“You'll never catch me!"

Four gray-furred paws hit the soft ground after a quick jump, splashing the mud on both sides, and covering the nearby trees with it. The gray-lined wolf panted, looking back for a mere second, not seeing any danger. But he was chased.

Felan resumed his running, quickly disappearing into the thicker part of the woods, trying his best to lose the pursuer. He wheezed, already moving for quite a distance with a thunderous speed, not looking back anymore. The adrenaline rush made him not care about his current situation, although he never felt that he is in any danger at this very moment.

The gray wolf suddenly heard someone's else shallow and quick breath, so close that he could feel it on his neck. Felan did his best to confuse the chaser, changing the direction from left to right, crushing the soft leaves and branches underneath his strong paws. His heart raced as well, pumping hard all the blood around his strong body.

Finally, in the clear opening, he looked around to see if he was alone again. Not seeing anyone else, he eventually sighed in relief. He won. Then suddenly right after his short moment of victory, he felt something jumping onto him, flattening him against the ground.

“Ha-ha! I won!"

Felan spits the mud out of his maw, not amused by this whole situation. He looked at the white-coated female wolf, who grinned at him, showing off the entire set of her razor-sharp fangs in a rather sinister but still somewhat playful smile.

“Not fair, I got into the clearing. You're the one who lost, Sara." Once free from his clutches, he stood up, still feeling a bit sore from all this running and defeat as well. Sara chuckled, licking his cheek and exposed gums, having a rather strange way to make him feel better.

“Don't be like that. If it was real life and death situation, would your enemy just give up once you get into the clearing? Some of them like to attack from hiding, correct, but others will not fret before they finally get you. Even in broad daylight."

Felan shrugged, not having enough experience to know what she was talking about. Although he still somewhat believed her, even without admitting it. He stared into her eyes for a while, before trying to walk away, wanting to get a nap somewhere.

“Wait, let me show something first. I didn't choose this route without a reason. Come, it's not far away from here." She rubbed his cheek with her head, then brushed his tail with hers, before departing towards the hills. It was steep and quite a distance, but Sara wasn't discouraged by it at all.

“Where are we going? Come on, I'm tired. I was hoping for a snack and a nap. Didn't we supposed to get some rabbits today?" Felan whined while going up the hill. Not only with his smaller size he yielded his position as an alpha male. After all, physical fitness was one thing, but the process and strong will were as important as well.

“Just a little bit. I've got you." While she had all the reasons to scold him or even belittle him, she chose to encourage him, acting like a big sister to him or maybe even a mother. But with their species, the parental figure couldn't be there all the time, helping out only in the early stages of their life. But Sara loved him too much to not care about that pup at all.

Once on top of the hill, Felan looked around, wondering why they had to climb up so high. There wasn't anything in particular to see, although the view on the rest of the valley was quite mesmerizing. The way the sun rays were shining upon the nearby river banks and trees, made it look like was painted by a talented artisan. Although the wolves knew nothing about the art.

While the view could melt a heart even the least romantic type, there was a part that didn't fit this picture. Rather small, rectangular, a black shape that took the place of the seemingly cut and destroyed flora. It didn't look like the shack that Sara once saw on one of her many trips.

“Noticed that too, huh? I saw it yesterday but I didn't check it out yet. There's something… sinister and ominous about it. I don't like it one big, Felan." While usually laid back, Sara this time was strangely serious and worried. He knew that look in her eyes, just like one time Felan was badly hurt after another wolf's attack.

“I would rather go back to our den. But fine, I see it's not possible to change your mind, so just let's get over it. But probably it's nothing. Just because it's the dark color it doesn't mean it's evil or anything." He started, but after seeing her frown, Felan only sighed after shaking his head.

They traveled down the hill, fixated on the particular object in the woods. It was way too perfectly shaped to be natural without flaws. But also didn't have any way to enter, unlike the wooden shack Sara once saw. Once nearby, they hid behind the bushes, observing it.

“So, what's the plan? Why are we doing this, anyway? It's not like it's our concern or anything…" the gray wolf grumbled, wanting to go back to their den which they could do ages ago. And with their rather short life expectancy, it would be probably the best way to survive.

“Shush. See that?" Sara could swear that something had moved. A small, more circular object going side to side, like an owl's head. It was observing them, even while hidden behind the leaves. Selan rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, it doesn't have any eyes but yet I can feel in my spine that something is not right. Let's just go, I have a bad feeling about–" but he couldn't finish his sentence, when a swift, tiny object cut through the air like a needle, ending up in his neck. Even with Sara's impressive instincts, she couldn't prevent this attack from happening.

She covered his smaller figure with hers, trying to find a predator who did this. White wolf's ears perked up, sensing another thin object to fly towards her, but it was way too late to do anything. No living being could dodge that shot.

“What… is… happening…" Felan said, trying not to collapse, standing on his wobbly and violently shaking legs. Sara still tried to protect the male from the attackers, but mist suddenly covered her eyes, like she was forcefully put to sleep. With the rest of her remaining strength, she stood guard on now lying down the wolf, wanting to protect against all the odds. But even the mightiest can fall, which was perfectly obvious in this situation. While both collapsed and unconscious, they couldn't feel the wet sounds of heavy boots against the mud. 

The bipedal creature covered from head to toe in strange, yellow, and black material raised his arm with small, rectangular objects in it.

“I've got two more specimens here. No, I don't work overtime. Yeah, they just came here probably out of curiosity. Two wolves, male and female. Yeah, I will wait."

The creature eventually removed the cover from its head, revealing his foreshadowed species. Human. The short-haired young man took a package of cigarettes out of his pocket along with a lighter. He took one of the tobacco-filled sticks of pleasure and put it in his mouth, before lighting it on fire. He took a strong inhale of the smoke, before sighing loudly.'

“I fucking hate this job."

*****

The abrupt opening of the metal door revealed two other humans in full hazmat suits, escorting identical cages on the mobile platforms. Instructed by the voices through the intercom, all three workers loaded up the seemingly lifeless bodies into the compartments, not looking at all at their surroundings. It was just yet another task to fulfill, even if it wasn't in their schedule.

The last human put on his helmet and with others, they escorted the cages inside the building. The rather small and dark room was empty, aside from a rather futuristic-looking console, since it not only was lacking any kind of buttons, the screen didn't require direct touching as well. 

One of the workers activated the tiny monitor on his sleeve, connecting itself to the device, doing it so swiftly and effortlessly as he did it before multiple times. After several taps, the floor rumbled under their feet and the cages, slowly descending at first, before rapidly increasing the speed. One of the humans unconsciously holds onto the cage with the sleeping wolf. The other worker noticed that, chuckling loudly.

“Look at the junior over there. Hey, new guy. We'll not fly away, that's not the first time we're doing this. But you might check if your helmet is put on properly." He poked the human next to him, clearly in good mood. The so-called 'junior' only shook his head, still holding the bars of the cage tightly.

While the gravity worked as intended, their suits and platforms under cages prevented anything dangerous, but judging by the flapping of attires material, the incredible speed of the elevator could hurt their joints and inner organs. But it wasn't the strangest thing about this place.

The depth of the facility was.

While they descended to the lower floors, they could briefly see glass windows here and there and other workers behind them, apparently working on various experiments, mostly on living beings. Although all they could see at the time were just some vague blurs.

Eventually, once on the ground floor, all three men escorted the cages toward the corridor, apparently knowing where to go. They passed more windows, able to see the scientists working on their projects. In one of the rooms, a deer had an anxiety attack, trying to escape from its harness, screaming for help. A second head coming out from its neck was currently unconscious, likely asleep or dead.

“I don't know why half of the experiments are just so random. They need to ask themselves not if they could but if they should" the 'junior' said, observing the deer with bitterness in his voice. The other worker shrugged.

“Anyone can quote 'Jurassic Park', you know. And you're not the one allowed to do it."

“Quoting the movies?"

“Asking questions."

They eventually arrived at the end of the corridor, at the largest room on this floor. By looking through the glass they could notice the chamber had two halves, one empty, and while other behind another window with several consoles, monitors, and computers. The short-haired woman noticed three workers in hazmat suits and opened the door. She leaned over the microphone.

“Bring the specimen into room A, then leave."

“I guess we can talk to her only through intercoms…" the 'junior' said, revealing it was her who gave him instructions outside the facility. The workers brought the cages through the now-opened door and left them there before departing without a word. The female scientist turned over to her young colleague.

“Prepare the mixture."

*****

“Hm… just one more minute…" Felan murmured with his eyes still closed, kicking the air with his hindlegs, eventually hitting the metal bars behind him. The quick and sharp pain in his paw woke him up immediately, jumping on all four of his legs, and noticing his dark surroundings. He looked at the other side of the room, seeing his dear friend Sara.

“Wake up already! We need to go, now!" His heart raced, due to the unknown and grave danger. The sudden fear jolted down his spine while making individual hairs of his fur stiff noticeably. It was the very first time he felt that way, even when he was already close to his demise.

Feeling pounding in her head, the female wolf finally woke up, stretching her limbs before slowly standing up. Seeing rather dark surroundings, she didn't panic like her partner but instead scanned the room for any immediate danger. Seeing that Felan is alright aside from the anxiety attack, she ignored him for time being, looking in another direction.

And there they were. At the end of the area, a few humans were observing their every move. Sara knew those creatures and she couldn't trust them one bit. But it was still not enough information, about why they were here together. And what awaits them exactly?

“Sara, you're alright? Thank goodness. Can you help me out? I don't like this place at all, we need to go." The male wolf shouted at her, slipping his long head in between the cold, metal bars. The blunt pain in her brain continued.

“Could you be silent for one moment? I need to think. But for sure we can't do this with just our strength. We need to use our wits as well." Even in pain, she tried her best to think sober, collecting her thoughts.

“What does that even mean?" He gave her a puzzled look.

“It means you shut your yapping hole and let me think. In peace."

Felan whined, placing his rump on the ground, dropping his ears flat, while his tail stopped moving altogether. While the wolf couldn't let go of the cold fear, he somehow felt slightly more content while being with his best friend. Although somewhat separated. 

He finally looked over the window, noticing the humans, currently busy with their devices and not observing the canines for the moment. Felan never met those creatures and wasn't similar looking to anything he met in his short life.

“Don't even try talking to them. They're bad business. Besides, they will not understand you, they're too stupid to decipher our language. Not like I wanted to communicate with them anyway." The wolfess scoffed, collapsing on the cold floor, glaring daggers toward the bipedal creatures.

“I wasn't, I swear. But since you said that our strength is not enough, maybe the more diplomatic way will be enough? What about I just roll over and look cute?"

“It might work on squirrels and deer, but not on them. Those savage creatures know only the language of violence and inflicting fear." She replied, her voice filled with disgust towards those humans.

“Huh? And how come you know so much about them?"

Sara sighed, looking away. She eventually sat in the corner of her cage, turning back to him while dropping her ears flat as well.

“You don't want to know."

Felan whined again, this time more apologetically and emphatically. He could give everything to just embrace her and say that everything would be alright. But their future looked just like the room they were in.

Cold and grim.

But after a few moments that felt like an eternity, some movements happened in the walls. The panels moved aside, revealing two metal-like creatures, holding something that looked like a container with warm food inside them.

“Oh, great! Finally some grub!" At the sight of the incredibly tasty-smelling snacks, Felan's mood and demeanor quickly changed like with a flip of a switch. It was so sudden, it disturbed Sara deeply. Like she was just watching a ravenous beast, instead of a semi-intelligent feral friend.

“What are you doing? Didn't you hear a word that I just said to you? Don't trust humans or anything that they give to you. I'll not eat a single bite even if I'm going to starve to death" the wolfess scoffed, still incredibly disappointed by Felan's juvenile antics.

“Something so tasty can't be a trap, Sara. Come on, try it!" He barely chew his portion from his container, while the other wolf only eyed her food for a long while. The short-haired scientist noticed her hesitation and quickly tapped several times on the console.

CLANK!

More panels opened up, but this time next to Sara's cage and one in the black tiles ceiling. Four of the mechanical arms instantly grabbed the female wolf by each of her limbs, holding her in place. Two robotic contraptions grasped her around the maw, forcing it to open and keeping it in place.

A peculiar, tubular arm that resembled a vacuum's pipe guided itself towards Sara's meal, sucking every single uneaten bite into its lifeless and cold depths, while the rubber pipe kept swallowing the portions, acting like a throat of a hungry beast. After a few moments, it turned over, before lowering itself closer and closer to Sara's forcibly spread maw.

“Let go of her! Oh, this can't be good…" the wolf said to himself, now glancing at the almost empty container next to him. He quickly lost his appetite, since even he could add together two facts about this brutal feeding.

The robotic tube ignored the wolf's yapping, eventually sliding through Sara's throat. The rubber pipe convulsed, releasing copious amounts of previously swallowed grub, filling her belly with potentially delicious bites. Although all she could taste was fear, disgust, and desire to murder every single human she meets.

Right after the dreadful snack, all of the arms and tubes let go of Sara, letting her collapse on the ground. She coughed multiple times, trying to somehow throw up everything she was forced to swallow, but for naught. She wanted to cry, defeated by the unknown, demonic forces.

“Are you arlight?" The wolf whined, feeling sorry for her from the depths of his childish heart.

“No. Nothing's alright. But it will be, I promise to you…" she slowly stood up, but instead of looking at him, she turned her gaze towards the female scientist.

*****

“That's funny."

“What is?" The woman asked, staring down the female canine, who wanted to murder her with just her gaze.

“I could swear that this pair can communicate with each other through those yappings and growls. And I don't mean just simple commands, but something far more complex. Add to it the soul in their eyes and we might have the answer to the truth about feral animals."

“Poetic. But also foolish. Just tell me how much exactly of the mixture you added. Exact number."

“The amount you gave me through the console. Five decagrams."

The woman's eyes opened wide after hearing that amount, her heart skipped a beat as well. She turned towards him, hoping that her ears were deceiving her.

“What? Tell me you meant decigrams. Dee gee. The decagram has an extra letter!"

“Who the hell uses decigrams?"

Scientist turned back again on her swivel chair, before standing up, looking closely at both wolves. While the male didn't eat everything, he still ingested way too much of the mixture. Not to mention how many of these potent drugs the female already had in her system.

“Oh no…"

*****

“Sara?"

Deep breathing. Everything will be alright. It's just some unknown food, she thought. Just relax and think about home. It always worked.

“Sara?"

It's not right. Like something in my veins is inflating, spreading my innards, and expanding them in the process. Just keep breathing deeply.

“Sara? Are you alright?"

The wolfess stretched out her front limbs, while the claws suddenly dug into the tile below, with such immense strength, they cracked it. All of the paws suddenly kept bloating up like balloons, but with the muscles instead of air. The bone mass kept increasing as well, making the wolfess large enough to barely fit inside the cage.

Felan's body grew with each passing second. The panicking, wheezing and whining wolf shook his head violently like bitten by a hornet, hitting a few metal bars behind him. His mass expanded so sprightly, it bent few of them.

Suddenly, the room was filled with bright red light, while blaring sounds of the alarms filled the whole floor. Soon enough the door opened, letting a few workers in a hazmat suits in.

With flamethrowers.

“Kill them. KILL THEM ALL!!!"

Sara's frame towered above the group, her body parts growing unevenly like rapidly expanding tumors, all alive. Throbbing, twitching, switching places with each other, while some of them resembled swirling tendrils before morphing into rock-hard mass.

While Felan's transformation wasn't as half as brutal, he still quickly joined wolfless, trying to protect her from bottom of his heart. Although acting more instinctively than before, like a rabid, feral beast.

The flames engulfed her figure, burning the only top layer of her now humongous and ridiculously thick fur. Her sudden, powerful roar shook the whole room, breaking every single window on the floor, and making glass fly everywhere. The scientist dropped to the ground, some of them covered in blood.

Her gigantic mouth grew extra sets of teeth, resembling more a shark's mouth than a regular canine's, some of them growing around her throat's opening. Sara grabbed one of the humans with her maw, before throwing him and the 'flaming stick' as she called it in her thoughts towards a nearby wall.

Felan charged toward the rest of the group in the colorful suits, forcing them out of the room, and damaging the wall right above the door. The feral wolf kept ramming it, adding more and more cracks after each hit. But he couldn't predict what could happen next.

With their immense size and weight which caused parts of the ceiling to fall along the deafening rumbling, both of them fell off the floor into the basement, which was extremely redundant for an already underground facility.

They couldn't notice or even care anymore about this area's function, wanting nothing more but an act of revenge. The endlessly expanding bodies of the canine pair only helped them out with their plans, cracking through the walls and each ceiling, causing unbelievable damage to all the equipment, humans, and innocent feral lives.

“FEAR! I CAN SMELL IT! I NEED IT ALL!!!"

All the scientists and workers could hear was immense growls and howling, clearly not understanding her message. But they delivered anyway, fearing for their lives, not understanding what was currently happening. Many of them met a gruesome fate, either under the rubble or squashed by the gargantuan paw of the wolves.

The wolfess kept sweeping the upper floors with her forelegs while standing on the hind paws. She used them to destroy all the strange equipment that in her eyes caused all of this suffering, not caring about her safety while more debris fell on her and Felan.

The artificial screams of the facility's alarms ended abruptly, just like they started, and not even a single human groan was no longer heard. Only the terror-inducing whiff of canine's breathing, easily mistaken by the strong winds.

Finally, outside of the facility's ruins, the canine pair saw what they now needed the most. The sun.

And with it a bright new day, with hope.