Leo frowned. “Corrupted? How is that possible?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Perry gestured to a screen displaying a complex series of patterns. “These should be clean sequences, but look at these anomalies. It’s as if soone deliberately tampered with the genetic code.”
“Could it be a mistake in the testing?”
Perry’s expression hardened. “We ran it three tis. The corruption is consistent.”
Leo struggled to understand what this ant for his plans. “So what now?”
“Now we need a fresh sample,” Perry said. “And we need to investigate why this happened.”
A chill ran down Leo’s spine as realization dawned. “You think soone did this intentionally?”
“I think there’s more to your little twin theory than we initially thought.” Perry handed him a tablet displaying side-by-side comparisons of DNA sequences. “These patterns shouldn’t exist naturally.”
“Well,” Perry said, shrugging, “unless of course...” She trailed off.
Leo raised an eyebrow. “Unless what?”
“Unless she’s pregnant,” Perry said flatly. “That would explain the extra set of data that we’re seeing.”
“No,” Leo said with a shake of his head. “That’s not possible. We’ve tested it. The results ca up negative.”
“Well, that’s the only explanation I can think of,” Perry replied. “Either that, or she has already been tampered with. Without a proper set of data, we cannot guarantee whether or not complications would arise. If we’re to forcibly proceed, you might end up with a second dead mate—”
Perry didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. Leo had crossed the distance between them in an instant. His hands wrapped around her throat as he slamd her back against the wall. A choked cry escaped her lips.
“I would not finish that sentence if I were you,” Leo growled in warning.
“Go on then,” Perry taunted, sneering. “If I die, you will never get your precious mate.”
Leo’s fingers twitched, tightening montarily before he released her with a snarl. Perry dropped to her knees, coughing violently.
“Fix this,” Leo demanded, towering over her. “Find a way to make it work.”
Perry rubbed her throat, eyes watering. “Science doesn’t bend to your will, Sullivan. If she’s pregnant, the procedure could kill her. Even if she survives, the fetus wouldn’t.”
Leo paced the sterile lab like a caged animal. “Then we terminate the pregnancy first. If there is one, the baby will not be born anyway.”
“And if that’s not the issue? If her DNA has truly been altered already?” Perry pulled herself to her feet, keeping a wary distance. “We need more tests. More ti.”
Leo slamd his fist onto a nearby table, sending equipnt crashing to the floor. “Ti is the one thing we don’t have! Those triplets will find us eventually.”
“Then perhaps you should have thought of that before kidnapping their mate,” Perry said coolly, straightening her lab coat. “I need at least twelve more hours with her.”
Leo’s jaw clenched. “You have six.”
anwhile at the Emberfang Pack interrogation room, the Williams family sat huddled together, fear etched on their faces. Samuel Williams, once a respected pack official, now looked small and defeated, his arm protectively around his wife. Annie sat opposite them, separated by the cold tal table.
Liam circled the room slowly. Levi leaned against the wall, twirling a knife between his fingers as though he was toying with his food before a al.
“Let’s try this again,” Liam said, his voice deceptively gentle. “Where did you take Hazel?”
Annie’s eyes darted to her parents. Her mother was silently crying, mascara streaming down her face. In the end, Annie chose to keep her mouth shut.
Samuel cleared his throat. “Please, we’ve cooperated. We’ve told you everything—”
“Shut up,” Liam snapped, slamming his palms on the table. The tal dented under the impact. “Your daughter poisoned my mate, tried to have her raped, and has now brought her to Goddess knows where. You want to believe it was all her teenage jealousy?”
“It was the Vox Solis,” Annie blurted suddenly, tears spilling down her cheeks. “They broke out of the Emberfang cells the first ti. They said...”
“They said what?” Liam prompted.
“They said that they could break out if I helped them kidnap Hazel,” Annie confessed.
The brothers exchanged glances.
“Why?” Levi asked. The tal blade caught and reflected the ceiling light.
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “What do they want with her?”
Annie shook her head frantically. “They didn’t say! I didn’t ask! I was angry and hurt, and they offered a way to get back at her.”
Samuel reached for his daughter’s hand. “Annie, what have you done?”
“Who was your contact?” Levi demanded.
Annie hesitated, terror evident in her eyes.
Liam’s patience snapped. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Samuel’s hand and slamd the knife through it, pinning it to the table. Samuel’s scream echoed through the room as his wife shrieked in horror.
“DADDY!” Annie wailed. “Stop it! Please!”
“A na,” Liam growled. “Now.”
“I...” Annie hesitated, her tears running down her face.
She had seen Lucas and Levi angry before. However, she had observed Liam Sullivan for such a long ti, long before they started dating. She had never seen him this mad, other than that ti at the diner.
Liam Sullivan was a monster, and she had poked the slumbering bear.
“His na is Leo,” she said. “I don’t know his last na. I think he’s a rogue. I heard from Cassandra— I’m not sure how much of it is true, but Leo apparently wants Hazel to beco his fated mate.”
Outside the room, Callum stood frozen, having heard every word through the open door. His face paled when he heard the familiar na.
Levi caught sight of him and stepped out, closing the door behind him.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“What the hell is going on?” Callum demanded. “What is the Vox Solis? And how can soone just... want to make Hazel their mate? That’s not how it works.”
Levi ran a hand through his hair. “We need to find Lucas. I’ll explain on the way.”
He turned to one of the guards. “Keep them here. Liam’s not done with them yet.”
Monts later, Levi and Callum were in the car on the way to Lucas’s location.
“The Vox Solis is a shadowy group,” Levi explained, eyes fixed on the road. “They’ve been around for a while, studying mate bonds, trying to find ways to manipulate them.”
“That’s impossible,” Callum insisted. “Mates are chosen by the Moon Goddess. It’s sacred.”
“And yet they’ve had so success,” Levi said grimly. “Breaking bonds, forcing new ones... It’s against the laws of nature but they did it.”
Callum shook his head in disbelief. “And they want Hazel?”
“Apparently,” Levi said with a snarl. That was his fated mate. Where did this random pup spring up from and why couldn’t he find his own mate?
“I heard Cassandra’s na,” Callum suddenly carefully said. “Why did Annie ntion her—?”
Levi suddenly slamd on the brakes as a figure stumbled into the road.
A woman, clothes torn and bloody, was running from the tree line. Behind her, three massive wolves erged, snarling and snapping at her heels.
“Rogues,” Levi growled, throwing the car into park.
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