I can't be late.

Lexi sprinted through the woods, her golden paws kicking up dirt as she flew towards the town. Although her muscles already ached from the exhaustion, she pushed herself to keep going.

I can't be late. Not again.

As she finally burst from the trees, her pace slowed suddenly. She glanced back into the shade of the woods.

But I don't like leaving him.

With a sigh, she turned away and kept running, her paws now beating on the compressed soil that formed the twisting paths. The wooden walls of the houses blurred her vision a pale brown at the sides. Why did this path seem so long today?

Eventually, the path widened out into the main square - the plaza - and she took a sharp right, heading for one of the larger constructions. This building was split into several sections, each with the name of a Thunderwylf scratched above the doorway. She threw herself in the direction of one of the signs, the one that read 'Lexi', second from the left.

Another gold-coloured wolf was waiting beside it. Her green eyes flashed with concern.

"You're not too late," the wolf called as Lexi approached. "He hasn't come yet. But it could be any moment now." Her expression switched briefly to one of amusement. "That Peltless really does distract you, doesn't he?"

"Not the time, Storm, not the time," Lexi muttered in annoyance as she staggered through her own doorway. Storm mouthed something she couldn't make out, before vanishing into the lab next door.

It was only moments later when he appeared. Lexi had barely managed to regain a steady breathing pattern when his heavy footsteps began to thump outside. An orange glow flickered through the empty doorframe. Hurriedly, she grabbed for the document she'd been working on yesterday, and bent over it, her eyes scanning the pages.

She wasn't really reading. Her heart thumped far too fast for her to be able to concentrate.

Soon enough, she felt his heat radiate throughout her workspace. She gave it a couple of seconds, for realism, before she looked up from her document and dared to meet his eyes. They were a firey amber, almost red, and they sparked like embers every time they rested on her.

"Sergeant Joeonto," she addressed him, submissively lowering her gaze to his coral-orange paws. Every inch of his fur was perfectly smoothed out, and not a spec of dirt was in sight.

She wished she could say the same for herself.

Eyes scanning the room, Joeonto only grunted in acknowledgement. He knew her name. But he chose not to use it. After a moment, his gaze snapped forcefully back to her. "Have you finished the research I requested?"

"Oh. Not quite," she admitted, hurriedly reaching for a small vial containing a few droplets of blue-green liquid. "This is the prototype, but it is untested. There's no guarrantee that it will..." Before she could finish, he'd already snatched it off her. She winced. His rough claws could easily crack the delicate material and send her last week's work splashing uselessly on the floor.

"I'll test it for you," he growled, shoving the vial carelessly into a belt around his chest. "Your next assignment is this." Reaching back into the belt, he pulled out a scroll of paper. She took it from him slowly. Only a quick scan read made her gasp in shock.

"Poison!" she exclaimed, dropping the paper. It floated, gradually, with graceful sweeping motions, to rest on the wooden floorboards. "But... you don't want to... to kill?" She stared at him, suddenly afraid for different reasons.

Joeonto was the current leader of a group of mostly Flamewylves called the Wylfire. They had been originally created to monitor the enemies, the darker wolves from the old war, but now they mostly kept an eye on the criminals of this northern section of Sylvera. But they had always been peaceful. They didn't kill. They didn't harm. They just... protected.

Clearly, something had changed.

The fire flashed in Joeonto's eyes again as he glared down at Lexi. She sunk even lower in her stance. Asking questions was always a bad idea - but she just couldn't help it this time. This had to be serious.

Unfortunately, she wasn't deserving of answers. "It is none of your business, Thunderwylf. You are here to work for me. There is no reason for you to know everything." He was already turning away as he spoke the last few words. "I'll be expecting you to be finished. Same time next week. Don't be late." The final words sent her paws quivering, just as he rounded the corner into Storm's lab.

With a sigh, Lexi turned back to the file he'd handed her and read it again, properly. A killing poison. That was what they wanted. Something with the power to infect and kill anything it touched. Even those words coupled together made her tremble.

Still, it was her job. She couldn't lose it. Right now, her work was keeping her family fed.

Ears twitching, she crossed to the far wall, listening for the muttering voices from the lab next door. They only lasted a few moments, before Joeonto's voice faded away, and she could hear Storm cursing under her breath. That was all it took to make Lexi smile again. The sound of her fellow Thunderwylf calling the leader of the Wylfire some rather tasteful insults.

A few minutes passed. Lexi busied herself with checking her calculations for her previous assignment. After a second look, it did appear as if the prototype would work - but she couldn't be sure. Part of her hoped it wouldn't, just to teach those nasty Flamewylves a lesson.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon, there was the sound of a tail brushing against the door arch, and a voice called, "Did you have fun with the brute?"

Lexi snorted. "Need you ask?"

Storm growled, stepping further into the lab. "I hate him. I really do." Her tail twitched as she glanced into the space Joeonto had disappeared into.

"He treats you fine, though," Lexi said with a sigh, setting down her pencil. "It's me he really goes for." That forced another growl of irritation from her friend.

"Only because my parents have been slaves to society their whole lives and earned themselves the big house." The bitterness in Storm's tone was especially clear today. "Your parents did something valuable with their lives." She swept over to Lexi's desk, still muttering under her breath, and began leafing through the documents that lay there.

The words lingered in the air, making the cogs of Lexi's brain whirr into action. Her parents were explorers. They'd met in the forest, three or so years ago, while each on their separate adventures. While her mother was interested in the flora and fauna of the continent, her father wanted to map all the unknown areas, and learn everything there was to know. They'd never really settled in one place until their daughter came along.

But, since their work came with very little benefit to the town, their family was immediately shunned to the lower section of society. That meant a smaller house, much less support for their daughter, and very few hunting permits. Lexi's job, thankfully, at least increased the latter.

With a sigh, Lexi pulled her thoughts away, just as Storm's voice cut across them. "Poison?"

"Yes." Flicking her tail, she bounded over to her companion. "That's my next assignment. A fatal toxin." She frowned. "Why, did you not get that, too?"

Storm shook her head. "No. I just got some more boring paperwork." Her nose curled wryly. "You get all the fun assignments."

"If you mean I get the hard assignments I have to stay up all night to do, then yes, you're correct." Though Lexi's tone was joking, she meant the words. That was what she'd done with the previous assignment. Yet she'd still not finished on time.

"It does make me wonder, though," she added, moving back to the subject of poison. "Killing. Has something happened? Something we don't know about?" Something to do with Shadewylves? her mind added, but she was too afraid to speak it aloud. It couldn't be them. Most wolves were sure they'd died out long ago.

But it was possible.

Venom to kill a wolf of Shadow. It sent shivers up her spine.

"Maybe." From Storm's silent twitch, Lexi guessed she was sharing the thoughts. "If it's something important, I'm sure they'll tell us soon enough." She didn't sound very sure.

Lexi flicked her tail. "I'll ask Thirty-Four. He might find out from his father." Though it wasn't like Maynard would actually tell his son anything directly. Her mind lingered on the edge of those worrying thoughts, but was pulled out again by Storm's snigger. "What?"

Mischievious sparks flashed in Storm's eyes. "Oh, nothing." But her expression inferred different.

"Shut up," Lexi muttered, turning away. "I don't like him. Not in that way. I don't." Her friend chuckled again. As she stepped towards the door, she muttered to herself. But still loud enough for Lexi to hear.

"We'll see."