Sirius' POV
"Whenever we arrive in the morning, we touch the pad to clock in," Max explained. I touched the screen, and the surface turned green. "Good. Then you should see in the schedules if any mission is going on. Meanwhile, you can warm up, do the training, and wait to see if I give any orders."
"Uhm," I looked around and saw a couple of men lifting those weights that humans liked so much. "Understood."
"Now that your shift is active, the money is coming. Since I assumed you didn't have a bank account, I created one at the National Security Bank. They have that program because many young people finish high school and enter the armed forces. It's already active, so your debit card will arrive shortly. Alright?"
"Yes. It's perfect."
"Now... My boys call each other by their last name, so I imagine you've gotten used to your fake last name, Ramos, in case someone talks to you."
"Yes. I'm also used to my fake name. No problem."
He nodded, satisfied.
"Perfect. Now, come on, let's try out some equipment."
I felt strangely excited to start a human job. I was going to do my best. I saw they had everything stored on their computers. It was very different from my town.
Max let me use some exercise machines and was impressed by the weight I could handle.
After giving instructions, he made us all go out to the field. From what I understood, he had already talked about me with them.
The men took turns to see who could knock me down, but they couldn't land a single blow. They chatted, still wondering if I was real. Some saw me as a dangerous animal that was not caged, and others saw me as a new challenge.
I smiled sideways with some satisfaction and recognized those who had prey characteristics. Luckily, they were very few. Good.
They came in groups of four and attacked me. It didn't take me long to push them away and leave them on the ground, complaining in pain. Four more launched themselves. I threw one to the side with a light punch, took the other by the arm, and used his momentum to turn and throw him against the one approaching from behind. The fourth gasped and turned around.
Max laughed. He liked to see his men suffer. The morning passed quickly, and later, the men retired.
"Hey, savage," Max called, smiling as if he was planning something. "I have something that's more in line with your level."
And that excited me, too.
He positioned me at the beginning of a strange track. He said it was an obstacle course and went towards a control panel.
"You'll find some human mannequins," he warned. "I want you to kill them. Be lethal. Of course, those aren't alive, but I want to see a lot of evolved action."
I nodded and got ready. He gave the signal, and I bolted.
I liked running fast. Flames erupted from the ground, and I jumped, dodging them. I heard a gunshot and ducked, avoiding a cannonball. Wow. That was close. I ran uphill through a mountain of tires in record time, and on the way down, I saw one of the mannequins Max mentioned. I lunged and hit it so hard that it crashed into pieces.
I continued and dodged some large spheres. One almost hit me, but I knocked it away, realizing it was filled with pebbles. Another cannonball sent me tumbling to the ground, and I launched myself at one of the last two mannequins. Orion's grueling workouts came back to my mind.
I grabbed the thing and threw it to the ground, causing its head to break. I growled and attacked the other, ripping and sending its head flying with one swift movement.
I took a deep breath to calm down. I saw Marien with a horrified Marcus, who had come to visit me.
Oh...
I smiled when I saw her, and all my bitterness disappeared.
Just then, something huge rammed me, and I flew and rolled several feet across the ground. I coughed and saw what it was. A huge ball bounced away, and I laughed at how ridiculous that must have looked. Still, I had fun.
"Do not get distracted!" Max shouted.
Marien came running. She sat beside me, and I leaned on my forearms to look at her and smile.
"You just murdered three mannequins," she said, maintaining that cute smile.
I chuckled, shaking my head.
"Max asked me to do it. He wanted to try out some of his more extreme equipment, though that was nothing for me."
"I've missed you all morning," she whispered as she approached and kissed me softly.
I shivered in that good way when I felt her lips after so many hours.
"What?! This must be a joke!" Max exclaimed, interrupting us.
Marien leaned against my chest.
"What is a joke?" She asked.
"You and him?! I thought you dated some nerd from the hospital!" What was a nerd? I saw him look at my ring. "Huh! I can't believe it. I thought that ring meant something else. Anything but that!" He pointed out to me. "He's an EH!"
I frowned as I felt he was saying it as if I were some animal, but Marien laughed and put her arm around me, giving me a sweet kiss around the neck. I could see Max horrified, so I raised an eyebrow and smirked.
Take that. She was my girl, whether he liked it or not.
My sweet lady continued to spread kisses over my skin and let out a playful giggle.
"Okay, fine!" Max said, raising his hands slightly. "Now I have seen it all. That's what happens when girls read werewolf smut!"
He walked away with Marcus while saying those strange things, and I stood up, helping Marien.
"How was your day?" I wanted to know.
She sighed, and for a second, I thought she was worried about something.
"Good. Just working and chatting."
"Something interesting?"
She smiled and calmed me down.
"Unimportant things." She took my hand. "Let's go."
We went to the EH's Protectors Association office while Max played loud music in his vehicle. Maybe the volume wasn't that loud for them. After all, their hearing wasn't that sharp.
I foolishly wondered why there wasn't also a human protectors association. Then I remembered they were the ones who saw us as animals.
Max's friend welcomed us and was surprised to see me.
"Relax. He won't do anything," Max told him. "Not all of them are heartless. This one at least thinks and smiles at you before killing you." He laughed a little.
But he stopped when he saw my raised eyebrow.
"Max," Marien complained.
"Fine. I shut up." Although, he kept watching me.
We approached the young man's desk as he sat watching Max's recording, getting quite upset. He murmured in surprise about what he saw.
"Yeah, and I belong to National Security," Max commented. "It doesn't matter if I get expelled for revealing this. It's too much. It's illegal."
"Okay. I'll take this to the leaders. Even better, I'll go right now."
Then I heard something outside. I turned around with concern, and upon noticing the distant barking of a dog, my worries materialized.
I took Marien slowly.
"You must hide," I whispered to her.
There was a knock on the door, and the young man went to open it before I could stop him. The aroma that came in froze me. Four men. One was in a suit, and the other three burly, with helmets. They were my kind. I felt my lady's skin drop in temperature, and I gritted my teeth, looking at the sides for some way to hide and protect her, but there was nothing.
"Marien, you're pale," Marcus whispered behind me.
"They're... evolved men," she murmured, and I felt her hand tighten around mine as she trembled slightly. "They'll tear us to pieces."
"We have one EH too."
"Three are not an easy thing. You have no idea."
"I won't let them touch you," I assured her.
"Greetings," the man said, pushing Max's friend aside, unfazed by my appearance. "One of my friends..." He briefly pointed to one of the EHs, "He told me he saw you in our facilities last night."
"You're wrong. Do you have any proof?" Max challenged.
"I'm afraid so, but don't worry. There will be no problems if you promise not to say anything, destroy all evidence, and surrender that evolved person you have. It is illegal to have one without permission from the government."
Marien panicked. I knew it because her temperature had dropped, and I heard her breathing heavily. I became distressed at being unable to keep her away from these things. I wasn't going to separate from her. Did these people think we were like animals you had to ask permission to have?
"I would give you the information, and we wouldn't say anything," Max interjected, "but I won't give you the evolved man. He already belongs to the government."
"In that case, that EH should remain under strict control."
"Like them?" I pointed with a movement of my head to my kind.
The man nodded.
"Forget it," Max replied.
"I'll put it this way: we'll kill the EH if you don't give me what I want. He can't be free; he's a danger."
"He is not a danger to anyone!" Marien exclaimed, defending me even though she was trembling.
"And we will kill anyone who gets in the way," the man threatened, and my blood boiled.
I growled wildly in warning. If he dared to touch her, he was going to regret it!
And so, it didn't take him long to throw the evolved ones into the fight.
One of the EHs rammed me. We crashed into the desk, and the material shattered on my back while the evolved's helmet flew away. I broke free from the guy, but he managed to bite me on the arm. Marien's scream made me forget everything, and I saw the other one trying to attack her. I knew he had cut her a little with his claws because I smelled her blood, and that stopped my breathing for a millisecond.
Once again, I stopped being me and unleashed that beast that only attacked and tore flesh, felt no pain, and was not going to stop. I struck him with fury, dragging the one who was biting me without caring, without even feeling it.
I took a small knife out of my pants and stabbed his arm, almost at the same time that the one who was biting my arm pulled and tore off the flesh. I grunted, elbowed him away, and clutched at the wound. The man spat and smiled, showing his bloody teeth.
I lashed out more than furious. I growled, bit, hit, and slashed with my claws. I received one blow, and now I was fighting two. A shot rang out, and I saw Max had shot the third EH in the leg, but he was still standing and rushed at him. I jumped in, too, to prevent him from killing Max, and the other two followed me, biting me and tearing off more flesh.
Max shot one in the shoulder, and I took the opportunity to kick the other one away. I jumped to my feet and grabbed a piece of the desk, using it to knock them unconscious before they attacked again.
"No!" Marien shouted.
And I lunged at the guy in the suit, trying to escape.
I fell on the street after the other evolved man tried to stop me without success. The subject was unconscious, but I still had to take care of that evolved, so I bit and hit him, but he responded by cutting my skin with his claws.
The wound burned. I growled at him, threw him to the ground with a lunge, and continued growling, waiting for his attack, but I realized he was looking at the sky with some confusion.
I took a deep breath and turned around, welcoming Marien, who had run to hug me. I found out Max had taken the remote control of the man's pocket and awakened the evolved men.
Relief.
My beloved trembled against my body, and I felt bad for that because, at my side, she didn't seem to have peace...
"God, what was that all about?" Max asked as he approached us.
"Apparently, they capture some EHs and keep them under control somehow," Marien reported.
I took her arm and saw the scratch. I snorted.
"Forgive me," I asked her, "I said I wouldn't let them touch you, and now look at this." I was angry with myself for not being able to give her happiness and peace of mind.
"Don't worry. I must heal you," she added, looking with anguish at the blood stains on my body.
I gently licked her wound so that at least it wouldn't become more inflamed until we returned to the hospital.
"What the...?" I heard them murmur.
"Our saliva is disinfectant and healing," I explained without taking my eyes off my sweet Marien.
She had stopped shaking and was now slightly smiling. That was enough to relieve me.
"I won't let you lick me," Max said.
I smiled at that, stifling a short laugh.
"I wasn't going to," I told him. "I'm doing this only with her." I breathed deeply and hugged her tightly, even though my body was starting to hurt. I wouldn't have been able to defend her again if it weren't for them. "Thanks for the help..."
"Let's go back to the hospital. We must take care of those wounds," Marcus said.
"I'll take this before someone wants it to disappear again." Max's friend left.
We were about to leave when I saw the EH standing. I tensed up immediately. The other two scrambled out of the office, so I gave a low growl of warning.
The evolved man raised his hands in surrender. He looked like he was my age.
"We apologize. They had us under control," he murmured. "I'm Acrux. These are Alpha and Centauri," he pointed to his companions. "I guess, uh... Thank you for not killing us."
"Needless to say," Max replied.
He seemed surprised. After all, they had been attacking like true beasts out of control a few minutes ago. Now, they were polite.
"We'll get rid of the man and leave. No one will see us," assured the one called Centauri.
"No," Marcus intervened quickly. "We'll for you to take you to the hospital." Max complained in a low voice, but Marcus continued ignoring him, "We will treat you there. If you stay injured, the other evolved people will track and find you faster and easier."
The men of my species blinked, quite perplexed, and accepted. They lifted the man without problems and left. I was sure they would leave him somewhere in the human garbage... Or not. I had to make sure.
Marien sighed.
"Come. There must be a first-aid kit in the truck, right, Max?
"Eh...!" he reacted. "Uh. I don't remember, but let's see."
"Don't worry about me," I told her, caressing her cheek. "I'm going to make sure those three don't come back to attack in case that man wakes up."
"I have his little remote control," Max showed it, fiddling with the device. "I'm going to have it checked." He played by throwing it into the air, but he didn't catch it on time because of his injured arm, and it fell to the ground. "Damn. Piece of garbage," he whispered, bending down to pick it up.
Marien looked at him with raised eyebrows and a serious face, and I laughed silently.
Marien healed my wounds, and her soft hands worked magic on my skin. I heard Max's complaints and a couple of words exchanged between those present, but it didn't matter. It was just us because John cleared the room so they could treat us without other humans being here.
"This will never heal, heck! I'll have a hole in my arm for life, damn it!" Max yelled. My Marien let out a short laugh. "Sure, laugh!"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be a baby," Marcus ordered him. "Let's go to the procedure room. I will regenerate it with stem cells."
"And how much will that cost me?"
"Nothing. You have insurance, right? Stingy."
"Ah," Max breathed a sigh of relief, "right."
John walked in and sighed heavily as he saw the other evolved men there.
"I'm sorry, John," Marien gave him her sweet smile. "You're helping us a lot. Thank you."
He smiled and shrugged, walking over to the newcomers to treat them.
Marien sweetened anyone. I smiled barely while she bandaged me. I couldn't stop looking at her. She looked beautiful, being that focused. I noticed her eyelashes, her skin, the texture of her lips.
I liked to feel her. And I smiled wider as I remembered that she wanted me to touch her, that she trusted me not to hurt her. I also remembered that she said I wouldn't escape her tonight.
"Hey, what's up?" asked Rosy, who had just entered.
"A long story," Marcus responded, returning.
Rosy turned to look at the other three EHs who were with John.
"Who are they?"
"They are injured and being treated, that's all."
"Um... I'll be right back..." she went to see them.
"By the way, what about Max?" Marien asked.
I looked around, too, since I stopped hearing him complain.
"He's in recovery. It'll take a while for him to heal anyway." Marcus looked at me. "What about you?"
"I'm sure tomorrow I'll be like new."
"Yeah, I already imagined it. What a great advantage."
"Sirius' father is about to leave," Rosy warned from where she was. "I forgot to tell you..."
Oh. Dad...
After Marien finished with the bandages, I went to see him. I found him sitting on the stretcher with his two companions, who were standing next to him.
"Father."
"Sirius," his slight smile faded when he sniffed my blood.
I shook my head immediately.
"Don't worry. It's nothing serious. In fact..." I sat beside him while his two companions left us alone. "Well. There is something you should know." He waited for me to continue without interrupting. "Some evolved men are here, lost, acting as... weapons or something."
He frowned and looked down, thinking.
"Do humans do it?" He looked at me again.
I sighed.
"Y-yes. Some are mean. You know, just like there are mean evolved people."
He pressed his lips into a single line and nodded.
"I understand."
"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Today, I helped free three from that control, so that's what I will do. I'm going to help ours."
"Well, I can't stop you." He smiled with some relief, sighing again. "Alright. It fills me with pride."
I smiled widely, but my expression changed.
"How did Orion attack you? Did he make you go into some trap or something?"
"I was working on a house alone. Phoenix and Adhara arrived on time. Now I will be alert," he assured. "Besides, I'm coming home to your mother. You don't have to worry. I'll talk to the elders."
I nodded, relieved.
"Tell Mom I say hi. I'm sure she'll be happy."
"By the way, you're coming back, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"To live?"
I opened my lips but ended up sighing.
"Yes, I've thought about it. Of course, with her, my Marien, if she wants to..."
"Alright. Just in case, I'll build you a temporary room in the house. Okay?"
That made me smile again.
"Yes."