Kieran Vale gasped as he lay sprawled across the ice, steam rising from his bare skin despite the freezing air. His breath came in short, uneven bursts, his chest rising and falling as his mind struggled to process what had happened.
The last thing he remembered was falling—the ice swallowing him whole, the unbearable cold sinking into his bones. But now, he was awake. Alive.
Slowly, he pushed himself upright, his fingers digging into the snow. He expected his hands to feel numb, to sting from the cold, but instead, his skin felt… different. Stronger. Tougher.
His senses tingled, his body thrumming with a strange energy he couldn't explain. The wind howled around him, but he could hear beyond it—the distant crack of shifting ice, the faint rumble of something moving far away. His nose picked up scents that shouldn't have been there—the sharp tang of blood, the musky scent of fur, something ancient lingering in the air.
"What… happened to me?" he whispered, staring at his trembling hands.
But before he could make sense of anything, a deep growl echoed through the wasteland.
Kieran's head snapped toward the sound.
A massive white figure emerged from the snowdrifts, its hulking form moving with unnatural precision. A polar bear. No—two. Their black eyes locked onto something near him, their breaths misting in the cold air.
Panic shot through Kieran's veins. He was unarmed, alone, and trapped in an unfamiliar body. He barely understood what had happened to him, and now he had to deal with apex predators?
His instincts screamed at him to hide.
Moving carefully, he backed into the cover of a jagged ice formation, pressing himself against it. He kept his breathing low, forcing his body to remain still. The bears lumbered closer, sniffing the air as if searching for something.
Their massive paws crunched against the snow, coming dangerously close. Too close.
Then, they stopped. Their gazes weren't on him.
They were staring at something else—the giant frozen mosquito, trapped in the ice.
One of the bears lowered its head and let out a deep, sorrowful growl.
And then, to Kieran's horror—
They stood up on two legs.
Kieran's entire body locked up as the two polar bears rose onto their hind legs, towering like humanoid beasts.
And then, one of them spoke.
"He didn't make it…" the first bear rumbled, its voice deep, guttural, and impossibly human-like.
The second bear let out a slow exhale, shaking its massive head. "He carried the Prehistoric DNA. We lost him twenty-five years ago, and now… we find him like this."
Kieran's mind reeled. The mosquito. They knew about it.
His breath hitched, but the slight movement made a noise—just enough.
One of the bears turned sharply, its black eyes narrowing. "Someone's here."
Kieran barely had time to react before both bears let out a snarling roar and charged.
The Birth of the Beast
Fear took over. Kieran's body moved on instinct, diving to the side as the ice shattered under the bear's crushing weight.
They were too fast—too intelligent. This wasn't just an animal attack. They knew how to hunt.
The second bear lunged at him. Kieran barely had time to throw up his arms—
And then it happened.
A thunderous roar erupted from his own throat, shaking the air like a primal explosion.
The bears froze, their eyes widening in shock. Kieran stumbled back, his chest heaving. "W-what was that?!"
But before he could even process his own voice, something ripped out from his back. A pair of massive, leathery wings.
Kieran collapsed to one knee, gripping the ice as pain surged through his body. His vision blurred. His muscles burned. The wings flared outward, their massive span blocking out the light. Prehistoric. Ancient. A beast reborn.
The bears hesitated, fear flickering in their eyes for the first time.
Kieran exhaled. His breath came out in slow, controlled bursts. Something inside him had awakened.
He looked at the bears, his voice steady despite his racing heart. "You're going to tell me what the hell is going on. Right now."
The Truth of the Wild Dominion
The first bear huffed, lowering its stance slightly. "You… you're not supposed to exist."
The second bear took a cautious step forward. "We are the Wild Dominion—beasts who evolved alongside humans in secret. And we were here, searching for our own."
Kieran narrowed his eyes. "Your own?"
The bear glanced at the frozen remains of the mosquito. "Twenty-five years ago, one of ours was carrying something ancient—a secret buried in the ice. Prehistoric DNA. And now, that DNA has found its way into you."
Kieran's pulse pounded in his ears. The hunger. The instincts. The power that erupted from within him.
Everything led back to that mosquito.
His fists clenched. "What does that make me?"
The bears exchanged a glance before the first one spoke.
"…Something we've never seen before."