3

You nose Wilu in the back to get his attention. "Hey, Wilu, I have a question for you," you say, trying to distract him.

"Tell me about your pack. Do you have any close family?"

"What do you plan to do with your life after this is all over?"

"Was there a school at Sonoma's camp? What was your favorite thing you learned there?"

Next

"I hadn't thought about it," he mutters reluctantly. "All I've ever had is training since Sonoma took me in. Without the revolution I'll have nothing."

"So Sonoma never gave you any goals other than fighting?"

"Maybe once we're out of here you can start a new beginning. Do something that makes you happy."

"She only wanted the best for you; we all need to know how to fight considering the way the humans hate us."

Nex

Wilu shakes his head. "If there's a goal after the revolution, she never told any of us about it. But I've made some friends here and that's more than I had before I was rescued."

A thin door opens inward with a sharp metallic ratcheting just ahead of you and a guard steps out, blocking Wilu's passage. The wolves further up in the queue are ushered forward while the new arrival glares at Wilu before speaking.

"You're damn chatty for a prisoner," the guard says with a high-pitched, nasally voice. "You know this isn't a fuckin' resort, right?" He slams the butt of his gun into Wilu's temple and the boy howls in pain. "I fought your kind in the war," the guard says with a sneer. "You mutts killed my best mates. So pardon the shit outta me if I enjoy every last second of this!" He raises the weapon for a second blow and you can feel Wilu tense up, his bristling hair standing on end.

The guard's weapon cracks down on Wilu's head and the werewolf boy frenzies, his eyes gone black, critical thinking forgotten in the heat of the moment. An inner voice that you are all too well acquainted with has gripped his heart with feral rage, and for the last few seconds of his life, Wilu is a terrified, bloodthirsty beast. In a feat of super-human strength, he tears his arms free of the chain harness and rips the obstructing leather muzzle away, bearing a foaming mouth and gleaming white teeth. It's barely a second before he tears into the guard, hot arterial blood arcing in vivid stains across the corridor wall.

A drumming eruption of gunfire echoes from behind the wall as at least four fully-automatic rifles chew Wilu's body into raw, red chunks of meat and fur. You stand back, stunned, jostling the wolves behind you. After the last shot is fired and the muzzle-flares go dark, nobody moves. The hallway and all its occupants stand frozen for almost thirty seconds as the sharp ringing in your ears leaves you petrified on the spot.

"This is how you repay our kindness?" It's Warden Washburn's voice over the loudspeaker again. "We allow you to live out of the graciousness of our hearts and in return you show us what you really are. I said that there is no room in this facility for rabid dogs. I trust that no further demonstrations will be necessary?"

The only response is a wet sliding sound as Wilu's body is pulled out of the corridor along with the dead guard. You can't think of a thing to say. You can barely think at all.

Next

The end of the corridor comes upon you suddenly and splits off into two perpendicular hallways to the right and left. A guard covered head to toe in chitinous riot gear points the wolf ahead of you to the left before waving you forward. The bright flood lights from above shine off the plates covering his head and shoulders as he looks you over, eyes narrowed intently as though searching for something specific. Finally he points you to the right. You can't seem to get the image of Wilu's death out of your head. An increasingly powerful instinct within you wants to strangle the soldier—slit him open and bleed him out—but even if that was what you truly wished to do, you know that any violence will have to wait. You have a feeling that the breakout will provide ample opportunity for revenge if you feel so inclined.

Next

The hall you've been waved into leads to a bleak mechanical door which slides open with a hiss, revealing a bizarre and incongruous sight. The chamber beyond is divided into over a dozen door-less stalls, each of them housing a single human drenched in pale yellow liquid. The air in the room is damp and the strange medical smell you noted earlier is now overwhelming. One of the humans turns, and you recognize her as one of your old classmates from Haven. She acknowledges you uncomfortably while crossing shivering arms over her exposed human body. You start to speak as best you can through the constricting muzzle, but she gives a small shake of her head, not daring to talk until afforded some semblance of privacy.

A soldier snaps a thin collar around your neck before removing your chains and muzzle. She ushers you into the vacated stall.

"Glad you didn't have to learn the hard way," the soldier says. "That collar can deliver one hell of an electric shock if you get out of line. Or if you try to take it off."

The shower stall is cramped and uncomfortable, the liquid spray coating your red fur with a viscous yellow slime. Within seconds you can feel your bones begin to snap and shift within your body and the rumbling hunger in your belly intensifies to maddening proportions. Are they planning on starving you to death? Are there even any wolves left alive down here? Your only thoughts that seem to be able to bubble to the surface are laced with paranoia—more-rational reflection is drowned out by ravenous waves of hunger.

When your transformation is complete you look down at yourself, almost surprised to see human skin again after being locked into your werewolf form for so long. Human again. You glance over at the guard and she averts her eyes. Does she see a human or a beast? She knows, somewhere deep inside, that we're not so different. That's why she can't stand to look at us. She sees herself in our vulnerability and it scares her to death.

In that moment of exposed defenselessness your mind drifts to Bly, and you can't help but wonder if you'll ever see her again. The shift has made your body seem so small, so…useless.

I'm glad that Bly can't see me like this.

I wish that Bly could be here with me. I need her comfort more than ever.

I wonder what attracted her to me in the first place. The vulnerability makes me feel small.

Next

Looking down at your fragile human body, your starved, irrational mind plays callous tricks on you. Compared to the strength and sleekness of your wolf form, this puny shell of a creature hardly seems worth caring for. But then again, you know that Bly does love you. There can be no doubt of that. Not here. Not now. You need to hold onto your convictions or fear and paranoia will drive you mad.

Without thinking, your hands drift to cover yourself as you're waved out of the stall and through a small door in the rear of the room. You think about the guard and wonder how she'd look with that collar around her neck. Domesticated. Controlled. Some wolves in your party believe humans are inferior, good for little more than chattel. You have your own feelings on the matter but you haven't yet shared them in the larger forum. Maybe you never will. You dismiss the disturbing image of the guard from your mind; it's all too easy to allow thoughts of revenge to consume you. You need to focus on surviving and implementing Sonoma and Rivera's plan as soon as possible.

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