Chapter One
Birth of a Wolf in Eden

My name is Aislynn Cuan (pronounced ASH-ling Koo-awn). I am the Wolf of Eden and I've been a Master in the American Assassin Branch for only four years now, earning the title at the age of twenty.

The American Branch wasn't necessarily a difficult place for a woman to earn her place among men, but it was full of cocky, immature, boys who thought they were better than their female counterparts. I've had my fair share of bullies from my so called Brothers, but once you put a veteran Brawler down in the training ring at the age of sixteen, they tend to be a little nicer to you.

I didn't want the title of a Master when I was initiated - or even when I received it. I just wanted to serve the Brotherhood by keeping the peace of the people while giving them the freedom they deserve. It was thrust upon me after the Masters of the European Branches made the mistake of trying to fix a piece of Precursor technology.

One of the Swords of Eden.

So, our story starts there; a few months before my twentieth birthday.

I was more than a little jet-lagged when I entered the Hotel where the Brotherhood Conference was being held in Rome. My flight had a layover in the UK that had lasted two days and the Brotherhood there had a thing for staying up to all hours of the night and drinking until your Eagle Vision blurred into a mess that looked like Picasso's Starry Night. Being my stubborn self, I tried my best to drink the Head of their Branch under the table on the last day of my forced stay.

I won, barely, but it wasn't worth the hangover I was sporting.

"You should've just gave up, love," a strong British voice taunted in a sing-song voice.

I turned my bespectacled gaze to the tall man to my right and scowled, swatting his chest with my hand much harder than necessary and growled when he just chuckled at me.

He was very lithe for a man, but he specialized in stealth and fighting him was like trying to hold water in your bare hands. He just seemed to flow in and out of your range in close quarters and was faster than any of the Brothers I've had to spar with in my own Branch. He was a full foot taller than me at six foot, four inches and his green eyes stood out against his bright, thick, orange eyelashes, hair, and beard. Contrary to his native London heritage he was very tan, but he was covered in freckles.

Comparatively, my five foot, four inch frame almost seemed too bulky for the height. I was a Brawler, like my father before me, and it shows with my musculature. My dark auburn hair was stupidly thick, but I loved it. I kept the sides shaved down to a quarter of an inch and the rest of my hair in a two foot long Mohawk. If I parted it right, you would never know half of it was shaved off. My hazel eyes were large and round behind red wire rimmed glasses (damn astigmatism).

As I read over the email that had been sent by my literal brother, one of the Masters in my Branch, my long lashes rested against lightly freckled cheeks with lightly tanned skin and I messed with my tongue piercing before licking my plump lips with a tired sigh.

"We have about 5 hours before the Conference starts, Blaine." I scrubbed my face with my hands as he checked in with the Concierge of the hotel. "Enough time to shower and take a fucking nap."

"Aye, a nap sounds grand, doesn't it?" he mused while we got into the elevator. "T'will be nice to sleep without keeping an eye open, since the whole hotel is booked for us all."

I nodded while I hiked up my bag on my shoulder. "Every Master brought their civilian family with them, just to keep up pretenses and the hotel booked solid. Also helps that this is owned and operated by Assassins."

"By the by, girlie. Why did Master Benjamin send you? You said yourself that you're not a Master," Blaine questioned through a yawn as we got off at our floor and went to our shared suite. "Not that I don't enjoy your company."

"We've had issues with a rogue Templar apprentice who keeps trying to break into our Precursor Vault in New York." I swiped our card to open our door and tossed my bags on the couch while Blaine began looking through the Room Service menu. "The Templars of the New York branch have asked us to eliminate him, surprisingly."

Blaine stopped and turned to stare at me incredulously. "Really? Just for showing some initiative?"

I shrugged and ordered a pizza from a local parlor before going to the bathroom and starting the shower, leaving the door open. I've had to share a shower with men before. I have no shame.

"Apparently, what he has planned is dangerous to both of our organizations. Ben has the specifics, but wouldn't share them," I said as I stripped and jumped under the water, signing and visibly relaxing. I shut the warped glass shower door as I heard Blaine come in.

"You speak of Master Benjamin so informally," He noted while searching the bathroom for any hidden cameras or microphones. I turned the shower head on him when he opened the door to check the shower stall. "Oi! Bloody hell, you take your water hot! "

I smirked and shut the door, starting to wash my body of all the general nastiness you get after two days of not taking a shower.

"I like to boil myself until I'm well done," I said with a small chuckle. "Ben is my older brother, just by a year. We started training at the same time, he just showed more interest in becoming a Master. I'm more than content to stay as I am."

"Ah, that explains a lot." I heard Blaine distantly shuffling around in the suite, probably changing out of his soaked attire and checking for any bugs. It was silent for a few moments before I heard him shouting. "Do you have an outfit for tonight, you little harlot? I'll hang it up for you."

"Yes, it's in my large suitcase in a garment bag," I called back while stepping out of the shower and drying off. I wrapped a towel around my body and walked into my room of the suite, changing into a bra and yoga shorts. Right in front of the London Master.

"Nice nipple piercings and tattoos," he said with an appraising look. "How long did that sternum piece take, love?"

"A few hours, I think." I looked in the mirror that was on the back of the door and traced the black ink Assassin symbol that was hidden within twisting filigree that made an elegant design under my breasts and curled around the sides of them. "My belly button and nipple piercings are both 14 gauge, if you were gonna ask."

Blaine nodded and filed the information for later. He'd sent me a file on all of his tattoos and piercings, which he had many, before I left New York. My tattoo and piercings were less than a month old, so my international file hadn't been updated yet.

"I just want to reiterate that I am gay, also. I'm not checking you out or anything."

I scoffed and waved him away while I finger brushed my literal mane of hair. "I don't care, hon. If you were straight, bi, or pan, it wouldn't matter. I'm a panromantic demisexual. Gender doesn't matter, but the emotional relationship does."

"Alright." I waited for the inevitable questioning that always comes when I tell someone my romantic and sexual identity.

I was just closing the door after grabbing my first authentic Italian pizza when I heard Blaine yell, "Wait, you're a what now?" from the bathroom. I smiled and took my pizza and a bottle of water into the bathroom, sitting on the floor next to the man lounging in the tub and handing him a slice of pizza.

"Okay, I'll try to explain it all at once. You can ask questions after."

A few hours later, after the impromptu education and a long nap, Blaine and I entered the large conference room in our Assassin robes.

Blaine was in the traditional black trench coat of a London Assassin with a green sash around his narrow waist. He had a pale yellow handkerchief tied around his head with a simple white button-up under his jacket and black dress pants tucked into his boots. He had a multitude of weapons strapped on him person and his lone gauntlet holding his hidden blade was immaculately polished and well kept. His hood was down as a sign of respect and trust of his Brothers.

He looked like one of the Frye's Rooks from the Victorian Era and it suited him well.

I walked confidently beside him in my own formal attire. My long Mohawk was braided to keep my hair out of my face and to show off the swirls that had been shaved into the sides. My white button up shirt was unbuttoned to show a little cleavage (Blaine insisted that it looked pudish to have it buttoned up completely) and was tucked into pinstripped dress pants and under a black under-bust corset (not steel-boned, of course). I had the key to the New York Precursor site on a leather cord around my neck; a gift from the Mohawk tribe after I had helped them get more funding for their traditional events and programs for their schools. Around my waist was a deep red sash under a belt with the symbol of our Creed as my belt buckle. By boots had a small heel to them and clicked softly against the floor.

Over it all, was my emerald green Assassin robe. It was ankle length, had a deep beaked hood, and looked like something the great Edward Kenway would wear. My twin blade gauntlets were a familiar and comforting weight on my arms as I looked around at all of the other Masters here.

There had to be at least two Masters from each major Branch here... And then there was me. The New York Master's younger sister who was here because some Templars can't manage their apprentices.

Blaine noticed the worry in my eyes and clapped a hand on my shoulder as we walked to the table and found our respective seats. Thankfully, we were next to each other and, in a few moments, our introductions were brief. If it wasn't for Blaine, who I had come to see as a friend in the short time I've known him, I probably would've stuttered through my entire introduction.

Soon enough, the French Master stood and cleared his throat, gathering all of our attentions.

"My Brothers and Sisters. I've called this meeting to call a vote to an important matter." He paused to look around at all of the Representatives, receiving nods to continue. "We have found the broken Sword of Eden that was once held by Arno Dorian."

Blaine and I looked at each other in shock before looking around the room to see the other responses. There was murmurs of excitement between between us all, but I was worried. Something didn't feel right about this.

"The French, Italian, Spanish, and a few of the Mediterranean Branches wish to try and repair it using another Piece of Eden, but due to the instability of the energy within them, I've called all of you here to make a vote to it." He paused once again to look at us all and I felt my skin start to crawl as I laid a hand on Blaine's arm. "Please, think carefully, my friends. This could help us rise up against the Templars- "

"Or destroy the city in which you try to repair it," I said while standing up. I heard a few of the Masters make unkind remarks, telling me to let them talk about it. That I was just a stand in for my brother.

"Let the girl speak. She's earned her place among us and deserves to be heard as a Representative of the New York Branch and the Keeper of the Key to the New York Precursor site where Desmond Miles gave his life to save our planet," Blaine said in a surprisingly strong voice as he stood next to me. He looked down to me and nodded for me to continue.

"Achilles Davenport sought to collect Precursor artifacts and that caused the destruction of Vendredi and the loss of Shay Patrick Cormac to the Templars, which almost destroyed the Assassin Presence in the America's before we even had a foothold." I glanced around the room and saw a few of my Masters nodding and murmuring amongst themselves, but also listening to what I had to say. "We've also seen the havoc Pieces of Eden can cause through the Animus memories of the Frye Twins, Ezio Auditore de Frienze, Altair Ibn'la Ahad, and others thanks to the work of Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings."

"Young Lady, with all due respect, we think we can do this away from the larger cities in more remote locations." I looked to the old Spanish Master, who had stood and was leaning on his cane to address me. His voice wasn't threatening or authoritative, but it demanded respect much like mine did. "We've even considered Antarctica, Miss Cuan."

"You could hurt the fragile ecosystem there, Mentor, not to mention you'd have your Assassins far away from help should something happen."

"The Templars tried experimenting on one of the Apples before Evie Frye eliminated the scientist and she left for London with her brother. Her account of the event, and many others, spoke of intense and rampant destruction caused by the Piece." I gave Blaine a small smile as he spoke, appreciating his help.

The Spanish Master nodded his head. "All valid points. Anything else, Miss Cuan? Master Blaine?"

Blaine bowed respectfully and took his seat, but I had one last thing to say. "Even with our advanced technology, we may not be able to control it should it rebound. Just holding the Pieces of Eden in our Vault in New York, we have surges of power that sometimes knock the power out in a twenty-five mile radius. I implore you all to reconsider trying to repair the Sword. We can find another way to over power the Templars in areas where they have control."

After hearing similar stories from a handful of the fifty or so Masters, the vote was taken. I put my head in my hands and shook it as Blaine facepalmed himself hard enough to leave a mark.

They were going to repair the Sword.

A few weeks later, I stood at the Precursor site in Ireland with Blaine at my side.

I was angry beyond all reason and had refused to wear the formal attire that was , I was in a black tanktop, acid washed jeans, my sneakers, and a black beaked hoodie. The only piece of formal wear I had was the large Creed symbol belt buckle and my twin blades.

The French Master had a myriad of scientists who specialized in the Precursor Race there. Most of them were running about and setting up the oddest machines I'd ever seen. It all looked like a modern version of the portal machinery that was used in Hellboy that Rasputine used to open a portal between worlds. It made me growl under my breath and fist my hands on my biceps.

"This is a mistake," I said aloud to Blaine. "People are going to die today and none of them give a single FUCK!"

"The freedom to do stupid shite is included in the freedoms we fight to protect, sweetheart." He was just as angry as I was and also resorted to more civilian clothing for today, as well. "Hopefully, they'll be replaced with more reasonable people."

I shook my head and paced around while they finished setting up their mad science experiment. Ben didn't want me anywhere near it, voicing the same concerns I had, but I refused to stay behind while this happened. My gaze shifted over the rolling hills in the setting sunlight and saw a small town Blaine and I had passed through earlier a few hills over. We'd urged them to evacuate, but only time will tell if they listened.

Soon enough, the same Spanish Master that had let me speak showed up with his own Apple. It was going to be used to fix the Sword and I hated that I could feel the power from my spot across the field. It made Blaine and I visibly shiver as we shook off the nasty feeling.

The French Master started on a long winded speech about how this would make us the supreme power in Europe, and he thanked us all for supporting him, while the machine was started. The Apple was placed into a small incubator type apparatus and the Sword was placed within the magnetic field of what looked like a gyro-sphere. As the gyro-sphere began to spin around the Sword, the Apple began to glow in it's incubator. Blaine and I watched as the energy was sucked from the incubator, through the machines, and into the gyro-sphere that whirled around the Sword.

For a few minutes, it was just a constant low hum like the background noise in a city. Then, as the sword began to absorb the power surrounding it, it began growing louder and scientists began running between machines frantically. We heard alarms start going off and the scientists were calling out readings and instructions loudly. It was all starting to fall apart when the Sword started sending out destructive arcs of energy. Anything they touched was destroyed and, as a few scientists were hit, it incinerated them.

"We can't control it, sir! The Sword is taking all of the energy from the Apple! We have to shut it down." One of the scientists was unlocking one of the fail-safe shutdowns, a stereotypical huge, red button under a box of glass, when the French Master put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.

"No one will stop this," he growled. "No one will stop our progress!" He was insane, mad with some promise of power, as I watched him shoot more of the scientists who tried to hit the multiple fail-safes.

Blaine and I ran forward to start helping people away from the machine and stop the crazed Master. Blaine went straight for the Master to distract him, barreling into the Frenchman in a rugby tackle and a feral snarl. I helped the people away and to their vehicles. There were people under broken machines, hiding under tables, and ones who had just fallen into shock.

All the while, we had to dodge the arcs of golden power that darted around us with increasing frequency.

When the last civilian was gone, I turned to see the Spanish Master entering the brawl between Blaine and the Frenchman, helping to restrain the crazed Assassin. With the Old Master's help, Blaine got his blade into the Frenchman's head as I ran to them and the only unlocked fail-safe shutdown button. I slammed my hand on it, but nothing happened. I hit it a few more times, panicking more as each hit did nothing.

The machines were now powered by the energy of the Pieces of Eden and we couldn't stop them.

I turned to Blaine and the Old Master, to them both struggling to get away from the apparatus that held the Sword. The Frenchman had left a large wound on Blaine's leg and the Old Master must have been feeling his age because he could barely hold Blaine's body up. I rushed over to help them along, slinging Blaine's other arm over my shoulder and taking most of his weight.

Together, we made it about fifteen feet away before we felt the earth start to rumble. We turned to look and watched as the Apple disintegrated into nothing and the Sword was screaming with power. I could only hear my heart beating frantically and the roar of the energy in my ears as I thought of all the things I hadn't done, things I hadn't said, places I hadn't seen.

It was going to blow and we wouldn't clear the blast radius in time.

As the energy started to glow brighter and the roaring of it louder, I pushed both Masters down and covered them with my body, tucking their heads under my chin and hoping I could save them. Less than a second after, I felt the rush of heat and the explosion as the gyro-sphere couldn't contain the energy anymore.

After a moment of silence, I suddenly felt extreme pain blossom throughout my body. My skin felt like it was on fire, my ears were ringing so loud I was sure my eardrums were busted, and all I could see was white. I began screaming after trying to hold it all in. I felt it in my fingers, toes - my fucking hair! Everything hurt!

I remember hearing Blaine scream for me, he sounded so far away... Then, I felt like I was falling before there was just nothing.

Hello, child.

Who's there? Where am I? Did I die?

No, little one. Just asleep.

What happened?

You've absorbed the power that resided within the Apple and Sword while saving your fellow Masters.

I'm not a Master...

You are now.

Great... Absorb Precursor energy, go into a coma, wake up to a tedious ceremony. What the fuck... By the way, who the fuck are you? Why can I hear you?

I am who they call Minerva and I have chosen to speak with you within the ruins that you protect. Your Brothers brought you here in the hopes that being around our technology, you'd awaken faster. It's been two weeks, little Wolf.

Fuuuuuuck! Ben's gotta be so pissed at me for this! For making him worry...

Child, I do not have long to tell you what I need to. You have become a physical vessel for the energy within the Pieces of Eden.

That's kind of... Heavy. What does that mean for me when I wake up?

You will be able to change the world now, my little one. You can heal yourself from fatal wounds, manipulate people's minds, and lead them to their fates.

Lead them to their fates? Does that mean death? I kill people for a living - can I not lead innocent people to their death!?

Little Wolf, you will save Victorian London when she needs you most. When Jacob needs you most.

Who the fuck is Jacob!? Victorian London!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?

Don't be afraid to let your feelings interfere with this mission, Master Assassin.

Can you answer one fucking question!? And we thought Juno was bad, my fucking Gods.

You are now the Wolf of Eden. Protect your pack and stop the Rogue Templar.

Wait, Minerva! You're fading away! I can barely hear you!

You are destined for greatness, Wolf of Eden. Protect your Pack.

While I had been in that short coma, a Staff of Eden had been taken from the Vault by the idiot Templar Apprentice and his trail had gone cold. Ben informed me that we were in alliance with the Templars until we could locate and eliminate the Rogue. Until then, our collection was to be spread between the Branches to help keep it out of the Rogue's hands.

I was smacked when I asked if he was related to Shay Patrick Cormac.

My hazel eyes, which I loved so much, were now changed by the energy within my body. The outer ring of brown was now gold and the green around my pupil was a little brighter. It was still appealing, I loved them, but I missed them looking normal. I didn't need my glasses anymore, but I put fake lenses in so I could still wear them out of habit. Other than that and the constant tingling the energy left in my body, everything else was normal.

Blaine hadn't been to his Branch in weeks and I smacked him with my IV pole when he told me.

"Aislynn, I was just worried!"

"Go run your damned Rooks, I'm fucking fine!"

Despite what the nurses called violence, I did cry like a baby when he left for England. Ben had to pry me from Blaine's arms so he wouldn't miss his flight and Blaine was no better. We were a sad mess that day and my brother had no idea how to deal with me when I laid on the ground and cried back at our Branch HQ.

Four years passed before I could spend any substantial time with Blaine again, though we kept in touch and stayed with the other if we had a mission that was within our areas. I missed my best friend and was mildly jealous when he told me that he finally found a decent boyfriend.

Much to my dismay, the Spanish Master passed shortly after I awoke. His name was Manuel and he was survived by a large family that thanked me for saving him from the madness of the former French Master. Speaking of, his Branch is still under investigation to see why he pushed so hard for the Sword to be repaired when there are many Swords of Eden in our Brotherhood's possession.

Besides seeing Blaine off on his plane, I wasn't allowed outside of our Branch HQ until I had learned how to control the random bursts of power I'd have. Minerva wasn't kidding when she said I could manipulate people. It was scarily easy to do so and I had to learn how to school my own thoughts. I accidentally compelled a Novice to pants himself in front of his fellow initiates and had to issue an official apology to the poor kid. I still pay for all of his food expenses within the Brotherhood.

The healing was nice, but I couldn't control it and it came with a price. The first time it saved my life, I killed a fellow Assassin.

We were just sparring with our real swords as a demonstration to a class of Novices and he landed a deep stab wound to my abdomen. He had hit one of my ovaries and it was causing it to bleed heavily. He grabbed onto my shoulder in order to push me back and look at the wound, apologizing profusely. That's when I felt it.

He suddenly went slack jawed and his eyes began to glow gold. I felt a tingle spread from where his hand was to the stab wound, where gold energy was converging. I watched as the life left his eyes and felt my wound close. His body fell on to me, limp and lifeless, as the Novices screamed and ran for Ben and our other Masters. I just laid there and felt his body get colder and colder and hating the curse that I had been given.

I refused to spar with anyone with real weapons again.

When I turned twenty four and Blaine invited me to London in order to find the Rogue Templar, I still had no idea what Minerva meant. We had no major threats and the Brotherhood had more Masters than the Templars did. Our hold on the world was greater than their's, as well. Because of that, it just fell to the back of my mind and I forgot about it for a while.

So, when Blaine told me I had to use my Power to save Victorian London and both the Assassins and Templars by traveling back in time with the help of the Frye Twins and Henry Green, I just thought he'd been doing some really messed up drugs in his down time.

I had no idea I would actually go back to the Victorian Era and save the world alone.

Author's Note:

Hi, everyone! I'm finally jumping on the train for an Assassin's Creed: Syndicate story! I love Jacob Frye and I guess I'm doubly lucky that my boyfriend looks like him, too lol I started writing this because I have a little bit of a writing block for Bleeding Roses

I'm open to suggestions and reviews, so I hope you enjoy!