"You're one of us now."

I open my eyes. The world's still hazy to me. Where the hell am I?

"Really?" I shoot the first question I can think of into the darkness. A pair of stern yellow eyes with enlarged black pupils in their centers emerges from its black surroundings and glares back at me. I'm still in the interview room-cum-dungeon.

Figures.

Apart from the barren table and two chairs, various implements of kink are strewn about the floor. A rusty cage rests in the corner, its bars twisted from unnatural werewolf strength.

"Heh, not really. But you will be soon."

"Master Beta, is that you?" I venture, fully awake now.

The figure hiding in the shadows steps forward before me and into the light. I watch him in a mixture of awe and horror. He's tall, his gaze intense, and his skin trembling. He's trembling as he transforms midway. I see strips of cloth that once made up his business suit lying on the floor in tatters. Shreds of it still cling onto his painfully muscular body by some miracle.

He clutches his head, seemingly in a deep internal struggle. For what exactly, I don't really know.

I find my limbs subconsciously inching my body further and further away from him. If he's turning into one of those things, I want to be as far away from him when it happens.

"Rarghhh!"

I cringe. Blood instantly drains from my face as every muscle in my body tenses up.

Master Beta sinks to his knees, writhing, struggling, fighting with his lycan side. I clasp my hands together in a lame attempt at some sort of prayer. I've never considered myself the religious type, but after what I've seen - the werewolves - Even the staunchest atheist would fall to his knees asking for divine protection.

Suddenly he stops struggling on the floor like a fish out of water. Master Beta's body goes limp. My heart leaps at the sight of the lycan strain leaving his body.

He lies there for minute.

Is he dead?

Curiosity wins over my fear as I close the distance between us.

No, he's still breathing.

His eyes open in a flash and his body jerks upright in an instant. I scream.

Master Beta breathes heavily, watching me with exhausted eyes. He stands up, victor of his personal demons.

"It can be hard to control sometimes, especially when you've gone too long without the life-giving rays of the full moon."

"And I thought Master Oliver had it bad."

"Oh, him?" Master Beta casts a thoughtful gaze somewhere far away. "He hasn't gone on a hunt in ages, being busy running the company and all. We should bring him out one day. In fact, you should, when you're ready."

I get the shakes at the thought of going hunting with Master Oliver.

"At this rate, I'll probably never be ready."

He flashes me a wry smile.

"You'll be. Sooner than you think, Omega, sooner than you think."

"Omega?"

"All new initiates into the pack are given the rank and title of Omega."

"Wait, does that mean..."

Master Beta nods, sealing my fate.

"B-but how? I mean, I can't be a werewolf! I just can't!" The thought of losing control like all the other men around me drives me into a similar panicked frenzy, but for entirely different reasons.

"Remember when Alpha scratched you while he was inside you?"

I shudder at the memory, embarrassed that he knew yet at the same time slightly aroused by it.

"Yeah." I nod, not entirely sure of what he was getting at.

"That's pretty much it. His lycan strain is inside you, slowly changing you as we speak. Haven't you felt a little more aggressive lately?"

"NO!" I shriek, completely overcome by the thought of tearing Master Beta apart.

Our eyes widen. His in triumphant righteousness; mine in abject horror.

"Like it or not, it's happening. Alpha will be back soon."

He leaves me screaming as he closes the door behind him, his footsteps growing softer and softer into the distance.

I clutch my head, trying my best to control my misdirected anger.

It's the werewolf in you that's doing this, Amelia. Get a fucking grip!

I shiver, trying my best to breathe normally. The voice inside makes it much harder to stay in control of my body. It's fighting against me.

You know who I am, Amelia Phillips. And you know what I can make you do.

"Shut up!" My outburst fills the room. The voice hears it even if there isn't anyone else in the room. In fact, it's precisely because I'm alone which makes that lycan voice inside know who I'm talking to.

Oh Amelia, you don't mean that.

"Shut the hell up! You will never own me. Never!" I don't know if my desperate shrieks are futile, but at this point in time, it doesn't hurt to try.

We'll see about that.