Seba

sharp, pine-scented, and biting. There was no bustling city noise here, no screaming fans, and no blinding arena l

t the white landscape. Smoke lazily curled from its stone chimney, the on

porch was Dr.

elcoming smile or a polite wave. She just watched me with those clinical, unblinking eyes as

e heavy oak door open. "Welcome to Duskpin

oice rough from the long flight, the lack of sleep, and t

alist, and smelled faintly of cedar and sage. "And given that you nearly transformed into a feral predator in front of thirty thousand screami

ke it's a fact. It was a hallucination. Stress, a bad concussion, lack of sleep, take your pick. People don'

wooden desk stacked with leather-bound journal

calm. "You smelled blood from ten yards away across a sheet of ice and described it as tempting. Do you honestly expect me

eading to feel that strange, prickling heat beneath my skin. My knuckles still throbbed where I'd torn them o

ing her personal space to test if she'd flinch. "You think you can psycho

e between us. "I think you're a wolf trying desperately to live in a world built for sheep. And the longer you fight your own biology,

o her and to myself that I was entirely in control of my own body. But deep down, beneath the layers

ward a worn leather armchair sitting by a massive floo

dge returning to her tone. "We have a lot of grounds to cove

ed at me to turn around, to kick the door open, to run back out into the snow and pretend none of this was happening. But there was nowhere

her groaned under my weight. Through the massive glass window beside me, the towering pines swayed in

uilt into the side of the cabin and poured hot water from an electric kettle into two ceramic

de table next to my chair. "It's lemon balm and chamomile. It won't cure what's happen

rs. You talk about biology, wolves, and shifting like we're discussing a medical textbook. Explain it to m

rectly opposite me, and folded her hands neatly in her lap

e humanity has coexisted alongside lineages that never fully evolved out of their predatory ancestry. Most carriers live entirely normal, mundane lives. The dorm

d, resting her el

cal stress, or an intense surge of adrenaline that cracks open the genetic vault. Your body didn't break down

ad as a humourless laugh escaped my lips.

logical. It's about thermal regulation, predatory instincts, structural bone density shifts, and an adrenal output that modern human anatomy simply isn't bui

oo small, too restrictive, like a cage built for something ten times my size. I remembered the way my muscles had bunched, t

aining out of me, leaving a hollow, aching void in its

wed. You used checking, fighting, and physical dominance as a pressure valve. But when you suffered that shoulder injury a few months ago, your physical outlet was ripped away. Th

tapping the edge of the wooden table

g to feel the urge to push back against the confines of this cabin. It's going to test you. And your job o

ing the valley into absolute, consuming darkness. Somewhere out in the deep woods, a low, resonating

erate straight down my spine, calling out to somethin