Leah's POV
The moon hung heavy above me, a swollen, unblinking eye that tracked my every step as I climbed out of the car, its cold light clawing at the edges of my vision. Genus X headquarters rose before me like a beast of glass and steel, all sharp angles and secrets, its fifth investment in my grip - a human gamble to drag prehistoric ghosts back into the world. I smoothed my coat, the fabric hissing against my skin, and strode toward the entrance, my boots clicking on the pavement like the ticking of a clock I couldn't outrun. The air reeked of rain that wouldn't fall, thick and restless, and I felt it settle into my bones, a weight I'd carried too long.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, a sharp, insistent sting, and I yanked it out. Finn's name glared up at me, and I pressed the answer button with a flick of my thumb, bracing for the venom I knew was coming.
"You fucking ruthless cold-hearted bitch," he snarled, his voice a blade slicing through the static, all fury and festering hate.
I tilted my head, letting the words roll off me like water off a wolf's pelt. "Did you call me so early just to tell me something we both know?" My voice was steady, a low hum that didn't bend, even as I flipped through the proposal in my hand, the pages whispering secrets I already owned.
"Your child's father is in my hands!" Finn spat, like it was a trump card he'd been dying to play.
I didn't flinch, just kept flipping those pages, my fingers steady as stone. The car monitor flickered, spitting out an image of Lycidas at some glitzy awards ceremony, all claws and charm, while Finn skulked in the crowd, a rat among the glitter. "Finn, again, you're telling me something you and I both know," I said, my tone flat, bored. I didn't wait for him to spew more. "It seems like you've crawled back to my brother. I wonder what you've done this time. Stuffing more things in your ass?"
"Mind your mouth!" he roared, his voice cracking with rage. "I can kill Darren anytime I like."
I sighed, the sound scraping out of me like gravel. "Finn, my Darren died a long time ago. I saw this from the beginning." My words were calm, a slow drip of truth he couldn't swallow. "The reason I didn't expose this fact was that I needed to give birth to a child for Darren to continue his life. Now my goal's been achieved. What you're holding now is just a corpse controlled by Lester's will. I have nothing to do with this walking dead. If you want to kill him, do as you please."
Finn's sneer cut through the line, sharp and bitter. "You really deserve it, Leah. For a Lycan like you, men are just things you use and throw away, aren't they? You're a woman. All the men you've slept with have had a bad ending. Whether it's Lucas or Darren, they've all been tortured by you…"
I cut him off, my voice dipping into a teasing lilt, a knife wrapped in silk. "You turned out to be fine. I mean, aside from the fact that you started enjoying being assed by my brother."
"I won't let you go, Leah," he growled, his anger a living thing clawing at the phone. "I will definitely watch your die painfully and then…"
I hung up, the click a guillotine dropping on his rant. I didn't have time for a madman's howling, not when the car rolled to a stop at the Genus X laboratory. I stepped out, the air biting at my skin, and there they were - lab coats lined up like soldiers at the gate, their faces stiff with deference. Ryan Sawyer pushed forward, his hand outstretched, and I took it, feeling the human warmth of him, unexpected and firm.
"Mrs. Winters, we are honored to have you here," he said, his voice smooth, polished, like he'd rehearsed it.
I'd only heard him over the phone before, pictured some young pup with big ideas, but he was older - mid fifties, maybe - tall and carved with features that could've passed for one of us, his frame solid, almost wolfish. I gave him a nod, keeping my grip steady. "Let's see what you've been up to, Mr. Sawyer."
We started toward the entrance, and Seth's voice buzzed in my earphones, whiny and sharp through the retinal camera synced to my lens. "No, Boss. Don't do this to me. I don't want him to be my dad. He's old enough to be my grandpa!"
I flicked the earpiece with a quick snap of my fingers, and he yelped, "Ouch! Don't do that! I'll shut up." I smirked, just a twitch of my lips, and Ryan glanced over, his brow creasing.
"Mrs. Winters, are you okay?"
I adjusted the earphone, letting irritation flicker across my face. "It's nothing. The signal reception here is shit."
Ryan's expression tightened, apologetic. "Because our research is… controversial, we've blocked all mobile phones and radio signals at headquarters. Intranet only. We'll need you to store your devices before we go in."
Seth piped up again, smug now. "It's okay, just give them your phone and earphones, and I'll handle the rest. I'll send you messages. You'll see it on your retina screen."
I handed over the gear, let them pat me down through their security dance, and finally stepped inside. A mammoth skeleton loomed in the atrium, its bones a silent roar of a world long gone, and I stopped, caught by its shadow. Ryan gestured at it, proud as a hunter with a fresh kill.
"This is one of our projects," he said. "We're trying to bring this beast back -lived on the Beringia once. DNA from the skeleton, matched with elephant genes, tweaked by AI to birth something with mammoth blood."
I stared up at it, the weight of its extinction pressing against my chest. As the Lycan Princess, I felt it - the thread of survival, the ache of a species clinging to life. Werewolves weren't so different, teetering on the edge of oblivion, and I wondered if this was what drove me here, to this human den of resurrection.
Ryan kept going, his voice softer now. "DNA's like a vehicle of species information. Even when the species dies, the container's still there, holding vital messages..."
"Like a Memory Agent," I murmured, the thought slipping out, raw and unpolished.
He grinned, eyes sparking. "Touché, Mrs. Winters. Very impressive."
I pressed on, the words spilling like blood. "DNA might carry more than memory - maybe the longing for what's gone. Like how we ache for the dead we've lost."
Ryan's face lit up, unguarded and bright. "Yes, indeed. A requim to the dead. Mrs. Winters, I can't tell you the relief I feel. When Genus X got swallowed by capital, I worried some soulless bastard would twist this work. But you - you get it. Young, sharp, deep, and philosophical as hell. It's rare."
His honesty threw me, and I didn't know what to say, so I just looked back at the bones. Text flashed on my retina screen - Seth's doing: "Again. I don't want him to be my dad." A vomiting emoji trailed it, and I swallowed a growl.
"Mrs. Winters?" Ryan's voice pulled me back.
"Hmm?" I blinked, refocusing.
"You look pale. Need a break before we see Romulus and Remus?"
"Romulus… Remus?" The names hit me like a slap, stirring something I couldn't grab hold of.
He nodded, casual as if it were nothing. "Yeah, our Dire Wolf project. Resurrected two of them with skeletal DNA."
I froze, staring at him, my mind a blank howl. Then her voice crashed in, the Moon Goddess, fierce and familiar. "Leah, my child. What are you doing? Are you playing God?"
Dizziness clawed at me, and white moonlight swallowed everything, blinding and pure. Her voice thundered, shaking my skull. "Why did you unite with humanity to betray me? Leah, I've trusted and spoiled you too much. Stop this. You've broken my heart. What I give, I can take away. Otherwise…"
The light shifted, splintering into a million blades, and they pierced me - sharp, relentless, tearing through flesh and bone. I gasped, the sound lost in the white, and the world fell away, leaving me bleeding under her wrath.