April walked quickly, her jacket pulled tight against her chest. The night pressed in on her, heavy and breathless. Her mind reeled.
Someone had been waiting for her at the hospital.
Not police. Not doctors. But perphaps Hunters.
She needed to get home—somewhere familiar, somewhere safe.
Then—
A shift in the air.
April froze.
Footsteps. Not loud, not hurried. Controlled. Intentional.
Three heartbeats. One behind. One to her left. One ahead.
They had her surrounded.
A voice broke the silence. Calm. Too calm.
"You've been busy."
April's fists tightened.
"Who are you?," April asked.
A pause. The kind that lingered like a blade at her throat.
"We're not your enemies."
"Lies," April thought to herself.
April angled her body, ready to bolt.
"Wait," another voice said. This time softer. Careful. Almost pleading.
"We know what's inside you. We know what they did."
Her breath caught.
"You have no idea what you are, do you?"
The words landed like a hook in her chest. They were right. And she hated it.
"Tch. Dang it," whispered April.
April spun, ready to break free—
But the third one was already there. Too fast. His hand closed around her wrist.
Firm, steady. Not cruel.
"We're here to protect you."
Her body screamed to fight, but her instincts faltered.
Something about them was… different. Not like the hunters in the hospital. Yet not like predators. More like people carrying the same wound.
For the first time since the operation, April hesitated. And that hesitation trapped her.
The man with the calm voice stepped closer.
"We don't have a name. No records. No history. We don't exist."
April's jaw locked.
"Then who the hell are you?"
The woman answered. Her tone was low, deliberate.
"We protect people like you. People with… Gears."
The word clung to April's mind like a curse.
"G-gear… what?"
The man nodded.
"Your nanotech isn't just technology. It's alive. A Gear. Fused to your body. And yours is not ordinary—it's the Wolf."
The word rippled through her, cold as ice.
"Wolf…"
The woman's eyes glinted. "The mayority of Gears are based on animals. While yours is of an unknown gear but we do know it, the wolf. We've seen claws, wings, strength, vision. But you—" She gestured toward April.
"You carry the wolf."
April swallowed, her throat dry.
"So what does that mean?"
The third figure spoke—the one who still held her wrist, his voice quiet but heavy.
"It means you're evolving."
The word cut through her.
"Evolving…?"
"Not here," said the one who April persumed was the leader of this group. His eyes swept the shadows. "It isn't safe here."
Reluctantly, April let them guide her. Not into darkness, but into a place she didn't expect—an abandoned warehouse, lit with harsh white lamps.
Training equipment scattered the floor. Maps and monitors lined the walls, buzzing with quiet life.
It wasn't a lair. It was… preparation.
April crossed her arms.
"You said I'm evolving. What does that mean?"
The leader pointed directly at her.
"You've already unlocked the first ability—Echo. That's how you see without sight."
April stiffened. Her eyebrows narrowed forming a frown.
"That was the Gear?"
"Yes. And it's only the beginning. Wolves are creatures of heightened senses. The next will come soon—Smell. The ability to track anything, anywhere."
Her mind raced back to the moments she woke from surgery. The moment the world sharpened. Every sound painting shapes, every silence whispering meaning.
"And after that?" she asked.
"Claws." The woman's voice was firm. "Your body will change. Weapons will grow from you. Stronger than steel. Natural, but sharpened."
April's hands curled into fists.
"And the last?"
The leader's expression darkened. His voice was almost a whisper.
"Bite."
April repeated it softly, the word tasting foreign and wrong.
"…Bite?"
The woman didn't look away.
"It's the one none of us have ever seen. The wolf's true nature. Its abyssmal hunger. Its claim."
April felt a chill run through her bones.
"Abyssmal hunger?," she whispered.
For the first time, April wondered if this thing inside her wasn't a gift.
But a predator.