The Wolf's Surrender

Lab 1 smelled like graves and lavender. Dust motes danced in the beam of Jason's lighter as Lana lowered Nyx onto the moth-eaten cot. The child-creature curled instantly, obsidian skin shimmering like oil on water.

"She's cold," Lana murmured, tucking Evelyn's old blanket around her.

"She's not human," Kieran rasped. He leaned against a gene sequencer, knuckles white on the edge. Sweat plastered his silver-streaked hair to his forehead. The black veins from the Eclipse poison now snaked past his collarbone, pulsing like living parasites beneath his skin. "And neither are we."

Jason rummaged through rusted cabinets. "Evelyn kept supplies here. Antidotes. Stabilizers…" His hands shook as he held up a shattered vial. "…Gone. All gone."

"Look harder," Lana snapped.

A low growl rumbled from Kieran's chest. "Easy, Lana."

"Easy?" She whirled. "Specter's out there! Eclipse is hunting Nyx! And you're—" She stopped. Kieran's pupils were blown wide, gold swallowing gray. His breath came in ragged pants. The poison was accelerating the shift.

Nyx whimpered in her sleep.

Thump.

The sound came from the ventilation shaft above.

Thump-thump.

Like something heavy… dragging itself.

"They're in the walls," Jason whispered, backing toward Kieran.

"Not they," Lana breathed. "Her."

The intercom crackled to life—rusted speakers spitting static. Then, Specter's voice, smooth as poisoned honey: "Temperature dropping, big sister? Must be the ghosts. Or the corpse you dragged in."

Kieran snarled, claws punching through his fingertips. "Show yourself!"

"Why? So you can bleed on me too?" A wet chuckle. "Alden's drones are five levels up. Scanning for heat signatures. For her."

Lana's gaze snapped to Nyx. The child's skin now glowed faintly silver—a beacon in the dark.

"I could jam their sensors," Specter purred. "For a price."

"What price?" Lana demanded.

"Jason."

Silence. Jason froze, a serum bottle slipping from his grip. It shattered on the floor.

"Give him to me," Specter hissed. "And I'll buy you time."

Kieran stepped forward. "No deals with traitors."

"Says the Alpha who let Evelyn burn!" Specter's voice sharpened to a shriek. "I watched it, Kieran! Through the security feeds! You froze while Lysander poured gasoline!"

Kieran recoiled like he'd been struck.

"Liar," Lana whispered, but doubt coiled in her gut. Had he been there?

"Check the archives, Lana," Specter taunted. "Terminal password: Nyx's Lullaby."

The intercom died.

The terminal booted with a whine. Lana typed: N-Y-X-S-L-U-L-L-A-B-Y.

Files flooded the screen.

Security Feed - Berlin Lab - 10.23.2025 Evelyn Carter, backed against a blazing server rack. Lysander Vex stands before her, a silver lighter in hand. "Where is Lana?" he demands. Behind him, half-hidden in shadow—Kieran. His eyes are wide. Terrified. Frozen. Evelyn spits blood. "Rot in hell." Lysander flicks the lighter. Fire engulfs her. Kieran doesn't move.

Lana's hand flew to her mouth.

Jason's voice: "I pulled her out! I did!"

The feed continued: Jason bursts in, tackling Lysander. He drags Evelyn's burning body into the hall. Kieran still hasn't moved.

Kieran: "I… couldn't. The fire… it triggered the wolf. The fear—"

Lana: "You watched her die."

Nyx began to cry—a high, keening sound. The lights flickered violently.

Evelyn's Final Log - Audio File: "If you're hearing this, Lana, I'm gone. And Kieran… he couldn't save me. Don't blame him. The wolf in him remembers fire. Remembers burning. It paralyzes him. That's the poison's target—not his body, but his control." A rattling breath. "The cure requires surrender. He must let the beast die to save himself. But the wolf would rather kill its host than kneel. Tell him… tell him I forgive—"

The file cut off.

Kieran sank to his knees, a shudder wracking his frame. Fur rippled across his neck. "She knew," he choked. "She knew I failed her."

The lights exploded. Darkness swallowed the lab.

Nyx's wail became a physical force—a psychic shriek that shattered glass beakers and cracked monitors. In the strobing emergency lights, Lana saw it:

The poison had won.

Kieran threw back his head and howled. Not human. Not wolf. Something shattered in between. His spine arched, bones cracking as fur erupted across his shoulders. His hands twisted into massive, knotted claws.

"Kieran! Fight it!" Lana screamed.

He lunged—not at her. At Nyx.

"NO!" Jason tackled him mid-leap. They crashed into the gene sequencer. Metal shrieked. Kieran's claws raked Jason's chest, shredding fabric and skin.

"Run, Lana!" Jason gasped, pinning Kieran's thrashing limbs. "Take Nyx! Go!"

Nyx's eyes snapped open—solid black. The air thickened. Lana felt pressure build in her skull, her bones, her blood.

She's doing it!

Kieran roared, throwing Jason off. He staggered toward Nyx, drool dripping from elongated fangs. His gold eyes held no recognition. Only hunger.

"STOP."

Nyx's voice wasn't a sound. It was a command etched into reality.

Kieran froze mid-step. Tremors wracked his mutated body.

Nyx floated off the cot, suspended in a halo of silver light. She pointed a tiny finger at Kieran's chest. "BAD WOLF. SLEEP."

Kieran collapsed.

Silence.

The emergency lights stabilized, bathing the ruined lab in bloody crimson.

Kieran lay unconscious, human again, the black veins receding. Nyx slept in Lana's arms, her skin dull, temperature dropping alarmingly.

Jason pressed a wad of torn fabric to his bleeding chest. "She… she stopped him."

"She burned herself out doing it," Lana whispered, pressing her cheek to Nyx's icy forehead. Evelyn's cure required surrender… but Nyx forced the beast down. At what cost?

The intercom crackled. "Touching," Specter drawled. "But Alden's here. And he brought a neutron dampener. Nyx's little light show just painted a target on this tomb."

Alarms blared—not in the lab, but beyond the heavy door. Muffled explosions shook dust from the ceiling.

"I jammed the outer sensors," Specter said. "Bought you… oh, three minutes. Your move, big sister."

Lana looked at Kieran—alive but broken. At Nyx—fading in her arms. At Jason—bleeding out on the floor.

Evelyn's voice echoed in her memory: "You must decide what is inherited… and what is erased."

Lana laid Nyx beside Kieran. She walked to the terminal, typing furiously.

"What are you doing?" Jason gasped.

"Finishing Mom's work." Lana pulled Evelyn's silver wolf pendant from her neck. She jammed it into a port on the terminal. The screen flashed:

> ERASE? Y/N

Specter's voice sharpened: "Lana, don't you dare—!"

Lana slammed her fist on the keyboard. "YES."

The terminal screens went black. Then, one by one, they rebooted—flashing Evelyn Carter's employee ID photo.

"What did you do?" Jason breathed.

"Published everything," Lana said, lifting Nyx into her arms. Kieran stirred groggily at her feet. "Project Second Eve. The Accord. Lysander's crimes. Eclipse's poison. To every Noctis, Vanir, and government server on the grid."

A massive BOOM shook the lab door. Cracks spiderwebbed across reinforced steel.

Specter's scream tore through the intercom—not angry. Terrified. "Alden will flay you alive for this!"

"Let him try," Lana whispered.

She looked down at Nyx, then at Kieran struggling to rise. Mom… I'm rewriting the Accord.

As the lab door buckled, Lana Carter bared her teeth. Not in fear. In promise.

"Get up, Kieran," she said, gold bleeding into her eyes. "We're going to war."