Pain unlike anything Ethan had ever experienced tore through his body. His bones felt like molten metal, muscles stretching and reshaping themselves beneath his skin. The burning in his blood had become a raging inferno, consuming everything he thought he knew about himself.
"Fight it!" Rhea's voice seemed to come from far away. "Don't let the wolf take control. You need to guide the change, not resist it!"
Another spasm dropped him to all fours. His spine arched unnaturally, clothes growing tight as his body began to transform. Through the haze of agony, he could hear footsteps approaching from both ends of the tunnel - military boots from one direction, the silent predatory movement of vampires from the other.
"The first change is always the hardest," Rhea spoke urgently, her hands steady on his shoulders. "Your mind wants to reject it, but your blood remembers. Focus on why you're fighting. Remember the children, remember your purpose!"
Images flashed through his mind: Sarah's trusting eyes, the other children he'd helped escape, the ones still in danger. The military's dark experiments. His own transformation from protector to prey. The rage that had been building since his betrayal suddenly found a new channel, merging with the primal force trying to emerge from within.
His vision shifted, colors bleeding away into sharp contrasts of grey, but with newfound clarity in the darkness. Scents became overwhelming - the musty tunnel air, Rhea's strange not-quite-human smell, the cold dead scent of approaching vampires, and the familiar military-issue gunpowder and kevlar.
"That's it," Rhea encouraged as his body continued to change. "Don't fight the wolf - work with it. You're not losing yourself, you're becoming what you were always meant to be."
The transformation accelerated. Bones cracked and reformed, muscle and sinew restructuring themselves. His clothes tore as his frame expanded, dark fur sprouting across his skin. The pain was still intense, but now it felt more like a release, like breaking free from chains he hadn't known he wore.
"Contact!" A military voice echoed from one end of the tunnel. "Subject 7 is... what the hell?"
"Hold your fire!" Richards' voice commanded. "We need him alive!"
From the other direction came Lilith's amused purr. "Oh my... the pup's first change. How delightful."
Ethan's consciousness wavered between human thought and animal instinct. The wolf wanted to fight, to tear into the threats surrounding them. But his human mind recognized the tactical situation - they were trapped, outgunned, and he had no idea how to control this new form.
"Listen to me," Rhea's voice cut through the chaos in his mind. "The wolf's instincts know what to do. Trust them, but keep your human mind in control. Find the balance!"
The transformation completed with a final surge of power. Ethan rose to his full height - now nearly eight feet tall in his hybrid form, a perfect fusion of human and wolf. Thick dark grey fur covered his massively muscled frame, his hands now ending in razor-sharp claws. His elongated jaw housed rows of gleaming fangs, while his eyes burned with an intense amber glow in the darkness. His military training merged with predatory instinct, analyzing threats and plotting escape routes even as his new form thrummed with raw power.
"My God," someone whispered. "The serum actually worked."
"Take him down!" Richards ordered. "Non-lethal rounds only!"
"I think not," Lilith's voice carried an edge of hunger. "This one belongs to the old blood now."
Ethan's first act in his new form was pure instinct. He grabbed Rhea and leaped straight up, powerful legs propelling them toward a maintenance grate in the tunnel ceiling that his enhanced senses had detected. Steel gave way under his newfound strength just as gunfire erupted below, vampires and soldiers clashing in the confined space.
They emerged into an abandoned subway maintenance room, alarm bells screaming in Ethan's sensitive ears. Every sensation was overwhelming - the smells, the sounds, the feeling of raw power coursing through his transformed body. Each movement felt both alien and natural - his enhanced muscles responding with explosive power, yet maintaining a predator's fluid grace. His heightened senses mapped the space around him with crystal clarity, creating an almost three-dimensional awareness of his surroundings.
"Well done," Rhea said as he set her down, her silver eyes studying his new form with professional interest. "But this is just the beginning. Can you still understand me?"
Ethan tried to speak, but only a growl emerged. Yet his human mind was still there, processing and analyzing. He nodded instead.
"Good. The first change is the hardest to control. It will get easier with practice." She checked her weapons with practiced efficiency. "But right now, we need to move. That little skirmish we left them won't keep them occupied for long."
As if to emphasize her point, an inhuman shriek echoed up through the broken grate, followed by gunfire and the sounds of combat.
Ethan's new form moved with fluid grace as they made their way through the maintenance room. His digitigrade legs propelled him forward with surprising speed and silence despite his massive size. His senses mapped every exit, every potential threat. The wolf wanted to turn and fight, to test its strength against the hunters below. But the soldier in him knew better. Live to fight another day.
"The safe house isn't far," Rhea said, leading the way. "Once there, I can teach you to control the change." She paused, glancing at his shredded clothing. "And we'll need to make some... practical arrangements for your new condition."
[To be continued...]