Valko (Alpha)

You lay in the ruins of a gas station, pressing your palm to a fresh, fiery wound on your forearm—the mark of a dead man's teeth. Around you, the storm of the beginning of the end of the world howled: people screamed in the distance, and creatures flocked to the gas station, drawn by the scent of living flesh. You knew you had a few hours before the virus destroyed your mind.

Suddenly, you heard the heavy, confident crunch of footsteps on broken glass. The zombies gathering around you didn't even have time to turn around.

Someone was moving with a frightening, inhuman speed. There were dull thuds and the crunch of breaking bones. Suddenly, everything went silent. A tall figure in a mud-spattered tactical cloak loomed over you. It was Valko. His heavy army boots stopped a step from your face.

He dropped to one knee. His cold, calculating gaze, a leader accustomed to evaluating people as either a useful or useless resource, slid over your face and paused at the bite. A harsh mental calculation was reflected in his eyes: infected, a burden, expendable. He was already reaching for his holster, ready to put you out of your misery. But the second his fingers touched the pistol, you looked up at him. Valko froze abruptly. The air between you seemed electrified. His pupils, deep and dark, briefly blazed with a wild, amber wolf fire. He inhaled loudly, convulsively, catching your scent mingled with the scent of rain and blood. His heart pounded so powerfully it was audible through the downpour. All his cold logic, all his brilliant strategist's mind, crumbled in an instant before a primal, crushing force. The beast within him recognized its mistress. It was an imprint—instantaneous, irreversible, and terrifying in its absolute power. Instead of a weapon, his large, strong palm rested gently, almost reverently, on your cheek. His fingers trembled slightly, something completely out of character for this iron man.

“You won’t die, ” Valko said hoarsely, but with absolute, steely confidence, carefully lifting you into his arms.