PART ONE: THE AFTERMATH OF HOWLS
The silence after the fire alarm was worse than the screaming.
Lana stood frozen in the Noctis lobby, heart slamming against her ribs. All around her, employees moved in eerie synchronicity—calm, robotic, precise. No panic. No questions. Just polished shoes tapping on marble like a ritual march.
Jason appeared from nowhere. His hand clamped around her elbow.
Too tight.
Too strong.
"Move. Now."
She jerked back. "What the hell was that sound? That wasn't a drill. That was—"
Jason's eyes glinted. His pupils dilated. The veins in his temple throbbed.
"You didn't hear anything. Got it? You don't ask."
A chime echoed across the lobby.
The elevator.
The scent hit first. Pine smoke. Electricity. Heat.
Kieran Noire stepped out.
His tie was gone. His cuffs were rolled. Blood streaked from a gash on his face, red against cheekbone like war paint. He held something clenched in one hand. Blood dripped from his knuckles.
Jason paled.
Kieran's voice was a blade: "Intern. Lab Six. Now."
Jason bolted without another word.
Kieran turned to Lana. His pupils were fully slitted. His shirt was half torn, revealing claw marks slashed across his ribs.
"You. With me."
---
PART TWO: THE ELEVATOR
The elevator dropped in silence. Kieran leaned back against mirrored steel, the blood on his hand smearing crimson arcs behind him. Lana stood frozen in the opposite corner.
He didn't speak until the numbers passed Sub-Level 10.
"You took something from me."
Her mouth went dry.
"I don't know what you mean."
He moved. One blink, and he was there. One arm braced above her head, body heat radiating like a furnace. His nose grazed her collarbone.
"You still smell like it. The plastic. The fear."
His hand slid down her blazer pocket.
The keycard.
He plucked it free and stepped back.
"Next time," he murmured, slipping it into his own coat, "use your teeth. They're sharper than you think."
Before she could demand answers, the elevator stopped.
The doors opened to black.
---
PART THREE: LAB SIX
Cold.
Not air-conditioned cold. Earth-deep, grave-cold.
Lana stepped into a corridor lit by low red safety lights. The air reeked of formaldehyde and meat.
Steel tables. Freezers. Monitors.
Cages.
One of them whimpered.
She turned. A shape huddled in the far corner of the cage. Human? Almost. Its spine twisted at impossible angles, and patches of fur marred pale skin.
Kieran didn't look at her. He approached a terminal. His bleeding fingers danced across keys.
The monitors flared.
SUBJECT: CARTER, LANA GENETIC STATUS: LATENT SHIFTER - ACTIVATION IMMINENT ALPHA COMPATIBILITY INDEX (NOIRE, K): 98.7%
Her knees nearly gave out.
"This is a mistake," she said. "I never gave you my DNA."
Kieran didn't turn.
"You didn't have to."
Something crashed deeper in the lab. The caged figure screeched—not quite human. Not quite beast.
Kieran's head snapped up. His irises vanished, swallowed by gold and black.
"Stay. Here."
He vanished into the darkness.
Lana did not stay.
She bolted to the terminal.
PROJECT FULL MOON: PHASE ONE FILE TAG: SUBJECT ACQUISITION
Her face stared back at her.
Date stamp: three years ago.
A low growl rumbled behind her.
She spun.
The cage door hung open. The hybrid gone. Kieran stalked toward her, shirt ripped open, claws fully extended.
Behind him: blood. A trail.
The lights died.
Darkness.
Then—
Howling.
From every direction at once.