"Ah, so good of you to join us finally!"
The rest of the nineteen wolves gathered in the room turned to stare at their alpha and beta, looking relieved she was finally here. Most of them, any way. There were some barely hidden angry or dismissive faces.
"I will never apologize for training on my own time, Dr. Orange. You know that gymnasium is pretty far from the rest of the complex." Zione stated, giving her pack a brief once-over to assure herself they were all really there, and nothing had maybe happened to them. She didn't know what was going on; Dr. Orange usually gathered them at the end of everyday and it was only 4:32 pm. Not that anyone could tell she worried behind the mask of Leader she wore.
"I wouldn't dream of an apology coming from you, Z."
This made her grin her wolf's grin and feel at ease again. If her theoretical father could still joke in his usual stoic but soft manner, everything would be alright.
She didn't bother to look for a chair. The room was mostly bare, too, like all rooms. The whole underground maze was like that - no frill, just what exactly was needed. 'Lycans' didn't need chairs, really, anyway. They gathered however they wanted, seated on the tiled ground or leaning against walls, knelt on the floor or stood to the side out of the way. Whenever they were together, it was easy to figure out who had what sort of personality.
She didn't stride to the front of the room either, like some of the dominants did to claim a spotlight or preen their own fur. Standing in the back of the room where she could keep an eye on all of them, a lot of the wolves in her pack were grateful to know Zione preferred to help avoid issues or ambushes by placing herself where strategy called for. Usually creeping over to knock someone upside the head who couldn't manage to hold ill-tempered words and actions in.
"Now that you are all here, I have some announcements to make to you all, of Batch Alphabet." Dr. Orange's words called for their attention, and they focused. He was the one who had overseen their creations and attended every 'birth'. One of his personal assistants, Dr. Chartreuse, brought over to him another clipboard and he flipped through the papers on it for a moment to read them over.
"With the success of our recent experiments - all of you, that is- we've decided that now is the time to begin our next stage. W.E.R has advanced to a new direction. It has now come under the moniker of W.E.R.& E - Wolf Experimental Research and Exploration."
A dreadful hush came over the whole of the wolves gathered, the kind of hush that could only come from a group of predators fallen absolutely still. Not a one of the moved; there was no usual whisper of rustling clothing and scraping adjustments in position. Were they hearing what he had actually said correctly?
Zione stared.
"Those of you here have been assigned to leave this compound and travel across the land to the sea in the west, and back. In actuality, this is what each and every one of you were designed for - we believe you are ready. There will be ample time for preparations and provisioning, and we will not be releasing you until we have done whatever tests are deemed necessary to ensure optimal health and gather our base data." Here, he flipped a page over on the clipboard, read again. "There will be bodily fluid samples taken, tissue samples taken, boosters and vaccines injected, individualized training, full psychological work-ups and every other thing under the mountains that we can think of to make sure this pack preforms its best out there. On the journey, we expect you to gather soil and plant samples, record weather and of course, keep track of radiation testing in the ecological regions we've assigned."
Whispers erupted. There was no order among them for a few seconds, though it was only in low and in whimpering or growling tones.
Zione snarled and they all hushed... sort of. The Others did without question.
There were a few of them that had actually taken hold with unexpected gender results. They all went silent, looking to their leader quietly. Something had apparently happened during the process that created them with their unique mix of male, female, and even completely sexless that also had linked them mentally with their alpha in spectacular experimental monitoring records - no matter whom it was. None of the researchers nor scientists that worked there had figured out why, but they all had theories.
The females all immediately as well - only because she had spent time singularly with each and every one of them to convince and upkeep reassurance in a listening ear and solemn advice. She had cultivated time in every sister by being their friend long before she had ever thought to enter herself in the male's contest for alpha. They all knew they were under her very promise to protect as ferociously with what she had at her disposal when she won, in order to keep the peace. This was her secret strength they all knew, yet her outward one to everyone was made clear as day in the power of her snap - they needed to shut up when she had to be a leader and tell them to.
Because it was the males she had to tell this to in her tone.
It was the males that were particularly prone to violence in the final series of werewolves in this top secret base. They usually began to show symptoms once puberty hit. She alone of the females had that same temperament for violence sprout once she had gotten her period. Unlike humans, their male and female sexual maturity peaked at the same time their mental maturity did. It was a genetic tweak, likely one of the 'designs' Dr. Orange had mentioned about them.
Not all of the males gave her their loyalty. She had not had as much time to dedicate once she had become leader, but only the girls cared enough to see that. There was so little to give to the any of them if she wanted to also tend to her own needs, and delegate alone with their handlers now to keep balance, a duty only the alpha was responsible for.
But suddenly, most of them with XY chromosomes had stiffened and thrust her at arm's length. That was the price she had paid among others after listening to her father's advice and entering the contest as soon as she had reached full maturity at 25. Only a few of them had decided to return and surrender their pack loyalty to her, and only one had not been offered a place in her pack. It was only proper for them, too, as the instinct of wolves was strong in them all. And she had been their friend.
Not all of them were given responsibilities, of course. But all agreed the outcast had been justified.
But her protection of him too made most of the even more sullen at her.
The ones who grumbled past her order of silence only did so to themselves for a few seconds. But here and now they still obeyed... however distastefully.
No one challenged her. They all knew -one way or another- the stats displayed on a wall on one side of the gymnasium that Dr. Orange had asked the brass one day to authorize, flashing to life every week at 6th day, at 0420. It was when the only schedule slated free time at 0400-0600 on 6th day every two weeks.
It would stay there, and to 1st day of the month.
Everyone knew she was at the top of their experiment names. Everytime.
In everything.