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After a few more jokes and a little conversation with Ashleigh, Alice agreed to rest after she called Axel.

Ashleigh left the room with a smile as she heard the change in Alice’s voice when Axel picked up the call. There was warmth, a softness in her playful tone as she made light of her health issues and reassured him that she felt fine.

She closed the door and found herself leaning back against the wall. She could hear the faint echo of Alice’s laugh.

Ashleigh couldn’t believe the difference in their relationship over such a short time.

She understood that she and her Luna had accepted each other, that she was whole again. But she hadn’t realized how much control the whispers had over her mind before.

Even with all of Lily’s warnings, it hadn’t seemed possible that she was not in control of her own thoughts.

But, since that day at the lab, she had not heard one of them. Not even Lily.

Ashleigh took a deep breath.

Alice was not the ideal partner for her brother. Or the ideal Luna for Winter. But even Ashleigh could see there was something very special about this woman.

Axel and Alice had a rough start. Their bond was formed as children, and even without remembering each other, that bond grew.

She could see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices. They didn’t know everything about each other or agree on everything. Their time together was still very short, but they trusted each other explicitly.

It was rare and beautiful. Ashleigh wished she could have understood it before but was thankful she could now.

Hearing another laugh from the room, Ashleigh grinned and left to find Caleb. She hadn’t gotten far when she ran into precisely who she was searching for.

“Hey, you.” She smiled. “I just left Alice. She’s doing much better.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Caleb replied. “But we just got some concerning results.”

“About Alice?” Ashleigh asked, her heart picking up just a little.

“No,” Caleb shook his head, “Galen took a few samples from the goo left behind by the fae attackers and some from the wolves.”

“Ok…”

“The wolves… they were human.”

Ashleigh’s eyes widened.

“You mean… were these… the rest of the children from the lab?”

“We don’t know.” Caleb sighed. “All we know is that these wolves, and likely the ones that attacked Winter with Roman, were humans-made-wolf.”

Ashleigh closed her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

“We have to assume that there are more.”

“Oh, Goddess…” Ashleigh whispered sadly.

“We need the consider the possibility that they have been abducting humans to increase his numbers.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“Roman hasn’t been back that long… How could he have had time to plan, abduct, and change that many humans in that time?” she asked.

“He couldn’t.” Caleb sighed, shaking his head. “This is not just him. Spring has already allied with Autumn, and everything that my father said… Gorn is the one I believe did this.”

Ashleigh’s eyes widened.

“But… I thought Alpha Gorn has been struggling since his luna died, barely even stepping out of his home in recent years?”

“That’s what we heard, but… look at Alice, those children in the lab, and my father’s journals,” Caleb said. “Can we really trust that we know anything about Spring?”

Ashleigh sighed. He had a point.

“Holden was Gorn’s representative at Axel’s ceremony,” Caleb continued. “We only know some of the horrible things he did. If he was close enough to Gorn to be his representative, they had to know each other well. Gorn had to know what kind of man Holden was. Which makes me wonder, what kind of man is Gorn?”

***

“You’ve done well,” the raspy voice whispered from the dark corner of the room.

Roman’s mouth tilted into a half smile.

“It won’t take long to synthesize the blood,” the voice continued. “We have already begun testing, just introducing his blood to the living creations has shown improvement. Adding it to the original formula will undoubtedly be the greatest achievement yet.”

Though he couldn’t see their face, Roman knew they were smiling.

“You should have taken more of it….” Roman sighed. “I recommend all of it.”

A hoarse chuckle emanated from the shadows.

“I know you don’t care for the young alpha, but killing him now would only hurry his sister and Caleb to our doorstep.”

“I’m not afraid of them,” Roman scoffed.

“You saw the video yourself. The girl draws on the power she does not know the depths of. You would be wise to be careful of her.”

Roman let out a soft growl.

“She didn’t seem all that intimidating when I visited Winter,” he said. Then he clenched his jaw in irritation as he remembered the events.

There was a silence between them. Roman glanced up and could feel their gaze on him.

“Are you sure you have finished chasing after your mate?” the voice asked carefully. “You wanted that girl desperately not that long ago.”

Roman looked away and sighed.

“Bell was never the one I wanted,” he growled softly. “Just the one that was forced on me.”

The voice let out another soft chuckle.

“The mate bond is not the glorious thing that every pup is led to believe it is,” they said. “But it is powerful.”

Roman nodded.

“I am curious about one thing….” Roman said, his mouth curving into a twisted smile. “Bell made the most delicious sounds when she struggled… and her screams….”

He closed his eye and took a deep breath before biting his lower lip.

“I wonder if they still sound the same,” he said. “I would love to find out, to hear them one last time as the light leaves her eyes. Just like all the others.”

“If she is not useful to me,” the voice whispered. “I don’t care what you do to her. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my plans.”

“Of course not,” Roman smiled.

“Good,” the voice replied. “We will begin the conversion process soon.”

Roman nodded.

The scratching, dragging sound that echoed in the room told Roman that their attention was directly on him. He turned and looked into the shadows, where he could faintly see the shape of their face.

“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” the voice asked. “Will you still proceed with my plan?”

“Of course,” Roman said without hesitation. “I have no reason to deny you.”

“Are you truly sure? With the death of Tomas, these are your wolves now. Though you have not been blessed… the Autumn wolves recognize your strength as their alpha.”

Roman grinned.

“Then they are mine to do with as I please,” he said.

“That is true,” the voice replied. “But these men and women are loyal to you now. They fight for you. They look to you for guidance. Do you feel nothing for them? No sense of purpose or loyalty to them?”

Roman chuckled.

“There have only ever been two people in this world that I have truly felt something other than hatred for. Only two that I have… cared about. You and Alice,” he said, bowing his head to the shadows. “You have had my unwavering loyalty for a very long time.”

“Hmm,” the voice said quietly. “Alice… she seems to draw the attention of many….”

Roman narrowed his eye as he sensed a shift in the mood.

“Not just draw it, but hold it, squeeze it,” the voice continued ominously. “Holden walked with open arms into his death with his obsession for her.”

Roman clenched his jaw.

“The young alpha of Winter has acted far more rash and aggressive than he was taught ever since he found her. Even a perceived threat to her seems to send him from his home. And from what I gather from the reports my scouts all over the territories send, he is quite passionate about her.”

Roman swallowed, holding his expression.

“And then, of course,” the voice said, a smile in its tone. “There was Tomas…”

Roman’s head shot up, his eye went wide, and his jaw clenched tightly. He took short, angry breaths through his nostrils but said nothing.

He had no idea about the relationship between Tomas and Alice, or rather, ‘Laura’. Not until after Holden died.

Before Roman sent Alice the video, he had accessed her files. Having heard her ask Holden for her mother’s name in the surveillance video, he knew it was important to her.

So, he wanted to be the one to give it to her. To create an essential connection in her memories. The ones she would retain from now on.

He would always be the person that ‘found’ her mother for her. That gave her a name to whisper in her dreams.

But searching her files, he found another name. His father’s name.

After he read about ‘Laura’, Roman had several regrets.

The first was allowing Tomas to ship him off to Europe after faking Bell’s death. If he had stayed, Holden wouldn’t have been able to send ‘Laura’ to Tomas.

Secondly, he regretted not thinking it strange at the time that Tomas had helped Alice escape. That he didn’t question him, instead ripping his throat out.

Roman truly regretted that mercy.

Thirdly, he regretted how Holden had died, wishing he could have tortured him first.

Instead, he killed the two lab techs that helped build ‘Laura’ and the scientist in charge of resetting the doll.

“Finally, you…” The voice continued, drawing Roman back to the present. “The wolf with no attachments, who shows no interest in anyone… seem quite affected by that girl….”

Roman didn’t like the shift in their tone.

“You said your loyalty to me is unwavering, right?” the voice asked.

Roman swallowed and nodded. His heart thumped loudly in his ears.

“Then, if I told you to kill Alice…” the voice smiled. “Would you?”

Roman felt a deep, clenching pain in his chest and a hollow emptiness in his stomach. His entire body felt both cold and hot, but he maintained his composure. A slight facial tick was the most outward sign of his distress.

“If that is what you want,” Roman whispered.

He couldn’t muster the volume or conviction in his voice, but it was enough that it held steady as his mind and body screamed at his words.

“Of course,” he continued. Taking a shaky breath, he bowed his head. “You always know best, Mother.”