The Taint of Wolves

Snow or Rain

Chapter One: Snow or Rain

A beast stood in the reflection of the mirror that stretched from one to the other, from ceiling to floor. Long, pointed ears swiveled at the noise that echoed behind it and a long and powerful muzzle curled into an irritated snarl. 

A man's obnoxious laugh. The hiss of a cigarette crushed in an ash-tray.

As I titled my head, the beast did too. I was an ode to the Lycan race, a beast the mirrored the size of their Alpha, but I was sleekness and hidden strength. 

Dark, cold eyes – my eyes, blinked balefully back at me. They only ever brought down the mirror when I was in this form. My human skin, my true self was just a distant memory in the back of my mind. 

A light flashed above the mirror and like the trained, docile dog that I was, I fell back into the centre of the room. Wickedly sharp talons clicked against the stone floor and I moved like a mirage, sitting back as the mirror began to slide upwards. The mechanics were beginning to squeak and I shivered at the noise, ears pressing tight to my skull. The sound shredded at my brain.  They would have to fix that soon.  

 The mirror vanished to reveal a thick pane of reinforced glass and a squadron of doctors behind it, standing together in the observation room that was always attended. The glass was marred from all my previous attempts to break through. Thick gouges were cut into it, but no matter how hard I hurled myself against it or what talons I ripped from my knuckles in my attempt to cut through it, the glass never broke. 

Hatefully, I watched them.

A woman stepped out from them, smiling indulgently at me. Doctor Mai – a woman who doused herself in lavender perfume and never let a single hair stray from her immaculate bob. "Turn back 112."

My form rippled and dark fur shrunk beneath painfully dull skin. I shrunk and withered, my muscles dampening down, my nose shattering and reforming along with my jaw. Shrinking into almost nothingness compared to the raw power of the beast's body. My spine snapped into place as I straightened, teeth gritted against that shivery feeling. 

"No please?" I asked dryly. "Did your mother teach you any manners?"

Doctor Mai, or Doc Mai as I called her, smiled sardonically. "As you can see gentlemen, prisoner 112 has a sharp tongue. One we haven't been able to curb."

I pouted, resisting the urge to gag at the smell of her perfume wafting in through the vents. "Its been a week since your last visit. I thought you forgot about me."

Doc Mai didn't deign that with an answer, but she rarely did. The condescending expression on that face of hers was a perfect mask.  I longed to shatter those cheekbones beneath my heel, to rip out her eyes as she screamed...

I blinked coolly, examining the doctors.

Some I recognised, some I didn't. The ones I knew were the veterans of my cell, used to my rages and quirks. The new ones were excited to work on me - to pull me apart and see how I worked. They would have been warned that I was dangerous, but they wouldn't listen.

They never did until I was gored a few of them.

An older male stepped forward. I didn't recognize him. He examined me with open curiosity and I did the same, my gaze level and emotionless while my mind whirred. The shoulders of his lab coat were damp. His hair was stark white, his hands brittle and covered with liver-spots. He smiled hesitantly at me.

I looked to his shoulders again. Was it raining? Snowing?

"How are you?" The man croaked, his voice somewhat...kind? "My name is Jones."