Adrian panted, feeling his muscles protest and quiver painfully, dirt caking his body. Still, he flopped back feeling proud of himself. He had stayed holed up inside the den, only coming out sparingly to drink while making sure he wasn't too filthy.

His observers would start to become suspicious if he appeared like he was, covered in dirt from head to toe.

And they had kept an annoyingly close eye on him, which resulted in Adrian hissing at them before he fled to the relative safety of the burrows.

When he had started digging, he had hoped to dig deeper, perhaps tunnel out of the enclosure all together. Sadly enough, that hope was brutally wiped away when he reached the reinforced concrete floor, and no amount of clawing made a dent in it.

He couldn't really tell how long it had been since he had been captured, perhaps a few days had passed or even a week. Adrian had seen several men pass by the glass wall of his enclosure and heard them converse softly, though so far none of them had dared to enter.

And neither had he approached the glass wall to make contact with the shifters, or be close enough to hear what they were saying. It irked him, but all the plants near the glass wall were short, a simple bush here and there with larger trees put further down the back, where Adrian was hiding.

With no way to sneak up on the shifters, he had stayed in the far back, where Adrian knew he was mostly hidden from view.

Adrian's stomach growled, making him shift to his feet and pry off the dried grime off of his body. Shaking himself off one last time, he crawled out the den, pausing to make sure nobody was actually in his room. When nothing seemed out of the ordinary, he hopped out, venturing to the pool to take a well-deserved dip.

His stomach was snarling with every move he made, begging for food. In the wild, he would've hunted down a critter, no matter how small, just to still the gnawing in his body.

But now, he couldn't. Adrian hoped that at some point, his captors would at least offer some food. Otherwise his plans would have to change drastically.

As he washed, he was well aware of the eyes on him but chose to ignore it until he heard the near-silent click of something snapping in place.

Adrian stilled, instincts flaring to life and warning him of the danger he was in. He ducked underneath the surface before pushing off towards the shore and bolted out of the water, eyes instantly connecting with the men standing inside his enclosure before he felt the sharp pinch of something hitting his arm.

With a sharp, pained hiss, he tumbled in one of the nearby dens and growled deeply, warning the men to stay back. The dart in his upper arm had already done its work, making him feel groggy even as he pulled it out.

Adrian flung it to the floor in disgust, pushing himself against the dirt wall away from the entrance. He was mindful to keep out of sight, so those men couldn't take another shot at him again.

"Shit, I had hoped we could've snuck up on him more to give the sedative a chance to work." The voice mumbled close to the entrance, forcing Adrian to let another deep rumble slip from his throat. He felt the growl vibrate through his entire body before he paused to take another breath.

As he did, Adrian realized that, even if he was drugged, he wasn't falling asleep. Whatever was in the dart failed to work or wasn't sufficient enough to knock him out. Just enough to make him groggy and heavy eyed.

But they don't know that.

So instead, he kept on growling, backing away until he reached the connecting tunnel, allowing his growls to become more slurred. Quietly, he shuffled through the tunnel, knowing that the men would most likely wait for a while to make sure he was actually out cold before sticking their heads down the den.

He panted softly, feeling dizzy as drool accumulated in his mouth and threatened to spill from his numbing cheeks. Adrian shook himself, fighting against the haze the drug infused him with and forced himself to the second den.

When he arrived, he paused before quietly scuttling to the entrance. He could see two men standing guard at the den he had fled in, a third one seemed to be preparing another dart just in case. Looking around his enclosure, his eyes found the entrance before he bit back a snarl.

His exit was being blocked by Willem, that blasted bear. It was as if the man knew of his intentions and had made sure that there was no escape for Adrian. In his drugged state, Adrian knew that the bear would easily catch him if he went anywhere near it.

I could shift...

Closing his eyes, Adrian focused on the instincts of his animal, willing it to take over and shift so he could dart past Willem and be free once more.

... no reaction... Why...

Another wave of nausea spilled over him, threatening to empty his stomach as it churned unpleasantly. He shook his head and licked his lips, swallowing against the excess saliva. It didn't matter though, as it instantly flooded his mouth again, threatening to spill from his numbing lips.

Each time Adrian willed himself to shift, the nausea only grew worse. A low hiss slipped from his lips as he tried to look at the small injury on his arm, nose flaring as he caught an unfamiliar scent there.

What is this?

His surroundings wobbled, swaying uncomfortably to the point that Adrian staggered, shaking his head in an attempt to focus. It didn't help one bit and he swallowed reflexively when his stomach gurgled.

Sitting back, Adrian lowered his head in his hands for a moment and nearly fell to the side, allowing himself some small reprieve against the starting headache. A small disturbance in the air behind him made Adrian's muscles tense, feeling almost as if he was being watched.

Danger! Threat! DANGER!

When he felt a soft flutter near his cheek, followed by a second cool touch a moment later, Adrian didn't need to turn around to know what was behind him. He instantly bolted out the den, letting out an alarmed shriek that alerted the men of his position before he tumbled to the ground.

He panted, hissing and snarling against the snake that coiled around him with ease. Adrian prepared to bite the scaly flesh inches from his face, but just baring his teeth to do so made the serpent tighten the coils around him in a painful warning.

One coil twisted around his head, arching it back and away from the anaconda's flesh while the rest of the massive snake coiled around his torso and legs, one of his arms pinned to his own body while the other was pinned underneath the snake's heavy body.

Shivering, Adrian admitted defeat and relaxed, growling in annoyance and agitation as the three men and Willem approached. He struggled slightly against the coils but only succeeded to shift their combined weight, causing them to flop over on the floor where he was pinned face down with cheeky ease by the massive constrictor on top of him.

"I knew I heard something last night." Willem chuckled before kneeling next to the den to observe the tunnel. One of the other men shifted, a black and grey wolf squirming into the den and disappearing, coming back after a few seconds before it shook itself out and shifted again.

"Well, your hunch was right after all Willem. He managed to connect most of the dens together and would've been able to ambush us if we were alone. Sneaky little devil." He barked out a laugh while looking at Adrian, making the teen growl and bare his fangs warningly, huffing out a breath against the forest floor.

The man with his gun approached, tapping against a syringe before reaching forwards, ignoring Adrian's snarls. There wasn't much he could do, as his arms were stuck in the massive coils of the anaconda, left out in the open and without being able to draw them back against his body.

Adrian felt another sharp pinch in his arm before the man tutted, "Ease up a bit on the pressure Charles. The drug needs to be able to flow through his bloodstream to do its job." Within seconds after the coils loosened, Adrian felt dizzy and incredibly weak.

His body tingled and went numb completely, hand flopping against the floor as his muscles disobeyed Adrian's commands and simply relaxed. He found it even hard to blink, focusing on breathing steadily as drool slipped down his cheek.

The forest around him moved in sickening waves, making Adrian squint his eyes shut to prevent from losing what little contents he had left in his stomach.

!DANGER! DANGER!

Slowly, the coils moved, only provoking a weak twitch in Adrian's arm before the serpent retreated, shifting back in the man from last night. As Charles patted off the dirt before getting dressed, Adrian was twisted on his back before being hauled up.

His arms dangled over the bear's hold, head lolling weakly as he was still aware and conscious but unable to move his body. The boy's heart raced, being in the hold of a threatening predator but there was nothing he could do against it.

!PREDATOR! THREAT! DANGER!

"Let's get this test done with, shall we?" Willem grumbled in annoyance, leading the way out of the observatory and through several hallways. On the way, they passed other observatories just like Adrian's, though most were empty.

Some were just grasslands, others replicated a dry desert or a damp riverside; It all depended on how and where the Ferals were found. He saw a teen rush away from the windows, diving in the river before the yellow eyes of an alligator popped above the surface. Willem glanced down at the teen he was holding, nodding to himself at Adrian's glazed and heavy lidded eyes.

He hadn't really known for sure if the Feral had been digging its way out but had alerted the team anyway. The soft scratching noises he heard throughout the last couple of nights had been faint after all and he had honestly anticipated the teen to have faked being knocked out.

As it was, the boy would be knocked out for the next three or so hours. Enough for their doctor to get a good look at the Feral. Willem changed his grip slightly around the boy's neck, feeling his pulse thrum sharply against his sensitive fingers.

Willem huffed, pausing as a slight motion caught his eye before he shook his head. Shouldering past the door, he laid Adrian down on the observation table and made eye contact with the doctor.

"His shift isn't a mammal, that's for sure."

The woman looked up from her notes, eagle eyes sharp as they peered over her glasses. "And what makes you think that Willem?" She asked sternly as she approached with a clipboard in hand, taking notes as she went.

Willem leaned against the table as he jabbed a finger at Adrian, "Because the boy has nictitating membranes." He said with another huff, the disturbance of the air against Adrian's face enough to cause the translucent membrane to flash over Adrian's eyes in a reflex.

"Well, that'll make things easier, but not really. There are some mammals with nictitating membranes, even if you didn't know that. At least we can cross off some of the tests, though it doesn't exclude him from being a possible hybrid." She remarked, earning herself a grunt from the polar bear as he shoved himself off of the table and went to the far side of the room.

Adrian swallowed reflexively as gentle fingers pressed against his throat before a sharp light was flashed in his eyes. An inaudibly deep growl rumbled through his chest at the annoyance, making the woman pause before she scribbled something down.

She pried his mouth open with little effort, pressing a metal object against his tongue to prevent Adrian's jaws from clamping shut before flashing a light through his mouth.

"Has he vocalized in any shape or form during the adaptation?" She asked, working quickly to vaccinate Adrian against all possible diseases, ignoring the now low and audible growls that rumbled through his chest and rattled the items on the table.

"Besides this type of growling and an alarmed shriek when Charles got to him, nothing." Willem grumbled, pausing before tilting his head to the doorway. The other men walked through, curious about the newest arrival and sniffing the air.

Adrian struggled against the narcotics but couldn't do anything at the moment except growl and blink. Even swallowing was hard to do, as he had to actively focus for the otherwise normal behavior.

Still, that didn't prevent him from taking a sluggish swipe at the woman, flopping over as his strike went wide. The second he had moved, Willem had appeared beside him, pinning the boy down with cheeky ease.

It only made Adrian's nostrils flare with panic and anger, snarling angrily as he fought against the drugs pumping through his system. It came to the point that even the wolf near the doorway ran over, pinning Adrian's legs down so he couldn't kick someone in the face.

Feeling utterly defenseless, Adrian released a snarl so deep that most of the creatures in the room couldn't hear it.

But they felt it. Vibrating through their bones and leaving an uneasy feeling as it passed.

"He doesn't smell like anything I've ever encountered. Well, the closest thing..." The werewolf trailed off, yawning like his animal form would do if stressed. The others paused, casting him a penetrating look before the wolf sighed deeply.

"His scent has a vague semblance to Darius."

The room was quiet for a moment before the nurse leaned forwards eagerly. "You think he's part of...." She breathed, eyes widening in shock before shaking her head slightly.

Shrugging slightly, the wolf held a tight grip on Adrian's ankles as the boy fought against the drugs to the point where the nurse gave him an additional dose.

As soon as Adrian's limbs flopped motionlessly on the table, everyone let a sigh of relief while Fiona's eagle eyes observed him closely.

"We'll have to do a significant amount of blood tests to find out, that is to say if the boy doesn't shift to prove our point..." The doctor continued to murmur, writing down eagerly and proceeding to produce several vials to fill.

"Darius was a hatchling when they found him." Willem spoke, dropping his arms before motioning with his jaw towards Adrian, who was resisting the drugs so much, he was slowly getting more and more sensation back to his body.

The boy even made an attempt to bite at the doctor as she drew his blood and checked his teeth but his movements were slow and it wasn't long before he was muzzled, growling ferociously.

"This one has been out there for god knows how long and we all know how much Darius was a pain in the ass to take care of."

Willem snorted at that. "You can say that again. Fucker once got a chunk out of my shoulder because I spooked him."

The nurse nodded, smiling to herself before doing a swift checkup, making sure that Adrian was reacting just fine after the blood drawing and then backed up. "Bring him to the outdoors and contact Darius. If there is a chance they're the same species or relatives of said species, Darius might be able to connect with the boy."

She sighed as her eyes darted to the other syringes before nodding to herself. "Let's give him some time to calm down before finalizing his shots. Securing him against illness won't do us any good if he expires from the stress it causes."

By the time that Adrian was placed in another enclosure, this one seemingly outside, he squinted his eyes against the sharp sunlight and growled tiredly.

He was still heavily drugged and struggling to function properly but was grateful that everyone left the room, closing the gate behind them.

He needed some time to recover.

A.N Thanks for all the possible suggestions and ideas of what Adrian may be ;) It'll be a while before his big reveal but it is fun watching everyone piece together small clues I give in the story ^-^ 

Since so many have attempted to guess, I'll give a free hint : Adrian digging a den goes against his instincts. Since he can't flee from the potential predators, he had no other option but to dig ^-^