case anything unexpected happened. The screen went from being red to green within ten seconds. DING! A sound of opening locks echoed from the large metal door in front of me and like any typical Fury-inspired idea, it slid open automatically [since I had paws instead of hands]. As soon as the inside of the room was exposed, I subconsciously held my breath not truly knowing what to expect.

After a few seconds hesitation, I stepped into the room finally releasing my trapped breath with a low and quiet gasp.