The stillness of Lupus Haven had become a cage for Elara. The same silence that was meant to be their shield now felt like a suffocating blanket, smothering the instincts that sang in her blood. She was young, a gifted field medic with a Delta’s analytical mind, but the wolf within her chafed at the endless caution.
It had started small. A deliberate pause a second too long during a perimeter sweep, letting the cold mountain air fill her lungs, imagining the chase. A slightly more aggressive turn during a training spar than was strictly necessary, earning a sharp glance from Orrin. But these were whispers of dissent. The true rebellion began in the archives.
While the senior scientists focused on the grand, subtle strategies—the app, the data manipulation—Elara became obsessed with the r
