I hurried down the hallway as I left the rest of the coven in the dining hall, worried about my brother. It was just after eight. I tucked my hands behind my back as I moved along the corridor to the infirmary. I had barely slept, listening to the sounds of my father, Seren, and Nathaniel trade places throughout the daylight hours in the last two days. They had talked softly in the hallway as they exchanged dialogue about Avalon. I had only heard my mother's voice once before she was told to go back to bed by Dad.

I found the door to the hospital room and pushed it open. I made my way down to the end of the infirmary where Avalon laid on a hospital bed, dressed in a pair of athletic shorts. His shirt was missing, instead heavily bandaged across his chest to cover the bite wounds on his shoulder and chest. I noticed they had added a heart monitor and temperature reading after he'd fallen asleep. Claw marks showed on his abdomen, the cuts covered in a greenish salve that caked over the open wounds. I sighed as I rolled a stool over to sit beside his bed. I was shocked neither my mother or father had made it down to sit with him yet.

I sat down and reached over to hold his hand. He hadn't woken up in the two nights since the wolf attack. I squeezed, hoping it would let him know I was there.

I didn't know the full story of what had happened or been said in the gardens the night before last, when werewolves appeared out of what felt like a morbid fairy tale. I had been taught they existed, but no one I knew had ever encountered them—or so I thought. However, after seeing my father's reaction, I wondered if there was more to his past I'd never known. All I knew was that my brother had been injured from a bite and he was experiencing an adverse reaction.

I looked at Avalon's shirtless torso, noticing the hives that had broken out on his skin. He looked two shades lighter than normal, and I could see the cold sweat broken out on his brow and cheeks. I sighed softly, squeezing his fingers again. "I'm so sorry, Avalon," I said quietly. Suddenly I felt guilty for having decided to stay inside with Thaddeus and Marcus to talk about the Capitol rather than go with my parents and brother.

His brow furrowed suddenly, and I felt his hand grip down tightly on mine as his whole body tensed. I put my free hand over his. I watched as his face twisted into a look of pain.

I heard the door open and close at the other end of the room and I looked up just in time to see Elizabeth come around the corner that led to the hall. She was dressed in a white blouse and jeans. She looked momentarily surprised by my presence before frowning when Avalon groaned slightly.

"How is he?" she asked, keeping her voice quiet as she stood on the opposite side of his hospital bed.

"He's running a fever," I said, nodding to the medical equipment beside her. "We don't really ever get fevers when we're sick," I added as I stared at the temperature on his monitor's readout, stating his body temp had risen to 90.5 degrees rather than our usual 85.6 degrees.

Elizabeth read the computer screen before laying the back of her hand on his forehead. She frowned as she felt his skin before removing it. She picked up a medical towel from the rack beneath the screen and dabbed his forehead and cheeks. "I'm sure my father will be down here to check on him soon."

I noticed how real she seemed to me suddenly. Her business-professional demeanor was gone and only softened concern remained on her face. She glanced down at his injuries before she read off his chart quickly.

"Have Wolves ever attacked before?" I asked softly.

There was a moment of quiet. "No," she said finally. "I've never even seen one before. All we knew was just that we had some sort of treaty of territory with a pack. But no one's talked about it for nearly ten years, back when Thorne left."

"Then why on earth would they come now?" I breathed, not understanding the logic.

"I don't know. But one of them knew your father's title."

"It doesn't make any sense," I said, my head shaking.

"I know. All I remember was he said that there was a 'new hybrid,' and 'Cold Waves,'" Elizabeth responded, her eyes still on Avalon. "I've been trying to piece together where they came from, who they were. But I couldn't find anything in Seren's journals that aren't kept locked up."

I nodded, appreciating her effort. Her concern for my brother was obvious, and I suddenly wondered if his lifelong feelings were being returned. There was affection and sincerity in her body language when she looked at him. It made me smile.

Just as I was about to say something, Avalon cried out in his sleep. His grip tightened on me until I had to yank my hand away as his fingers constricted mine. I held my hand to my chest, trying to pop the joints back together. "Ouch," I hissed, unable to stop myself from automatically announcing my discomfort.

"Easy, Avalon," Elizabeth said, reaching down to grip his shoulder. She yelped in surprise when he jerked under her hand and flailed his arms. She retreated in the same second I did as we watched him twist and contort across the surface of the bed.

Avalon then sat up, his body arching until it came to an almost-seated position. His head dropped back, sending his blonde locks whipping back with the motion. From around his throat, I watched as his necklace's chain began to make his skin steam. He inhaled an exaggerated breath, as though he were about to scream. The noise that left him instead sounded neither like man or animal.

I jumped back another step as he jolted. His eyes opened and glowed white, his pupils and irises gone. I gasped, horrified as his whole body became tense with a massive convulsion. "Avalon!" I yelled, as if that would break him of his manic fit.

The beeping of his monitor sped up to a consistent wail that betrayed how hard his heart pounded. He inhaled hard again and made another agonizing sound.

I watched in horror as he fell back into the bed. His whole body seemed to contort and tense. He began to change with each twist and seizure he had, continuing to make noises of pain. I looked past him as Elizabeth began to also back up and put more space between him and her. I copied her strategy and began to move backwards towards the wall.

"Stay as far back as possible," Elizabeth warned above Avalon's flailing and growling, waving at me.

"What's happening?" I shouted back, unable to disguise the panic in my voice.

"He's changing," she answered, but I could barely hear the response. It sounded like a whisper, a fulfilling prophecy of some mystery I had never thought possible.

I watched as Avalon fell to the floor on the side closer to her. We both screamed when he hit the linoleum tiles. I watched in horror as I could hear joints popping and bones rearranging from ten feet away. I saw his silhouette transform and morph before a four-legged beast rose up on the opposite side of the gurney.

The monstrous figure got up into a two-legged crouch, seeming to catch his balance on uneven feet before he rose up. His body was covered in fur that was nearly white, his ears now large and shaped like a wolf's. His face, too, was long and canine, sporting sharpened teeth. He was no longer a vampire; he was some kind of wolfman, like I had seen in films. He turned to look at me, noticing my movement when I tried to scramble further back to the wall.

I screamed, not recognizing my brother any longer. What had taken his place was not my sibling whom I called my best friend.

The werewolf snarled in my direction, taking me in.

"Eris, stay there!" Elizabeth hollered on the other side of the room. She picked up a titanium tray from the gurney beside her and threw it hard. It crashed into a medical equipment cart with a sharp clang.

Avalon turned his head towards the noise, growling loudly.

Elizabeth ran to the phone on the wall a few feet away, snatching it from its cradle. She pushed a button on the pad. "Emergency in Infirmary! Emergency in Infirmary! Hostile animal!"

She continued to repeat her words as Avalon turned to glare at her. His attention zeroed in on the coven commander, no longer concerned with me. I could hear the echo of her announcement from the rest of the coven house, over the speaker system.

"That's it, you son-of-a-bitch," she said to address him as she let go of the phone and began to back away. "What big teeth you have," she continued, trying to keep Avalon engaged in her.

"Elizabeth," I warned, drawing out her name in hopes she would stop.

"Stay there," she answered, keeping her eyes on the creature's. "C'mon, Avalon."

I heard the door bust open and Marcus came around the corner. He had a gun in his hand as he rushed to his first-in-command's distress call.

"Liz!" Marcus shouted.

Avalon turned to look at him, roaring at the newcomer.

"Stay back," Elizabeth snapped, waving at him.

The werewolf began to stalk towards Marcus, continuing to growl. His ears laid back against his thick head, his body lowering to the ground in preparation to pounce. I had seen the same body language in my cat. The sounds that rumbled from his throat reminded me of some ancient beast not seen by man or monster alike for over a millennium, only mentioned in folktales and ancient legend.

I cringed when another growl filled the room.

I looked again just in time to see Avalon take a flying leap across the open ground for Marcus. The second-in-command held up his gun and fired. I watched, frozen, as a dart with a bright green feather on the end shot past the attacking werewolf and hit the glass door of a cabinet. There was an audible sound of body meeting body as the two hit the ground.

"Marcus!" Elizabeth screamed as she moved to rush forward. I barely heard the door open again over the noise.

"Elizabeth, get back!" Father shouted as he came skidding to a halt around the corner, but she ignored his command.

She struck out, kicking hard to make contact with the wolf's shoulder. She backed up as the werewolf turned to look at her, barking. He moved off of his previous prey, advancing towards her swiftly.

"Come get your Little Red Riding Hood," she taunted him, holding his gaze.

The smell of blood found my nose, and I knew that he'd drawn wounds on Marcus in their previous collision.

"Elizabeth, stop!" Father warned, his voice frantic. "He's a lot stronger than he looks. He's lost in his change. He's only thinking like a hunter!"

"I'm not going to let him hurt others," she answered, never leaving Avalon's staring match. "If he wants to be a predator, he's not going to find me as easy prey. I can keep him busy until you can get them out of here."

"You can't take him down with brute strength," my father hollered as alarms began to go off around the coven house. "You're going to have to shoot him with the tranquilizers."

"And how do you expect me to get to the gun?" she called back over Avalon's noises.

I looked from both of them to the floor, seeing the tranquilizer gun that Marcus had been holding. It had slid across the tile and now sat between Avalon's old gurney and the one closest to me.

"Eris, stay back!" my father added, as if he knew I was about to retrieve it.

I looked from him to the gun to Avalon.

Elizabeth flashed her teeth at the werewolf, hissing in an old vampire gesture for territorial marking. "C'mon," she sneered at him. "Come get me, you Big, Bad Wolf."

"Elizabeth, don't!" came the sound of Marcus's voice from the ground behind the gurney.

I turned my attention back just in time to see Avalon leap again, his large clawed hands reaching for her. She moved out of the way quickly, her foot kicking out at him with a burst of vampire strength. The wolf was shoved back a couple paces, snarling in frustration. He came back at her with a fast lunge. Elizabeth dove to the right, sliding across the linoleum towards the gun. Just as her hands missed it, he leapt again and pounced down beside her. She scurried to her feet and tried to maneuver out of the way before he could regain his balance. When he leapt again, I watched as Elizabeth crumpled beneath him and his heavier weight.

Elizabeth hit the ground and pressed her legs upward into his stomach in a hard kick. The wolf coughed as the wind was knocked from his diaphragm and he quickly shook his head to regain his breath. He rose up onto two legs before swiping his hand and talons across her. I could hear flesh and fabric tearing as it filled the air in the same instant the woman made a sound of pain. She got her hands up just in time to protect her face as he bit down on her forearm. She screamed in agony again.

"Eris, shoot him!" my father hollered amongst the noise. "Shoot him!"

I was only frozen for another millisecond before I acted, but it felt like forever. I dove forward for the tranquilizer gun. I grabbed the pistol and quickly cocked the hammer. I held it up, training the shot on the wolfman, his back to me.

"Eris, shoot him! Shoot him right now!"

"I-I-I can't," I stammered, my voice breaking with a squeak. "It's Avalon!"

"Eris, you have to! Shoot him!" my father screamed back from the other side of the room as he drug Marcus away. I could hear the younger man bellow in pain.

I shook my head, unable to keep my hands steady to pull the trigger. "I can't."

My father growled hard and took a running leap at Avalon. His body collided with the wolf's, shoulder to shoulder and the two went flying against the opposite wall. I saw Elizabeth's body on the ground, but she wasn't moving.

Avalon growled, slashing at Father with his hand. I heard the sound of leather ripping, knowing he'd gone right through our father's jacket.

The doors opened again and I saw a few more men race into the infirmary. Three were guards, the other two I recognized as Malcolm and Nathaniel Bartholomeu.

Father punched the werewolf in the snout, knocking his head sideways then he sent a strong upper-cut to connect with its bottom jaw. He turned in a fast round-house kick before pulling a feathered dart from his belt. His hands jabbed at the thick fur of the werewolf's hide.

Avalon made a howling sound of pain and his eyes bulged wide. He yelped and then sunk down to the ground in a mass of fur and muscle.

Father backed away from him, breathing hard. He looked at me and then turned his head as Nathaniel's voice broke the moment of silence.

The British coven commander rushed across the room to Elizabeth's side, his voice saying her name and another phrase in what sounded like Gaelic. I saw Malcolm kneel closer to the entrance, calling for Marcus.

I moved forward towards them as the smell of blood continued to fill the room. I got just within eyesight when my father came to grab my shoulder. Elizabeth's body laid on the floor, blood covering the ground beneath her. Her clothes were ripped and her skin had been slashed. Blood colored her shirt, making the material appear black with the thick liquid. Her skin was as pale as a ghost.

"Oh my god," I breathed, the words leaving me in a gasping squeak.

Father shielded my eyes with his body before I could continue to look at her. "Don't," he warned, his voice soft. He waved to someone off to my right, but I didn't bother to look as I tried to get another glance at the American coven commander.

Thaddeus was suddenly beside us and he scooped me around to block my body behind his as he escorted me from the room.

"Wait, is she okay?" I asked, not understanding why they wouldn't let me stay. "Wait! I want to help!"

"You don't need to be here, Eris," Thaddeus warned, sounding like my father in the same paternal tone that begged me not to disobey.

"But are they okay?" I asked, trying to look over my shoulder at the scene behind us.

"They'll be fine," he answered, but something told me he thought it was a lie himself.

Logan waited for Thaddeus Maldeas to completely remove Eris from the room before he burst into action. He quickly grabbed one of the medical towels that had rolled to the floor from the knocked-over cart. He tossed it to Nathaniel the moment the elder looked up.

The British coven leader grasped the material and quickly pressed it into the largest wound across his daughter's chest that ran horizontal below her collarbone, just above her heart. He tried to staunch the blood. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth, open your eyes," he hollered, as if that would make her look up at him. "Get the doctor in here!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Logan checked Avalon's pulse and pulled away as his son's body seemed to melt back into that of a man once more, looking like himself. His bandages has come off in his transformation and his skin was bare of clothing. The younger man was collapsed into a ball, his body curled into a fetal position. Logan grabbed a blanket off the end of the nearest gurney and dropped it over his son's body. He crouched down beside him, laying his hand on Avalon's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Avalon," he said softly, hoping that, on some conscious level, his son heard him.

Nathaniel continued to holler commands as a nurse and a man in scrubs rushed to either side of the woman on the floor. He held his hands over Elizabeth's worst wound, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. "Get a coagulant over here before she bleeds out!" he snapped.

Logan watched as a gurney was rushed over to lift the woman up onto its surface, leaving a puddle of blood behind. He stood, watching as they hurried to save her life.

A nurse administered a large syringe of a dark liquid into the woman's left arm, rushing the medication to her heart faster.

"Medical lap-pads, packing gauze, and get me a round of pain medication!" the man continued. He looked down at the dark-haired woman and touched her head with his free hand. "Hang in there, kitten. Malcolm, how bad?"

"He's got a bleeder on his left arm and gonna need stitches," the younger man answered, meaning Marcus. "Get me something to stop the blood!"

Logan moved forward and grabbed another medical towel. He brought it to the Head of Security and crouched down to hold it onto Marcus's arm. He watched as another nurse came forward and gave Marc a shot of something that Logan guessed was a coagulant agent. The second-in-command groaned as the needle was slid under his skin.

"They're going to need a silver nitrate dose," Logan said quickly. "They'll need to fight off the lycan virus before it can corrupt their white blood cells."

"I've got it," Malcolm said, rushing back to his feet to head for the cabinets above a scrub-room sink. He grabbed a bottle from a shelf then hurried to another cabinet door and grabbed two syringes. He rushed over to Elizabeth's gurney first, handing the first syringe to Nathaniel.

The father quickly yanked off the plastic wrap and then inserted the needle into the bottle's top, pulling back on the plunger to make the cavity fill with a grey liquid. He nodded and Malcolm moved towards Logan and Marcus. As Logan drew the second dose, Nathaniel inserted the other into his daughter's arm. Her body went wire-tight and then seized as she tried to work the poison of silver nitrate and lycanthropy out of her veins.

"I've got you," Nathaniel said, his voice breaking. "Hang in there, kitten."