by Lexy Timms
I hesitate, the story not one I feel like telling, but I decide I might as well, even if it’s just to reduce the tension in the air.
“I had a mate once, but she died,” I explain briefly. Letting them know that this is as much detail as I’m giving them.
Toshi shakes his head, his expression somber. “Sorry to hear it.” He seems genuinely sympathetic and I feel myself relax a little.
“Me, too,” Sebastian adds, his eyes widening a little as though this shocks him. I’m not sure if I should be insulted that it never occurred to him I could have someone, or amused. “I didn’t know.”
“When was this?” Toshi asks.
“It’s been over seventy years,” I answer. “Though sometimes, it feels like yesterday.”
“Which means you’re not yet over her,” Toshi states.
I don’t answer. I don’t really know the answer. Once, I thought she’d be the only female I’d ever love, the only mate I’d ever have. But after meeting Clarissa, I have to admit I’ve started to wonder...
“I think he can say what he means,” Sebastian says.
Toshi hisses.
“The Chief wants me to take a new mate,” I inform them both.
“Oh,” Toshi mutters, rubbing his chin. “So, you do want Clarissa as your mate?”
Do I? Well, I wouldn’t mind it. That’s for sure. But do I have the courage to ask her? No. Not after all the prophecies I’ve heard, especially this recent one, the last part of which I haven’t told them yet.
Frankly, I’m not sure I want to. Maybe I won’t.
“Okay. I’ll take that creepy silence as a yes,” Toshi says before turning to Sebastian. “Your turn.”
Sebastian keeps his lips pursed.
“Okay.” Toshi shrugs. “I’ll take that silence as a yes, too.”
“So, how is Clarissa?” I change the subject. “If she got angry at you guys, at least, it means she’s feeling a bit better, right?”
“Go on, rub it in.” Toshi frowns as he leans on the tree. “Take some pleasure in our misfortune.”
“She does seem a bit more of her old self,” Sebastian agrees.
“I’ll go check on her and on Kyle,” I offer, walking off.
“I’ll go with you,” Sebastian says.
I glance at him over my shoulder, eyebrows raised. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve cooled off and I’m sure Clarissa has, too,” he says, stepping forward. “Maybe now, we can have a conversation, not an argument.”
“Well, women do say things they don’t mean when they’re upset,” Toshi agrees, stretching his arms over his head, arching his back until it pops. “I’m sure now that this has boiled over, Clarissa is waiting for us back at the house.”
BUT CLARISSA ISN’T at the house.
After finding only a sleeping Kyle in his room, his wounds both worse and better than I thought they’d be, Toshi, Sebastian and I search the rest of the house frantically only to arrive at the same conclusion.
“Clarissa’s gone,” I say it out loud in the middle of the living room, fists clenched and raring to punch a wall.
Or maybe one of these two. I can’t believe they’d gotten so caught up in their own drama that Clarissa could just plain...disappear.
“If anything bad has happened to her...”
“I can pick up her scent,” Sebastian says, crawling on all fours to the back door, pushing it open. “She went out.”
“Or she was taken,” I suggest grimly.
He starts running off and Toshi and I follow, Toshi eventually sprinting ahead. The trail takes us through the woods, across a field and finally, to a meadow where Toshi comes to an abrupt stop.
“Her scent ends here,” he announces.
I cup my hands around my mouth and shout her name. “Clarissa!”
There’s no reply, nor any sign of her.
Sebastian picks up a strand of pale brown hair from the grass. “She was here but now, she’s not and the fact that her scent’s disappeared, plus the fact that we’re not picking up other scents means only one thing.”
“Cats,” Toshi says, fist clenched. “They camouflaged their scents and then hers after taking her.”
I bury my fist in the ground, the soil cracking around it in ripples.
“How many?” Sebastian asks.
Toshi shrugs. “I don’t know.”
He kneels on the ground between some tall blades of grass and when he stands up again, he has something in his hand – a small piece of red yarn that he rubs between his fingers. “But I think I know where she is.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
~ Clarissa
WHERE AM I?
As I force my heavy eyelids open, a metal ceiling appears above me and turning my head, I see a wall with a glass window but I can’t see anything beyond the glass. I turn my head the other way, finding a long table and on it, a tray with bottles, vials and syringes.
The image takes me back to the facility in Africa and seized with panic, I get up. At least, I try to but my arms are restrained at the elbows and wrists, my waist, knees and elbows bound to the bed as well. I squirm and tug but they won’t budge, my efforts simply causing pain. Even with super strength, I can’t move.
Shit.
“I’d calm down if I were you,” a voice comes from the speaker above the glass window. “Those restraints were specifically designed to hold a full-blooded primal in his, well, prime and you are not one, are you?”
Primal. I’ve been captured by primals.
As my memory clears, I remember lying in the meadow miles from Kyle’s house. I don’t remember the details but I know I was ambushed.
Ambush. Element of surprise.
Cats.
No surprise there. They were the ones behind Project Eden.
Project Eden. Those two words, coupled with the images I saw in that facility in Africa, with all the information I read in the files, cause a lump in my throat. My heart races painfully in my chest. I’ve got to get out of here.
These are the people who possibly killed my father, who kept my mother captive and did horrible things to her. They’re heartless, ruthless.
I force myself to take deep breaths and calm down, though, not because the man behind the glass told me to but because I know there’s no use panicking or lamenting my situation. I have to find a way out of this and to do that, I need a clear mind and a stout heart. Only it’s easier said than done.
Calm down, Clarissa. Breathe. Deep breaths. In and out. Nice and slow.
I can tell when it’s working. My unseen captors let me know. “That’s better,” the voice from the speaker lauds. “Somehow, I knew you’d be sensible.”
Sensible, yes. Compliant, no.
“Who are you?” I ask, though I know I’m not likely to get any answers. Still it’s worth a try. When I get out of here, I intend to have a name to put to that voice before I tear the owner limb from limb.
“Ah, but you already know the answer, don’t you, Clarissa Wagner?”
“No, I don’t,” I answer, frowning.
I only know Cats were behind this but not the specifics.
“It’s unfair that you know my name but I don’t know yours, or that I can’t even see your face. What? Are you afraid of me?”
I hear a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“That must be the Cat in you taunting me. But I’m afraid, I’ll have to pass.”
“So, you are afraid of me.”
“Perhaps. After all, I don’t know you that well...yet.”
That last word sends a shiver up my spine, but I suppress it midway. “What are you planning on doing to me?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m just going to get to know you. We Cats are curious creatures, after all.”
Which means they’re going to run some tests, the thought of which makes my stomach churn. I’ve been a scientist long enough to have a pretty good idea of what kinds of tests they’d be likely to run. If it were me, in my
lab, with a new species, I’d want to know everything about it – from personality right on down to what made it tick. Literally.
“Haven’t you heard about curiosity being fatal?” I ask, maintaining a steady voice.
Another chuckle. “Don’t worry. It’s only fatal if you’re foolish, which I assure you I am not. Actually, a little curiosity never hurt. It may even be good. Tell me, aren’t you curious to know your full potential?”
“No,” I tell him quickly, maybe a little too quickly.
“Surely, you lie. Everyone wants to know their full potential, to know their true identity and purpose. You are no different.”
Maybe, but...
“You’re simply afraid. Yes, you are afraid just like me because you don’t know what we might find out. But don’t worry. I give you my word that no matter what, we’ll let you live. After all, you are our most precious creation, our Eve.”
“I am not Eve,” I spit out. “And I am not your creation. Nor your toy. And especially not your research subject. I don’t belong to you.”
“Feisty. That must be your Wolf side.”
“No. That’s just me.”
“Ah, yes. Your mother was feisty, too.”
My mother.
I catch my breath. Just mentioning her is like a kick to the solar plexus. “Don’t you dare talk about my mother.”
“That’s why we had to sedate her,” the voice continues. “After that, she never complained. Not once.”
I lift my head off the bed, pulling at my restraints. Wild and frantic now, despite knowing they’re manipulating me. My rage knows no bounds. “Fucking bastards!”
“Say what you will,” the voice says. “But you can’t change the past, just as you can’t stop the future.”
Just then, the door across me opens and two men enter, one wearing a face mask and a lab coat holding a syringe, and the other all in black.
“What are you going to do?” I ask, fighting off a wave of panic.
“Oh, we’re just going to give you something to stimulate egg production.”
What?
“And then later, we’ll collect them so we can conduct our experiments,” the voice goes on. “Only then can we prove Project Eden was successful. And who knows? Maybe then, the Council will no longer oppose us. In fact, they’ll thank us.”
He’s not talking about making babies, is he? My babies? Even if they’re only harvesting eggs right now, they’re my eggs. They have no right.
No fucking way am I going to allow this.
I squirm again but to no avail. The restraints are too tight, too strong.
“Now, now, be a good girl and behave,” the voice says. “You do want to be a success, don’t you?”
“I told you I’m not your creation.”
I glare at the guy in the lab coat who’s already standing over my bed. “Stay away from me or I’ll kill you.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll have a chance to show your...killing abilities. You know, lose control. In fact, we’re already preparing a test for that. Maybe we’ll have your human friend brought in and see how far his suffering can push you.”
He doesn’t mean Kyle, does he?
Just the image of Kyle getting hurt in order to ‘push’ me to my full potential makes my heart clench in pain, my body numb with fear.
No.
“Or maybe those people who you call your mother and father?”
No!
My fear turning into anger, I try harder to free myself, ignoring the tearing of my skin against metal.
“Now, now. I said you’ll have your chance later, not now. For now, you just need to lie still.”
The guy in the lab coat holds the syringe up, tapping it. Then he lowers his arm. He presses a button and the bed turns sideways, facing the glass. I hear a buzzing sound as a part of the bed disappears behind me, below my waist. A hand grips the waistband of my pants next.
No!
I can’t let them do whatever they want. I’m not theirs to experiment with. True, they might have had a hand in making me what I am but that doesn’t mean they have the right to do whatever they want with my body. I can’t change my past but I can change my future.
And I will.
I tug at my restraints harder, squeezing my eyes shut and feeling my forehead bunch up as I put all my strength into escaping.
I won’t let you win.
As I feel the cold, moist cotton ball against my skin, I think of my mother, of my father, of Pa Henry and Mama Molly, of Kyle. I can’t let them all down.
Then I think of Sebastian, Theo and Toshi, of all the things they can do.
Think. If they were in your position, what would they do?
No sooner have I phrased the question than I know the answer. They’d fight, and they’d win.
And am I not just like them?
If they can do it, so can I. I’m just like them.
No, I think as I pour all of my strength, my heart, my will into my efforts.
I’m better.
Suddenly, I feel a rush through my veins, something warm and fast flowing under my skin even as a thick, hard layer forms over it.
I hear the needle snap against my skin and after another pull, the metal cuffs creak then shatter. As the shards scatter, the sound of them crashing against the walls and clattering to the floor filling the air, I jump towards the glass, crashing into it. I catch a fleeting glimpse of my reflection before I break through, breaking the glass into a thousand, tiny fragments, too. I land on all fours, claws on my fingers, fur on my hands.
And yet, somehow, I don’t feel afraid.
“Excellent!”
I look up to hear the same voice from the speaker coming from a man with orange hair, a man who looks like he’s in his fifties but which I’m sure he’s not as he carries that strange ageless feel all of the primals do. He wears eyeglasses with black frames that I’m sure he doesn’t need, and a black turtleneck beneath his white lab coat.
“You’re even better than we thought you’d be,” he says, grinning.
“You bet I am.”
In the next instant, darts rain on me, coming from several guns behind the man. I hear hisses and roars behind me as well, along with high-pitched sounds that are as grating as fingernails across a blackboard.
Crouching on the floor so that the darts bounce off my back, I place my hands over my ears.
Stop!
I open my mouth to shout that very word. Instead, I gape as I see the men with the dart guns on the floor, unconscious. I turn my head, finding the Cats frozen in place.
What the...?
“Amazing.” The guy in the lab coat who was also brought to his knees tries to stand up, his eyes wide with awe. “You are truly the future.”
I stand up as well, thinking of punching him just so he’d shut up but no sooner am I on my feet do I wobble, my knees shaking. As I feel my strength leave me, I fall to the floor.
“Sadly, a part of you is still human,” the guy says, standing over me now. “But who knows? Maybe we can change that.”
I try to get up but my head spins. My vision in a blur, I stare at my hand, which has reverted back to an ordinary, human one.
No. I can’t lose now.
Just as I feel my remaining strength fading, my eyes falling shut, I hear a voice in the distance.
Clarissa!
The corners of my lips turn up into a grin as I hear a familiar voice along with the sound of three pairs of footsteps approaching – one light, one heavy and one in between.
They’re here.
Chapter Twenty-Three
~ Toshi
I FIND CLARISSA ON the floor, lying limp on a bed of broken glass.
Carefully, I scoop her in my arms then jump out of the reach of the mad scientist who is infamous among Cats.
Syllas.
Right now, he has a wide grin on his face. I don’t have time for this. For him. All I care about is her.
“Clarissa,” I whisper her na
me. “Are you alright?”
“You came,” she says weakly. “Even though...I said I never wanted...to see you again.”
“Of course,” I tell her, smiling. “We know you didn’t mean it.”
Sebastian joins my side and moments later, Theo arrives.
Reluctantly, I hand her to him. “Take her. And bring her to safety.”
Theo nods, cradling Clarissa in his huge arms. She looks positively tiny against him. A small frail thing.
She’d kill me if she ever heard me think that. I’m glad that reading me is not her particular skillset.
“I think not.” Syllas presses a button and in the next instant, the doors to the room fall shut, an alarm blaring. “No one is leaving this facility, least of all, Eve.”
“Who are you?” Sebastian asks through gritted teeth.
“You must be Sebastian,” Syllas says, that grin still on his face. “And the Bear here must be Theo.”
Sebastian’s eyes grow wide in surprise that lasts only an instant, and then narrow, face settling into a frown. He knows. He knows there was a spy.
“Um, Sebastian,” Theo speaks. “What’s going on with these Cats?”
I glance around.
I did notice the Cats in the room earlier, all of them completely immobile. Now, though, they’re starting to move, ears and tails twitching, lips curling.
“Why don’t you ask Clarissa?” Syllas points to her.
It’s got to be a ploy but we fall for it anyway. Sebastian and I both glance at her.
“Oh, right. She can no longer answer, can she?” Syllas clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “The poor girl used up all her limited energy, physical and mental, although she did use them amazingly.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian demands.
Syllas touches his chin. “Oh, just that dear Clarissa here underwent a physical transformation.”
What?
“That’s right. While she did not transform into an animal completely, she did transform, claws and fur and tail and all. And as if that was not enough, she also commanded everyone here to stop, using sheer mental ability.”
I blink. She did?
“I’m guessing it was something like the mental telepathy Wolves share, except she was somehow able to take it to a different level.” Syllas turns to Sebastian. “You know how alphas can command the pack. She did that, even though we weren’t her pack.” He sounds proud, like he’s got a piece of that particular accomplishment.