Rain began to drip through the forest and onto Lilia's jacket.  Her hood hid most of her face from the increasing droplets as she  dodged trees and jumped over limbs and undergrowth.  Her pace never changed, her speed a consistent fifteen miles per hour, but that slowly changed the farther she pushed on.  They'd been on this hunt all morning with nothing to show except fatigue. 

Her dad Christopher and uncle Owen followed her lead.  Owen ran nearby.  His pace was careful, the bones in his knees popping with each footfall, a sound she tracked like every other motion in their forest territory.

After another hour, Christopher's steps faltered, movements sluggish, and he panted in an erratic wheezing hiss.  She stopped, hands flying to her hips as she caught her breath.  All three of their chests heaved.

"We could go home," her uncle said.  His hands were on his knees.

Christopher tensed.  His chin jutted out, forming a clear "don't argue with me", and Lilia understood his command as if words were spoken.  He was the most dominant.  Unless she challenged him for control of their group both there and back at the cabin, she obeyed whatever he ordered like a real wolf.  She was just his pup with a great nose on these trips.

Still, thunder veined out in cracking tendrils.  Not even three minutes later, lightning flashed.  The gray clouds morphed into a dark, thick mesh of energy.  More thunder smacked.  The whole mass loomed one, two, three, four, five, six, seven miles away by the delay from strike to sound.  The air pressure rose as she sniffed the air, and the humidity almost suffocated her senses as the wind churned chilled rain straight into her face.  

"We have to turn back soon."    

A low growl frothed in her dad's throat and bubbled forward through his twitching lips.

But she rumbled back, though her head still cowered under the height of his chin.  "This isn't worth our lives, is it?  You can't possibly be that stubborn."

"Pup, why don't you find us some food so we don't have to hump through this monster." Owen stepped between Christopher and her, arms in straight lines, body rigid as he spread his fingers. 

A deep snarl erupted from Christopher's mouth, and he shoved Owen down.  Instead of fighting back, Owen lifted his throat to Christopher's clenched fist.  Lilia inhaled.  This was ridiculous. 

A few twigs snapped about miles in the distance.  A deer picked its way through the underbrush less than two miles north.  She hurled forward, thrill overthrowing her anxiety and the growing thunder.  Christopher and Owen loped behind her, and she tried to hear where this deer stood, focused on smelling its exact location, but the rain drenched everything to the core and muddled her awareness.  Fortunately the wind still pounded against her cheeks and into her nose and slightly opened mouth.  It told her the deer crept towards her direction at a normal, relaxed pace.  It smelled nothing suspicious. 

Christopher and Owen apparently caught the scent because they sped up with renewed energy.  It felt great to have purpose, to feel the bliss of the hunt, of being so close to real wolves and forget she was some genetic experiment. 

Lightning silently crashed down.  Three seconds later, thunder boomed louder than ever.  The deer was only half a mile away.  They slowed to a creeping stalk with curled backs and guns in hand.  Lilia stayed to the side of the deer scent while Christopher and Owen went left and right.  There was no way they were walking home without this damn animal.

Finally, it came into view, a buck with four velvet-tipped points on its antlers.  He munched on grass between the newly falling autumn leaves with a continuous, slow forward stride.  Lilia's knife was the only thing in her hand.  No gun.  Nothing but her blade of a claw.  Her stance was low, golden eyes focused on its progression closer and closer to her.  She moved towards it, careful to stay behind trees and underbrush. 

Then its head bolted up, searching frantically though its mouth still chewed on blades of grass.  She inhaled.  Owen was downwind of both her and the deer.  He must smell like a predator to this creature, or some strange mixture of human and wolf.  All modified smelled that way.  But the buck probably wasn't thinking that far into it.  Owen moved farther away, moving more towards her dad, but the buck was still frozen in place. 

She saw Christopher in her peripheral vision.  His gun stared at the buck, but if he squeezed the trigger, the buck would run.  If they waited too much longer, the buck would run.  Something was off and Lilia sensed that it knew, or felt, or maybe even smelled that something was wrong in the forest today.  But it was so close to her--just four feet.  Well within striking range. 

Lightning flashed.  She counted to three and, in time with the thunder, lunged at the deer's neck with her knife.  It tried to bolt, but by then Lilia wrenched its body to the ground, neck snapping under the force. 

Owen whistled as he emerged.  "Quite a move, Pup."

She smiled but moved away as Christopher came forward.  "You'd better be pleased."

He said nothing, but his body was relaxed.  If he had a tail, she was sure it would be wagging, and she dipped her head in submission to his leadership.  Lightning flashes snapped frequently.  Thunder evolved into one long string of rumbles and roars.  She helped Christopher and Owen skin the thing and bag as much of its flesh as possible in their backpacks.

Just as they were getting ready to leave and the lightning was nearly on top of them, Lilia tensed.  Something else was out there--something wrong, something deformed.  It held no male or female scent, though it smelled diseased. 

Whatever it was, it was within a mile of them and closing the gap--fast.  She put all her effort into sensing this thing when a huge eruption of thunder made her jump.  Then she saw it: two gleaming green eyes in the underbrush.  A mountain lion.  No, not a mountain lion.  It was a human woman with nothing on but a tank top and some shredded jeans.  

"Devolved," she whispered.  Her voice wasn't within normal audible frequencies, but Owen and Christopher heard.

Its lips rippled and revealed non-existent fangs.  Probably wanted their food, and Lilia tightened her grip on her backpack.  Christopher moved towards it, growling and snarling.  "This is mine," he said with his body.  "Mine."

It hissed but came no farther.  Owen aimed the gun and fired.  It hit the tree next to its face, and the creature ran away after yowling one more time.

"That's the third one this week," Christopher said.  Lilia watched as he frowned and stared at where the devolved thing had been.  After a few minutes, he turned south.  "Let's go home."    

But Lilia stared after the devolved for a moment more.  Its smell was fading, but even when it was stronger she still barely made out the human half of the creature.  That person was someone who could've been just like her or her family or any other modified.  Instead, something inside its genes laughed and twisted into the degenerated being that ran farther away, probably to seek shelter in some forsaken crevice for the night.

"Come on!" Owen let out a shrill, ragged bark.  Lilia blinked and turned to follow them.

***

It took an hour to get down the mountain, most of which was spent in the midst of incessant veins of light dashing down or across the sky.  At a few points Lilia heard more than smelled the devolved from before.  She leaned her head back or sideways to catch the sounds easier.  Obviously the thing never bothered to watch its step.  Many leaves were stirred up, twigs snapped, sections of underbrush pushed aside as it all but tore through the forest.  Owen looked back from time to time, but Christopher barreled forward. No doubt he knew anyway. The thing finally retreated when the trees broke and a large cabin in the middle of a clearing came into view.

Smoke curled out of the high chimney and into the black-gray sky.  Fluorescent light spilled through cedar windows, and Lilia smiled.  Home.  Whooping in a strange howl-bark way, she bounded down the little hill and straight for the front door, which faced the mountains instead of the faint dirt road.  Three young bodies tumbled through the door and ran toward them despite the rain.  Sarah, the youngest, smiled and wordlessly took Lilia's backpack.  Cameron, the oldest, took Christopher's while Spence grabbed Owen's, and they all but jumped around to a section of their wrap-around porch that was cut off by wire mesh. Inside was a freezer and a bloody table, where the meat was placed for Lilia's mother Renee to unpack and store.  The younger ones snapped loudly at one another as the chased Owen around on the porch, yapping and yowling.  Christopher rolled his eyes. Shaking the rain from his body as if he were an actual wolf, he stomped the mud from his boots and walked inside.  

But Lilia stayed on the porch. It took a while for the others to tire of chasing Owen, but they finally filtered inside. Chuckling as he came up to her, Owen grinned at them as they continued snapping at one another loudly from the kitchen.  "Ah, youth."

"You're not that old."  Lilia elbowed him and walked through the front door.

Owen shut the rain behind them and, with outstretched arms, yelled, "Jared.  You'd better be making dinner."

Pots clanked.  Something clattered to the floor, and Lilia sighed.  The smell of Jared's hare modified blood trickled through the cabin.  When she walked into the kitchen, her eyes confirmed what her nose already saw.  Wiry Jared held his hand over the sink.  Water washed deep red off it while shards of plate huddled around his feet like confused rabbits.

Lilia stooped over to grab the bigger slivers.  Those crazy three never bothered to look before they charged, and she imagined them slicing their feet open.  Oh, the howls and shrieks.  She scoffed, but in a good-humored way, and patted Jared on the back after dumping the plate remains.  As always, he jumped.

She turned him towards her until his eyes met hers. "Just breathe, remember?" 

After he nodded and calmed down, she opened the closet and snatched out the broom.  Sweeping up the tiniest glass bits, she watched Jared finish preparing for dinner.   He placed a small plate of chicken next to a giant salad bowl at the center of the table.  She rolled her eyes.  Leave it to the hare to make a mostly vegetable meal. 

The minute the chicken came to rest on the tabletop, everyone converged.  Christopher and Renee appeared from the hallway.  The three youngsters barged in from the back porch in time with window-rattling thunder.  They yelped then cackled at themselves.  Everyone else just laughed as they took their seats.  Lilia sat next to Owen and Jared.  Jared always sat next to Renee, the calmest person in their modified pack, and of course Christopher sat at the head of the table.  It wasn't a matter of respect or courtesy.  He earned that spot, and until someone else stole it from him, he sat there every day. 

"So how'd the hunt go?"  Sarah asked.

Christopher chewed on some salad, frowned, but kept eating as if nothing was said. Or was he frowning because of the salad itself? Owen shrugged. Turning to Lilia, the three begged with their eyes as well as low whines for her to divulge something -- anything.

"We saw another devolved."

"Another?" If Cameron possessed a tail, Lilia imagined it would be furiously wagging.

"It's nothing to worry about," Christopher said.

Cameron scoffed.  "They're coming into our territory more, I'd say it's something we should take care of. Right?"

"Stop talking and finish eating." Christopher growled.  His eyes locked with Cameron's until the boy lowered his gaze.   

Christopher's vehemence surprised Lilia.  Looking around, it was obvious she wasn't alone.  Owen seemed as shocked as Cameron, and Jared was ready to bolt.  Fear exuded from him so strongly that she almost leaned forward and comforted him, but that would've cause too much embarrassing attention for him. 

"So I thought you should know that same guy called again today," Sarah said.  Her voice shook, but she held her head high -- though not high enough to challenge Christopher's authority. 

"What man?" Lilia asked.

Christopher shrugged.  "Some wolf modified down south."

Lilia fiddled with her food for a moment.  "What does he want?"

Sighing, he let his fork slam against his plate.  "He wants to come and talk."

"And?" She leaned forward suddenly, eyes bright.  "Is he coming?"

Christopher turned to Sarah, who nodded. "He'll be here by Saturday."

"Now leave it alone." Christopher jabbed at his food.

Everyone finished dinner around the same time.  Actually, that wasn't true. Everyone waited for Christopher to stand and put his plate in the kitchen sink before doing the same.  Jared, being the fastest, darted from sink to his bedroom upstairs before anyone could tease him.  Owen herded the siblings into their room, which was directly across from his, after giving Lilia a kiss on the forehead.  For a moment, Lilia still sat in her seat, watching Renee clean.  News of the visitor sparked some part that wanted to know more about life outside their little mountain cabin.  It was intoxicating.  Still, something about the timing pressed against her thoughts. Unease never came natural to her like it did to Jared, and the feeling annoyed her more than anything. 

"What is Dad hiding about the devolved?"

Renee stopped scrubbing for a moment.  "Nothing."

"You know that's a lie."

She sighed and dried her hands before turning to Lilia.  "We found tracks near the clearing.  Eight of them."

"When?"

"Two weeks ago.  Christopher said they were a pride of devolved lions along with one other he couldn't quite make out.  Said his smell was too strange."

Lilia wanted to punch the wall, the table, anything -- everything.  How had she not noticed their presence? Eight enemies so near home and she never smelled or hear a thing. Damn.

"You shouldn't worry. We haven't seen any more traces of them.  Just other devolved like that mountain lion."

Of course Renee already knew about that.  Christopher probably walked straight inside and told her before he did anything else.  Lilia sighed.  "Does the visitor have anything to do with this?"

"I can't say. But please, try to be more understanding towards your dad. He's just trying to protect us in the way he knows best."

"No promises." Lilia rose, kissed Renee on the cheek after giving her a big hug, and went to bed.  Or tried to.  She imagined devolved with tawny hair and razor-sharp teeth crawling outside her window deep into the night until her eyes finally closed, her mind forced into a dreamless universe.