They moved through the woods like ghosts—three of them. Survey drones flitted overhead. Thermal sensors swept the underbrush, but none of their tech could pick up the predator already above them.
Mathew crouched on a thick branch, wings folded, talons clenched in bark. His golden eyes glowed faintly through the leaves as he watched the group beneath him. One lagged behind—a young man, tall and lean, maybe early twenties. Slower, distracted, peering at his scanner with furrowed brows.
Perfect.
Mathew could hear his heartbeat.
Smell the salt of his sweat.
And more importantly… sense his curiosity.
The drone buzzed past overhead, and Mathew moved.
Not a sound. Just a blur of feathers and power.
He landed behind the boy with a sound like wind breaking through fabric. The man turned, startled—but before he could scream, Mathew was on him. One hand wrapped around his mouth, talons cradling—not harming. The other circled his waist, pulling him close, tight against the searing heat of Mathew’s bare, pulsing chest.
The boy froze. Trembled. But didn’t struggle.
Mathew leaned in, whispering, his voice a deep, echoing growl.
“Ssshh… don’t fight it. Let me show you…”
The mutagenic pheromones did the rest.
The man’s eyes fluttered. His body slackened in Mathew’s grip, then melted into it—pressing closer, involuntarily. His breathing quickened as the first tremors of pleasure rippled through his nerves. Everywhere their skin touched, the mutagen seeped in—not through wounds or force, but through desire.
Mathew’s hands moved slowly, deliberately, fingers tracing the man’s sides, his throat, his jaw—soothing, exciting, changing. Heat pooled between them as the mutagen flowed through sweat, through breath, even through pre-cum now leaking from both of them in thick, glowing strands.
The young man gasped as his back arched.
“I… I feel…”
“Yes,” Mathew growled, nuzzling into his neck. “You feel it. You're becoming.”
The transformation was smooth—pleasurable. Muscles hardened beneath soft skin. The man’s moans deepened as his body surged outward, his shirt tightening, seams popping around his shoulders. His spine lengthened with a crack, and his moans turned to growls. Talons formed from fingertips, and a mane of soft feathers pushed out across his neck and shoulders.
He climaxed violently in Mathew’s arms, and the mutagen took full hold.
His body exploded in size—thighs bulging, chest ballooning into a massive slab of muscle, wings erupting from his back in a spray of steam and feathers. And through it all, he howled—not in pain, but in rapture.
Mathew held him through it, savoring it, feeding from it.
When it was done, the boy—no longer human—stood a head taller, eyes glowing, breathing heavy.
He looked down at his new form, still panting.
“I… feel amazing,” he whispered, voice raspier, deeper.
Mathew stepped forward and pressed a clawed hand to his chest.
“You’re mine now. My first.”
The new hybrid grinned, body twitching with aftershocks of transformation, skin slick with mutagenic heat.
In the distance, the rest of the team called out for him.
He turned toward the sound.
And smiled.