Kieran stood over the two towering polar bears, his wings still extended, his breath heavy from the raw power coursing through his veins. The wind howled, but his focus was locked onto them.
"Start talking," he growled. "What the hell is the Wild Dominion?"
One of the bears, the larger of the two, stepped forward cautiously. "We are the true inheritors of this world. While humans evolved alongside animals, some of us took a different path—one hidden from your kind. We are those who awakened, those who refused to remain beneath humanity's heel. We are the beasts that walk as men."
Kieran clenched his fists. "And what does that have to do with me? Why did you want that mosquito?"
The second bear, smaller but just as fierce, rumbled, "Because it carried the last piece of a lost power—prehistoric DNA. One of our own was entrusted with it, but they never returned. Now, it's inside you."
Kieran narrowed his eyes. "So what? You came here to take it from me? To kill me?"
Neither of them answered, and that was enough confirmation.
A deep growl rumbled in Kieran's throat, something not human, something old. "Then I have no reason to let you live."
Before the bears could react, Kieran launched forward, his wings propelling him with terrifying speed. His claws slashed toward the smaller bear, but the larger one shoved his companion aside, taking the brunt of the attack. Kieran's claws tore through thick fur, ripping into flesh, and the bear let out a deafening roar of pain.
The second bear, seeing an opening, turned and bolted across the ice.
Kieran snarled, tossing the injured bear aside like a ragdoll. "Oh, no, you don't."
He flared his wings and took off into the air, his instincts roaring at him to chase, to hunt. His vision sharpened, locking onto the fleeing polar bear. Each beat of his wings carried him faster, the wind whipping past his face. The bear scrambled across the frozen tundra, but Kieran was gaining.
For the first time, he felt free. The air belonged to him. The sky bent to his will. His power was limitless.
Until it wasn't.
His body seized. His wings faltered. A sudden wave of exhaustion slammed into him like a truck.
His breath hitched. His vision blurred.
"No… not now…"
His body spiraled, limbs too heavy to control. The ground rushed toward him, snow and ice becoming a white blur.
Then—
Darkness.
Kieran's consciousness flickered. Faint voices drifted through the cold haze of his mind. A fire crackled nearby, warmth spreading over his skin. He wasn't outside anymore. He was… inside a cabin?
His eyes fluttered open. Wooden walls. A low-burning stove. A stack of old weather logs.
He knew this place.
A voice broke through his thoughts. "Holy hell... It really is you."
Kieran turned his head. A man stood beside the fire, arms crossed, eyes wide with shock. Weather gear, thick coat, worn gloves—an Antarctic researcher.
Kieran's throat was dry. "Who…?"
The man took a step closer. "You don't remember me, do you? I'm Jack Holloway. I worked here when you did. But that was twenty-five years ago."
Kieran tried to sit up, but his body ached everywhere. "What happened to me?"
Jack exhaled, rubbing his hands together. "Everyone thought you were dead, Kieran. You vanished into the ice. We searched for weeks. Eventually, they declared you lost."
Kieran clenched his jaw. "And my family? My parents?"
Jack hesitated. His face darkened. "Kieran… your parents… they're gone."
Something cold gripped Kieran's chest. "What do you mean?"
Jack sighed. "Four years ago, there was an attack. No one knows who did it, but they targeted people with Beastborne blood. Your parents were among them."
Kieran's fingers dug into the blankets beneath him. His breath came slow and steady, but his mind was a storm of fury and confusion.
Twenty-five years lost. His parents—dead. And now, a world he didn't understand.