The girl whisked wildly around as a circle of soldiers closed in, some with weapons drawn and others barking orders she paid no mind. Her eyes glowed with fury as she balled her fists for a second round of fighting. A growl – husky and beastlike – escaped her lips as she scanned the hateful eyes of her captors. When she bared her teeth, Ze'ev could see long, saliva-coated canines that could barely fit in her mouth.

But that wasn't what kept his feet planted in place as if they were bolted into the floor. Something about the girl struck him like a bolt of lightning in his veins, a shock that refused to let his body even twitch. A headache bloomed in the back of his head as he tried to latch onto what about the girl felt . . . odd. But the more he pursued the thought, the more his head pounded with an aching pain.

"Wolf!"

The General's voice broke through Ze'ev's thoughts and alerted him to the situation. Three soldiers had their arms fastened around the girl while another two tried binding her with handcuffs. After a moment, he realized the General was asking him to help restrain the girl.

With a soldier's instinct, he followed the orders and approached warily. The girl was still thrashing against the other soldiers and managed to give a few bloodied lips and noses. While she kicked and snarled, the General took out a pair of steel cuffs and began pressing the buttons along the sides. Electric handcuffs, Ze'ev recognized.

"I'll need you to restrain that thing long enough for me to get these on it." The General said in a tone meant solely for giving orders.

Thing. Of course, this girl must have been a werewolf. Beady eyes, claws and fangs – everything about her screamed animal. Despite knowing that fact, Ze'ev still felt discomfort at referring to the girl as an it.

"How am I supposed to do that, sir?" he asked with the remorseless voice of a loyal soldier.

The General gave a dry grin. "You're the hybrid – what would retain you?"

Ze'ev had forgotten momentarily that the new blood in his veins was the very same that pumped through the red-haired girl's. That must have been why his instincts sparked just by looking at the girl. At least, that was what he told himself.

Brushing aside all thoughts other than his orders, Ze'ev finally analyzed the situation. The girl's motivation: breaking free. Her attributes: heightened strength, acute senses, and animal physicality. Her disadvantages: outnumbered 1 to 100.

He couldn't decide if her refusal to surrender was an advantage or not.

Ze'ev took a moment to recall his own, newly-modified body for a moment. Where he would strike in her position – and more importantly, where he wouldn't want to be struck.

"Her abdomen," Ze'ev reported to the General. "Right over her kidneys. She'll collapse onto herself and give us enough time to latch on the handcuffs."

"And how should we go about doing that?" the General asked seriously.

Ze'ev narrowed his eyes at the girl as she flung a soldier across the room with one kick. "Distraction. She's only attacking those in her immediate line of sight or ones grabbing hold of her."

The General smiled, pleased with the plan. "Then I'll leave the distracting to you, Cadet Wolf."

Something deep inside of Ze'ev perked up at the prospect of getting into a fight. A growl escaped the depths of his throat before he could stop it. Excitement? Was that what he was feeling? Excitement to fight with a girl half his size and already beaten by the hands of a hundred cruel soldiers?

His stomach turned. But his adrenaline spiked.

On the General's order, Ze'ev crept his way through the ring of other soldiers and made his way near the front. The girl had already tossed a dozen soldiers aside – bloody and disfigured, but mostly alive – and was skirting her sights around for her next opponent. Her hands were almost as red as her hoodie, staining her arms in splatter up to her elbows.

Up close, he could see how bright her eyes were glowing. They were the same gold eyes he saw in the mirror after his operation; alight with something that wasn't human. His new sense of smell picked up the waft of animal coming off of her and his own inner wolf shifted in response. It took all his restraint to keep his animal nature within him as he prepared the attack.

He noticed the General moving stealthily behind the girl and he saw his opportunity. Baring his teeth that had grown twice their original size, Ze'ev stepped out into the center of the ring.

The other soldiers parted ways as he snarled and a few actually moved their weapons in his direction. He didn't care. He barely noticed. His focus was trained solely on the thrashing red-haired girl and getting her attention.

It didn't happen like he thought it would.

She snapped around, teeth bared and claws at the ready. Ze'ev's instincts urged him to pounce, but his soldier thoughts kept him grounded. Wait for her to come to him. He prepared for her to lunge at him and widened his stance so he'd be able to take on the full force of her blow.

But instead, she faltered. Her eyes dimmed and her growl was lost in her chest. She stood staring at him in – shock? Shouldn't it have been fear? – while her body moved little more than lowering herself into a slight crouch. Her weight shifted to her back leg and put another centimeter of space between them.

Ze'ev recognized the stance instantly. She was backing off.

His animal subsided from his bafflement of the situation – despite how vulnerable that should have left him. Instead, the earlier alertness burning in his insides had become little less than a dying flame. She wasn't going to attack him; every nerve in his body was telling him as much.

He only wished they would tell him why.

Suddenly, Ze'ev's thoughts were cut off as the General took the moment of surprise between them as his opportunity. Leaping out from the crowd, the General aimed straight for the weak spot Ze'ev had mentioned. His fist barreled into her side with bone-cringing crack and the girl grunted as her legs gave out from the impact.

Within seconds, the General was on the girl and pinning her to the ground with the skills only a general could possess. Before she could even throw one punch at him, he had her wrists bolted tightly in his electric restraints and her body held down by other soldiers. It didn't matter; she wouldn't move as long as the fear of electricity remained locked around her wrists.

"This one's feisty," the General snickered as he lifted himself off of her. Weakened by his punch, her eyes had returned to their natural brown color and all remnants of her werewolf form had been washed away. "Get it up."

Two nearby soldiers hoisted the girl to her feet – or, more accurately, to her knees. One thing that hadn't changed form was the menacing glare she directed toward the General as he looked down on her.

"Take it to the cells," the General ordered harshly. Any trace of the joking personality Ze'ev had seen earlier was gone. "I want it ready to talk by morning."

In a last moment of rebellion, the girl spit at the General, earning her a swift knee to her stomach. Ze'ev felt his own body clench as she coughed up a spatter of blood onto the floor.

As the two guards made off with her, the General moved to Ze'ev's side and clamped a congratulatory hand on his back. Ze'ev barely reacted; his eyes were too focused on the girl casting him a lingering glance over her shoulder as she was dragged away. Only when they had turned the corner and out of sight, did he turn his attention back to the General.

"Nicely done, Wolf," the General applauded. "You'll be climbing the ranks in no time."

Ze'ev imagined a long time ago, he would have beamed at hearing such praise from his commanding officer. He would have craved the envious and respectful glares of his comrades. He would have felt proud for defending his brethren from a deadly threat.

But Ze'ev didn't remember that time. And all he felt now was the aching suspicion that he knew that werewolf.

This story was dying for an update. So here it is!

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