Wolf and The Alpha's Symbol.

The moonrays filled the whole room. It had started.

Kristensen stepped out of her corner to the center of the chamber, the moonlight touching her scorching as though countless knives were slashing at her. Her lips were bitten bloody, and her hands were clenched till her nails dug deep into her palms.

By the time she reached the center, she couldn't hold on any longer. She fell onto all fours and howled. The pain was too extreme she couldn't resist, yet she couldn't pass out.

The moonlight was extracting her wolf form from the depths of her consciousness to the surface, and it wasn't gentle in the process. Kristensen writhed and, at some point, started clawing at her body. She teared into herself, making a bloody mess.

The whole process took too long, a very long excruciating process until first, her limbs transformed. The paws and claws, with grey fur, the color of the moon. Her body contorted, bones shifting and twisting beneath her skin, as the metamorphosis continued its relentless advance.

Kristensen's howls rang through the chamber, a haunting symphony of pain and transformation. She stared at the blurry wolf, becoming apparent in her mind while grey fur spread through her body and a strange sense of loss consumed her - the battle between wolf and human began.

"What does it mean to be a wolf? What is my lifeline?" Kristensen mumbled incoherently in a tattered voice.

She and the wolf circled one another in multiple rounds until the wolf lunged at her, finally becoming one.

Kristensen let out an agonized roar, her eyes turning blood red. Amidst the agony, a momentary clarity pierced through the chaos. She felt an emergence of instincts, primal and ancient. The scent of the moonstones, traces of other wolves' presence - all became palpable in a way she'd never experienced before.

The transformation reached its peak as Kristensen's face changed, elongating into a lupine snout. Her eyes, now a radiant glow of crimson silver, gleamed with newfound intensity.

There - in the middle of the chamber in a bloody pool of her own making, where Kristensen once stood, lay a majestic grey wolf.

She stood on all fours, trembling from the ordeal. Kristensen's wolf form, without any marks of the self-inflicted wounds she'd made previously, emitted undeniable strength. She lifted her paw to her eyes and let out canines smile.

Kristensen fell to the ground then, her eyes filled with satisfaction. She'd made it.

Her senses had heightened, and she picked up the subtlest sounds and scents in the chamber.

She captured a particular floral scent she hadn't noticed before and brought her out of her satisfied state instantly. Kristensen propelled her exhausted body to the barred window.

Her paw slit through the bars and broke the glass window. She was aware enough not to touch the bars. Kristensen broke the whole glass, cutting herself in the process.

Echoes of footsteps coming towards her direction pulled her back, and she receded back to the wall with chains. Through countless tries, Kristensen put the chains on her but didn't look them.

And she closed her eyes - waiting.

Instinctively, she absorbed the moonlight while she lay there. She thought it would be best to recover the little she could. Whoever was coming wasn't bringing any good news.

She waited quietly, every inch of her alert though she laid down listening to the footsteps get closer.

If worse comes to shove, they might as well die together, she thought, her eyes reflecting a hardened will as they lazily rested.

The door creaked open, and the shadow of the silhouette entered before the person did. With her senses, Kristensen knew who it was.

Isaac.

She'd expected it but couldn't deny her disappointment. The camp was really a farm to them, wasn't it? But it was alright. Sometimes livestock fought back, too.

Isaac laughed as he stepped into the room. "Kristensen... you really didn't disappoint me. No, no, no... you've surprised me."

He walked towards Kristensen, the excitement he felt palpable. It made her clench her tightly and remind herself to keep calm, that it wasn't time yet.

"You... you're all mine. I won't give you to them, I won't. Why should I?" Isaac let out broken laughter. "With the alpha's symbol in my hand, why should I follow their order?"

Kristensen's ears perked at the Alpha's symbol. She'd wondered how she'd get her hands on it and to think... Isaac delivered to her. She didn't know whether it was fate or not.

Isaac circled her, sometimes running his hands through her fur and other times lifting her paws.

"This powerful body... I want to see how they'd still order me around when I have such power." Said Isaac in a cold voice. "Ugh, look at me... what am I saying?!"

He then took out two incense sticks and lit them. The smell emitting from them was the same she'd picked from the chamber after turning. Kristensen realized she couldn't sit idle any longer.

She grudgingly opened her eyes, Isaac's back to her. She attempted to stand, but her shaky legs gave out - the chains rattled, and the noise alerted Isaac.

"You're awake, this is good... also good." Said Isaac as he stepped towards her. "I lit the desert-rose, don't worry. It's not as poisonous as wolf's bane."

Kristensen cussed a million times in her head.

Isaac started to place red moonstones on the ground in a full circle, and he placed the alpha's symbol in the center.

"You have no idea what it's like for betas here. We're rubbish... the lowest of the low, even beneath omegas!" His eyes spewed fire as he continued, "Who asked to be born a beta?!"

He got agitated as he went on. His eyes became bloodshot. "I never met to hurt anyone, I didn't. They made me do it... they did. I wasn't like this. Leah... I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."

It was then Kristensen realized she couldn't wait for her death - drugged or not, her head heavy and limbs weak, but it wouldn't do. She couldn't simply wait for her death.

"How long have I been here? I thought... thought it was like they said in the beginning, as long as we made contributions, they'll let us go, but..." Isaac's voice trailed off as his eyes clouded.

It became more apparent to Kristensen that she had to get out there or die trying. Isaac wasn't only a lackey, but he was an ambitious and delusional lackey. Although she thought so, she realized her body was getting weaker the more that floral scent covered the room.

Kristensen told herself to calm down a million times.

"Isaac, what... what are you trying to do?" Her voice coaxed, with a growl to it. Her mind was getting muddled by the second, and that scared her.

It didn't register to Kristensen that she was speaking, though she was in her wolf form.

Isaac ignored her. He kept mumbling to himself as he fiddled with the moonstones on the floor. When he finished placing them, the moonstones buzzed and started connecting to one another.

When the last stone connected, the moonstones shone silver, and the light went to the alpha's symbol in the middle of the circle.

"It's almost time. Soon...soon." Said Isaac with a bright smile on his face. "Should I tell you a story?"

Kristensen couldn't bother to feign interest as she watched the bright circle worrily. She was sure the incense he lit was a drug of some sort or poison. She was getting groggier and her head heavier.

She wanted to hit someone...

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who was born an alpha from his alpha parents. The parents became afraid of the boy after his first transformation and saw that he'd gotten his alpha symbol right away,

"To make sure the boy wouldn't suppress them in the future, they found him a bond mate... a bond-mate that would clash with him until he lost himself,

"The boy realized too late the conspiracy, but his bond-mate had already given birth to a daughter, and the daughter was his salvation. He had to get her power to return his,

"Only he couldn't bear to, after all, that was his own flesh and blood. So, the boy killed everyone and tore his alpha symbol from his glabella, drove his daughter away, and killed himself,

"His alpha's symbol is sand to be the first to make a beta turn into an alpha."

Isaac's eyes heated then as he looked at Kristensen, as though he had already seen himself as a wolf she was. His gaze made Kristensen's blood turn cold.

She had suspected what Isaac wanted to do, but suspicion and knowing turned out to be different things. It was then the danger of the situation she was in hit her, Kristensen clenched her teeth so tight...

She was going to die.

"You have the alpha's symbol... why do you need me?" Asked Kristensen, her voice was cold.

At that point, the moonstones were getting dimmer and dimmer, while the alpha's symbol started to brighten. The little symbols in it seemed to start to come to life.

Kristensen realized when the alpha's symbol shone, that was when Isaac would make his move. She closed her eyes and started to concentrate on absorbing as much moonlight as she could.

Nothing else mattered.

Isaac's face brightened with each passing second. "Of course I need you. You, an alive with innate talent alpha to be my guide. How else can the alpha's symbol accept me?"

He went to Kristensen and stood in front of her, staring at her intently.

"Don't get any ideas. If you play tricks, we'll die together. You don't know this, but if the owner of this alpha's symbol is still alive... it doesn't matter what tricks you can play. You'll actually have to do your out-most best to make sure I succeed." Said Isaac with a charming smile on his face.

Kristensen sneered but didn't respond. The guy was simply a lunatic she thought. After he succeeded, there was no guarantee he would let her go.

They might as well die together.

It didn't take long for the moonstones to turn dim and the alpha's symbol bright, Kristensen felt its power then.

The probing was subtle at first, and she ignored it as maybe an aftereffect of the transformation, but it got persistent, a tuck in her conscience, and she was startled.

Her eyes fixed on the alpha's symbol, trying to find anything, but she couldn't. The feeling was the same as last time, the resonance...

Kristensen watched coldly as Isaac went into the circle he'd made and sat down. She couldn't help but smirk.

He'd gotten one thing right - he did need guidance, and she was going to guide him to his death.

While Isaac's eyes started to glow emerald, and his focus was entirely on the alpha's symbol. He didn't see Kristensen eyes, overflowing with killing intent as they stared unblinking at him.

She would rather they die together than be a sacrifice, better yet - she was going to deliver him right to his death.

Kristensen's crimson silver eyes glowed as she turned her gaze to the alpha's symbol, and its shine started to resemble her eyes.

It was then she saw what the symbol spelled - RYSON.