The following morning, Kimberly arrived at the zoo late once again. It was only a five-minute delay, but the weight of her supervisor's expectations made every second feel like an hour. She moved through the morning briefing with her head down and began her shift, her mind preoccupied by a singular, nagging worry.

  After lunch, Kimberly made her way to the timber wolf sanctuary for the afternoon feeding. Once again, she found Bo distancing himself from the rest of the pack. His lethargy was profound, a heavy stillness that felt wrong in the humid Louisiana air. Kimberly watched him, her brow furrowed with concern as she pondered the cause of his decline. She wondered whether the feeding schedule was inappropriate, whether the more dominant wolves were bullying him, or whether a viral sickness was beginning to spread through the zoo.

  Driven by a reckless need to help, Kimberly bypassed standard safety protocols. Ignoring the absolute rule that zookeepers never enter an enclosure with apex predators during feeding, she stepped through the gate. The other four wolves paused, tracking her movement, but they offered no aggression; she had spent months building a silent rapport with them.

  Kimberly approached Bo as he lay in the grass. As she reached out her right hand to offer a comforting touch, the gray wolf snapped. With a sudden, visceral growl, Bo sank his teeth into her arm. He immediately retreated to a far corner, hunkering down into a defensive posture.

  Kimberly's scream tore through the sanctuary's quiet. Two fellow zookeepers, Josh and Paula, heard the commotion and sprinted to the enclosure.

  "Let's get her out of here!" Josh shouted, moving with practiced precision to shield Kimberly while Paula guided her toward the gate. The rest of the pack remained eerily still, observing the human franticness with detached curiosity.

  "We need to take her to the zoo vet first," Paula insisted.

  They brought her to Dr. Phyliss Knight, the zoo's lead veterinarian. After a quick assessment, Phyliss looked at Kimberly with a mixture of relief and stern concern. "This is not too bad, but it could have been significantly worse. I am going to clean the wound, but afterward, you must go to the hospital. Out of an act of caution, you need a professional medical evaluation."

  Kimberly drove herself to the Bayou Mounds Regional Hospital. In the emergency room, the attending physician administered a rabies shot and a prescription for pain management.

  "So, how did this wolf manage to bite you?" the doctor asked while checking the puncture marks.

  "I went into the enclosure to check on him. He has looked sick for several days. When I reached out to pet him, he lashed out," Kimberly explained.

  The doctor paused, looking at her with disbelief. "You actually went into the enclosure? You are quite bold, aren't you? I do not think a drunk fool would have done what you just did."

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  "I understand how it looks," Kimberly said, shaking her head. "I was only trying to help. I have a special place in my heart for the animals I care for. I know what I did was reckless, but I thought I had built enough rapport with them to be safe. Apparently, I was wrong."

  "Alright, you are all done here," the doctor concluded. "If you feel any increased pain or develop other symptoms, please come back immediately."

  As she walked toward the parking lot, her phone buzzed. It was Kellen Harris.

  "Hello, sir," Kimberly said, bracing for the impact.

  "I thought you were going to make things better, Kimberly!" Kellen yelled through the speaker. "Hello? Answer me!"

  "I am sorry, sir. I made a terrible mistake. I deserve whatever disciplinary action the staff decides on."

  Kellen's tone leveled out, though his frustration remained clear. "Listen, nobody is getting fired, but you are receiving an official write-up. How bad is the bite? Are you able to come in tomorrow?"

  "I will be fine. I am coming in," Kimberly promised.

  "Fine. We will go over the paperwork right after the morning brief," Kellen said before hanging up.

  Inside the hospital, Sheryl Brown was preparing to end her shift. She had recently stepped down from her high-intensity role as an ER Physician and transitioned to Cardiology. The dual burden of being a werewolf fighting monsters and the life-or-death pressure of the ER had become unsustainable; she had opted for a change of pace to keep her human and Lycan identities in balance.

  "Did you hear about what happened today?" Dr. Jamie Custer asked, leaning against the nurses' station.

  "What is up?" Sheryl asked, pulling her coat from the rack.

  "A zookeeper came into the ER after being bitten by a wolf. From what I heard, she actually stepped into the enclosure."

  Sheryl paused, her instincts sharpening. "Really? Why would anyone do that?"

  "Crazy, isn't it?" Dr. Custer replied. "There has been a lot of off-the-wall stuff coming through the ER lately. You should be glad you are no longer in the middle of it."

  "I am. I will see you tomorrow, Jamie. I have to grab a few items from the store before I head home," Sheryl said.

  While walking the supermarket aisles, Sheryl called Derek.

  "Hey, Dee. How was work today?"

  "Work was work," Derek's voice came through the line, calm and steady. "I had to fix a few of the security systems, but nothing too serious. What about you?"

  "I am out of the ER now, but my coworker mentioned a zookeeper got attacked by a wolf today," Sheryl said. "The victim checked into the hospital earlier."

  "Yikes," Derek muttered. "Are they going to put the wolf down?"

  "Who knows," Sheryl sighed. "Anyway, I was just checking in. I will see you when I see you. I love you, son."

  "Love you too, Mom."

  Later that evening, Kimberly finally arrived at her River Falls apartment. Her boyfriend, Dale, was already waiting, his face flushed with anger.

  "What were you thinking? Are you high?" Dale demanded.

  "I could not help myself, Dale. Bo looks so helpless lying there. I had to do something."

  "I get it, but you have to understand those are dangerous animals," Dale snapped. "I do not care about your rapport. They are predators. Besides, it is not like you are in the best shape to escape a physical struggle."

  Kimberly's jaw tightened. "You really had to go there, didn't you? You know what? You can find yourself on the couch tonight. I am going to take a shower."

  "You know I am right!" Dale yelled after her as she retreated to the bathroom.

  Kimberly turned on the shower, the steam beginning to fill the room. Before undressing, she paused to look at her right hand. She unwrapped the bandage, staring at the puncture wounds. Beneath the skin, tiny, spider-like black veins were beginning to creep upward from the wound toward her wrist.

  "What is that?" she whispered, touching the darkened vessels.

  The heat in her blood was rising. The first phase of her transformation had begun.

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