1 Farah

I was sound asleep after the lights went out at 9 pm. I woke up with a gasp when a roar came from the hallway. I got up from the cot and walked to the glass wall to see what was happening.

I gasped when a massive one-eyed polar bear gutted a man in one swipe of his claws. Its face was red with blood as it roared at the guard who shot a bullet into its back. I heard a loud feline roar as an enormous mountain lion took down the man who shot the polar bear, ripping out his throat with his teeth. I was startled by the bark of an enormous charcoal-gray wolf and hurried into the hall, followed by a fox.

What's going on? Who are these Werebeasts?

Did Fynn come back for me? I thought with excitement.

It had to be Fynn; who else could it be?

But where was Fynn, though? I don't see his black jaguar anywhere.

Why wasn't he here with these guys? Maybe he was busy doing something else?

I watched through the window as all four animals split up to grab keycards from the dead guards; then, the guys opened the doors one by one, freeing the Werebeasts inside. I knew there were others besides me, I had seen them come and go, but I had never met them. I had only seen others like me when we were forced to fight each other for testing and training.

But where was Fynn?

I was startled when my door beeped, and the man, who was a mountain lion, stepped into the room. He was at least a foot taller than my five foot four and was built like a pro soccer player, with shaggy golden blonde hair that fell to his ears, greenish-brown eyes, and tan skin. Stubble shadowed his jaw, and a scar ran over his top lip.

He froze when he spotted me, eyes growing wide as his eyes scanned me from head to toe. We were never given clothes, so I stood there naked as a jaybird as his eyes filled with desire. My legs felt like they were made of lead as he stalked into the room, filling it with a musky scent filled my nose that made butterflies do somersaults in my stomach.

"Hello, sweetheart," He purred, "My name is Charlie Dawson, and my friends and I are here to rescue you. If you come with us, I promise to do everything possible to keep you safe."

"Did Fynn come to save me?" I asked.

A flash of anger filled his eyes, "Who is Fynn?" he asked.

Confused and scared, I said, "Fynn Swift, he is my brother. Tall, with black hair, emerald green eyes."

His body relaxed but looked sad when he said, " There is no Fynn in our group, but maybe we can help you find him."

Tears filled my eyes, I missed my brother so much it hurt, but I was ready to leave this hell hole, so I wiped away the tears, then nodded," I will go with you."

As Charlie took my hand and guided me out of the room, I shifted into my Werebeast form as we made our way down the hall.

When we met up with the others, they all watched me with wide-eyed expressions as we stepped into the hall, gaping at the two feathery wings that grew from my shoulder blades.

"Who are you?" asked the wolf in a muffled growl.

"We don't have time for introductions, Kay. Let's get out of here," growled the polar bear.

With a nod, we followed behind the massive polar bear through the hallway and up the stairs. I will not miss walking through these halls with my father, who took me to my training sessions daily. We continued down a hallway I hadn't been through before, then up another set of stairs.

I ran right into the back of the polar bear when it suddenly stopped, then motioned us all to stay back.

"Where is she!" yelled Father.

"She has been taken, sir," said a guard.

"Find her and bring her back to me now!"

"Yes, sir."

After they disappeared, we continued down the hallway and up another set of stairs to find the hallway full of guards. Guns went off as we sliced our way through; the guards could not beat five highly trained Werebeasts. Most of the Werebeasts are either soldiers from the military or were trained to become soldiers for the military; my father didn't think these things through when he started this project.

The door to the outside was pushed open. I froze in the doorway, peering through the door. It was completely dark outside, and all I saw was nothing but trees.

Charlie reached for my hand from the other side of the door. I was nervous about going outside… I haven't been outside these doors for over ten years. My clawed hand shook as I reached out and took his.

Charlie pulled me through the door at the same time; I heard my father yell, "Farah!"

I didn't stop as I followed behind Charlie. My feline eyes adjusted to the darkness as I became overwhelmed by all the scents around me as we hurried through the trees. We ran and ran through the forest until we came through the tree line, where I spotted a rusty old van with the letters VW on the front waiting on the side of the road.

One by one, everyone's animals melted away, revealing the men underneath. The man who was the wolf stepped towards me with a smile," Hello, doll face, the name's Kayden Silvers."

Kayden looked to be in his mid-twenties and was around six foot two, with amber-brown eyes and short charcoal gray hair with a matching well-trimmed boxed beard that framed his masculine face.

Feeling shy, I ran over to Charlie, who was pulling clothes out of a bag from the back of the van. He looked up when he saw me approach.

"Here, You are a lot smaller than the rest of us, but that's all we have for now," he said, handing me an oversized black shirt.

I nodded, "Thank you," I said, then slipped into the clothes. The shirt fell to my knees, but it covered everything.

Feeling nervous, I went to turn around but ran into a giant man who had to be at least six and a half feet tall, with long curly brown hair, green eyes, and dark tan skin. A scar marred his face, running from his right temple to the right side of his chin. His right eye was missing and sewn shut, and his whole body was covered in scars.

"This is Darwen, but we all like to call him Bear; he is the leader of our group." Said Charlie

His one eye scanned me from head to toe making me shiver. He reached out with his large hand and cupped my cheek, caressing me with his thumb. With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes, leaning into the unfamiliar soft touch.

I jumped when someone cleared their throat. I opened my eyes, then turned around to find everyone watching us.

"This is all sweet, but we need to get the fuck out of here," Kayden declared.

We all climbed into the VW, with me sitting beside Charlie while Kayden was in the middle and bear sat in the driver's seat.

"What is your name?" asked Kayden as we pulled onto the road.

"Farah," I replied.

"Hmm, what a cute name for such a cute girl," Kayden conveyed with a wink.

My face grew warm from the compliment.

"Farah, this is Jordan," said Fynn, motioning to the white-haired man who sat in the passenger seat.

Jordan was about six feet tall with shoulder-length red hair and had heterochromia; the left eye was green, while the right eye was hazel and pale freckle-covered skin. He turned around and waved at me; I smiled back, then wrapped my arms around my knees and watched out the window.

I remeber opening my eyes to find myself in a strange room with white walls and a massive wall made of thick glass. I sat up in the cot, noticing someone had changed my clothes; I was wearing one of those hospital gowns with matching paper shorts and fuzzy socks.

I was startled when I heard the boom, boom, boom from someone pounding; when I looked through the window, I gasped in shock at the sight of my twin brother Fynnigan in the room across from mine.

"Are you okay?" He mouthed.

I shook my head, "Where are we?" I asked.

Fynn shrugged.

I don't know how long it was before someone showed up. Fynn and I had been staring at each other with our arms wrapped around our knees when we heard a beep, and a familiar face came through the door at the end of the hall.

The man who walked in was a tall and skinny older man with long silver hair bound with a black ribbon at the nape of his neck, a long silver beard covering his face, and steel gray eyes. This man was none other than our maternal Father, Adam Swift.

Fynn and I had been sent to live with him after our mother died. I still remember coming home from school to find her covered in blood with a broken needle in her arm. Apparently, the broken needle acted like a straw and caused her to bleed to death. I still remember her soulless eyes and all the blood.

Father watched me through the window as he walked to my door, opened it with a scan of the key card, and stepped inside.

The man who walked into my room looked like a different person. He usually wore slacks, with a tucked-in button-up shirt and dress shoes, but today he wore a white lab coat over his clothes, and the look in his eye was less friendly than I remembered; now he watched me like I was a lab rat.

"Oh, my sweet Farah," he said softly, "I know you are scared, my dear, but it will be worth it after your transformation is done."

"What do you mean? What transformation?" I asked.

"I own many research labs around the US that have been experimenting with people and turning them into creatures called Therianthropes. You know, like lycanthrope but with all animals, not just wolves. I have been creating and training super soldiers. Weapons we can use to obliterate this stupid planet and reset the world into a better place. You and your brother will be the start of a new type of Werebeast; it's going to be fantastic." He said with a smile. "Now, Farah, you will follow me without any problems. You don't want anything bad to happen to your brother, do you?" He asked.

When I shook my head no, his face split into an evil smile before he said, "Such a good girl," then motioned for me to follow, "Now come on, I don't have all day."

Tears streamed down my face as I followed quietly.

Father led me down a hall and then stepped into a room where there was a large egg-shaped pod in the center of the room that was connected to two smaller pods. The one on the left held a beautiful golden Jaguar, whose eyes watched me as I walked by, the one on the right had a majestic bald eagle.

"What are the animals for Father?" I asked.

"These are the animals that we are going to fuse you with, my dear." He said with an evil smile. "The machine is going to suck out all of their blood, bone marrow, and a few other things. After that, we will put the blood and marrow into a special machine that will engineer their blood; we will drain your blood and replace it with the new animal blood."

He handed his clipboard to the nurse, then walked over to the empty pod.

"I need you to remove your clothes, then get into the pod," stated Father.

My hands shook as I removed my clothes, then handed them to the nurse. Once I was naked, I did what I was instructed to and got the pod.

My knees shook as I climbed the short ladder and lay down. Father pushed a button, and metal clamps wrapped around my hands and feet before I felt a sting in my neck, then everything went black.

I blinked my eyes open, wincing at the glare of the bright lights, then groaned from the ache in my body. Goosebumps ran over my skin as I shivered from the cold metal against my bare back, flinching when I felt the sting of a needle as the nurses took my blood and ran their tests. I wasn't sure how long I laid on that cold metal table before Father finally called it quits and sent me back to my room.

As Father pushed me in a wheelchair down the hall, I felt really groggy, then groaned as I rubbed my ears, trying to stop the ringing. When he wheeled me into my room, I noticed my brother was missing.

"Where's Fynn?" I asked.

"Your brother is in the pod now; he should be out in a week." He said, helping me to the cot. Then without a word, he turned and left the room after handing me a new set of paper clothes.

Once I was clothed, I laid back in the cot, then fell into a deep sleep.

I was delirious for the next few days as I became plagued with pain and a fever that grew worse every time I opened my eyes. Father checked in on me every day and brought me food and water, but it sat there untouched as I came in and out of consciousness.

I was startled awake when the door beeped open as Father entered the room, "Your brother has survived the transformation. He will be returned to his room soon." He mentions.

I must have passed out again, but this time when I woke up, I saw Fynn in his room, lying on his bed with his eyes focused on me. I was happy to see him again but wished he didn't have to go through this madness…But I was secretly happy that I didn't have to go through it alone…

It was a few days later when I woke up screaming in pain. I screamed and screamed as every bone in my body broke and then reshaped into something else. My muscles grew, skin stretched as white fur with black spots grew over my body.

My face lengthened before my teeth sharpened, and my nails became claws. I groaned as a long tail grew and my hands became paws. I gasped again when the skin on my back ripped grew from my back. I fell to the floor, screaming as two massive white feathered wings exploded from my shoulder blades, spraying blood all over the walls.

My body shook as I curled up on the floor, whimpering from the pain that pulsed through my body.