“Well? Tell me, I might answer,” Grim taunted.

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.

He turned his head, his eyes rotating with him. The sight made my head spin, and I felt a throb of pain pulse across my skull. He stared, unblinking.

Slowly, he pulled back and dropped the crazy grin. With his eyes no longer as close, I could feel my senses come to me, and I sucked in a deep breath. My lungs sputtered, and I gulped for air.

Grim’s lips twitched upwards before his mouth dipped into a frown, forcing the amused look to disappear. “Pity. I expected more spine. Perhaps I misjudged you.”

Something about that statement made me furious. I felt the energy in my chest stir, riling up like a cat arches their back.

“I… I was taken by surprise. That’s all.” I declared.

His frown deepened. “Surprises are deadly for us, Grimms. You learn to handle it or die.”

The needle of discomfort poked deeper, and the lava in my chest began to churn.

“That’s exactly what I have been doing. From one nightmare to another. It hasn’t stopped.”

A log in the firepit fell apart, and the two halves of burning wood collapsed the stack, sending an eruption of ash into the sky. Once a simple campfire, the flames blazed high, bathing the area with heat.

The fire grew larger and stayed that way.

Grim took a step closer. “It never will.”

He leaned down, his eyes threatening to freeze my limbs, but my cloak resisted; I could feel its protective shell around me even if it stayed on my shoulders and hung behind my back.

“The nightmare never ends. It’s a hunt, the endless hunt!”

His voice intensified, conversational volume cranked up all the way into a shout. Again, the air vibrated with his words, and I felt the pinpricks against my skin.

The leaves above shimmied as a strong breeze made them dance erratically.

I stepped back but stopped, my feet keeping themselves glued. Something about this man demanded I respond and hold my ground.

“And I will. I'll handle it.”

My eyes met his, and I stared defiantly. The lava bubbled, and I let out a growl through clenched teeth.

His eyes widened, but his smile reappeared.

“Good. You’ll need the backbone.”

What?

Blood splattered Grim’s front. Bright red droplets seeped into the black of his shirt and pants. His arm extended towards me, but I didn’t see where his hand stopped.

I looked down.

Oh.

I expected pain, but strangely, I felt nothing—only little, teeny-tiny pokes.

My eyes rose to meet his again, “Wh-what?”

More blood left my body, and I grabbed at his arm, but it wouldn’t budge. I felt my legs grow weak, and I collapsed, but his other arm caught me by the waist and held me up. My legs didn’t care, and I fell forward.

I didn’t sink further down his chest, his fingers wrapping around my ribcage, forcing me to stay where I was.

He shook his head as he pushed his face into mine. “Did you know that the real reason for forcing pups to transform has nothing to do with tapping into our bestial nature?”

“...”

“Mmm. You’ll see. Don’t die now; I might crush your heart if you keep moving.”

"…"

Rainbow lights flickered at the bottom of my vision. The light drew my attention even as my mind tried to comprehend what happened.

The lights became multiple until I couldn’t see anything but the pretty colours.

“Ah, there we go,” Grim muttered; his words sounded far away.

Rainbow gave way to gold. Each dot and sparkle solidified together and vibrated at a rapid pace.

Then it stopped, and words appeared, the kind that branded my mind with their content even if the light began to dim around the edges of my vision.

[ALERT] WARNING: LORE MATRIX INSTABILITY

…

…

…

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

ERROR% LORE STRAIN TAMPERING

…

…

ERROR% LORE STRAIN EROSION ERROR%

The words flickered and disappeared before appearing again. System notifications continued to scroll back into place, but another shift from Grim’s hand forced the notifications away.

“So stubborn. Stop resisting.”

But I’m not? I can’t resist.

“Ahh. That boy really messed up the transfer.”

[ALERT] Changes to Lore Strain have been made.

…

…

…

System Identification: Changes made by [Dea-]

Grim growled, a deep sound that shook my bones. “No, you don’t. Don’t make me break you. I have, and I will again if you try to reveal that information.”

I didn’t understand why he kept trying to speak to me. Nothing made sense, and his words barely registered in my ears. The entire time he fiddled around with his hand in my chest, I kept losing my train of thought. All that remained was the slow creep of frost around my heart and the branding of the system text inside my mind.

Suddenly, the notification faded. Replaced by another, much larger than the rest.

[Alert] Changes to the Lore Matrix: Accepted

…

…

The words blipped and stayed gone. Grim raised me up like a puppet, forcing me to my feet. “Sorry, pup. I warned you. It never stops.”

Please…

A heat hotter than I’ve ever felt melted the ice inside my chest. The pool of magma inside my center couldn’t even begin to compare. Flames like the sun’s surface torched my heart. The organ pumped, sending the burning blood around my body. New blood entered, and my senses honed in on the mechanism that kept me alive.

Pitch black became crystal clear, and my eyesight returned.

“Arggh! Wh-what’s going on?!” I screamed.

Grim opened his mouth, revealing a blinding light shining deep within his throat. “Don’t stop running. Whatever you do, the chase never ends.”

He placed his free hand on my chest and braced as he ripped his arm out of my ribcage. A searing pain crawled across my flesh, and I looked down to watch my skin regenerate itself over the exposed hole. Inside my body, bones snapped back into place, and I fell to one knee.

I looked up, but there was no sight of the man.

I tried to stand but crashed back to the floor with a painful thud. My arms shakingly reached up, and my fingers felt the edges of the hole in my hoodie. I pushed at the hole and felt my bones shift around.

Whatever I did set off a chain reaction. My bones tingled amongst the molten lead travelling in my veins, my entire skeletal structure coming to life. The tingle gave way to a deep ache, a flareup of discomfort that made you want to move and shake.

Then it started.

My spine shifted, and my back straightened with my chin raised. “Aaagh!”

Fireworks continued to explode along my spine til I felt myself stretch. I fell forward, barely catching myself from kissing dirt. I pushed through the pain and pushed up, vacuuming air. I raised my head and watched as a piece of white ash fell on my nose.

My eyes darted towards the fire. Through all the pain, I had forgotten about the flame, but it continued to blaze, its flames extending upwards into the trees.

For that instant, I saw a beautiful golden flame kiss the azure leaf dangling from above. Fire met nature, and there was an explosion of purple light.

It was dazzling.

My jaw clenched, and my arms snapped to the sides. My skull landed on the ash-covered grass, and the blades tickled my eyelids.

Bone after bone, each one snapping and shifting. The tingles were icepicks, hole punches that forced the burning energy into each pore.

“Graaaggh!”

A primordial scream exited my vocal cords, and I pushed up with new arms. I raised myself higher off the ground than I thought possible. My eyes flittered to my arms, where I expected to see a bleeding mess; instead, thick, fur-covered muscles flexed and rippled. My eyes continued down until I noticed the long, curved claws sinking into the dirt.

My heart pumped a final time, and I shot to my feet.

Flames. Burning, red, heat!

A scent entered my nose. I launched into a run, sprinting on all fours. It felt wrong, yet so right.

Old, strong. Delicious meat, must-have!

I dodged the trees. They were in my way. I jumped and landed on one, sinking my claws into its bark. My arms swelled, and I pushed off, flying through the air until I reached the soil and continued to run.

The scent grew stronger, but it kept shifting.

Stop running!

My prey didn’t listen and moved further away, faster than I could catch up. That didn’t sit well within my chest. I howled to the sky and started to cut a line diagonally through the trunks.

With each inhale, I exhaled a hot steam that trailed behind me. Powerful muscles propelled me forward, the distance between me and my target shrinking every second.

I’ll get you. Mine! Mine!

A sharp turn caused my tail to smash into the side of a tree, so I turned and swiped at its trunk. Chunks of wood shrapnel went flying, and my claws came away wet with sap. I wanted to claw at it again, but the scent called.

Continue the hunt! Follow the prey!

I kept running. Left, right, right, and finally, a third left around the bend of a large trunk wider than my chest.

There!

In front of me stood a stone wall, blank as can be. The wall curled upward to reach the ceiling. I stopped and sniffed. The trail lead to this spot.

Where is it? Where’s the prey?

I snapped at the air, and the unsatisfying clack of my teeth enraged me.

It’s here, I know it! I smell it!

Yet nothing but stone and dirt met my eyes. I sniffed, following the trail to the wall, smelling the scent of blood and warm meat. I kept pushing forward till my nose touched the wall–except it didn’t, and my snout pushed through.

My eyes widened, and I raised a claw to the stone, only for it to similarly push through.

Lies!

I kicked at the ground and pushed past the lie-wall. My claws hit the stone, the pads on my feet touching cold flooring instead of soft dirt. The narrow hallway extended far, but I knew what I wanted.

Find the prey.

I kept running, and even when my fur felt a disturbance run against it, I pushed past and moved on. The tunnel came to a split road, but I turned to the left without hesitation. The smell only came from one direction. More and more turns sought to distract me, but they wouldn’t win!

After moving past a series of rooms, I heard a sound–voices off in the distance. The distorted words bounced between the walls, but I couldn’t understand them until I crept closer.

“...stop lying… Devon!”

“Yo… see him, what will… do?”

I inhaled, tasting the powerful blood on my tongue. It came with a hint of sweat and mint. Another scent mixed in, but I ignored it.

Not my prey.

My blood called to me, and the hunger inside demanded an answer. I raised my head till my snout pointed to the ceiling and let out a deep howl rumbling out from my chest.

“Arrrrouugh!”

I rushed forward, taking in the sight of two humans on the other end of the tunnel. One had blond hair, shorter than the other, while she stared with icy-blue eyes wide in surprise.

I ignored her.

“Devon!” she shouted.

The man turned, his eyes in a similar state. But he moved, quicker to react, stepping in front of the other human.

It didn’t matter.

“Prey!” I roared as I extended my arms and splayed my claws in a final leap.