Eric sat on the edge of a dusty cot, still buzzed from the aftershock of the transformation and all the information he had just received. He still hadn't drank the goats blood. Instead he dropped it somewhere far away from him.
The bloodlust had faded, mostly. Enough for him to breathe without tasting everyone's pulse in the air. Enough to think.
The Den was quiet now. No more questions. No one trying to lock him down. Fenn hadn't come back. Rafe kept his distance. Zaya still hovered near, occasionally offering him water and stealing glances like she couldn't decide if he'd bite her or thank her for the blood.
And still… for the first time in days, he didn't feel like prey.
Not hunted. Not chased. Not alone.
He looked down at his hands again. No claws. No cracked skin. Just the steady weight of his new body. It was still him, just more. And finally, that didn't feel like a curse.
The door creaked open and he turned.
Elara stepped inside, arms crossed, eyes sharp. She hadn't slept, he could tell from the way her shoulders were locked tight, like she was expecting someone to attack at any moment.
She closed the door behind her, but didn't move closer.
Eric's joy was evident as he jumped from the set he had Ben perched on. He gave her a smile, tentative. "Hey. You're alive"
"You look… alive," she said.
He chuckled. "Pretty sure I am."
But she didn't smile back.
The tension crawled in behind her like a shadow.
Eric took slow steps towards her but stopped halfway. "I was wondering when you'd come in."
"I had to check the perimeter first," she said. "Counted how many doors don't have locks on this side."
He frowned. "You're joking..."
"Of course I'm joking. This freaks wouldn't even let me out of their sights for a half second enough to do all that" Elara said, her cheeks blowing hot.
"You really think they're going to lock us in?" Eric asked, not quite believing it.
"I think you have no idea who these people are."
"They saved us."
"That's a nice word for dragging you unconscious into a bunker full of strangers."
"I wasn't unconscious."
She blinked.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I was awake. For all of it."
Elara looked away. "Still doesn't mean we can trust them."
Eric stepped closer, calm. "They're like me."
"That's exactly why I don't trust them."
He stiffened.
"What do you....Come on, Elara. You saw what they've been through. Just like us. Maybe worse. Boss is trying to stop all of this."
"Or redirect it."
"What?"
"Think about it, Eric. He's Arthur's brother. They're two sides of the same coin. You really think he brought us here out of the kindness of his heart?"
"I think he's building something different."
"Still building something," she snapped. "You're not a pet project anymore, you're a tool, just for someone else."
Eric stepped back.
The weight of her words sank into him like cold steel.
"I thought you'd be glad," he said. "To see that I wasn't alone. That we weren't alone. I thought you didn't mind being around me, around d people like me..."
"I'd be glad if I believed it was real," she said. "If I thought they weren't watching you like a bomb on a timer."
"I'm not a bomb."
"You don't know that."
He turned away from her, jaw tight.
"Why are you really here?" he asked quietly. "If you think I'm going to lose control again, if you think I'm just another freak, why not run?"
Elara's voice cracked. "Because I don't want to be right."
Silence.
Eric turned around slowly.
"You're scared of me."
"I'm scared of what they'll turn you into," she said. "And I'm scared that the Eric I knew back in that house is already gone."
He stared at her for a long time.
Then stepped forward again.
"Well, maybe he is," he said. "Maybe I needed to be."
Her eyes burned. "Don't say that."
"Why not? Because you don't want to admit I'm changing? Because you want to pretend I'm still the kid who needed saving?"
She flinched like he'd hit her.
And for a second, he regretted it.
But only for a second.
"I'm finally in a place where people aren't trying to cage me, dissect me, or kill me," he said. "And all you can see is another lab."
"That's exactly what this is, Eric. You just haven't realized yet, you're still inside the wheel. It just looks prettier now."
He walked past her. Stopped by the door.
"Then stay scared," he said without turning around. "But don't expect me to be."
And then he tried to walk past her but she caught his hand.
"Eric. I'm not your enemy. Please. I just want us to leave. These people...they're monsters..."
The last word landed like a slap on Eric's face. He walked away, leaving her standing there.
Alone. If she was really scared of him? Why stay with him? And who's father was the cause of his mutation anyways?
Eric didn't get to see her for the next too days. She hid herself from everyone, locked in the small room they had offered her for privacy.
Eric sat in the main room, perched on the edge of a cracked bench, arms rested loosely on his knees. For the first time in days, the silence didn't feel like a threat. Just… quiet.
Zaya sat across from him, legs tucked up, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"You know your eyes still shift when you're thinking too hard?" she said.
Eric grinned, relaxed. "Do they?"
"Yeah. Kind of cool, actually. Creepy, but cool."
He chuckled. "I'll take it."
It was strange. Being able to talk to someone without pretending. No filters. No awkward pauses like they were afraid of what he might become. Zaya didn't look afraid. Just… curious.
He liked that more than he wanted to admit.
The door opened behind them.
Eric turned—and everything shifted.
Elara stepped in.
Eyes sharp. Shoulders tense. Mouth set in a thin line.
She didn't say anything at first. Just stared at him, at Zaya, at the room.
Zaya stood smoothly. "I'll give you two a minute," she said, already moving past Elara before either of them could say anything.
Eric stood slowly.
"Elara," he said, smile softening. "You finally came out."
"Yeah," she said, arms folded. "Hard to relax with stranger-kids and cyber-uncle lurking around."
He frowned. "They're not..."
"You don't know that."
He sighed. "They saved us."
"No. They moved us," she snapped. "There's a difference."
Eric blinked. The shift in her tone threw him. "You okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" she said too fast.
He tilted his head. "You seem pissed."
"I'm not pissed," she lied.
But she was. Eric could smell it. Feel it in the way her jaw clenched, in the way she wouldn't look him in the eye for more than a second.
Something else was behind it. Not just the situation. Not just Boss.
"Elara…" he said carefully, "what is this really about?"
She looked up sharply.
"You and her," she said, and instantly hated herself for saying it.
Eric blinked. "Zaya?"
"She doesn't know you."
"Neither did you when we met."
That landed hard.
Her face flickered with guilt or anger, maybe both. "This place isn't safe."
Eric stepped closer. "You mean she's not safe?"
Elara's silence said everything.
He exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wasn't flirting, Elara. She's just...easy to talk to. She gets it."
Elara crossed her arms tighter. "Of course she does."
Eric stared at her. "Why does that bother you?"
"It doesn't."
"Liar."
"I just don't want you forgetting where we came from."
"I haven't."
"You sure? Because you're sitting here smiling like this is summer camp and not a goddamn fallout bunker full of lab rejects."
That cut deeper than she expected.
Eric's eyes darkened. "Don't call them that."
She flinched. Not because of the words, but because of how quickly he'd defended them. How fast he'd shifted away from her.
Eric turned away, pacing. "You think I don't know it could be a trap? That I'm not watching every corner of this place while pretending to feel normal?"
"Then stop pretending," she snapped.
He turned on her. "Maybe I want to pretend! Maybe I need to. You ever think about that?"
"I think you're too comfortable."
"And I think you're just mad I'm not clinging to you anymore."
She didn't answer. She didn't have to.
Eric let the silence stretch.
"Zaya's not replacing you," he said quietly. "But she's not the enemy either."
Elara's throat tightened.
"You're not the only one who understands what it's like to be scared," he added.
She looked away.
And that was the last straw.
Eric walked past her, toward the hallway.
"If you wanna leave, leave. But don't stand here and punish me for trying to belong."
He didn't look back.
And this time, Elara didn't stop him.