A/N: I usually don't explain details of my fics because usually, I think they're very self-explanatory, have already been mentioned in previous chapters or will be revealed in later ones. However, before people are confused about picking 'Smith' as a last name for Thorne and Cress which I assume is the case from some of the comments, let's remember the desert scenes in 'Cress' when Cress and Thorne were found by Jina, Kwende, Jamal, etc. Who pretended to be married and gave a fake last name? And which last name was it again? ;)

And since I'm already writing my author's note, I definitely appreciate reviews. So, please, if you enjoy this fic or my other fics, take time to review. Thank you.

"Morning, love."

Cress angled her head, so Thorne could place the expected kiss on her cheek, hardly looking up from her fashion magazine. She knew she could use her powers to browse the same magazine online but she enjoyed turning the thin pages, placing dog-ears on her favourite pages and making a few notes on the newest trends (though she skipped the blue braids that were so popular at the moment). She wasn't particularly interested in buying something new but she enjoyed the simple routine to start her day.

"Morning," she greeted back, taking another sip from her coffee.

Thorne looked over her shoulder. "I like this one," he said, pointing to one of the dresses she had marked with a deep-cut back. His voice dropped to a raspy whisper. "Though what you're wearing now is my favourite. Aside from wearing nothing, of course." He easily evaded the slight jab to his ribs, making his way to the counter to prepare his own coffee and toast.

Not without blowing her a kiss that should be infuriating but instead made her laugh. She shook her head as she looked down at what she was wearing at the moment - Thorne's shirt.

And not very much else.

Of course he would like that.

"When's the baby shower again," Thorne asked between bites, taking a seat across from her her. He was already showered, dressed and styled. Then again, he had the time since he didn't mind leaving a mess in his wake. Cress could bet the bed was still unmade and all the bottles and tubes he used were still uncapped and lying around the bathroom. She told herself not to be too bothered by this habit.

"At five. You think you can make it?"

Thorne's schedule was erratic as hers, though hers was due to her superhero activities. She was grateful that Thorne's job wasn't the usual nine-to-five—it made her irregular hours less suspicious.

"Sure." He didn't look very excited about this though. "What about you?"

She gave him a cheeky grin. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I think I might make it on time."

Thorne's response was an exaggerated sigh. "Bummer."

"Oh come on, you like Carina and Anthony."

He swallowed before answering. "I do, but I can't say a baby shower is my idea of a fun evening." His features suddenly lit up. He wagged his eyebrows mischievously. "Not like yesterday. Now that was what I'd call a fun evening. What do you say, can't we just ditch the whole baby shower thing and do something that is really the only fun part about the whole baby business?" He looked incredibly pleased with his idea.

"Ah-ah, no chance. We're going. And don't think I don't know you're joking. You bought the biggest gift basket in the shop. As if you would miss out a chance to present it to the Kennards." Cress had only shaken her head at the exorbitant gift basket Thorne made the lady at the baby store put together (though Cress hadn't been able to resist any of the tiny baby socks, the pretty keepsake boxes or the stuffed animals, either). Thorne really knew no limits when it came to stuff like that. Her fingers went up to her neck, playing with her new necklace. She couldn't say she minded this habit of his at least. Then something occurred to her. "I didn't know you could have a baby shower after the baby is born?"

"It's not common but possible. And Carina apparently didn't feel well enough to have a baby shower in the weeks before the birth. I think they had a more private celebration with their families then." He shrugged. "I'm fine with just a few friends."

"Me too," Cress agreed. She was still struggling to make friends in New York where everyone had a busy but fairly regular schedule. She, on the other hand, worked as an independent IT consultant. Not even close to what she had her degree in, but her new powers made it possible. And that way, she could pick her jobs as needed, explaining the odd hours to Thorne. But without any regular contact with co-workers, she so far had no luck integrating herself into any social circle. Even Carina and Anthony were just their neighbours.

"So five o'clock it is." He finished his toast and the last sips of his coffee. "I'll be on time to pick you up." He walked around the table to kiss her head. "Love you."

"Ahem." Cress pursed her lips pointing to the plate and cup Thorne had left on the table. "I thought you were at least trying to keep the kitchen clean, Thorne."

"You're right, babe. Sorry." To his credit, Thorne seemed sincerely sorry. He immediately grabbed his dishes and carried them to the sink where he rinsed a bit of water on them.

Cress didn't like nagging but there were a few things she knew were important if you were living together and basic cleanliness was part of it. Still ... "I'm not asking too much of you?"

Thorne turned to face her, considering her question. "I feel you're not asking enough," he finally said with a smile.

"Okay. Well, thank you for trying to keep the kitchen clean."

"Well, thank you for not making me do my bed every morning." He glanced at his watch. "Okay, I gotta go. See you later."

She pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Bye."

He left and Cress finished the rest of her breakfast, tidying up her things and a few of the things that Thorne left behind in the bathroom. As much as he cared about his own appearance (and his part of the closet was actually way more tidy then hers), Thorne certainly was messy about many other things.

She linked herself to the net to place the order for the brownies she wanted to bring to the baby shower when an emergency alert popped up in front of her eyes.

Mutant alert in Brooklyn ~~~ Lone wolf monster threatens civilians ~~~ Mutant alert in Brooklyn ~~~ Police advise everyone to avoid the area in and around Prospect Park

Cress cursed, dropping everything she had been holding, her mind whirring, jumping from security cam to security cam until she caught sight of the wolf monster on one of them.

By the time, Cress exited her home, she was already Satellite.

Even for an omega, he was fast and strong. The betas and gammas she had encountered were usually at least to some degree predictable in their movements but the single-minded viciousness of the omega in front of her threw her off. His sharpened claws had already cut into her skin several times.

Satellite might be faster and stronger than Cress ever was but she was no match for a wolf monster. Not without a power that let her attack.

Blood seeped through her suit, the injury not life-threatening but certainly slowing her down. She tried to keep him occupied, so he wouldn't run off to hurt any civilians that came his way, but it became harder and harder for her too keep up with the omega's attacks.

And she had no idea what to do.

This wasn't at all like her trying to snatch back some priceless artefacts from Captain. He might infuriate her but he never ever tried to hurt her.

Out of breath, she jumped out of reach and into a nearby tree, just to give herself a few seconds to ponder her options. The omega snarled, his grin evil as he knew that he was superior to her.

"Tsk, tsk, little hero. Afraid of the big bad wolf?" He taunted her in a voice that, despite the heavy Middle Eatern accent, was way to smooth for the likes of him.

He was a far-cry from being big. More puny than the other wolf soldiers but that wasn't helping Satellite at all. He was still stronger than her. Her hand pressed to her side and she cursed, knowing she would have to try and hide the gash from Thorne for days to come.

Thorne.

Whenever she was in a fight like this, she tried not to think of him. Thorne, who was her beacon of love and hope and normalcy in this new crazy world she lived in. Thorne, who had no idea what double-life his wife was leading.

Thorne, who—she was scared to admit to herself—she might never see again if she didn't find a way to stop the wolf monster.

The omega didn't seem to be too bothered by her hiding. "You don't want to play anymore, little hero?" He pouted in an exaggerated way that made his deformed features stand out even more. "I liked you as a weak little plaything. I wanted to play with you some more ... after I defeated you and you begged me for mercy."

Satellite shuddered at what his husky tones implied. She frantically thought of something to do. It didn't help that they were in a park where, aside from a few security cams, there was nothing she could use her powers with. Despair ran up her spine in cold waves. Even if she were in the middle of a computer room, there was nothing she could do to defeat him.

Absolutely nothing.

In a dark corner in the back of her mind, a little voice whispered that maybe that was the reason she was so focused on Captain.

Because he was the only other super-powered human she actually had a chance against with.

And maybe that was just because he never actually tried to hurt her.

Her hands gripped at the bark, trying to rid herself of anything that would throw off her focus. No more thoughts of Thorne, no more thoughts of Captain.

It was just her against the omega.

"If you don't like to be my plaything anymore, I'll have to find someone else." He sniffed and snarled, his posture exuding brutal confidence. "Like the policemen and women waiting outside, too scared to face me. I wonder what they'll do if I meet them? What do you think?"

"They'll shoot you on sight." Which was the practice now with anyone who had superpowers and who threatened people. No mercy with the bad guys, no chance to apprehend them and give them a trial. Basic human rights didn't extend to the likes of super-powered terrorists, as the press were quick to call them.

Even from afar, she could see the glint of the omega's fangs. "Maybe so. But how many will I rip apart until someone manages to actually hit me? Five? Twelve? All of them? I think I would like to find out ... since you're not inclined to do anything but pretend to be a hero."

He turned around with a grin that chilled Satellite to the bones, before crouching down and darting through the meadow towards the outskirts of the park.

Cursing, Satellite leaped down from her tree, frantically following him. He was faster but pure despair kept her on his heels. She linked herself into the park's computer system, hacking herself into every security cam and power distributor, into every lamp surrounding their path, overloading them so they exploded one by one when he passed them. Shards and pieces of plastic rained down at him, sparks of electricity singed at his hair and clothes.

It did nothing to stop him.

It was still enough to distract him just enough so Satellite could jump at his back, throwing off his balance. Her hands grabbed at everything she could reach, his hair, his ears, the corner of his mouth. He howled when she managed to poke his left eye and Satellite felt something wet on her fingers.

His claw-like hands grabbed at her, tearing at her suit and threw her so far away that she was rammed into a tree. Pain shot up her body but on pure instinct, she let herself roll away, his sharp nails grasping at the earth where, a second before, her head had been.

"You bitch!" His voice had lost every bit of the smoothness. "You'll pay for that!"

Satellite leaped away from him but her movements were sluggish and she had lost her bearings. Her foot caught on a rock, almost causing her to tumble down a slope.

The omega used that split second to tackle her and together, they fell down the rocky hill, his sharpened fangs only inches away from her neck. Her superhero suit was strong and durable but Satellite knew it was no match for those fangs. One wrong move and he would tear her throat to pieces.

Then it was over and the rolling stopped.

The omega was on top of her, pinning her down.

He leaned down and Satellite could smell a sweet perfume wafting off of him. Then she felt his finger, stroking her neck in an almost affectionate fashion. His firm grip made it impossible for her to turn away. "Got you," he purred.

His face relaxed and with his striking green eyes, though one of them bloodshot where she had managed to hurt him, she could almost see the man he had once been. Maybe not quite attractive, but handsome.

Somehow, this scared her more than his deformed wolfish features ever could.

He howled in triumph, his animalistic sound echoing off into the distance. "Time to die, little hero. I promise, I won't make it quick." His hands started to wrap around her throat and where they had caressed her before, they now squeezed the air out of her. Satellite struggled, trying to throw the omega off her but he effortlessly pinned her down, her throat racing with pain. Her lungs slowly realised that they weren't getting any air, burning with every breath she didn't take. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. Pitiful sounds escaped her mouth in an attempt to get some air.

She was about to die.

Defeated by one puny omega because she was so, so powerless.

She started to lose consciousness, the pain in her body, that had been so all-encompassing before, slowly fading away. Her mind spun, images of her father, so far in Beijing, of Thorne who didn't even know that his wife wouldn't be able meet him at home, of Captain whom she wished would save her like he did once before—

—when she heard the most deafening roar and suddenly, finally, the weight of the omega was thrown off her body and Satellite's lungs grasped for air before her mind registered that they could. Painful, heaving gasps of air, that hurt even though they saved her life.

In the distance, she could hear a fight, growling, skin ripping, but it took a few more moments for Satellite to gather her bearings enough to understand what she was seeing.

A masked man, taller than she had ever seen, fought the omega.

And the omega ... was losing.

He snarled and hissed but even with his sharp claws, he was no match for the new fighter.

The new fighter. A superhero like her.

Next to him, she couldn't believe that she ever thought that the omega was fast and strong. Now his movements seemed sluggish, his attacks never hitting their mark. Whoever the new hero was, he effortlessly combated the omega. The only thing they had in common was their viciousness as they clawed at each other, drawing blood. Nothing told her what the new hero's super power was aside from that immense strength and agility.

Satellite clutched at her throat, the pain fading away into a dull reminder where the omega's hands had squeezed. She knew she had only survived by sheer luck and not due to her own powers but right now, she was just glad to be alive.

The fight ended abruptly when the hero threw the omega against the rock wall. The grating sound of snapping bones sickened Satellite and the omega lay at the ground at a twisted angle, his back broken. His yelps and whimpers clutched at her soul and Satellite had to turn away.

The new fighter stared at his broken opponent, his fists clenching and unclenching. His profile allowed Satellite to see the hints of something wolfish in his mask design. When he turned around to face her, green eyes that were too glaring and too striking to be natural were visible behind his mask.

Eyes that were like all the other wolf monsters she had encountered before.

With slow steps, he approached her. Huge as he was, Satellite gave into her first, not very super-heroish instinct and scrambled away.

He stopped.

A few moments filled with awkward silence passed, only interrupted by the ragged breaths of the omega as he struggled to stay alive.

It didn't last long.

The new superhero looked back to the broken figure, which now laid completely still. Beneath the mask, Satellite could see his jaw flex in agitation.

Pity washed over Satellite though she couldn't tell why. She struggled to her feet. "Thank—" A coughing fit took over her, her bruised throat burning like fire. She heaved, gathered saliva in her mouth and swallowed it in an attempt to sooth her throat. It helped a little, so she tried again. "Thank you ... for saving me," she croaked.

He kept standing where he was, probably worried she would step back again if he tried to get closer again. Satellite gathered all her courage and approached him. He was even taller up-close, everything about him should be fierce and scary.

But instead, his features was tinged with sadness.

He growled at her thanks. "Are you alright?" His voice was raspy and thick with an accent that Satellite would place somewhere in the Middle East. Just like the omega. She had no idea what to make of it.

She nodded. "How did you find me?"

"I heard his howls." He pointed to the omega. "They led me here."

"Oh." A pause. "Who are you?"

His eyes gleamed behind the mask. "Wolf." A small grin allowed her to see his fangs, just for a second. She could hardly suppress a shudder.

"I'm Satellite." She gave a small wave. He didn't return it. "So, um, Wolf then. What a coincidence. Wolf, wolf mutants ... right?"

A flicker that Satellite thought could be amusement crossed his features. "No coincidence. They're engineered to be like me."

When Satellite realised what he had said, she gasped. "You're the alpha!"

Her father was convinced that those engineered wolf mutants had to got their DNA from some source. Very likely, a superhuman being like Satellite, Captain, Mechanic or Red who had gotten their powers during the Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse. They all displayed the same powers and their appearance was grotesque, inhuman. As if their bodies hadn't been able to handle the change.

Depending how well they did handle the change though, Satellite had gathered, they referred to themselves by ranks which repeated themselves within each pack. Betas, gammas and omegas. But none of them so far had been an alpha.

Or rather, the alpha.

Staring at him, it was no wonder that whoever came up with the plan to use his DNA to engineer a whole group of super-powered humans had picked Wolf. The sheer power he radiated was incredible. If a simple omega had managed to overpower her, she couldn't imagine what the alpha was capable of.

It made her once more realise how unassuming and weak her own powers were. No one would pick her powers to replicate, that was for sure.

Wolf was shuffling his feet, like he was uneasy at her realisation. "Word has spread of that, then?"

It didn't and she didn't want him to worry about it. Without her connections to her father, she wouldn't have known either. "No, just ... I have my sources."

He cocked his head. "What are your powers?"

Dread washed over her. How could she tell him about her dumb powers when he was the alpha? She already felt so insignificant in his presence. "Um, it's just cyberpathy."

For the first time since he appeared, Wolf seemed hesitant. "Cyber ..." He trailed off.

"Cyberpathy," Satellite repeated. "It's when you can control any kind of electronic or digital signal. Like hacking into computer systems with my mind," she supplied when he still seemed confused. It seemed the easiest way to explain even though her powers could do a bit more than that.

"Interesting," he said even though Cress could tell he hadn't exactly grasped what she had told him.

Satellite gave a short laugh, though it scratched her throat. "Yeah right. It didn't help me against him."

Wolf glanced back at the omega. As if against his own will, he walked towards the figure on the ground, kneeling beside it. "There aren't many who are a match against one of them. Even just an omega." With his mask on, Satellite couldn't read any of his feelings but the low voice held a myriad of emotions she couldn't guess at. "Least of all one as vicious as him. Not all of the pack members revel in the violence like he did."

"You know him?"

"His name was Ran." He suddenly fell very still and only then did Satellite notice how much he had fidgeted up until then. He didn't say anything for a long time and when he did, his voice was hushed. "He was my brother."

Brother? She looked down at the omega. His face was still etched with viciousness even now and Satellite couldn't believe that the blood-thirsty monster who had almost killed her was the brother of the hero who had saved her. It didn't seem possible but there was no reason to doubt him.

Though her fingers were shaking, she put her hand on Wolf's shoulder. He tensed for a second before she felt his own gloved fingers reaching up to touch hers. The moment didn't last long but it was all that Satellite had to offer.

"I wish our mother wouldn't find out about what happened to him." Wolf pulled himself up but even though he still towered over her, he didn't feel as tall as before.

Satellite had met some superheroes since the Lunar eclipse. When she visited her dad in Beijing, another super-powered human, Inferno, had set some districts ablaze with his fire powers. Afterwards, together with Thorne in Paris, another villain manipulated the electricity around him, allowing Voltage to lay waste to everything around him. In the first fight, a superhero called Mechanic was barely able to defeat Inferno by replicating the powers of both Satellite and Captain. In the second, Satellite had teamed up with Red.

No one, neither hero nor villain had revealed anything about themselves. Not like Wolf had just done. For someone as strong as Wolf, Satellite was surprised that he left himself so open.

So vulnerable.

Hearing the sirens in the distance, Satellite knew it was only a matter of time until the police would enter the park. They would find the omega and by running tests and matching his DNA with international databases, they would surely find out who the omega had been.

And possibly, they would find out who Wolf was too.

If there were no records though ... "Leave it to me. Don't worry, no one will find out who he is ... was," she corrected herself.

"What?"

Satellite cleared her sore throat. "I can hack into the police's database. Obscure every evidence about who he has been. Whatever they might find, it won't lead back to him, or your mother ... or you."

Disbelief crossed over his face, clear enough so Satellite could detect it even with his mask on. "You can do that?"

She pointed to herself. "Cyperpathy. I told you that's my power." She shrugged. "You saved my life. It's the least I can do."

He looked like he wanted to argue but thought better of it. "Thank you." He suddenly tensed. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air around him. "We can't stay here much longer. The police are entering the park from several directions."

Satellite surveyed the meadow and the group of trees beyond but as far as she could tell, the park was still empty. "How can you tell?"

He pointed to himself. "Wolf senses," he told her with the hint of a smile on his lips. It took Satellite a few seconds to realise that he had mimicked her. "We should split and hide until they pass us by. Alright?"

Astonished that he'd run his plan by her like her opinion mattered, like she could veto it, Cress could only nod dumbfoundedly.

Wolf pointed in one direction. "I'll take this route. If you keep close to the trees in that direction"—he pointed back to the way she had come in before she and the omega had fallen down the slope—"you should be able to escape without being noticed."

Satellite had no reason not to trust him. "Thank you." Preparing herself to climb back up the slope, she turned back to Wolf. "For everything. Stay safe, Wolf."

He nodded. "You too, Satellite." He glanced a last time back to the body of his brother. Satellite caught him saying something in a different language she couldn't place (it wasn't Arabic but maybe Hebrew?) before turning around and running off faster than Satellite had ever seen someone run. Already he was beyond her field of vision.

Her body ached but she did as she was told. She crouched down and jumped up the slope. With her having broken all the security cams, she couldn't use them to survey the route of the police, but she was small and despite her injuries, fast enough.

Soon, she was at the outskirts of the park and gone.