POV: Mira Voss

“Ten seconds to breach,” I whispered.

“Copy,” Eris replied in my ear, static flickering like a heartbeat. “We’re not alone, Mira. Something’s moving on the third floor.”

“Define ‘something.’”

She hesitated. “Bipedal. Not human.”

Perfect.

The server room’s lock blinks red, fighting my override. My gloved fingers danced across the cracked datapad, forcing a bypass. The walls hummed. I could feel the grid pulse under my boots. GenTech Labs didn’t just play with genetics, they toyed with power they didn’t understand.

Click.

The door sighed open.

Rows of blinking towers lined the room like soldiers. Taking a deep breath, I began extraction, Datachip out. Port open. Code slipping in like a ghost. I moved fast.

“Extraction in progress,” I murmured. “Cover my exit.”

Eris' reply came clipped. “Whatever’s up here, it’s not….shit, it's looking right at me.”

The line cut.

I didn’t flinch. Couldn’t afford to. Just sixty more seconds. I watched the chip’s progress climb: 42%, 58%, 73%…

Then the lights went out, every damn one.

I froze. The hum of the servers dropped to a drone. Silence crept in, thick as blood.

Then — click, click, click — footsteps approached. Heavy and Deliberate. No rhythm of breath. No scent of adrenaline.

It wasn't human.

My hand slid to the pulse blade at my hip, thumb brushing the activation switch. My wolf stirred. Not in warning but in fear.

A seven foot figure stepped into the room.

Synthetic Alpha.

My pulse didn’t rise. Training held it down. But my instincts screamed one thing.

Run.

“Eris, do you copy? I’ve got a damn Synthetic on my ass.”

"I thought you said this would be simple."

Eris’ piercing and mocking voice breaks through my earpiece. I roll my eyes and crouch behind the broken pieces of a concrete pillar, looking back over my shoulder.

"Never knew that ‘simple’ involved transforming the entire lab into a battlefield," I grumble, examining the ammo in my gun.

I ran out of the server room, down to the hallway. The echo of its pursuit thundered behind me, then it stopped.

I was moving quickly in the direction of the maintenance hatch, which is situated in the far corner of the building. When the ceiling's glass broke apart, leaping me forward, tumbling across the slick surface and hitting the ground hard. Now I'm surrounded by glass and debris fragments, but I can not afford to stop and think.

Looking up I say them, Synthetic Alphas.

They look like humans, Its form is smooth and metallic under a coating of artificial skin. It has no mouth, just a set of fragile mechanical openings

Crap.” Eris, I have some visitors. “Large, speedy company,” I whisper into the comms, voice strained.

“I can't assist you right now, Mira.” “This time, you have to handle it by yourself.” Eris’ tone carries a hint of arrogance, and she sounded far away.

Tightening my jaw, I dismissed the voice in my mind warning me that this was a bad decision. They were Synthetics, Alpha Synthetics, which not only kill but also track.

“Don’t allow it to take control of you!” Eris’ voice breaks through, but it’s already too late, It threw me to the edge and I collided with a pile of metal crates.

There is no time to consider the immediate and searing ache in my ribs as I gasp. As soon as I land, I am met by the cold, analytical eyes of the Synthetic Alpha.

Damn,” I spoke quietly, hurriedly getting to my feet. Blood drips from my side.

I turned a corner, skidding into a stairwell. Two floors down to street level. I jumped the first flight, landed hard, rolled. Pain sliced up my shin, but I didn't stop.

The Synthetic didn’t run. It dropped. Straight down the center shaft. Landed in front of me like death made metal.

I didn’t hesitate to draw out my gun, though my hands trembled. Synthetics are unaffected by gunshots except I can target a vulnerable spot, else I’ll be wasting my bullets.

Leave that place, this moment Mira,” Eris snaps, her tone filled with stress.

My gaze shifts quickly to the access door of the maintenance room, my way out but it's too distant.

The Synthetic was closer, I could hear their footsteps. As I head for the room, the Synthetic Alpha's claws brushing against my side. The agony is searing, a fresh injury that rips my flesh crashing me forcefully into the metal walls, I breathed heavily.

It caught my wrist mid-swing.

The grip was inhuman. My bones screamed. I dropped the gun. Tried to shift but my wolf recoiled. Something in its presence poisoned the bond. My shift stalled in my throat, choking me.

“You carry unauthorized genetics,” it said, voice like metal dragging stone.

“Yeah?” I spat, twisting in its hold. “You’re not exactly licensed yourself.”

I yanked a smoke disk from my belt, crushed it between our bodies.

Boom.

The hallway vanished in smoke and sound. The grip loosened. I hit the floor hard, rolled under its legs, and sprinted. My lungs burned, one ankle buckling slightly — but I kept moving.

Exit ahead. Neon from the city bled through the crack in the door.

“Come on,” I growled.

I slammed the bar. Bursted into the maintenance room. A drone buzzed Eris was still watching.

“I made it.

Grabbing the comm, my fingers coated in blood, I pushed the button.

"Eris, I need extraction." At this moment.

The response crackles. "About it." Wait a moment, Mira. “Don’t allow it to catch you.”

I compel myself to continue moving, the pain in my side threatening to pull me down. I cannot afford the comfort of relaxation. Not with it at my back.

Though the Synthetic didn’t follow. It stood in the shadows, watching, as if calculating.

Then a voice in my head. Not mine or Eris’.

“You are the key. The bond is broken. And you… you are the proof.”

I froze.

It wasn’t speaking. It was inside me.

Then it vanished.

Later, in the skimmer, I stared at my shaking hands.

“That wasn’t a patrol bot,” I said quietly.

Eris didn’t answer. Her face was pale under the blue dashboard light.

“You saw it too?”

He nodded. “And I recorded it.”

“Send it to Reaper. Tell them GenTech isn't just experimenting with wolf DNA. They’re building something worse.”

Eris finally spoke. “That thing... it knew your name, Mira. It said it’s seen you before.”

I looked out at the ruined skyline. A storm was rolling in, veined with lightning.

“Then this job just stopped being about money.”

Few weeks later

“Get going, get going, get going!” I yell, pulling a black tarp over myself as the initial explosion blasts through the darkness. My feet struck the wet concrete, splashing through puddles that mirror the neon hues of the slums. The air is heavy with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh. I am being pursued, and this time, they are making sure I can not get away.

I stood at a corner, my heart racing and pulse beating in my throat. I do not glance back. Not a single time. I can hear the cries, but they are not mine. Not at this moment. If I pause, if I take even a moment's break, they'll seize me.

The narrow alley is cramped, filled with decaying metal containers and the remnants of past human existence. Trash bags overflow, and discarded food wrappers dance in the wind like phantoms of this location. The odor of rot is heavy, yet it's the only fragrance I rely on amid the chaos of chemicals and smoke swirling around.

I can hardly take two more steps when a voice sputters in my ear, soft and full of urgency.

“Hey, is that you?

Eris.

Her voice pierced through the confusion like a blade. I attempt to suppress the panic rising in my spine, yet it’s difficult to concentrate when everything is falling apart. “Yeah, I’m present.” "What on earth is happening?"

“They located your safe house.” Her words paralyze me.

The sad reality sinks in, and it seems as if I’ve been hit in the stomach. The safe house was meant to be unbreachable. It was intended to be my final refuge, the sole location where they couldn't reach me.

However, they did. And now it's disappeared.

"Damn," I mutter quietly. My gaze shifts to the sides, searching for any signs of pursuit. The walls of this city close in, claustrophobic, suffocating. I keep moving, every step an effort to stay ahead of whatever’s chasing me.

“Where are you?” Eris demands, voice tight with worry. “I’ll come to you, Mira. Just hold on.”

“No.” I grit my teeth, my voice cold. “You’re not coming here. You’re the one who got me into this mess in the first place. You stay the hell away.”

I hear the briefest pause on the other end, and then a heavy sigh. “Fine. But you better get out of there, Mira. Fast. This isn’t just some random hit. Whoever’s after you, they’re going to keep coming until they get you.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I mutter, but the words don’t feel right. They feel like an empty shield, like I’m pretending that I’m in control. Like I’m not already out of options.

The explosion’s shockwave hits me a second time, and I stumble forward, slamming into the wall of a decrepit building. Dust falls from the ceiling, coating my face with grime. I wipe it away, eyes narrowed in the darkness. I’m close to the back alley that’ll take me deeper into the slums. But there’s nowhere left to hide.

“The safe house wasn’t just compromised,” I tell Eris, my voice quiet, though my hands are trembling. “It was a setup. They knew where I was.”

Another explosion. This one rattles the windows of nearby buildings, and I hear the shouts of men in the distance Synthetics, most likely. They always make noise. It’s their signature. You can hear them coming from a mile away.

“No shit,” Eris replies, her voice crackling in the static. “Someone’s got a mole inside. And it’s not just the security system this time. Whoever’s pulling the strings, they’ve been tracking you for a while.”

I stop in my tracks, the blood in my veins turning to ice. “A mole?”

“You’re not the only one in this game, Mira. Someone’s leaking your location. And I don’t know who, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

The words hang in the air, more dangerous than the blasts echoing behind me. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to remain calm. I’ve been through worse. I’ve survived worse.

But tonight… Tonight feels different.

I break into a sprint again, the pounding of my feet louder in my ears than the sound of my breath. I round the corner into another alleyway and stop dead in my tracks.

The safe house… my safe house is in flames.

The entire building is engulfed, flames licking at the sky, casting an eerie orange glow over the slums. There’s no more hiding now. It’s gone, reduced to a pile of rubble and ash. And they know I’m here.

I don’t have a second to waste. I turn back toward the alley, fingers curling around the gun tucked in my jacket. It feels lighter than it should, almost like it’s nothing more than a distraction.

Something appears in the distance. I squint through the smoke and flames. It’s a human, or close to it but there’s something wrong. The way he walks, too controlled, too measured. It’s as if he’s not even human anymore.

My instincts scream, but it’s too late to run. He’s already spotted me.

“Mira Voss,” he calls out, his voice smooth like oil, but there’s an edge to it. A warning. “You’ve caused quite a mess tonight.”

I raise the gun, pointing it directly at his chest. I can’t waste time. I can’t afford another fight. But I don’t lower it. Not yet.

“Who the hell are you?” I ask, my voice cold, controlled. I’m not giving him anything. Not yet.

The man smiles, a thin, predatory grin. “You don’t recognize me? I’d be disappointed if you did. But I’m sure we’ll be properly introduced soon enough. For now, let’s just say I’m not your friend, Mira.”

“Good. I don’t have friends.”

I squeeze the trigger, but the shot’s never fired. Before I can react, he moves too fast. In the blink of an eye, he’s at my side, knocking the gun from my hand with a flick of his wrist.

I stumble back, eyes wide with shock. I’ve faced the impossible before, but this this is different. This is something beyond human.

“I don’t kill people like you,” the man says, his tone almost bored, as if I’m nothing more than an inconvenience. “But I think you’ll find our next meeting more… final.”

He turns, walking away with the same unnerving confidence. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know why he’s here, but I can feel it in my gut: He’s not just a mole. He’s part of something bigger.

And whatever it is, it’s coming for me.

I look around at the burning remnants of my safe house, my heart sinking.

No more running. This is war.

“Do you want the information or not?” I ask, leaning against the cool metal of my booth. The neon lights from the bar reflected on my glasses, casting sharp shadows across my face.

The man opposite me loud, anxious, and clutching a crumpled paper in his hand lets out a nervous laugh. He rubs the back of his neck, unsure whether to trust me. But that's the game. Trust doesn’t get you anywhere, and trust in this city? That’ll get you killed.

“Of course I do,” he says, his voice tight. “But”

I cut him off with a raised hand, the gesture sharp. “Then don’t waste my time.”

The tension thickens. His eyes darted from side to side, and I knew what’s coming. The hesitations, the second-guessing. He’s not used to dealing with someone like me. I lean forward, letting the silence press on him, then slowly slide the encrypted chip across the table. It’s a simple transaction: give me the money, get the info but to most people, this is a deal with the devil.

And they’re right. I am the devil behind every move in the black market. An info broker, a ghost of the packs, a wolf without a pack.

I watch him fumble for his credits, the scent of sweat and fear clinging to him. He doesn’t know I can smell it just like everyone else who comes to me. I’ve made a career out of knowing what they want, what they’re hiding. The smell of desperation.

“You should’ve stayed in the pack,” I murmur under my breath. But I’m not talking to him.

I stand up, my chair scraping the ground in a slow, deliberate screech. The man jumps, his hand still frozen over the credits. I don’t care about the money. I never have. It’s the information that drives me, the constant digging into others' lives, their secrets. They come to me because they can’t get it anywhere else, and when I’m done, they can’t leave without paying the price.

I don’t smile. I don’t laugh. I don’t even feel anything. It’s just business.

The man finally coughs up the credits. I take them, slipping them into my pocket without a second glance. He leaves the booth quickly, probably too embarrassed to stand there any longer. Good. I don’t need him.

I watch the door close behind him, then look out the grimy window into the chaotic street outside. It’s always raining in the city. Acid rain. A constant reminder that the world hasn’t cared about its people in a long time.

The city reminds me of that, too. A place I ran to, a place where I became something I never thought I would. A wolf without a pack.

I was born to lead, raised to be more than just another wolf in the pack. I was supposed to be everything they needed, everything they dreamed of. But I wasn’t like them. They wanted loyalty, trust, and a bond to the pack. They craved the pack structure, the hierarchy, the unity.

But me? I was never meant to be part of the pack. I was always the outsider, the one who questioned everything. And that’s why I left.

I don’t know why I’m thinking about this now. I’ve buried it all under layers of callousness, of distance. The past doesn’t matter anymore. I made my choice.

It’s just that sometimes… I wonder.

A flash of memory comes to me unbidden, a scene I’d tried to forget.

I was a child. Barely old enough to walk but strong enough to feel the call of the pack. I could still remember how it felt when my father, the Alpha, stood before me, his eyes full of pride. He had made me his heir before I even understood what it meant. His gaze had never wavered when I failed, never softened when I was broken. He expected perfection.

But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Not for him, not for the others.

“Why don’t you stay?” My mother’s voice cuts through the silence, low and pleading. “You belong here, Mira. You’re more than just a wolf. You’re the future of the pack.”

I shake my head, unable to meet her eyes. Her words are like chains, heavy and suffocating. The weight of a life I never wanted.

“I don’t belong here,” I whisper, though I already know she won’t understand. The bond they tried to force on me was never mine to hold. The pack’s rules weren’t mine to follow. They didn’t want a leader like me. They wanted obedience, and I couldn’t give it to them.

“I’ll make you see,” she presses, voice tight with worry. “You can’t leave. You’re—”

“I’m not like you,” I snap, the words sharper than I intend. “I’m not like any of you.”

I saw the hurt flash in her eyes then, and it stuck with me. But it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t me who turned away. It was them. They had all tried to force me into their mold, to make me fit into a place I didn’t want to be.

So I left.

I left the pack and everything that came with it.

I turned my back on everything they stood for.

And I never looked back.

The memory fades as quickly as it came, and I force myself to focus. I need to stop thinking about the past, stop giving in to the old feelings that used to haunt me. I’m not that girl anymore. I’m not a wolf in their pack. I’m an info broker. I’m a shadow. I’m alone.

But as much as I tell myself that, the emptiness always creeps in. The loneliness. The hollow space where a pack should be.

I’ve been on my own for years, working like a ghost, trading secrets, never looking back. It’s easier this way. I don’t get attached to anyone. No bonds. No trust.

Except…

Except for one person.

My fingers tighten around the edge of the booth as I remember her face. Evie.

The only person I’ve ever truly trusted. The only one who ever understood why I left.

But even she couldn’t stop me from walking away. I couldn’t stay. I wasn’t built for it. I wasn’t built to be a part of something I never fit into. And Evie? She was always loyal to the pack. Always bound by the rules.

I was always different. And in the end, that’s why I couldn’t stay.

The sound of the door opening breaks my thoughts. Another customer. I glance up, but my gaze is sharp, my posture unreadable. Another day. Another deal.

“Got what you need?” I ask, my voice cold and businesslike.

The man standing in front of me hesitates, and for a moment, I wonder if it’s the same nervous guy from earlier. But no. This one’s different. His eyes are hard, calculating, and he doesn’t seem afraid. In fact, there’s something about the way he stands that feels… familiar.

“I hear you’re the one to talk to if you need something… special,” he says, his lips curving into something almost like a smile. But it doesn’t reach his eyes.

I don’t smile back. “Depends on what you need.”

I can feel the tension in the air, the weight of what’s about to happen. I don’t know who this man is, but I know he’s trouble. And trouble is the last thing I need right now.

I take a step back, ready to move, to leave this behind. But something stops me.

Maybe it’s the familiar feeling of another wolf nearby.

And that’s the problem. I can never really leave the pack behind.