Present Day
Humans liked to think they had total control over the world they lived in, that they were at the top of the food chain. In reality, many of the people they knew as leaders and celebrities were shifters that had achieved a mainstream lifestyle through my medicine, now labeled a drug by modern society. Weekly doses would ensure that a shifter could resist the transformation and choose to transform whenever they liked.
It was not a perfect solution. The voices of the beasts within them still called out, but their cries were reduced to a dull roar when taking my medicine. I never gave it a name, for the shaman that had bestowed it upon me never decided on one. The people who purchased it from me around the world took to calling it “Instinct.”
My secluded location in northeastern Russia made shipping one of the premiere costs of my growing business, but those costs were quickly balanced by the ludicrous rates shifters were willing to pay for their supplies of Instinct. To prevent copycats, I made all the batches myself, which meant that I spent a majority of my time in my lab in the bowels of the castle.
Centuries of lifetime had afforded me not only strength and brawn, but also a genius intellect in the field of medicine. I refined Instinct with each batch I created, and while others made pitiful attempts to recreate the recipe, no one has been able to touch my empire. My connections with shifters in powerful positions of government also ensured that my products made it across international and state lines without hassle.
As I perfected the formula for Instinct, I found ways to allow the strengths of the beast to meld with the human side. Even in my human form, I had impeccable hearing, however it was not consistent. I had a theory that it was only triggered by adrenaline. Danger was the only thing that could awaken the sleeping beast within me.
My hands shook as I worked tirelessly with the equipment that lined my lab. Winding glass tubes travelled from basins to flasks. The process was complex and long. A single batch could easily take eight hours or more. I would often work through the night, pausing to sleep only if absolutely necessary. I picked up one of the flasks that contained a mixture of fermented liquids and breathed in the pungent scent.
A loud crash came from the floor above me. I set the flask down as my heart galloped in my chest. I heard methodical footsteps as adrenaline flooded my veins. As I made my way up the darkened stone stairway to the main floor, my heightened senses kicked in. I heard the ragged breathing of beasts and the slow pace of a predator.
I carefully approached the door at the top of the stairs. With as little pressure as possible, I pushed the door open and looked through the sliver of light. Moonlight passed through the glass windows of the main hall. I couldn’t see the intruders, but I could hear them. I stepped out of the doorway and into the main hall. I heard the low growl of a beast to my right. I turned and saw a lion standing before me. It bared its teeth as it slowly approached.
Another emerged from the shadows to my left. These lions were a long way from home, they had to be shifters.
“Do you know who I am? I am Sergei Ivanov, creator of Instinct and last of the dire wolf clan! You will abandon your beast forms, or you will die by my hand!” I shouted.
The lion to my right leapt forward. Its claws dug deep into the flesh of my shoulder as I fell to the ground. I threw the lion off and relinquished control as rage consumed me. The beast within was more than happy to come forth. Thick fur ripped through my skin as my bones shattered and reformed. Instinct worked against the process, but with enough focus and a catalyst like danger, the beast would break free.
It was painful beyond measure. I could feel the very structure of my body, my organs, and bones changing. Perhaps the most terrifying aspect was the change in facial structure. My eyes shattered like glass and I was submerged in darkness as my entire head formed into a long snout and my teeth grew into thick teeth.
I stood to my feet as a dire wolf and looked through the eyes of a predator that hasn’t roamed this world for thousands of years. The two lions stood on either side of me. I had some control over the dire wolf, but its instincts were sometimes too powerful to control. I was forced to watch as the violence unfolded in moments like these.
The lions made the first move and charged toward me. I felt my legs clench and I shot off just as the lions closed in. I ran to the far end of the hall and spun around to face them. They regrouped and came at me again. My lips peeled back, and a fierce snarling bark came from deep in my throat. The lions showed no signs of stopping. The wolf took over and leapt with incredible speed onto the back of the right lion. It let loose a shriek of pain as my nails dug into the flesh of its back. I brought my open jaws down around its neck and bit with incredible force.
Even though the blood tasted bitter to me, the dire wolf relished in the flavor; it eased up on the bite for only a moment before clenching its jaw down again. The lion collapsed from blood loss and lay silent on the ground beneath me. I could feel the thundering rhythm of the lion’s heart as its blood filled my mouth. It soared and pounded fiercely as it clung to life, but soon I felt that life fade until there was nothing left.
I heard the other lion to my left and swung around to face it. The lion roared, sending a deafening echo through the main hall. I replied with deep howl filled with bloodlust. The lion and I stared each other down from across the main hall. The ecstasy of the kill still flowed through my veins. I was eager for another and ready to fight. The lion made the first move.
“Stand down!” A booming voice shouted.
The lion stopped and looked to the doorway. I followed its gaze and saw a towering black man standing in the entrance of my castle. He wore a pair of black pants, but his chest was bare. He had a long thick coat made from animal skin and fur. The moonlight glistened on his chiseled abdomen and his bald head. I looked back to the lion to ensure it wasn’t going to try anything while my attention was divided. It remained still.
“Return to your human form, now! Do it or he dies!” The man shouted. He spoke with a thick Creole accent that told me he was a long way from home.
He snapped his fingers and stepped to the side. Another, much smaller man in thick winter clothing stepped through the doorway with a man whose hands were handcuffed behind his back. This man I recognized. I had no choice but to shift back. Thankfully the lion did the same. I stood to my feet, naked and freezing as I faced the only connection I had left to the woman I ever truly loved.
The man was my son, Dmitri. Over the course of my centuries of life, his mother was the only woman that I felt truly bonded to. I did not believe in soulmates or destiny, but when I met her, I became a believer in the romantic story. Of course, she was human, and even knowing what I was, she still stayed with me until time wore her down to nothing. Our son was only half-shifter. He could not transform into a beast, but he still had the blood of the wolf within him.
It gave him instinct, strength, and the longevity that we shifters enjoy. When he mother was taken by death, I wanted to disappear into the folds of time and abandon my quest. Dmitri did not let me; he helped me find some kind of peace between the pain. He was my last connection to her. I would die before watching harm come to him.
“I stand before you, bare and unarmed. I mean you no harm, so long as you release my son,” I said.
The black man’s eyes went wide as he looked past me and saw the corpse of the lion I killed.
“You wish to speak like men, and yet you slaughter one of my own like the dog that you are? I should have you killed, but you’re no use to me or any of us if you’re dead. Instinct is a powerful drug, you were smart to keep the formula a secret,” he said.
“Is that why you are here, to try and steal the formula? Far greater men than you have tried. None of them left this place alive.”
The man laughed. “No, I am not here for your empire. I have my own clan to watch over. I am here because I have been a long time purchaser of Instinct and recently I’ve been missing my shipments. What’s more is that my supplier has mysteriously vanished.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I am Brakha, leader of the lion shifter clan in south Louisiana. When I couldn’t reach my supplier, I decided to go over his head and talk to the one in charge.”
“Well, Brakha, I fail to see how this is my concern. I do not handle shipment, only creating the product. I know you’ve come a long way, but I cannot help you. You’ll just have to deal with your problem yourself.”
Brakha growled and grabbed Dmitri from the other man’s hand. He pulled back his coat and ripped a long machete out of a sheath that dangled on his leg. He pressed the blade against Dmitri’s throat. The boy stood silent in the face of death.
“Without Instinct, I have lost many of my brothers. They turn and threaten to undo all the work we have done to stay secret! I have had to kill them myself to protect our people! The blood of my people is on my hands, and soon it will be on yours! The Black Hand will not stop with my clan, soon they will cut more ties until your entire empire comes crashing down! Without you, without Instinct, the humans will discover us, and we will be outnumbered. If you truly wish to see our people survive, then you will come with me and end this menace!”
“You have my attention, Brakha. I will come with you, but only if you release my son,” I said.
Brakha lowered the machete and sheathed it. “Your son stays here with my men. You will come with me and find the leader of the Black Hand. When she has been caught, we will return here and you will give me the Instinct that has been taken from me, at no cost.”
I had never been in such a situation before. In all my years I was the one with the power, with nothing to lose. Dmitri made me weak in as many ways as he made me strong.
“Very well, I accept your terms,” I said.
Brakha released my son to one of the other men. I looked at him and he looked at me. A thousand words were said with a single glance. He thanked me, told me to come back alive. I told him to cooperate until this ordeal was at an end. All of this was said in silent passing as I followed Brakha out into the cold.
“Shift and follow me. We have a long road ahead of us,” Brakha said.
Brakha turned into his lion form and I returned to my dire wolf. Together we charged off into the snow covered forest. For a brief moment my thoughts wandered to her, to Dmitri’s mother Svetlana. Every time I looked at him I saw her. If she were here, she would tell me to go and do what must be done. She would tell me to save our son. Wherever she was, I wouldn’t disappoint her,
I will do what must be done.