Lupine: Awakened-Chapter 9: The Threads of Us

**"The deeper I dig, the less of myself I find.

But in the dark, something else is rising—hungry, and it knows my name."**

Memories begin to stir—both hers and theirs.

As the shadows of the past creep closer, the Alpha Team starts to remember a girl in their dreams...

With only a few thousand people left in the world, finding her should be easy—right?

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Mikka

The rain hasn’t stopped.

It runs in silver rivers down my skin, washing away tears I never gave myself permission to shed. I stand on the rooftop and let myself feel it all—just like the wolf taught me.

The wind speaks a language only ghosts understand.

And now... I’m listening.

Every heartbeat is louder than it used to be. Sharper.

My name echoes in my skull—like a song I forgot how to hum.

And then... his name.

Thorne.

That name. That man. His one eye haunts the skyline... haunts my very core.

For a moment, I let the rain wash over me. I feel the chill in my bones, the tension coil in my chest, the city quiet beneath the storm. Nothing moves. And yet, everything is watching.

I glance across the city. A shadow flickers high above, barely visible through the rain. One eye catching moonlight. Calculating. Waiting.

My wolf growls, low and guttural. Not anger.

Anticipation.

This time, I don’t shiver.

My hands are steady now, though the ache in my chest remains.

The katana rests against my back like a second spine.

Below, the FREAKs haven’t moved since the howl. They twitch toward a sound—something subtle, predatory. My wolf stirs. My pulse sharpens.

They’re waiting for something.

I don’t know if it’s me—

Or what I’m becoming.

A plan forms in my mind, fleeting and instinctive. I’ll see him coming. And I’ll be ready.

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A flicker behind my eyes—brief, almost forgotten.

A laugh? A splash of water? Lucien.

The name coils around my mind like smoke curling through memory.

I push it aside. Not now. Not yet.

But the echo gnaws at the edges, sharp and insistent.

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"But first, we need to hunt... I am hungry," the wolf demands.

And my stomach growls in reply.

Another flicker in the shadows catches my eye—a movement too quick to be a rat, too purposeful to be random. My pulse spikes.

Thorne is out there. Watching. Always one step ahead.

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Jay

Her name won’t leave me.

Mikka.

We all heard it. We all felt the pull of it.

But somehow, I’m the only one it’s unraveling—from the inside out.

I’m still standing in that debrief room, but my mind is far gone.

The others don’t say it, but I can tell they feel it too—that whisper of recognition. That ache.

Philip grew clumsy, even just placing a cup in the sink.

Otto opened his journal, eyes blank.

Sage’s fingers twitched when he thought no one saw.

Malcolm absentmindedly touched his jaw.

Dave dangerously fell silent.

Third clicked his tongue, irritated at something he couldn’t name.

Gabby stared out the window, eyes searching nearby rooftops.

And Parker? He grew obsessed with the truth, spreading every piece of data from the folder across the living room floor.

I rub my temples. My heart isn’t steady.

Because that name... It did something to me.

Mikka.

She’s not just familiar anymore. She feels like home. Warm. Inviting.

Yet... someone already occupies that warmth. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Cristina," I whisper. The memory burns.

She was the warmth I still have in this cold world.

A volunteer in Research and Development. Reckless. Brilliant.

She talked about hope like it was science. Like she could bottle it up and hand it out.

...Until a FREAK got to her.

Two years ago, Cristina went on a mission she shouldn’t have taken. They said the island was safe.

It wasn’t.

Now she lies in quarantine, surrounded by steel walls and hushed prayers.

Infected. Pregnant... and fading.

I visit when I can, but what do you say to someone carrying your blood when tomorrow isn’t promised?

I feel like a traitor. To Cristina. To myself. And to Mikka, somehow...

Why is she part of that guilt again?

Since I saw those black eyes, I can’t shake the feeling I knew her—from somewhere. A long time ago.

A past life, maybe?

Before I can go deeper, the earpiece crackles. General Speed’s voice cuts through:

"Calling Alpha Team... Alpha Team. Lieutenant Moll, I need you and your boys in my office... The Founder has called... We have a mission."

The urgency in Speed’s voice yanks me back.

The others snap out of their dazes.

We bolt from Parker’s apartment into the rain, toward the General’s office.

Let duty drown the ghosts—for now.

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Philip

I used to dream of a girl who hummed in her sleep...

I only remember that now—standing at Parker’s sink, spoon halfway to my mouth.

It hits me so hard I drop the cup.

It shatters.

So does something in me.

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Otto

A lock of dark hair, tucked in my journal.

It smells like autumn.

I don’t remember putting it there...

But deep down, I know it’s from a girl I met before.

Though I still can’t remember her—only my journal does.

And that’s the problem; my journal couldn’t talk.

It could only remember...

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Sage

That song again...

It plays in my dreams. Soft. Off-key. Beautiful.

"Stay with me, stay ’til the morning..."

I don’t remember her face—just her voice.

And how she tuned a cracked radio... to static.

That song stays with me.

And I’d give anything to hear it again.

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Malcolm

I touch the scar on my jaw.

Then the dream returns...

A sparring match in the rain. She was faster. She won.

Kissed my cheek like she always did.

That wasn’t a dream... was it?

Losing her—maybe that part was real.

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Dave

A rooftop. A girl. Her feet swinging in the wind.

A dream...

"You think I’m broken?" she always asked.

"No," I always said. "You’re just sharp."

...Now I know why I never stopped scanning rooftops.

I’m still hoping to see her again.

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Third

Always blood on my knuckles. No wounds.

Just a dream. A girl holding my fists.

"Don’t lose yourself," she’d whisper.

It always gave me chills. Her voice. The comfort it gives...

Now it feels more like a scar.

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Gabby

I painted a girl with storm-colored eyes once.

No face. Just those eyes. Again and again.

She haunted my dreams.

But even there, I knew—

She wasn’t a ghost.

She was someone I believed I lost.

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Parker

I stare at my surgical tools.

Eyes sweeping through them then the folder...

My hands don’t usually shake.

But now?

They tremble.

I dreamed of a girl in a hospital bed.

Hooked up. Barely breathing.

I begged her to wake up.

She did.

But she looked at me like I wasn’t the one she wanted to see.

Still—I stayed.

Because deep down, I knew I loved her.

I just didn’t have the courage to say it.

So maybe... this is regret. Just disguised as fear.

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Mikka

The wind howls louder.

Something in me answers.

I feel the threads of who I was stretching through the night—reaching. Tethering. Drawing lines between us all.

"It’s starting," the wolf whispers.

I feel a different kind of shiver—

Not from cold. Not from fear.

Anticipation.

I’m not the only one waking up.

They are too.

*********

Chapter 8:

Jay

“They called it a cure... but at what cost?”