Jessica's awareness returned with the overwhelming sensation of darkness. An all-encompassing, bone-deep cold that seemed to seep into every cell of her body. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but she forced them open, only to be met with darkness so complete it might as well have been blindness.

  Water—no, something thicker—surrounded her.

  The fluid pressed against her skin, its icy touch sending waves of panic through her body. Jessica tried to gasp, but her lungs seized as she realized there was no air to breathe. Yet somehow, impossibly, she wasn't drowning.

  Where am I? What happened?

  The forest. The light. Kevin and Salina. The memories flickered through her mind like a broken film reel. They'd been in Blackwood Park for Kevin's astronomy assignment, and then... nothing. Nothing but this freezing liquid prison.

  As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Jessica made out the curved walls of what appeared to be a tank. The transparent material gleamed with a faint, eerie luminescence. Beyond it, metallic walls pulsated with subtle purple hues that cast bizarre, shifting shadows across her suspended form.

  This isn't real. This can't be happening.

  But the constant, rhythmic hum of machinery told her otherwise. This was no nightmare she could wake from. The sound vibrated through the liquid, through her bones, through her very being—alien and wrong in ways she couldn't articulate.

  Jessica tried to move her arms, but they drifted uselessly in the viscous fluid as if trapped in amber. She kicked her legs, but met the same resistance. Panic bloomed in her chest, spreading through her veins like poison. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, each beat a desperate plea for escape.

  Let me out, let me out, let me out—

  Something stirred within her. Her werewolf nature surged beneath her skin like an electric current. Her muscles spasmed, tensed, and ached with the need to transform, to break free.

  Jessica squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus through the haze of terror. The cold liquid seemed to dull her senses, making everything feel distant and muffled. But underneath that artificial calm, she could feel her body rebelling, fighting against whatever sedatives might be in the fluid.

  With each passing second, her awareness sharpened. She could sense the dimensions of her prison now—barely larger than a coffin. The thought sent another spike of panic through her system, but this time, it brought something else with it. Strength. Resolve. Rage.

  A distant memory surfaced—Salina's voice during one of their midnight research sessions after Jessica had been bitten.

  "Werewolves are survivors," Salina had said, flipping through a book at the library. "When threatened, their instinct to live overrides everything else."

  Right now, Jessica needed to survive more than she needed to remain human.

  She let go of her resistance, allowing the wolf inside to rise. Heat flashed through her freezing body, a welcome burn that pushed back against the penetrating cold. Her fingers tingle, the nails lengthening into claws she couldn't see but could feel scraping against the transparent walls of her prison.

  Even in this half-state, not fully transformed but no longer fully human, Jessica felt stronger. More alert. Her senses heightened until she could detect subtle currents in the surrounding fluid, hear the mechanical sounds beyond her tank with crystal clarity, and smell the sterile, metallic scent of her surroundings.

  And something else—something she'd recognize anywhere after that night in the woods when her life had changed forever.

  Fear.

  Not her own, but nearby. Human fear with its distinctive sharp tang. Kevin. Salina. They were here too.

  The realization hit her like a physical blow. Her friends were trapped somewhere in this nightmare, possibly in tanks just like hers, helpless and afraid. The thought was unbearable.

  Jessica strained against her confinement with renewed determination. The wolf howled inside her, demanding freedom, demanding action. This time, she didn't fight it. Instead, she channeled its strength, letting it flow through her limbs as she pressed her palms against the transparent barrier.

  The material felt strange under her touch—not quite glass, not quite plastic, but something stronger, more resilient. Whatever these aliens used to build their ships, it wasn't from Earth.

  Aliens. The word echoed in her mind, finally acknowledging the impossible truth. Aliens had abducted her. They all had.

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  In Moon Valley, whispers of UFO sightings were as common as supernatural rumors. Jessica used to roll her eyes at Kevin and Salina's theories after she became a cheerleader. Their breathless excitement over every strange light in the sky or unexplained phenomenon. Being popular meant being practical—not chasing fantasies about little green men.

  Also, the strange alien pink blob monster attacked them at Moon High during their night detention. It made them realize they weren't alone in the universe.

  Now, suspended in alien fluid aboard what could only be a spaceship, Jessica wished she'd paid more attention to the sky.

  The humming changed pitch, growing louder. The purple light pulsing through the walls intensified, bathing her tank in an eerie glow. Something was happening. Something was coming.

  Jessica felt her heart rate spike, her muscles tensing to prepare for... what? She did not know what these creatures wanted, why they'd taken her, or what they planned to do. But one thing was clear—she would not float here helplessly and find out.

  The wolf inside her snarled in agreement.

  Jessica's fingertips tingled with a strange electricity as she pressed them harder against the transparent wall. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, drowning out the mechanical hum of the alien ship. Each pulse pushed more of the wolf's strength into her limbs, her body responding to the primal call of survival.

  Now or never.

  She drew back her arm as much as the viscous fluid would allow, then slammed her fist against the barrier. Pain shot up through her wrist, but the material held.

  Jessica gritted her teeth. She'd need more power. More of the wolf.

  Closing her eyes, she thought of everything that mattered—Kevin's nervous laugh when he showed them a new conspiracy theory, Salina's eye roll that never quite hid her fondness, her father's weathered face waiting for her at home. She thought of Moon Valley, of cheerleading practice under the afternoon sun, of the life she wanted to return to.

  Then she let the wolf rise further than she ever had before.

  Her bones shifted beneath her skin, a sensation both agonizing and exhilarating. Muscles expanded, tendons stretched, and her jaw ached as canines elongated. She didn’t fully transform—she couldn't, not submerged like this—but she was closer to the beast than she'd ever allowed herself to be while conscious.

  Jessica opened her eyes, knowing they now glowed with an amber light visible even through the murky fluid. She pulled back both arms this time and drove them forward with every ounce of her supernatural strength.

  CRACK!

  A spiderweb of fractures bloomed across the transparent material. The sound reverberated through the liquid, sharp and promising. She struck again in the same spot; her clawed hands leaving deep gouges where they connected.

  CRACK-CRACK!

  The fractures spread wider, the integrity of her prison compromising with each blow. The surrounding fluid shifted, currents swirling as pressure changed. Something beyond the tank wailed—an alarm, perhaps, or some alien system registering the breach.

  Jessica didn't care. One more hit. Just one more.

  With a feral snarl that released a stream of bubbles from her mouth, she rammed both fists into the weakened section of her tank. The barrier finally gave way with a spectacular crash, sending shards flying in all directions and a wave of cold fluid cascading out onto the metallic floor beyond.

  Jessica tumbled out with the rush of liquid, landing hard on her hands and knees. She gasped, drawing genuine air into her lungs for the first time since awakening, the sensation burning and wonderful. The mysterious fluid clung to her skin, bra, and panties, dripping onto the floor in thick, viscous drops.

  She coughed violently, expelling the last of the substance from her lungs. Each breath came easier than the last as her enhanced healing worked to clear her respiratory system. Her body trembled from cold and adrenaline, but the wolf's heat burned beneath her skin, keeping hypothermia at bay.

  Shakily, Jessica pushed herself to her bare feet, swaying slightly as she took in her surroundings. The corridor stretched in both directions, curved walls pulsing with that same purple light. The floor beneath her feet vibrated subtly with the ship's power.

  The broken tank behind her leaked its remaining fluid, creating a spreading puddle that reflected the eerie illumination. Glass-like shards scattered across the floor, some still adhering to the frame of what had been her prison. The destruction looked violent, primal—evidence of a strength no ordinary human could possess.

  Good, Jessica thought with a fierceness that surprised her. Let them see what they're dealing with.

  She pushed wet hair from her face, her senses on high alert. The air carried strange scents—metallic, antiseptic, with undertones of something organic she couldn't identify. The corridor's acoustics amplified distant sounds—mechanical whirs, electronic beeps, and something that might have been footsteps, though not like any she'd heard before.

  More alarmingly, she could smell fear. Human fear, from multiple sources. Her friends were here, somewhere in this labyrinth of alien technology.

  Jessica took a tentative step forward, then another, gaining confidence as her body responded normally despite the lingering effects of the fluid. Her claws had retracted somewhat, but not completely—a visual reminder that the wolf remained close to the surface, ready if needed.

  "Kevin?" she whispered, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the corridor. "Salina?"

  No response came, but she hadn't expected one. They would be trapped as she had been, unable to answer even if they could hear her. She would have to find them herself.

  Jessica hesitated at a junction where the corridor split in three directions. Each path looked identical—the same pulsing walls, the same sterile flooring, the same eerie purple light. Nothing to show which way might lead to her friends.

  She closed her eyes, focusing on her enhanced senses. Think like the wolf. Trust your instincts.

  There—to the left. The faintest trace of Salina's lavender perfume mixed with Kevin's distinctive scent, like old books and the mint gum he was always chewing. Jessica opened her eyes and turned without hesitation, padding silently down the chosen corridor.