The lab hummed with quiet precision—machines whirred softly, lights blinked in rhythmic pulses, and the scent of sterilized metal filled the air. Ares sat on the examination table, arms resting on his knees, watching as Dr. Sophia Patel adjusted the settings on a cylindrical scanner suspended above him.
"Still nervous?" she asked without looking up.
Ares exhaled slowly. "You're about to cut me open with machines. I'd be an idiot not to be."
She smiled faintly. "Only if necessary. For now, let's stick to non-invasive scans."
The scanner descended, enveloping him in a soft blue glow. He felt nothing at first—just warmth, like standing near a fire. Then came the pressure. Not physical, but mental. As if something were probing his thoughts, sifting through layers of memory and instinct.
He flinched.
"Something wrong?" Sophia asked, eyes narrowing at her screen.
"It feels… invasive," he admitted.
"It should. It's mapping your neural pathways down to the synaptic level. You'll feel like you're being watched by yourself."
He nodded, trying to steady his breathing. The sensation passed after a few seconds, replaced by a strange clarity. His senses sharpened—smells became more defined, sounds crisper, even the texture of the fabric beneath his fingers seemed more vivid.
Sophia typed rapidly, her brow furrowing deeper with each new data set. After several minutes, she stopped.
"This is impossible," she muttered.
"What?" Ares asked, sliding off the table.
She turned the monitor toward him. On the screen was a side-by-side comparison of his DNA sequence and that of a typical werewolf subject.
"You see this segment here?" She pointed to a section of his genome that glowed faintly red. "This isn't human. Or Martian. It doesn't match any known biological signature."
Ares stared at it. "So what does that mean?"
"It means whatever's inside you predates both species. Possibly even Mars itself."
He swallowed hard. "Alien."
"In a sense." She hesitated. "Or ancient. There are ruins buried deep beneath Olympus Mons. Some of them are older than Earth. We've only scratched the surface, but we found traces of unknown genetic material in the soil samples. And now…" She gestured at the screen. "Now it's inside you."
Ares took a step back. "That's not possible. Werewolves evolved from humans. We adapted to Mars. That's all."
"Maybe not," she said quietly. "Maybe you were never just evolving. Maybe you were being rewritten."
He shook his head. "No. That's not how it works. We're born this way. We change under the moon. That's our nature."
She studied him for a long moment. "Then why didn't you change last night?"
Silence settled between them.
"I don't know," he admitted finally. "But I think... I think something inside me is different. Like I'm not fully one or the other."
Sophia looked away, lost in thought. Then she reached for a drawer behind her desk and pulled out a small holo-projector. With a flick of her wrist, a three-dimensional map appeared in the air—a detailed topographical rendering of Olympus Mons and the surrounding region.
"There's a chamber system beneath us," she explained. "Deep. Deeper than any human excavation has gone. We believe there's something down there. Something alive."
Ares frowned. "Alive?"
"As in active. Energy signatures, low-frequency pulses. Whatever it is, it's not dormant. And every time you exhibit unusual behavior—your resistance to transformation, your enhanced cognitive function—it coincides with increased activity from that site."
He stared at the glowing lines of the map. "You think I'm connected to it."
"I think you might be its echo," she said. "Its key."
He rubbed his temples. "This is too much. I just wanted to understand why I didn't change."
"And now you have more questions," she said gently. "Welcome to science."
He gave a dry chuckle, but it faded quickly. "What do we do next?"
"We go deeper," she said. "Into the ruins. If there's a link between you and whatever's down there, we need to find it before someone else does."
He narrowed his eyes. "Who else?"
Her expression darkened. "The Earth Federation. They've been monitoring my research. Last week, they sent a classified request for access to all files related to Martian anomalies. If they get their hands on you…"
"They'll dissect me," he finished grimly.
She nodded. "And worse. If they figure out what you are, they won't stop until they control it—or destroy it."
Ares stood silently, absorbing everything. The weight of it pressed against his chest like gravity he couldn't feel.
Outside, the wind had picked up. Dust swirled against the windows, casting shifting shadows across the walls. A storm was coming—not just outside, but within.
"I can't stay here," he said suddenly.
Sophia looked surprised. "Where will you go?"
"To Kael. He needs to know what's happening. If the Federation gets involved, it won't just be me in danger. It'll be all of us."
She hesitated, then handed him a small device. "Take this. It's a tracker. If anything happens—if you need help—press the center button. I'll come."
He pocketed it without a word.
As he moved toward the door, Sophia called after him, "Ares?"
He paused.
"Be careful. You're not just a wolf anymore. You're something else entirely."
He met her gaze. "I know."
Then he stepped into the storm.
---
Elsewhere – The Rogue Den
Kael paced the length of the den, his muscles tense, his mind racing. Around him, members of the pack murmured anxiously. Word had spread—Ares hadn't transformed. Whispers of weakness, of betrayal, of something unnatural had begun to circulate.
Across from him stood Renn, a younger wolf with sharp eyes and sharper ambitions.
"This is dangerous," Renn said. "If he's not one of us anymore, he's a liability."
"He's still one of us," Kael growled. "Until he proves otherwise."
Renn smirked. "And if he doesn't? What if he's already changed sides?"
Kael stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "Ares saved lives during the last storm. He risked himself for our kind. You weren't there. You don't know what he did."
Renn didn't flinch. "I know what I hear. And what I hear says he's different. Dangerous."
A murmur of agreement rippled through the gathered wolves.
Kael clenched his fists. "We stand together. Or we fall apart. Either way, we don't turn on our own."
Renn's smile faded. "You're making a mistake."
Kael turned and stormed out, leaving the den in silence.
Somewhere beyond the ridgeline, the storm raged on.
And so did the war for the soul of the pack.