Run with the pack; must keep up. Can't fall behind. Must keep up.

Battle erupts, chaos ensues. Brother runs the opposite direction. No choice; must follow my path.

Day and night in a relentless cycle, chasing the sun, the moon, the guiding stars.

Howl, scratch, bite, claw, pounce on the prey. Rip its throat, drink the blood, grow stronger.

When I run alone, I set the pace. Always behind, yet never truly ahead. This is the hunt I choose.

I bolted upright, my heart thumping in my chest. Looking around, I saw cave walls dyed blue by a strange glowing pool of water. My hands clenched the soft cushion underneath, and I felt rough, scratchy fabric beneath my fingers.

What the? Where… Oh. So it hadn't been a dream after all.

Sitting up, I rubbed the bright red cloak draped around my shoulders, the same vibrant shade as yesterday. It had doubled as my blanket when I dozed off on the couch.

Ignoring the strange dream sequence, I stood up slowly and stretched. My back popped a few times, and my neck got some relief after sleeping in such an uncomfortable position.

"Mmmmm."

At some point, Adeline left the hidden room. I didn't know what time it was, but I felt like I had slept for a few hours at least. Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing and having coherent thoughts right after waking up.

With nothing else to do, I moved over to the small bar in the back of the room and picked up the pitcher of water from last night.

Cup in hand, I walked over to the glowing pool of water. As I tipped the cup into my mouth to take a drink, I nearly spat it all out when I saw my reflection.

I pounded my chest several times as the water went down the wrong pipe. With a deep breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and centered myself—a deep breath in, a deep breath out. Repeat.

After finding my inner zen, I opened my eyes and slowly leaned closer to the glowing pool. My reflection came into view, and I stared.

Ignoring the blood stains on my ripped hoodie, I rubbed at the dried splotches of blood along my cheek. Brown lines marred my skin as I watched dried bits flake and fall away. Intermingled with the brown were streaks of grey-black, resembling ash as they drifted down.

I looked like this in front of everyone… nobody said a word.

Then again, most of the hunters sported blood stains of their own. I probably fit right in amongst the crowd. Whatever hangups I had about my gore-splattered appearance were mine and mine alone.

But the blood wasn't what made me choke.

My gaze wandered past my chin and over my eyes. The sight of my green eyes used to bother me, but not anymore. It may have been stupid, but I always thought my eyes looked weird since none of my parents shared the same colour. Teenager-me eventually got fed up with my childhood insecurities, and nobody I met thought they were anything less than pretty. So why shouldn't I?

I continued my gaze upwards and stopped at the change to my hair. Most of it was the same brown I've had all my life.

Most of it.

A streak of white clashed against the darker brown on the right side of my head. It felt jarring to see. And I doubted the psycho-Grannies dyed my hair for the ritual.

That sort of idea seemed crazy and implausible. The only person with dyed hair out of all the people I saw last night was Neina. And honestly, with magic and weird rituals going on, I wouldn't be surprised if the neon green hair was natural.

Then my thoughts flickered back to Elias's head resting on my lap. The man had several streaks of white striping his chestnut hair. Could the new dye job be because of the lore strain? I didn't know, and I doubted I could ask the others.

Shaking my mind free of the questions that I couldn't answer, I decided to use the remaining water in the pitcher to clean off as much of the blood as possible.

Hopefully, Adeline or Devon would return soon, and I could get a shower. One sniff underneath my arms told me all I needed to know about my body odor situation.

I wonder if they have soap?

----------------------------------------

Devon knocked thrice, and I moved to the wall where he waited till it faded before stepping through. He eyed me curiously and motioned outside the room. After being trapped alone for over an hour with nothing to do, I was eager to escape and do something.

Following behind, I waited till we started walking down the tunnel system before asking the questions plaguing my thoughts. "So, what happens now?"

He kept walking while keeping his head straight. He didn't answer for the longest time, and I began to worry he wouldn't.

Eventually, we turned down a tunnel that led to a large open cavern at the end, filled with the sounds of people talking.

"For now, we eat. We can discuss things afterwards. I'd rather not deal with a hungry pup this early in the morning."

I kept silent after that. Devon sounded exhausted, more so than last night. It was the kind of bone-weary tiredness that kept you in a deep sleep for several hours if you gave it a chance.

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He must have been dealing with everything while I slept. Probably hasn't had a chance to lie down yet.

We entered what I assumed was a mess hall. There were several tables and chairs set up like a cafeteria, and towards the right side, smoke drifted slowly from a large cast-iron pan with strips of meat sizzling away.

It smelled like bacon and I nearly drooled. The meat smelled delicious.

Before I noticed it myself, I had taken a few steps towards the food and was promptly grabbed by the collar as Devon forced me to sit down. He glared at me but groaned and shook his head as he waved a hand in front of my face. "Sit. I'll grab you some food."

I nodded, embarrassed over losing control of myself so easily. That didn't happen, and I loved good bacon as much as the next guy. Now I wondered if Devon's insistence on food first was for a reason.

A minute later, Devon came back with two plates of food. One had three eggs, a loaf of bread, and something that looked like Canadian bacon. The other plate, the one Devon sat in front of me, had six eggs, two loaves of bread, and a small mountain of meat piled high.

I stared at the plate with my mouth agape, my eyes bulging slightly at the ridiculous amount of food. "Uhm, thank you, but I'm pretty sure I'd explode if I ate this much."

He grunted and sipped something that was decidedly not water. "Pups undergo a period of extreme hunger to fuel the rapid stat changes to their body. This'll last you a few hours, and then you'll be just as hungry again. Trust me and eat the food."

I glanced towards the meat mound and hesitantly picked up the fork he had left on the plate. With dead eyes, he watched as I slowly brought the first bit of egg and bacon to my mouth. Once the meat hit my tongue, I didn't know what came over me, but I started scarfing down more and more.

I finished my plate before he finished his, and I finally regained my composure. I placed a hand on my stomach and felt around to see if my stomach had bulged out from eating so much.

It hadn't, and yet that felt wrong.

"Wh-what just happened," I asked, my eyes looking away from the now empty plate.

"I told you. Pups are hungry after the change. Usually, we have some time to prepare for when one of you gets access to the system, but…" Devon shrugged and pointed to my stomach. "Volto can deal with it. Just be prepared for a lot of grumbling and complaints."

I nodded silently and took in the room. The room wasn't a cavern, but it was massive. Smokeless torches lined the walls, and a chandelier with several candles hung from the ceiling.

I watched, waiting to see a single line of wax drip down the candle, but none did, and as a few minutes went by, I started to suspect more magical weirdness in play.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing?"

My eyes darted from the chandelier to Devon. He watched me over his mug.

"Uhm, I noticed the candles and torches don't produce smoke. Are they… magical?"

He raised an eyebrow and sipped his drink. "I wouldn't say they're magical, more like enchanted. Eternal flame, simple enchantment, keeps a smokeless permanent flame lit unless you physically snuff it out."

So they are magical! Awesome!

My excitement must have shown on my face because he shook his head and pointed to one of the tapestries lining the wall. "They don't look like much, but they're enchanted too. I'm not sure who made them. You'd have to ask Neina; she probably knows. Still, they absorb the air in the room and purify it every thirty clicks."

He mentioned 'clicks' again. Does he mean minutes or something else?

"Can I ask a few questions?"

"Sure, we got time, but be quick."

I nodded and grabbed my cloak. "What do you mean by pup? And what are clicks? In fact, where are we? And why did I get kidnapped? Can I go home?"

I closed my mouth and lowered my head. "Sorry, I didn't mean for all that to come out at once."

Devon set his cup down and stood up. He waved to the two hunters, eating at a different table. To my embarrassment, they were staring straight at me.

He began walking to the far end, and I followed him while awkwardly waving to the two while keeping my eyes forward.

Once we were alone, he finally spoke up. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry you went through everything you did. And I know you have a lot of questions, but I'm tired, and it's unfair to you." His boots echoed against the stall walls,

and I waited for him to continue. "Clicks are sixty seconds; don't ask how it started, but you'll hear it used a lot."

"Wait, are we speaking English?"

It hadn't occurred to me with all the crazy going on, but everyone spoke fluent English, albeit they sounded vaguely British.

He chuckled. "No, we're not." And before I could ask the obvious question, he answered. "We're speaking something called Ealden. Don't ask the origin of that either. And the moment you crossed the Nexus, your language got replaced with this one."

"So some mystical force reached into my world and helpfully installed a language pack before shoving me into a cage. What use would I have for understanding the Reds if they were going to sacrifice me anyway? I don't get it."

He shrugged. "I don't claim to understand the system or its intricacies."

Right. Fine, that's fair.

"And for your other questions, I call you pup because that's what we call fledglings here. Newborn werewolves. You won't like the reason you got kidnapped, and you'll like the answer to your last question even less."

I frowned and let my thoughts settle. But I couldn't keep my hands from clenching. "Go on."

This time, Devon stopped and turned around. "Cain, you didn't get kidnapped for a special reason. The Reds' rituals pull randomly from other worlds. It's not picky about who it chooses other than finding healthy individuals below thirty."

My jaw clenched, and nails dug into my palm. "I suffered through all that… because of bad luck? I nearly died and killed someone because some cosmic die roll picked my number?! That man, Elias, he… he.."

The words wouldn't come, and I couldn't say it. Elias had died rescuing me, and I couldn't even admit it.

Devon didn't flinch away or frown. He kept his expression blank and waited till I calmed down enough to breathe.

In, out. In, then out. Repeat.

I continued till my heart stopped ringing in my ears, and I could work my jaw open.

"I'm sorry… you didn't do this to me."

"I don't blame you, Cain. Most people that we rescue experience the same thing. We get it. We may be a little rough around the edges, but we can understand what you're going through."

I shook my head and wiped away my tears. Everything felt wrong. I was an emotional wreck, yo-yoing from one state of feeling to the next. I didn't know how to handle it. Suddenly, a private room seemed like the best place to be.

It's too late for that now. Get it over with.

"And my final question? When can I go home?"

"You can't."

My legs felt weak, and my heart sank. I breathed in and exhaled slowly, but the closeness of the walls felt suffocating.

I matched his stare. "It's because I made the choice, right? I'm not allowed to leave because I agreed to whatever magical contract Elias placed on me?"

He shook his head. "No, and yes. The next available time to return someone home is about a month from now. The process takes time, but we can do it for the rescued victims of the Reds. But when you gained access to the G.R.I.M.M. System, you tied yourself magically to the pack. The system would force you to stay away. It controls the Nexus, and you'd never find a way back. Not unless your world gets integrated."

"What does that mean?"

He shook his head again. "I'll refrain from explaining that; it's not my expertise. But it would be best if you gave up on returning home. It'll cause you misery otherwise."

I didn't know what to say. There were so many questions, but I didn't know what to ask. And even if I did, Devon made it clear he wouldn't answer them, not in regards to returning to Earth.

And I'm on a different world… That's too much to process right now.

Devon turned around, and I followed him down the tunnel.

"What are we doing now?"

"Now?" he asked rhetorically. "We're going to teach you some sorcery."