Chapter 30 – The Awakening of Beasts**
The air was thick with tension.
Raine could **feel it.**
Something was **wrong.**
The underground facility had been quiet—**too quiet.** Dr. Elias Rowan had completed another round of tests, his usual smirk absent as he analyzed the data. Xavier, Ivy, and Reed had stood by, tense, their wolves **on edge.**
And then—**the alarms blared.**
A deep, guttural sound echoed through the corridors, followed by the unmistakable scent of **blood.**
Raine's instincts screamed.
"We need to move," Xavier snapped, already pulling her toward the exit.
Ivy's green eyes darted toward the security screens, her lips parting. "They're inside."
Reed cursed under his breath. "How the hell did they find us?"
Raine's heart **pounded.** "Who?"
The cameras flickered, showing **shadows moving through the halls.** But they weren’t just wolves—**they were something else.**
**Something darker.**
Xavier's face hardened. "Hunters."
Raine sucked in a sharp breath. **Not human hunters.** These were wolves, but their scent was... **wrong.** Twisted.
**Corrupted.**
Dr. Rowan’s voice cut through the chaos. "They've been modified."
Everyone turned to him.
The doctor adjusted his glasses, his face grim. "Enhanced wolves. Forced transformations. They don’t feel pain. They don’t stop."
Ivy's expression darkened. "And you’re telling us this **now?**"
A deafening crash shook the facility.
Xavier didn't wait. He turned to Raine. "Stay behind me."
She hated it—**hated** how weak she still was. But she didn't argue. Not when the air was thick with an enemy she didn’t understand.
The doors burst open.
And then—**chaos.**
\---
The first wolf lunged—fast, **too fast.**
Xavier moved, **faster.**
His fist connected with its jaw, sending it crashing into the metal wall. But it didn't even **flinch.**
Reed was already moving, his blade slicing through another attacker, but the wolf **kept coming.** Blood poured from the wound—**and still, it didn’t stop.**
Ivy ducked as claws slashed at her, flipping back before landing a brutal kick to the wolf’s ribs. She was fast—**deadly.**
But Raine could see it.
**It wasn’t enough.**
"They don’t feel pain!" Dr. Rowan shouted, his voice barely cutting through the noise.
Xavier snarled. "Then we take their heads off."
Raine **grabbed a weapon** from the wall, but before she could react—
A **massive force slammed into her.**
She hit the ground, hard, breath knocked from her lungs.
The wolf above her was **different.** Bigger. Its eyes glowed an unnatural shade of red, saliva dripping from its fangs. It **wasn’t just feral.**
It was something else entirely.
It opened its mouth—
And **screamed.**
The sound **ripped through the air,** a high-pitched, unnatural wail that made Raine’s bones **ache.**
Her vision blurred.
She tried to move—but her body felt **heavy.**
No.
**Not now. Not like this.**
The wolf’s claws **swung down—**
And then—
A deafening **howl** shook the room.
Raine’s breath caught.
It wasn’t from the attackers.
It was from **Xavier.**
And then—
**Everything changed.**
\---
*
The air vibrated with energy.
Xavier staggered back, his entire body **shaking.** His golden eyes burned, his breathing ragged.
Ivy gasped. "Xavier—?"
And then, **his bones cracked.**
His body **convulsed.**
Raine **watched in horror** as his skin rippled, as something ancient and primal **tore free.**
Then, with a **snarl**, Xavier’s human form **collapsed**—
And in his place, **stood a beast.**
Towering, black-furred, golden-eyed—**massive.**
His claws dug into the metal floor, fangs bared in a lethal snarl.
The hunters hesitated.
They had been trained to fight wolves.
But **not this.**
Not a **true Alpha.**
A breath later, Ivy dropped to her knees.
Then Reed.
Pain twisted across their features, their bodies shuddering, eyes flickering with a supernatural glow.
Their wolves—**were waking up.**
Another howl **ripped through the air.**
Ivy collapsed forward, her limbs **snapping, twisting—**
And then, in her place, a sleek, emerald-eyed **wolf** stood.
Reed was next, his form shifting, breaking into something **larger, wilder.**
Three wolves.
Three monsters.
Raine could only **stare.**
This was the first time she had ever seen a **true werewolf fighting**
And it was **terrifying.**
The hunters recovered from their shock.
And then—**they charged.**
\---
\### **The Hunt Begins**
Xavier **moved first.**
His wolf was a **force of nature.** Faster than lightning, **stronger than anything Raine had ever seen.**
One swipe of his claws **tore through a hunter’s throat.**
Blood sprayed the walls.
Ivy lunged at another, her wolf form **elegant, deadly.** Her fangs sank deep into its neck, and she **ripped.**
Reed’s wolf was **feral.** He tackled an enemy twice his size, his powerful jaws **crushing bone.**
The enemy forces **panicked.**
They had expected resistance.
But **not this.**
Xavier’s snarl was pure dominance.
The wolves hesitated—**and that was their mistake.**
Xavier **ripped through them.**
One by one, the enhanced wolves **fell.**
Raine’s breath came fast.
**She should help.**
But she couldn’t look away.
The way they moved—their power—
This was what it meant to be a werewolf.
This was **what she should have been.**
**What she should be.**
But instead, she was just—**watching.**
The last of the hunters fell with a **final, bloodied whimper.**
And then, silence.
Raine’s heart **pounded.**
Three wolves turned toward her.
Their golden eyes **glowed.**
They were still **half-wild.**
Still lost in the transformation.
Xavier stepped forward—
And then—
**His wolf lunged.**
\---
!