The Beast Inside

Year 2137

Miya Suzuki didn't think that she would become a Shifter in her family. She was given the vaccine that would protect her from the Beast-37 virus, along with everyone else in her family, but apparently it didn't work. There were some rumors that the vaccine wouldn't work on some people, however it was one every couple thousand people; at least that was what Miya heard.

"What are we going to do!?" Her mother, Nana Suzuki, cried as she clung tightly onto her husband and Miya's father, Genji Suzuki. This was the worst case scenario for their family. They had already lost their oldest son to a leopard Shifter just a couple months ago in a robbery incident, and now their only child was diagnosed with the virus that would turn her into the very beast that killed her older brother.

"Mom-" Miya reached out to comfort her mother, but froze when she pulled away. Miya's light-brown eyes widened as her chest tightened and retracted her hand back. She's afraid of me... "I'm sorry..."

"There's only two options available." The doctor sighed softly as he reached over to his shelf to pull out some pamphlets. "Either you can send her to this training academy where the special military will train her to work for the government, or I can refer you over to a group that is working on a project to eliminate the virus."

"What are the downsides? Will our daughter be able to go back to how she was?" Miya's father glanced at his daughter worriedly before looking down at the pamphlets for both options.

"There is always a risk with projects like this. It is still a work in progress, but many families have turned over their loved ones as volunteers for it. Some would think it is a good cause."

"You didn't answer my question." Her father frowned.

"... Unfortunately, despite it still being in the early stages of development, there has been proven to be more risks than rewards. Many don't survive the research progress and others suffer long-term side effects."

"Then why should we agree with that option if it's going to make things worst for her!?"

"It is a more... favorable option for those who are afraid of Shifters, and those who don't want them part of our society." The doctor had seen many families who were more than willing to sign their loved ones up to be test subjects in a project; it wasn't uncommon to see them turn their backs when someone they loved was diagnosed with the virus. Ever since the virus was discovered and humans were suddenly turning into beast creatures, people were more scared than they ever were.

Miya flinched when he said that and couldn't bare to look up from the ground as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Before all of this, she was already terrified of entering her Freshman year of college and the thought of starting a new chapter of her life, but now it was like fate had something more scary in stored for her. Nothing could've prepared her to become a Shifter.

"Let's send her to the training program." Her father decided after the doctor had given some time to think about it. Miya knew it was the best option for her and the safest for her parents; they didn't know if she would lose control or not if she started shifting. They weren't going to take that chance if she was going to shift into a predator, which would've been dangerous for them.

"I'll request a team to come pick her up." The doctor nodded and a nurse came in to escort the family of three outside to the waiting room. Miya's parents didn't say anything to her. She couldn't tell what they were thinking, but she hoped that they were going to miss her, and that they still loved her.

"Miya Suzuki?" An older man appeared, dressed in black military clothes, and two more stood behind him when they entered the waiting room.

"That's me..." Miya hesitantly stood up from the couch and he nodded to her.

"I'm Captain Alexander. These are Lieutenants Seven and Kano. We'll be escorting you to the training academy." He seemed like a rough-around-the-edges kind of man, but he held a gentle and friendly demeanor towards Miya, who was much smaller and innocent-like.

Lieutenant Seven had black hair and brown eyes, and was a bit shorter than the other two, but he was very built. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Kano had platinum blonde hair and was a bit leaner with some height; however, he had these striking green eyes that Miya was intimidated by with just one glance. Miya assumed that the people coming to escort her would be much more scarier, but her assumptions were proven to be wrong.

The three of them didn't look at her like she was different from them. Maybe it was because they had seen many people who were Shifters like her.

They led her out to the front of the hospital where a black SUV was parked with another soldier waiting for them. Miya accidentally made eye contact with the gray-eyed young man who seemed to be around her age. He had dark-blonde hair that tied up in a small bun with a slight undercut and some curly strands falling from the sides of his face.

Something about him was familiar though.

"Did you get lonely waiting by yourself, Ash?" Seven chuckled as he gave the young man a playful pat on the shoulder. "Did we make you wait too long?"

Ash glared at him and brushed his hand off before going to the driver's side of the SUV.

"You need to stop messing with him before he shifts on you one day." Kano sighed with a shake of his head as he opened the door to the back seats.

He's a Shifter? Miya thought as she descended down the steps towards the SUV.

"I apologize in advance. The ride there might be noisy." Alexander gave Miya an apologetic smile as he stood next to the door. "If you would like, you can say a couple words to your parents before we leave. You might not be seeing them for a while."

Miya nodded and turned around to her parents who were still standing on the steps. Her father had an unreadable expression on his face while her mother was clearly avoiding eye contact with her own daughter.

"If they allow me to write letters, I'll send some home. I know that you two see me differently now, but I'm still the same as I was. I'm still your daughter, right?" She tried to stay strong and kept up a smile for them.

"You don't need to bother. Get going now. You're keeping the gentlemen waiting." Miya's father had already accepted that his daughter wasn't going to be human anymore. It was clear to her that they were giving up on her if there was no cure to turn her back.

She watched as her parents started walking towards their car without saying anything else to her. It tore her heart into pieces when they didn't even look back once. Miya bit down on her lips to suppress her tears and turned to climb into the back seat of the SUV.

"Wow, they couldn't have shown some sympathy for their own daughter?" Seven muttered when he sat in the passenger's seat.

"Seven, be quiet." Alexander frowned at him when all of them got into the vehicle that Ash started up.

"You okay?" Kano asked Miya softly as she sat in between him and Alexander. The SUV pulled away from the curb and she couldn't bring herself to look up from her tightened fists on her lap. Hearing him ask her that made it harder to hold in her tears. "Hey..."

Ash glanced back at her through the rear-view mirror when they reached a red light.

"You'll be alright, kiddo. You're in good hands." Alexander reassured her and Miya just nodded as tears fell on top of her hands. He reached an arm around her and pressed her head to his shoulder, allowing her to sob. Gently stroking the side of her head, the Captain stayed quiet and unlike most drives the team had, this one was wordless throughout the ride.

When they arrived at the Academy, Kano had carried Miya out of the car after she had fallen asleep after crying majority of the ride there. He took her to the temporary room she would stay in while her actual room was getting prepared, and every so often, one of them would check up on her while she slept the rest of the day.

"Why bother waiting out here if you're not going to go in?" Seven closed the door behind him after he checked on Miya and saw Ash standing outside her door on the other side of the hallway. "You've been waiting to see her again, right?"

"It's none of your business." Ash slightly frowned at his nosy teammate.

"You're not going to tell her who you are? That you're the little wolf pup she rescued a couple months ago?" Seven knew that he was prodding in Ash's business in the wrong way, but it was amusing to get expressive reactions out of him when it came to the girl who gave him a second chance to live.

"No. Now stop asking questions before I seriously get angry."

Seven shrugged and grinned to himself before walking away.

How can I tell her that I'm the reason she contracted the virus...? Ash thought to himself and pulled out a gold, heart-shaped locket from his pocket before opening it to see a picture of an older boy who looked like Miya.

If only I hadn't met her that day...

Several days later...

Miya barely ate and talked the first couple days at the academy, but after moving into her permanent room and settling in, she started to slowly get used to her new life. Things seemed normal at first, until one night Miya noticed she was having trouble sleeping and her body was starting to ache all over.

Is it that time of month already...? She thought to herself as she got out of bed to pour herself a glass of water. When she reached to pick up the glass, her muscles started to contract and sparks of pain shot through every nerve in her body.

Miya let out a painful scream and the cup shattered to the ground as she collapsed after the pain completely took over her legs. She clung onto her stomach and tears poured out her eyes.

"Miya!?" Kano's room was just on the other side of the hallway when he heard her scream, and he had to break down the door when he was unable to open it. He rushed over to her and knew exactly what was happening before scooping her up into his arms. Running as fast as he could, the blonde-haired man hurried to the medical bay where they had the equipment to help.

"Miya!" Ash had sensed something was wrong when he was getting ready for bed and had met them at the entrance after hearing her screams echo throughout the hallway.

"She's shifting!" Kano yelled as the medical technicians on the night-shift rushed to open up a shifting cell for her. He placed her on the bed and reacted roughly when one of the technicians grabbed her wrists. "Hey!"

"Kano, step back and let them work. We don't know what she's going to shift into." Alexander was alerted about what was happening and made his way to the medical bay. "They're just taking precautions."

Everyone left the cell and the technicians monitored Miya as her body changed. Seven's eyes widened when she turned into a huge, white wolf that was trembling in the corner and turned Ash, who was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"What did you do...?"