[A few hours ago: Katakam Wildlife Reserve]

Heaving, the shifter, who also went by the name: Alpha1, sat with his back pressed against an ancient cypresses tree close to the southern border of the Katakam Wildlife Reserve: the place that had held him in its confines, as a prisoner, until seven months ago.

Though bleeding from his forearm and left calf, he had never felt so free as he did now.

Zeng Liqin's dog had tried to take him down and failed. The stupid mutt had forgotten that he, Alpha1, was immune to silver.

The shifter closed his eyes and thought of his sister, his precious Ai-Jiejie. After abducting him, Liqin had told him that The Reach had not left a single one alive, but that had turned out to be a lie. Similarly, the alleged involvement of the Huangs in the fate that had befallen his family was a lie as well.

"You deserve to die, Liqin. And I will be the one to push you towards it." The wounded man muttered, shedding his worn-out T-shirt and turns-up shorts.

As the gashes left on him by Fangxi began to close, new, healthy skin replaced it. His mind conjured up images from the worse time in his life.
Even after ten years, all he could recall of the incident was blood, screams, and tears. He tried to erase the memory of the pain and torture that had followed right after.

'You have no choice, boy. Your kind has turned their backs on you. Who do you think The Reach belongs to, Hum?'

'I won't cooperate. You can't make me!'

Alpha1 chuckled mirthlessly. "I was such a fool. I shouldn't have believed that son of a bitch!"

The joy from moments ago turned to dust, and raw rage burned him up from within as he recalled the conversation he had heard between Fangxi and Cho, Liqin's assistant, almost a year ago.

'Zeng-Dage, your uncle wants to know how much longer until it's ready?'

'Damn it, Cho! We have just one purebred. A very reluctant one at that. It takes ten of us to contain him and a couple more to extract his blood.'

'Dage, why don't you ask your Shu-shu to send men for Haojun? He hasn't reached maturity and is, as of yet, unbound. With the two of them, our sales will skyrocket.'

'Do you think me a fool, Cho?'

'No, Dage.'

'Leave the thinking to those with a brain that they can count on, alright?'

'Yes.'

'Good. Now get the fuck out of my lab and tell Shu-shu that it will take a week before I can deliver Gshift to him.'

It then that the shifter had realized that his captor had lied to him. How Cho had spoken about the younger Huang heir seemed to suggest that the Huangs were not in league with Zengs.

The shifter had wondered what other lies he had been told, and the possibilities of what he might find outside his cage if he could just escape had renewed his drive to break free of the shackles binding him to the dungeon he spent most of the time in.

He thought long and hard about how he could make Fangxi lower his guard. The answer came to him a few days later.

He needed to change his attitude.

The shifter realized that he was chained, sedated, and kept in the deepest corner of the dungeon because he was adamant. Since the beginning, he had done everything he could to not get touched by The Reach's filthy hands. Everyone who had interacted with him was scared to approach him the second time around. He had maimed tens, if not hundreds, of The Reach's goons responsible for extracting his blood.

The shifter got to work immediately after. Pretending to accept his fate, he mellowed down considerably and started cooperating.

Eventually, after months of letting the reach poke and prod him, his captors started losing their lease, so to speak.
Their security grew slack even as The Reach started relaxing the restrains they had put on him.

Then, seven months ago, an opportunity had presented itself in the form of a visit from the 'new investors' who had come to look at The Reach's purebred shifter.

By that time, the shifter had perfected his act. In The Reach's eyes, he was no more a threat. He was as tame as a house cat, sitting pretty and enjoying the luxuries that the organization was only too glad to provide him now that he was cooperating with them.

Overconfident, Fangxi forgot what the shifter was capable of and didn't see the tables turn.

All it had taken was one tiny mistake for Zeng Fangxi to go from captor to captive. As the shifter held his claws to his as-of-yet captor's throat and dragged him out of the facility, no one dared to raise a finger.

Once outside, Alpha1 had rendered Fangxi unconscious within seconds; the enhanced human was no match for the shifter, who, after ridding himself of every piece of clothing on him, had shifted into a towering wolf of mammoth proportions and disappeared into the night.

The fence around the reserve was not strong enough to stop the supernatural being, who had left it behind even before the news of his escape had reached Liqin.

Wanting to unearth the truth about his capture ten years ago, hiding in the shadows and seeking refuge in the dark, Alpha1 had made his way to the Huang residence.

However, his sister's sweet laugh as she enjoyed her dinner with the Huangs made him stop dead in his tracks.

Doubt clouded his mind, and instead of confronting them, he waited till his sister walked out, hand in hand with Haoyu.

'Why is she leaning on him like that?' He wondered, watching her walk out of the palatial residence. A moment later, she let go, and out came a white and red cane, which she held proudly and waved at the elderly couple at the threshold without looking at them.
The following conversation between his sister and her mate had confirmed two things:

1. The Reach was responsible for stealing his sister's eyesight.

2. The Huang family was not involved in The Reach's unethical, illegal activities.

'Ah-Ai, it's been ten years. Haojun will be twenty-one soon.'

'I know; I can't wait to meet him.'

'And I can't wait for you to become a part of the Huangs. Officially.'

'Are you sure you will be happy spending your life with a blind woman? Ma tells me that you are popular with the ladies.'

'I don't care about them. You are the only one I want. Tell me that you know that.'

'I don't know...'

Are you planning to make me beg, my love?'

'Don't say that-'

'I am ready to beg. I am ready to do whatever you want me to do. Just say yes when the time comes, alright?'

'Alright.'

'Promise.'

'Yes, I promise.'

The shifter had thanked the powers that be for taking care of his sister. Shortly after, he had followed her home. Making sure that she was safe and not wanting to disrupt her life, he had chosen to stay away.

Over the next few weeks, the shifter had followed the news. The Cure pharmaceutical company had caught his attention immediately. Working in fields that required lifting weights and other physically challenging activities by day and investigating The Cure by night, the shifter bid his time.

Finally, there came a day when he had gathered enough courage to visit the reserve, after which he was planning to enter the facility and steal the documents that could prove the Huangs' innocence.

However, no sooner had he entered the reserve than the smell of blood and rot assaulted his senses. Deciding to shift into his animal form to harness the gifts the change bestowed upon him, he followed the scent.
He had slowed down when it dawned on him that each passing second was bringing him closer and closer to the underground facility: The Reach's headquarters.

Careful not to alert the enemy, Alpha1 had moved closer to the source till a frantic heartbeat floated over to him, making him stop and scan the area.
The darkness surrounding him had no effect on his vision, and he approached the man who was trying his best to crawl away from him, unnoticed.

Unfortunately, in his attempt to escape unnoticed, the man had slipped into a pit where he had stayed till the shifter, wanting to help the poor, seemingly-lost soul, had come and stood by him.

But before he could shift back into his human form, he had caught a movement from the corner of his eyes.

When he shifted to get a better look in the pit, surrounded by a dozen lifeless bodies, his eyes found amber pools swimming with tears. They were identical to his. Almost too identical.

'Another shifter!' The shifter's mind had supplied before conjuring up images of what The Reach could (and would) do to the boy if they got their hands on him.

Not wanting to see the same fate as him befall one so young, the shifter had rushed off into the dark, vowing to protect the scared man and the young shifter.

It was a good decision. For hardly a few hundred meters away, Alpha1 had run into Fangxi.

Liqin's mutt had obviously not expected to bump into the one he had treated worse than the sole of his shoe for years.

The two of them had gone up against each other, but the cowardly 'enhanced human' had fled without much of a fight after firing two shots of silver laced bullets at him.
It was as if Liqin's lackey was in a hurry, but to do what? Alpha1 had contemplated and continued to hang around. 

Soon, the place was crawling with familiar faces. Alpha1 could recognize them anywhere. He had seen all of them at one time or another over his ten-year stint in The Reach's prison.

"They must be looking for the shifter boy." Alpha1, who was now in his human form, had concluded and snuck inside the facility after incapacitating Cho and nicking the master key from him.

A little while later, just as he was gathering proof of The Reach's misdeeds, he had heard Liqin talking to Fungxi about their plans to take the Huangs prisoner. No sooner had he heard it that an idea started taking shape in his mind.

Alpha1 ran his fingers over the regenerated skin on his arm and smiled. "I have got you now, Liqin; you won't know what hit you or your precious facility when I am done with it."

[Chapter word count: 1793;
Word count so far: 30229]