"Kasia, please come back!" Brian called out, but she was already down the hallway, her footsteps echoing off the walls. She didn't hear him. The only thing that was on Kasia's mind was getting as far away from Ethan as possible.
"What is going on? Why do you need Kasia?" he asked as he waved Brian into the room as he fixed his shirt. Ethan took a deep breath, trying to get the lust he was feeling for Kasia under control. This had to be important for Brian to want to tell him information in person.
"Because she needs to hear what I have to say," Brian replied gravely, closing the door to Ethan's office with an ominous click. "But maybe it is best that she doesn't find out now. It will give you time to decide what you want to do next. You should sit down for this." He gestured toward a chair.
Ethan's heart hammered in his chest, but he remained standing, unwilling to yield even an inch. "You must have found out what the pills are made of. Is it worse than I originally expected?" he asked, his concern evident. Ethan clenched his fists at his sides, his muscles twitching with tension.
Brian nodded slowly. "I have, and it is," he confirmed. "They were made from the flesh and bones of Lycans and werewolves."
"Are you sure?" Ethan's voice wavered, and his anger barely contained itself. The thought of the missing pups and attendees of the Moonlight Sanctum being experimented on, murdered, and used sickened him. It all made sense now why they only kidnapped attendees during that attack. They needed them for more experiments, just as Luna Lily had explained to him three years ago.
"Positive," the doctor affirmed, his expression grim. "I've run every test imaginable, and there's no doubt."
Members of his pack-his people-had been not only brutally murdered but desecrated, their very essence torn apart and manipulated for some twisted purpose. Each beat of his heart screamed for justice, for vengeance against those who would dare harm his people.
"Who would do such a thing?" Ethan growled, his voice darkening with each word. "How could anyone be so monstrous?"
"Unfortunately," Brian said solemnly, "the depths of human cruelty know no bounds."
Ethan's thoughts raced, the impact of this revelation hitting him like a physical blow. The hunters- Kasia's people- had gone too far. He couldn't stand idly by any longer; something had to be done.
"Who would be that stupid to work with humans? To create such pills?" Ethan asked, his voice a low rumble.
Brian raised an eyebrow. "Or who would be that smart? Humans are easily deceived if they don't know how to tell who is human or not."
A chill ran down Ethan's spine. He hadn't considered the possibility of a supernatural traitor lurking in their midst. The thought was unnerving, and it added another layer of complexity to an already tangled web.
"Tell me," Ethan demanded, his voice heavy with urgency, "what are the side effects these pills have on a human?"
"If the recommended dosage-twice a day-is maintained, none, as I am getting this information from Lana. We don't have any other humans here to confirm," Brian explained. "From what Lana has told me, taking them for a long period of time or even taking one more pill causes increased aggression, permanent heightened senses, and reliance on them. She had never seen anyone abuse the pills as much as Kasia has. The recommended dosage-twice a day-is maintained," Brian replied.
"Then what does this mean for Kasia?" Ethan asked.
"It means that being here and keeping her here was the best thing that could've happened to her," Brian answered.
"What does that mean?" Ethan's concern for her overshadowed everything else, a testament to the bond forming between them.
Brian hesitated before speaking, weighing his words carefully. "Her bloodwork- Kasia- she's turning. I didn't want to believe it. I've run so many tests and cross-compared them with Lana's blood samples. Kasia is no longer human, but not yet a werewolf or a lycan. It shouldn't be happening. This has never happened before. Humans can't be turned; it goes against everything we know about our kind. But somehow, it is happening."
Ethan's heart hammered in his chest, the implications of this revelation washing over him like a tidal wave. The woman he had been inexplicably drawn to was transforming into one of his own kind. His mate. The knowledge both awed and terrified him, stirring a mix of emotions he couldn't yet comprehend.
"Is there anything we can do to reverse the process?" he asked. Ethan couldn't help but feel relieved that Kasia potentially would no longer be human, but he also knew how devastating that would be for Kasia. She should be the one to make the choice to change, not have it forced on her.
"Right now, I don't know," Brian admitted, his expression filled with regret. "I will do everything in my power to try if that is what Kasia wants."
The implications of this were far-reaching. Humans turning into werecreatures would shift the power structure. Was this what they wanted from the beginning? What if they aligned themselves with rogues? What if there were already turned humans? They couldn't possibly be able to handle the stress of a change on their own.
Before Ethan could process this information further, Janet's voice pierced through his thoughts via their telepathic link. "Ethan, you need to get to the gym right now!" Her tone was urgent, leaving no room for hesitation.
"Janet, what's going on?" he asked, but she had already severed the connection.
Ethan sprinted towards the gym, with Brian right behind him. He burst through the doors and skidded to a stop, taking in the chaotic scene before him. Blood was in the air- Kasia's blood.
In the middle of it all, frightened pack members surrounded Kasia and Aimee. Lana lay unconscious on the floor, her body limp and unmoving, while Janet cradled her. Aimee was crying on the floor, holding her ripped-open arm that was not healing properly.
Ethan's voice boomed with rage, and his eyes were ablaze with fury. "What the hell happened here?"