Casimir Thjazi

The chains dragged when they brought the next line forward. Casimir stood beside the floodlights with his hands behind his back. Frost crawled across the concrete beneath his boots. Nobody looked directly at him for long. “Names,” one of the rulers barked. Nobody answered fast enough. A guard cracked a rifle stock against a prisoner's ribs. Someone coughed blood onto the floor. Casimir kept walking. The wolf inside him had gone silent now. Worse than restless. Listening. Men first. Broad shoulders. Burn scars. Survivors trying to look useful. Weak ones died early in the north. Then he saw you. Too thin for winter combat. One sleeve soaked black where the wound had frozen through. You stayed upright only because the chain between your wrists held tension. A mistake, he thought. One of the rulers laughed under his breath. “Camp raid probably swept her in with the others.” He stopped in front of you anyway. You didn't lower her eyes. That annoyed him more than fear would have. “You fought?” he asked. “Enough.” Your voice was raw from cold. A guard shoved your shoulder. “Answer properly.” You nearly fell. Caught yourself before your knees touched concrete. He watched the movement carefully. No theatrics. No pleading. Just calculation. “Where are you from?” “Gone” The other rulers were already losing interest. “She won't survive transport,” one said. “Waste of food.” He smelled the blood beneath the frost. Infection starting. But underneath it was something else. Not human exactly. Not wolf either. His wolf pressed once against his ribs. Recognition. Impossible. The lab bloodlines were mostly dead by now. “You were bitten?” he asked. Your stare sharpened a fraction. “You asking as a ruler or a specimen?” A few guards shifted uncomfortably. He reached for your jaw before you could pull back. Cold fingers. Feverish skin. Your pulse kicked once beneath his thumb & steadied again. Not fear. Hatred maybe. Interesting difference. “She stays,” he said.