>Neil straightened up when the door handle twisted and I could feel his respect and fear for the incoming doctor emanate from him. I still couldn't move a single muscle below my neck and that was reason enough to panic but I had to continue my acting of an amnesic patient. The doctor walked in with a file under her arm as she unwrapped a bright yellow candy, popped it in her mouth, and gave the wrapper to Neil who took it like it was his honor to be her trash can. The woman did not look a day over thirty human years, but since they hadn't freaked out over my healing I knew they were just as supernatural as I. The doctor walked with an air of authority added with a perfect mixture of nonchalance. But, the way her green eyes swept the room and took me in, I knew she was reading the details the way our military training had taught us to. No commoner would be able to know what had happened but I did.I knew I'd have to pretend harder to convince her of my amnesia than Neil
>"Trich, prep patient 201," Doctor Candy ordered before walking over to a working desk full of papers, files, folders, and a laptop.It took me a moment to register that I was the patient 201 who needed to be prepped when a young man in a lab coat with his short hair died green, approached me with, "This way, Sir." "What am I being prepped for?" I asked but instead, I overheard Doctor Candy tell Neil, "Make sure he doesn't make a mess," and Neil was beside me the next instant with the fakest smile I had ever seen. And I had been Claire Devereux's friend once. Now what would make me want to cause a mess? I was led towards an ordinary chair as Trich pulled my sleeve up before getting an injection ready."What's that? What are you injecting in me?" I asked expressing some of my suspicion. It wasn't out of character, anyone who had lost their memories would be suspicious of people who claimed to be helping but never allowed a moment of privacy. "I thought you said you
>Zoe and Xavier had been listening to Luca's experience and Zoe could feel Xavier wanting to get up and punch someone for what Luca had gone through. But, having heard Maisie's tale, she knew there was more to Luca's tale."Do you have any missing memories?" Zoe asked Luca as she placed a comforting hand on Xavier's thigh to keep him calm enough for Luca to continue. Goddess knew how long he must've wanted to share that stuff and get the burden off his chest.Luca did not respond. Instead, he focused on dishing out the meal he had been preparing simultaneously to keep his hands occupied. Only he knew what was going through his head. Luca did not speak until he had dished out the steaming meal and set up a makeshift dining table with the three of them sitting around it. As he served Xavier and Zoe, he only poured a glass of water for himself. Once he had gulped it down, he resumed,>Waking up after that first operation, I thought the worst that could have hap
>Everything felt weird but I did not have the time to focus on that. The Sun, the oxygen, the wind, and the scent of early spring.It felt like an old memory that eluded me. But then, I had no memories so technically, all memories eluded me. My therapist told me that I had no siblings or parents. I was lucky that they had found me nearly dead and saved me. I owed them my existence. If it wasn't for their benevolent help, I would be dead. But now, I got to use my life for a better cause.I was in constant contact with my handler, Mr. Croft, as I was sent into the field. The world felt like a strange new place that I knew but had forgotten. But as a soldier, I was trained not to get distracted. So, I got on the first train to Blood Crescent.>Xavier and Zoe exchanged glances. "Wait, you went back? When? Why would they send you there? How am I only finding out about this now? I asked Jacob about you every time I could." Xavier felt his heart get heavier. One of
>"I'll get some firewood," Luca told and left Xavier and Zoe to read the report.Xavier didn't turn the title page even after Luca had gone so, Zoe placed a hand on his arm, "You don't have to if you don't want to. What matters is that Luca is here and alive. We found him and he remembers you."Xavier sighed, "I know. But I have to. If my own father can stoop so low as to put the safety of his people in jeopardy for personal gains, there is no telling how far he is willing to go for them," He glanced at Zoe and Zoe could see the pain in his eyes from his father's betrayal. No matter how awful a parent is, the child always keeps hope for the better. Xavier had realized in that moment, that there was no hope for his father. He was just as awful as the people Xavier had spent his time fighting to protect his people from. He just never realized that the real threat was living in the Shaw mansion.He looked back at the file and flipped the page to begin reading from the top,~
>I was training through simulation one day when suddenly the feed got cut off.I took off the VR goggles and looked around. Everything was dark. The facility was well-protected and well-equipped. We couldn't just have a random blackout. Something was wrong.I walked into the lobby. My trainer was nowhere to be found. He never left me alone. I wandered the hallways confused having no idea what was happening. I tried a few doors through the hallway, but they were locked or had no one in them.The power returned in around fifteen minutes but no one returned. Getting bored and being a good soldier, I returned to my training. Only when I turned on the VR to resume my simulation, all I saw were pictures of Jacob, Mom, Xavier, and all my friends and fellows from Blood Crescent. I still have no idea who hijacked that place and how, but I am grateful to them. Because without them, there was no way I could've broken out of there. They didn't just override my VR to show me my real
>After telling them his story and revealing that he had been spying on the Military facility to the North, Luca brought out his laptop and the flash drive he was given."This thing has played a major role in me remembering myself as much as I have. I still have huge empty patches but at least I know who I am." Luca said and clicked on a folder that was locked. He added the password making Xavier ask, "How did you know that?" "Neil added a file in here among my files that had all the passwords and decryption codes required." Luca answered and turned the laptop to Xavier, "All yours, Alpha."Zoe leaned in as Xavier started scrolling through the many folders with names like Project Winter, Project Obsidian, and Project Twilight. His eyes caught a familiar name and he stilled."Do you know this one?" Zoe asked as Xavier clicked on the folder named, Project Blackwater.Xavier took a deep breath before answering, "Claire worked on this project during the five years that she was
>Zoe and Xavier spent the rest of the rest of the day discussing the contents of the flash drive with Luca. There was a lot of information there, but at the same time, a lot of critical information was still missing. For example, there were no proper coordinates of the bases, no real names were used, and there was no information about how long everything had been going on or who was funding it all.The only thing they concluded from the information was that the ones running these projects were sadistic bastards and worse were the people funding these who clearly had some dark ulterior motives. Zoe thought the worst was what each project's samples had to go through during the experiments. No one deserved to be put through such trauma-inducing horrors. But, for Xavier, the worst was not knowing who to trust anymore. He had no idea who was directly involved in these horrendous projects like his father and Claire. Luca briefed them about everything he had come to know so fa
>I had sirens blaring in my head but I had to keep calm. If Lady Shaw was truly not on Xavier’s side, then I had to tread very carefully.First and foremost, I had to make sure that the suspicion was right or not. If I was right to be suspicious of her, I needed to gather evidence. I couldn’t just put empty blame on her. Xavier would never believe me over her.But I desperately prayed to the Moon Goddess that I was wrong and Lady Shaw had a perfect explanation of how she knew about the documents. Maybe Xavier had told her and I had nothing to worry about.She was looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.I tried to calm my heart rate and asked as casually as I could muster, “What documents?”“The ones that made that ink smear on your fingertips, leave that table mark under your wrists, and left the charging port on for the laptop that you hid in a hurry.” She explained calmly with a slightly amused tone.I glanced at my fingertips and indeed, even though I had tri
>“So, where did you learn how to cook?” Lady Shaw asked as she stirred the boiling pot of soup I was making for dinner.“Mostly my Dad and Aunt Julie. She was Dad’s cousin, used to live with us. Some I learned from experimenting with MJ,” I was instinctively going to add that some I learned for my ex John because he preferred home-cooked meals, but that asshole did not deserve a mention.She took a small spoon and tasted the soup. Subconsciously, I held my breath waiting for her reaction. She took her time and the knife in my hand hovered over the fresh coriander that she had brought.“It’s good,” She smiled in affirmation, and I let out a tiny sigh of relief. Her approval was important to me for some reason. I didn’t know if she knew that I was Xavier’s mate or not, but this was the second time I was meeting her and I did not want to disappoint her. I did not have many special skills but I knew I could trust my cooking and self-defense.“It’s Dad’s recipe,” I couldn’t ke
>Talking to MJ had not only brightened my mood and given me something to think about, it had also lightened the weight off of my heart. I was still troubled, but it had given me a morale boost that I desperately needed. Especially after having Dahlia locked up for a night.She had given me a new perspective on things. She was more courageous than me. After all, we were in similar predicaments, on the run, hiding from powerful, evil people. But she was stuck in a shabby, questionable place. In that sense, I was better off than her. And yet, she had the strength to laugh about everything like it was just a big joke that life was playing on us.Telling her about everything had rejuvenated me and the conversation had left me energized and ready to tackle my problems again. I had a lot of work to do. There was stuff left by Mom and Aunt Julie, not to mention, that mysterious journal we had retrieved from our Riverwoods torturers along with that weird key.Thus after my early m
>"Speculum magicae plenum excantatum, ostende mihi unum ex altera parte," I chanted after I had dropped a droplet of my blood on the back of the silver embossed hand mirror.Instantly the mirror started moving as if I had poured water on it and started rippling in circles. While it did its magic, I had a thought, "Dahlia?"'Uhuh,' She called out watching the mirror with more attention than me."How did the barrier break? I thought I'd feel something like that but I didn't. I mean I felt the silence when it was created." I mused.'Yes, you did. You were just so preoccupied that you didn't realize it immediately.' She confirmed and I was confused."How? When?"'When you were by the lake.' She answered as if it was obvious and then explained, 'Agitation creates barriers, tranquility breaks them down.'I realized then that when I had felt the wind blow through me, it was more in my head than in real life. My mind space was whole again."Wait a minute," I said to her, "If you
>I woke up to silence.It was an unfamiliar and unwelcome feeling. In recent months, I had gotten used to having Dahlia in my head and commenting on most of my thoughts. I liked her companionship even though we didn't always get along. But I guess that is how most shifters are with their animals.I tried to call out to her once more before giving up and getting ready for my morning run. My mother's letter was still swirling in my head. What could it all mean? Everything felt mysteriously important.As I stepped into the woods, the thought of the dehydrated Claire, starving in the cabin's basement made me stop. I glanced toward the hatch. She had been an awful person even before I knew what she was capable of. But was I the person who lets people get punished worse than animals? But then, I had my hands red with the compound mass-massacre. I had the blood of so many innocents on my hands. I wasn't any better.Just like that the pit in the bottom of my stomach returned. I s
>All I wanted since I was a little girl, was to have my wolf. I just wanted to be included at school and be treated like normal werewolf cubs.But the more I waited the worse it felt when I didn't receive my wolf. I became more and more desperate and impatient. I started losing friends until there was none but Maisie.And when I had accepted the fact that even though I was a beta's daughter, I was a wolfless omega but social hierarchy, Dad died. That triggered my dormant animal whom I found out to be more than a regular wolf. I had a hybrid of a Lycan and a werewolf.After having accepted that I would spend my life alone because wolfless meant mateless as well, I was finally complete. I had an animal and she was powerful and magnificent. Yes, I struggled with her. I was unable to transform at will. I was also finding it impossible to create a mental barrier between our shared mental space to give each other some much-needed privacy from each other. Because even though we
>There was blood everywhere and I was so angry. I could see the corpse of my father laying in the pool of his blood, motionless. It was heartbreaking. But it only made me upset. I had left my home pack. I had tried to build a new life, gotten a new job, tried to make new friends, and hoped to lay low. But then, Xavier Shaw had returned and he had kidnapped me. I know he meant well by showing me what a rotten man Richard Peterson was. But, that had only gotten my father to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.And it had gotten him killed. Richard had killed my dad. Emptied his gun in my Dad's chest. I felt movement behind me and whirled around, only to see that Richard had gotten another gun and was pointing it at me.I saw him through Dahlia's vision, looking down on him. His hands were trembling. But he was ready to kill me to save himself. Just as he had killed my Dad to protect his illegal and villanious business. I took a step toward him and he shot at me in pani
>'We should leave now, Zoe.' Dahlia said firmly.I turned to face Claire once more. She was skinnier than I remembered and had dried blood all over her body. Her nails were broken but her smirk was still there."Ask. You know you are dying to know." She said like she knew what was going on in my head.'Zoe, walk away. We cannot trust a word coming from her.' Dahlia kept telling me. If I knew how to block her, I might've."Xavier loved you. Why did you betray him?" I finally asked."She speaks," Claire mocked.'Zoe,' Dahlia warned."Answer me," I tried to ask firmly."You haven't done this before, have you? Interrogation is an art. You should learn it from your beloved. Xavier knows how to paint a body red." She mused but ended up coughing probably due to her dry throat."He wouldn't have to if you hadn't betrayed him," I replied. She didn't know how much I knew and I intended to keep it that way. But I was barely thinking straight."Oh look at the little fawn defending th
>I ran through the woods, trying to clear my head as always. For the first time in my life, it wasn't working.The feeling of Xavier's lips on my neck, his hands on my body, his presence around me. It was all overwhelming my senses. I could still smell his cologne. When had I started to get so horny for him to start having such dreams?I ran faster and took a U-turn to return to the cabin. Jacob had been very adamant about me staying close to the cabin as much as possible. He had wanted me to stay indoors at all times, but that was not going to be an option for me. So, I was granted a few liberties. I was not going to misuse those.While returning, I decided to take one last lap around the cabin before going in to shower and getting to read my hard work from yesterday, finally.That was when I noticed something different. A certain part of the ground was covered by the bushes more thickly than the rest. If I didn't know any better I would say it looked like an attempt to