Chapter 40

Third Person & Aria

Third Person

Sarah tapped her manicured fingers against her arm, her impatience growing the longer she waited.

The lab was dim this time of night, the faint light lamp on the nearby table barely illuminating the space. The air smelled like antiseptic, the lab having been freshly cleaned and abandoned for the night.

She glanced down at the stray dog Arthur had found in the junkyard and brought here, a pitiful thing with its ribs clearly visible beneath filthy, matted fur. It huffed and paced behind the glass door to the sanitization chamber, its eyes glazed over and its mouth hanging open.

Sarah wrinkled her nose at the disgusting thing and adjusted the mask covering her face. She’d always hated dogs, especially mangy ones like this. At least her disguise kept her from having to smell the thing.

“This had better work,” she muttered under her breath, checking her watch for the third time in the past two minutes. “We can’t afford any mistakes tomorrow.”

Arthur, standing a few feet away, pulled another treat from the pouch at his side and examined it in the light. On the outside, it looked like a normal bone-shaped dog treat with the ‘Lunar Labs’ logo on it.

But after some careful experimentation, Sarah and Arthur had slipped a secret ingredient into it.

A cruel smirk twisted the corners of his lips as he cracked the door open and flicked the treat onto the floor. “This one will definitely do the trick,” he said, watching with satisfaction as the treat skittered to a stop in front of the dog’s feet.

The dog lunged forward with surprising force, nearly slamming into the door before Arthur slammed it shut. Sarah inhaled sharply and stepped back, suddenly glad for the glass barrier between them. Arthur just chuckled.

But, for a long moment after the dog scarfed down the treat in one bite, nothing happened. Sarah watched, her eyes narrowing. She was about to tell Arthur to change the stimulant formula again even though they’d done it a dozen times now.

And then, all at once, everything changed.

The dog’s eyes grew wide and wild, its pupils dilating until they nearly swallowed the irises whole. It began to rage against the door, white foam forming at the corners of its mouth, its jaws snapping like it had just gone feral.

“Arthur, you’re a fucking genius,” Sarah whispered, her voice nearly lost under the sound of the snarls and vicious barks. “How long does it last?”

“Just a few minutes,” Arthur replied. “Plenty of time for what we need to happen tomorrow.”

Sarah’s lips curved into a satisfied smirk as she turned her attention back to the dog, which was still snapping and growling at them. “And you’re sure all the treats are ready for distribution?”

Arthur gave a nod. “Everything’s all set. We just need to wait for the right moment to hand them out tomorrow.” He paused, glancing at her. “Just promise that that boy won’t get hurt.”

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned away, leaving the feral dog behind her as she strode back toward the exit. Her work here was finished.

“Of course not,” she lied. “It’ll just give everyone a good scare, and Aria will be to blame.”

But really, Sarah didn’t care what happened to that kid at all.

…

Aria

I knelt in front of Lucas, smoothing down his wild hair for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. He wriggled in place, his boundless energy making it nearly impossible to get him to stay still long enough to finish the breathing exercises we had been practicing for the past few days.

“Remember what we talked about?” I asked. “If you want to come with us today, you have to promise to breathe. In through your nose…”

“Out through my mouth!” Lucas finished eagerly, puffing out his cheeks before releasing an exaggerated exhale that made me chuckle despite myself. “And count to three!”

“That’s right.” I smiled at his enthusiasm as I buttoned up his coat. “And when do we use this?”

Lucas furrowed his brow, concentrating hard as he thought about it. “When I get too excited… and feel my wolf trying to come out!”

I nodded, giving him a soft pinch on the cheek. “Exactly. You’re doing great, Lucas.”

From across the room, I could feel Darren’s eyes on us. I glanced up, catching his gaze.

He hadn’t been totally on board with the idea of bringing Lucas around all those people at first, but the poor kid was too excited to be left home, and besides, I had promised him that Lucas had a much better handle on his shifting now. So long as he kept himself under control and didn’t pet any dogs, he’d be fine. I was sure of it.

“Alright,” I said softly, tugging Lucas’s hat onto his head before I stood and took his hand. “Now we can go have fun at the park without worrying, right?”

“Right!” Lucas exclaimed.

The event was already in full swing by the time we arrived at the park a little while later. Colorful banners hung between the trees, fluttering lightly in the cold March wind, while food trucks pumped plumes of delicious-smelling smoke into the air, mingling with the sounds of laughter and barking dogs.

“This turned out amazing!” Lily appeared at my side, a massive cloud of pink cotton candy in her hand that was easily twice the size of her head. She grinned at me as she stuffed a chunk of it into her mouth. “The whole city showed up!”

I couldn’t help but beam back at her. Weeks of planning had gone into organizing this event, and seeing it all come together—families enjoying the stalls, children playing with their dogs on the playground—made all it all worth it.

And to think that this was only my first public project, too. I wondered if Darren would promote me from intern after this.

As we made our way around the park, Lucas tugged on my hand, practically vibrating with excitement. But I noticed the way he paused every now and then to take a deep breath, steadying himself whenever the urge to shift overwhelmed him.

“That trick you taught him… it’s quite good,” Darren said, materializing at my side out of nowhere.

“He’s a quick learner,” I replied, my eyes following Lucas as he ran toward the playground—the human playground, carefully avoiding the dogs—to join a group of children by the swings. “I thought it might be good for him. Give him a little more control.”

Darren nodded, clearly impressed. It was only then that I realized he was holding something behind his back.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed before I could ask what it was.

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me. Close your eyes.”

Reluctantly, I complied, rolling my eyes but doing as he asked. A moment later, something was pressed into my hands, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself holding a rather large and decadent-looking brownie from one of the baked goods stalls.

“What’s this for?” I found myself asking, although I was already opening it, my mouth watering to take a bite.

“It’s a thank you for everything,” Darren said quietly, running a hand through his black hair. “I don’t know. Humans seem to like sweets, so…”

Heat crept up my neck and into my cheeks, and I took a bite out of the brownie. It was delicious—impossibly decadent with dark chocolate chips and walnuts inside. Darren watched, his eyes flicking to the treat.

Without thinking, I broke a piece off and held it out to him.

“Here. I can’t finish it all myself.”

Darren’s eyebrows shot up, clearly not expecting me to share my treat with him. After hesitating for a moment, clearly weighing whether it would ruin his ‘Alpha diet’, he reached out and went to take it.

But before he could, the sound of a scream ripped through the air.

Not a scream of joy or laughter, but one of terror.

Without hesitating, I dropped the brownie and Darren and I shot toward the puppy playground, where the screams were coming from. We skidded to a halt just in time to see a group of kids running away, tears streaming down their faces as their parents scooped them up.

The dogs… they had gone crazy.

Not just crazy, but feral. What had just been a safe and peaceful playground was now filled with chaos, dogs racing around and snapping at anyone who crossed their paths.

But it was when Lucas came running up to me, out of breath and wondering what was happening, that it intensified.

As one, the dogs turned as if suddenly smelling his presence in the air. Time seemed to stand still as their eyes locked onto the little boy, lips curling to reveal fangs dripping with foam and spittle.

And then they began to charge straight toward him.