Accalia-I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier, but I should have known that Monday morning wouldn’t be like any other day when I arrived at work. The news about my identity has already circulated. At least it was rather obvious when Zydan and I entered the building, and the lobby was packed with nearly every employee.“Oh, my goddess! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Diana was the first to rush forward.She attacked me with a hug, and all I could do was stare past her at the many faces and the massive six-tier cake. I stood with my arms hanging limp at my side. Diana didn’t hug me long, but shortly after she stepped back, someone else hugged me.By the time I regained my senses, I had been hugged by half the room, including those I hadn’t met before. Before someone else hugged me, I retreated behind Zydan. He tried to move, but I latched onto the back of his coat and stayed behind him.“Your fans await.” Zydan chuckled as he moved to the side again to try to let someone els
Accalia-Arriving at work before the sun rose the following morning, I smiled when I saw a female standing by the entrance. I recognized her instantly as the human professor I often admired in college. Her understanding of tech was more advanced than most. She hadn’t taught me directly because her field of study was different.We interacted a few times, and I often spoke to her and gained insight into my school projects. When I had lunch on campus, there were a few times she would sit with me to discuss what I was working on. What I loved most about her was her warm smile, which always made me feel as if I were close to my mother.“Good morning, Accalia.” Professor Emily greeted me.“Good morning, Professor.” I smiled but then froze when I realized she called me by my birth name. “Wait, you know who I am?”It might seem like a silly question, considering I exposed myself recently, but she didn’t believe in following the news. I slowly put the pieces together when a knowing smile appea
Accalia-Time moved slowly over the next few months as we entered the next phase. With the added information from my mother’s things and the help of Professor Emily, we were able to speed up the process. Now, Emily was in the operating room, implanting the first microchip in our first test subject.“Are you nervous?” Zydan asked as he sat next to me in the series of chairs lined against the wall outside the operating room.“A little.” I admitted as I stared at the closed door.“We have run tests for the past two months, and nothing has gone wrong.” Zydan rested a hand against my back, patting it softly.“Running tests and putting them into action are two different matters. This is a living, breathing person, not a machine. The biggest problem will be whether he will wake up or not.”“True, but this isn’t the first time Emily has implanted a microchip. If she and your mother were able to implant them successfully, it shouldn’t be a problem now.” Zydan moved his hand from my back and pl
Accalia-As soon as I entered the hotel, I received a call from Emily. “Hello?”“I wanted to inform you that the patient woke up.” Emily’s voice was filled with excitement, but it didn’t match the joy I felt down to my bones.“Really?” I practically screamed, which caused many guests in the hotel to turn their attention to me.“I was a little worried initially, but he just woke up. His vitals are great, and his mood is much more stable than before implantation.” I could hear the smile in her voice.“How is it?” Zydan whispered.“He is awake!” I attempted to whisper, but it came out as more of a high-pitched squeal.Zydan smiled but then looked around the hotel awkwardly. The news that the first test subject waking up after surgery couldn’t have come at a better time. Before we left the lab, I had been prepared to enter the venue and apologize for wasting everyone's time.The last thing I wanted to tell everyone was that we started testing on a turned-wolf but would be unable to confir
Accalia-It didn’t take long for the wolves to be subdued. Members of the Renegades quickly entered, along with men from the Hynes family and my father’s men. Even some of the guests moved forward to subdue the wolves.Instead of killing them, they were tranquilized and taken away. This was one way to end a party. When the last wolf was carried off, the only ones in the room were Zydan, me, my father, and a human reporter, who crouched in the corner. Stepping off the stage, I approached the reporter.“Are you okay?” I asked.He shook his head multiple times before he nodded. “I…” He cleared his throat. “I am fine.” He stood on shaking legs. “Please don’t ask me to come to these events again.” He suddenly ran out of the room.“Who invited a human reporter?” I turned to my father since he was the one who had set this up.The look of guilt on his face said it all. Sighing, I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. Massaging my temples with my thumbs, I decided not to get into it right now. T
Accalia-Over the following two days, I stayed at the lab with Emily. We took turns sleeping on a cot we set up and working. I planned to take her home after I returned, but with everything else going on, we discussed it and agreed it was better to stay in the lab.We weren’t having any problems in the lab, but I was having a problem of my own. The moment I returned to the lab, I started feeling bad again. I couldn’t figure out why I felt hot, unfocused, achy, and dizzy at the wrong times. Emily asked what was wrong a few times, but I couldn’t explain what was happening to me.No matter how hard I tried to figure it out, I couldn’t think of anything. It has been coming and going since the night at the hotel. It would pass after a few minutes, but it was worse today for some reason. Trying to ignore it didn’t help, so I had to take multiple breaks when I started feeling bad. The last thing I needed was to make a mistake in the lab. “Maybe you should go home for the night. I can handl
Zydan- (Adult content ahead.)“She called me a few minutes ago since she couldn’t get through to you. She didn’t say anything to me either until I noticed something sounded off with her. When I asked about it, she explained what she was feeling. At the time, I thought she had encountered something making her sick, but then I remembered learning about fated mates. I don’t know if I am right, but I can’t think of anything else that could cause a pure-blood, especially someone as special as Lia, to feel like that.”“How far are we from the lab?” I asked as I nearly drove over the shoulder to avoid running into the back of a car blocking my path.“At this speed, we should arrive within twenty minutes. Now I know why Lia insists on taking her bike on missions.” Silica groaned.“Is there a shortcut?”“This is the fastest way there. I will message Jon to hack into the traffic lights once we get off the highway. He can give us a green light back to the Lab.” From the corner of my eye, I saw S
Three months laterAccalia-“How is she?” I asked Emily as she came out of the operating room.“Everything turned out fine. We still need to see what happens when she wakes, but I have a good feeling about it.” Emily smiled as she pulled off her mask and tossed it in the trash can by the door.“Good.” I clapped my hands together, and a broad smile spread across my face.It has been three months since we started with the first test subject. We waited almost a month before bringing in more volunteers. Now, we have a total of twelve turned wolves implanted with the microchip.So far, everything seems to be working out with each one. No one has died, and the ones who have been implanted for more than a month haven’t shown signs of losing control. We have even tested to see if they could shift into wolves without the moon.Up to this point, it wasn’t a possibility. In fact, none of them has shifted at all since they were implanted. I didn’t know if it was a good thing, but I was confident
Accalia-“I already told you that whenever you are ready, I was willing. All you need to do is say the word. I know you wanted to wait to become Alpha Queen, so there is no rush. I will wait until you are ready.”My smile widened. “I am ready now.”Zydan’s face paled, and I wondered if he had second thoughts about marrying me. “Wait. Are you serious?”“I have never been more serious.” I nodded. “I realized that while I was going through all my memories again, I have always focused on what mattered to me and what I wanted. I thought I was making the right decision by waiting until my project was complete and becoming Alpha Queen before marrying you again. I now understand that when I get married was never important. Even if I am married, I can still abolish the marriage law for the future generations.”“Then when do you want to get married?” Zydan smiled, and excitement sparkled in his eyes.“Now.” I stated bluntly.“What about the wedding?” My father asked when Zydan threw my covers o
Accalia-Ow, my head, I thought as I started to wake up. Opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings but didn’t recognize where I was. I was lying on a large bed with a dark purple comforter and black sheets. I also wasn’t alone in the room.The person sitting on the edge of the bed was looking at his phone and not me, so I tried not to move. I didn’t recognize the man, so I didn’t want to make sudden movements until I knew the situation. I was oddly familiar with the man and the room but couldn’t remember anything.“Good, you are awake.” A voice I didn’t recognize spoke as someone I didn’t recognize walked to the side of the bed where the man was sitting.“How are you feeling?” The man, who had been preoccupied with his phone, quickly turned on the bed to look at me.Without a word, I slowly sat up and flinched when the man tried to help me. He took his hand back, but the look in his eyes was filled with pain. Sitting on the bed, I rested my back on the headboard and continued looking
Zydan-Rolling to my side, I avoid Shaw’s attack, but it takes a moment for me to get onto my feet. My ears rang from the hit he delivered when I put myself between him and Lia. Once I was on my feet, I prepared myself for another attack.A sudden burst of energy erupted around me, and it took me a moment to understand that it was Lia’s wolf. Since I was between her and Shaw, I witnessed the moment Shaw was hit with a small lightning bolt. It zapped him but didn’t seem to do any harm.When Shaw’s attention moved past me, I realized she had only used enough of a shock to get his attention. Turning my attention to Lia, I witnessed her transformation into a black wolf with the most captivating violet eyes I have ever seen. It wasn’t until now that I realized this was the first time I had seen her wolf.More than that, Lia’s wolf, Akira, had purple streaks of lightning swarming her as if caressing the fur on her body. The power that rolled off her was nearly ten times more intense than in
Accalia-Staring at the computer in a trance, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It has been two weeks since I sent Arielle and the other test subjects out. I thought it would take more time to determine the results from the final phase, but the indicators on the screen didn’t lie.The full moon was three days ago, and every test subject had maintained excellent results. I could have ended the final testing a week ago, but I put it off until after the full moon. I wanted to be sure there weren’t any issues. For the first time since I began the project, I felt as if a lot of pressure lifted from my shoulders.“Is something wrong?” Emily’s voice pulled me from my trance.“We did it.” I mumbled without taking my eyes off the computer screen.“Seriously?” Emily asked and then shoved me to the side so she could look at the computer. “I don’t understand this stuff, but the indicators are the best I have seen.”“We did it.” I repeated as if I needed more confirmation.Suddenly, I jumped out of my ch
Zydan-Upon returning to the lab, I watched helplessly as Lia became busy again. It wasn’t like before. This time, it was as if she needed to keep herself busy in order to survive. Every time I tried to approach her, she would move on to her next task.When the volunteers Darnell sent to us arrived, it took away more of her freedom. I tried to help her, but there wasn’t much for me to do. Everyone was working hard to speed up the research results. Over the course of three weeks, we went from only having Arielle as a volunteer to having twenty more.We tried to see if the results from Arielle’s implant would be the same without the full moon. After the second volunteer was implanted and was able to shift and have the same results as Arielle, they continued implanting more volunteers. I couldn’t begin to understand what was going on with Lia or why she was pushing herself too hard, but I knew I couldn’t do much to help.I had a feeling it had much to do with the pressure she was under a
Accalia-“Forgive me! I didn’t know.” The man who had greeted us when we arrived said.Shaking my head, I smiled and turned to face him. “It has been a while since I have been here, and although my identity is no longer a secret, not everyone knows who I am.”“I still should have sensed you.” The man kept his attention on his feet, with his head bowed.“I was severely injured recently, so my wolf is resting.” I stepped forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, it is no big deal.” I dropped my hand when he lifted his head.“Well, now that you are here, I will report the most recent developments. I assume you were at the Kenyon residence?” He asked, and I nodded in response.“The members who went after the attackers just reported back.” The man continued as I turned to open the office door so that we could discuss things in private.He stopped talking long enough to sit on a chair across from my desk. Instead of sitting, I leaned against the desk, resting my hip on the edg
Zydan-When the fire finally started disappearing, I was overjoyed. No longer feeling the need to keep spraying the house, I rushed forward to help Lia. The fire wasn’t completely out, but the majority of it was, other than a few small areas. The biggest issue now is the smoke.As I ran toward the house, I saw a group of people gathered, anxiously looking at the house. It looked like they were all inside the fire, meaning Lia had helped them escape. Looking around, I hoped to see Lia, but she wasn’t in the crowd.“Where is Lia?” I asked the couple huddled together, leaning on each other for support.“She went inside to save my son!” The man said, who I recognized as Darrion Kenyon’s father.“She is still inside?” My eyes quickly moved to the house, and fear plunged into me, nearly suffocating me.Even if the fire wasn’t as bad, it was still dangerous. With how many she had already saved, I assumed her wolf was reaching its limits. I tried to sense her, but the signal was weak. Without
Accalia-“What is going on?” I asked as I glanced at Zydan.“I don’t have time to explain, but we need your help. We are under attack!” Darrion yelled, and not even a second later, I heard a crash, followed by the call being disconnected.I rushed into the lab and quickly informed Emily that I needed to leave. “What is wrong?” She asked.“I don’t know, but I believe the Kenyon family is under attack. Darrion called me, and it sounds urgent. Due to their distance, I have no choice but to go myself. Can you handle things until I return?”“Don’t worry about things here. I will take care of them. We have more than enough staff.”“Thank you!” I turned away from her to talk to the tech team and saw Jason.Although he wasn’t always in the lab, he was the one person I knew who could handle things on a technical level until I returned. I barely took two steps before he yelled out to me.“Don’t worry, I got it from here. You take care of whatever you need to.”Nodding my head, I turned to leave
Accalia-“Arielle told me what happened with everyone after I fell asleep.” I twisted in my seat to look at Zydan.“I admit that I have let my thoughts run wild. There are times I feel as if I am not worthy of you. I feel I haven’t contributed enough when I see how hard you work. If I had done more, you wouldn’t be working yourself so hard.” His focus remained on the road as he spoke.“You know, I couldn’t do half of the things I can do if it weren’t for you and everyone around me.” I smiled as I took his free hand in mine.“You are the future Queen, the leader of the Renegades, and in charge of a project that can change the world.”“My identity doesn’t define me. I might be the future Queen, but that has much to do with who my parents are. It isn’t like I came from nothing and worked my way up to that point. As far as being the leader of the Renegades, you have a huge part to play in that.”“What do you mean?” Zydan glanced in my direction briefly before focusing on the road.“When I