Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Kassia POV

I pick up the pair of pliers. I can't start too aggressively. Meryl is not the demon I made him out to be in my head. He's an old man and his body will break easily. But there's more than one way to t*****e someone. I promised Helios I wouldn't kill him right away, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun.

"Tie him up," I tell Gonzalo. I need him here like I need blood to live. His presence stabilizes me. He stops the flashbacks from taking over. Gonzalo hands Meryl to Theo while he begins adjusting the table. It is a thing of beauty really. The table could be elevated, extended, and rotated to any degree and several contraptions brought forward that can be used to restrain someone to the flat surface. It was a perfect interrogation room down to the drainage grates on the floor, as far as I could tell. Meryl struggled in his panic as Gonzalo grabbed him again and restrained him to the now 45-degree platform.

"Tell me, Meryl. Have you ever been tortured before or am I popping that cherry?" I said as I made a popping sound near his face. He flinched and then fisted his hand as I grabbed it where it's strapped to the metal bed. The old man was too weak to keep his fingers from me. "Come now Meryl, you remember how it worked. The more you struggle, the more I take. Did you know it wasn't even a very original form of t*****e? I had already been through having my nails removed a few times by the time I met you. Why do you think I never..." I pull the first nail from his fingers and put a hand to my ear like I was listening to the best musical instrument known to man "...screamed." I finished saying as I smiled down as I drop the nail on the bowl. "Now Meryl because I love your voice so much, I'm going to have to take another before we start having a more pleasant, and hopefully truthful chat." I slowly pull out the next nail, just to make him sweat.

"Now tell me, what were you researching when you took me, and what did you inject me with," I asked.

"f**k you bloodsucker. I'm not saying shit." Gonzalo growls at the disrespect but doesn't approach. He lets me continue my work.

"Growing a spine are you? Let's see how useful it is against me now that I am not the one restrained." I take the rest of his nails from the left hand and move on to the right. Letting him scream to his heart's content.

"How are we feeling now?" I ask. He's panting and crying. The little baby. I barely even touched him. When he didn't answer I unfurled his fingers and put my pliers on the thumb.

"Wait wait I'll taahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," he screamed as I pulled the thumbnail off.

"Oh sorry, I didn't hear you in time." I mocked, I put the pliers down and sat down on the chair next to him. "Now let's chat just like we used to, hey old man?"

"Why do I seem to be the only vampire that was experimented on. We've raided plenty of other labs and no one experimented on the vampires. They just studied their blood." I asked again.

He looks genuinely confused and somewhat angry. "There are other labs?"

I smile widely. "Oh Meryl, you really thought you were special, didn't you? You thought you were irreplaceable? We've raided...what is the count now, Alpha, 5 or 6 other labs?" I turned to Helios.

"He was the 7th, I think, and there's two more in Europe alone for us to pick apart." Helios looked like he was genuinely trying to remember.

"See, when we say we're not worried about your boss coming for you, it's because we know he's got more stuff on his plate than one old scientist. My Alpha not only killed his son, but we've dismantled more than just your small lab. And let me tell you," I got closer to him and patted his head. "Yours has been the smallest lab to date. It didn't even have a guard tower. Awe." I covered my mouth with my hand and made a sad face.

I stood up and headed over to the pliers and picked my nails with them. "But now, we're getting off subject. Why was I experimented on?"

"We spent years doing experiments on the shifters. Gavin's entire family was obsessed with finding a way of making them immortal. They knew about the white wolf and wanted to find a way to become like her. Nothing ever worked. We tried forcing a Beloved Mark, we tried to change their DNA and RNA so that they could become hybrid. We tried to mate them and we even tried in vitro fertilization to try to make a hybrid. They all died too quickly. There wasn't an iota of progress. No matter the hypothesis or what rules we thought the science should follow. We finally learned that vampires and werewolves were not compatible. You can't turn a werewolf into a vampire. They already live longer lives than humans, but not as long as vampires. So we shifted the focus from immortality to just extending life further. We tried so many different things."

"You're stalling again, Meryl," I said as I grabbed his hand again. This bastard talks too much.

"No! Wait! I'm talking. I'm f*****g talking," He said in a panic. "You want to know why you were used as an experiment and this is why."

"Manners Meryl. Or I will teach you some." I warned.

"I had a theory. If we can't turn werewolves into vampires, why not try to turn vampires into werewolves. Vampires are already basically immortal, and if we could get them to fall under the Alpha command, it would almost be the same thing. If we could create a successful hybrid, it would open the door to breeding. My boss wasn't very happy. If my theory was correct, we could create hybrids, but it wouldn't help him or his family live longer at all." He stopped for a moment as if lost in his thoughts, "Still, after more years of failure, he brought in a vampire so I could present my theory. The vampire wasn't very keen on the idea of having these new hybrids at the disposal of an Alpha and I was positive that my project would die before I ever got to test it. But two months later I got an email letting me know that I had the funding for the project, but I only had one chance. If the vampire in question didn't survive, then my experiment would be considered terminated. I requested a strong vampire blood sample to be provided so I could develop a formula." He stopped again briefly, "Turning a human into a werewolf has proven to be a myth, but there was no recorded history of what happens when a wolf infects a vampire. A vampire turned hybrid by us, wouldn't have a wolf spirit. They would only have the ability to change. They would be in full control, but still subject to the Alpha command. We could build an army not beholden to your precious goddess." He said distastefully.

"So then you kidnapped me?" I tried to move the story along.

"No. This was years before we met, princess. I requested blood samples from a strong vampire. Remember, I only had one chance to experiment on an actual vampire so I needed the most likely subject to survive a change like what we were hoping for." He explained. It made sense, but then it begged the question.

"Whose blood did you receive?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said.

"He's lying." Came Theo's voice from the other side of the cell.

I sighed, "You were doing so well Meryl, old pal." I said before I removed the last four nails from his right hand without giving him a chance to breathe. "You've run out of fingernails Meryl. We're going to have to move onto the feet here." I said calmly as he continued to scream. "Who's blood did you receive?" "You f*****g b***h. I was talking." He roared.

"Manners Meryl," I said as I pivoted the table upwards. I removed his shoes and made a face. "God, your feet stink," I said before I put on a pair of gloves and removed the next nail. "No, that won't do at all. I think the feet have to go. It's the only way to get rid of the goddess-awful stench. Don't you think so, Gonzalo?"

"It's not like he's going anywhere soon." Gonzalo sneered.

I put down the pliers and grabbed a pair of tree cutters. "Hmmm. No, I think he's got cankles. This won't do at all." I put the tree cutters down and grabbed a small hatchet. "I think this will do."

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry. I'll talk." He screamed as I held his foot still and raised the hatchet. "It was the QUEEN. THE QUEEN GAVE US SOME OF HER OWN BLOOD." He screamed as I brought down the hatchet. I took his two littlest toes and watched him pass out from the impact. "What a weak a*****e." I sighed as I grabbed a large tongue depressor, opened the sealed silver nitrate container, and when I made sure Gonzalo was nowhere near, I pressed it to his toe stumps, cauterizing the wound and making the good doctor wake up screaming. I carefully cleaned up the area and resealed the container back tightly. I dropped all the dirty equipment back into a garbage bin I would dispose of personally and then turned to Theo while Meryl continued to cry.

"Was he telling the truth?" When Theo nodded I turned to Helios. "Can we bring the Queen in?"

Kassia POV

"She and Braden are being escorted here already," Helios answered.

"Oh stop crying already, Meryl. It was only two toes." I snapped, "Don't make me gag you." His cries reduced to whimpers, for which I was thankful. The man was too loud. This place wasn't that big. I will have to research some acoustic methods of reducing his screams from bouncing all over the place. Then this place will be the perfect interrogation room.

A few minutes later, I heard the door open. Iggy, Thomas, and Dan brought my sister and Braden in. "What is the meaning of this? Two days in a row now I'm being manhandled. I thought I was a guest." Karissa huffs and stands up to her full height before she takes in the doctor, the blood and I see her zero in on the loose toes in the metal bowl. Her face takes on an unnatural color and she turns around and throws up on the floor, "God what is that smell?" she gags before she heaves again.

"Feet fungus," I answer, "Or silver nitrate burning flesh." I shrug.

"Why am I here Kassie?" She asks once she's able to stop vomiting. I should feel guilty, but all I want are answers. I'm sick of feeling like a yo-yo. Each time, she points in another direction and then something points me right back to her.

"I want answers, Karissa. Do you know who this man is?" I asked.

"No. Should I?" She said while eyeing Meryl with a look of disgust on her face.

"He said he met you and you gave him a vial of your blood to test on," I was rapidly losing my patience.

"I would never deal with such a slimy-looking man," She huffed then smelled the air, "He doesn't even smell like a vampire." She said before she gagged slightly again and covered her nose. I looked to Theo who nodded at me that she was telling the truth. "Meryl, is this the queen you met?" I asked him as I turned the table upright.

"What, no. That's not the Queen," he said in confusion.

"Can you describe her?" Gonzalo asked.

"Tall with raven black hair. A beauty." He said dreamily. I rolled my eyes.

"And?" Gonzalo prompted.

"That's all I remember. It was almost 30 years ago, wolf. I only met her once." He grumbled at him before looking at me to see if I would punish him.

"Wait, is this her?" Karissa takes off the pendant she's wearing and walks toward the cell. She stops and gags and instead hands it to me before she runs back to her corner to throw up again. I look into the locket and while I'm not surprised to see a picture of mom and dad in there, what surprises me is the picture of us when we were younger on the other side. I lock away those emotions as I notice Gonzalo looking at me curiously and shove the picture of my parents under Meryl's nose.

"Is this her?" I asked him.

Meryl nods. I was going to ask another question but Meryl threw up and then passed out. Gonzalo came up and flipped the table over so he was facing down and he didn't choke on his vomit. Theo grabbed a hose from the outside and sprayed the floor. Despite getting wet, Meryl didn't wake.

"I think he's just in shock. We'll let him sleep it off and come back a few hours before sunrise." Helios said.

We left the doctor sleeping. I gave Karissa back her locket. "How many times do I have to prove to you that I am not behind this madness Kassie?" she reproached.

"As many as it takes Karissa," I respond before I leave her behind. "I'm going to go for a workout. You want to come with me?" I ask Gonzalo.

"I have some things to take care of. Why don't I look for you after?" He said, coming up to kiss me. I turned around and walked towards the training grounds. I needed a good spar. I see Isidro talking with 5 other guys around. Perfect.

"Hey guys, what do you say? 5 on 1?" I ask and smile at their excited grins.

About 20 minutes later, I was huffing right along with them on the floor, trying to catch my breath. I had more than a few bruises and I had to reset my nose.

"f**k Kassie. You're a beast." I heard Jonah puffing from somewhere on my right.

"And you're getting better. That right hook caught me by surprise. You didn't use to have that much strength. Have you been hitting the weights?" I wondered.

"Yes!" he said and I could hear the pride in my compliment in his words.

"Are you guys done or are you up for one more princess?" I hear from a distance. Something about the voice still tickles my brain. I know I've heard it before. I know he's the one from the phone call, but I can't place it. I push myself up on my elbows and look for him. Braden is over at the edge of the training grounds. He's got a smirk on his lips and that also tickles my brain. I feel like I know him, but I have never met him before now.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be good to go." I plop back down to the ground and concentrate on letting my body heal. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to go five-on-one with warrior wolves if I had known I would have a chance to have a go at Braden. My guys were getting good and I had been looking forward to a nice hot bath before heading back to Gonzalo.

I feel someone hovering above me so I opened my eyes. Adrien is looking at me with a bit of worry in his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this Kassie? He's got to have some skill if he's protecting the Queen and it looks like Isidro and the guys landed some good hits on you."

"It's only a spar, Adrien. We're not fighting to the death here." I mumble.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

"Are you sure? You've humiliated the man twice already." He sounds genuinely worried and I wonder if I look worse than I feel. Maybe I should shower before looking for Gonzalo.

"I'm sure," I answered.

"If you get killed, I'm not the one telling Gonzalo." He huffed as he helped me up. I dusted myself off and removed my shirt. I had learned not to spar in my sports bra when fighting with mated wolves, but I had a feeling Braden wasn't going to be as fair. I dusted my pants off and looked over. As suspected, Braden had already removed his shirt and was warming up at the side.

"Kassie, perhaps put the shirt back on. Beta Gonzalo won't like his woman wearing only a bra when he's not here." Isidro called out. He had a worried look on his face as he looked out at the gathered crowd. I looked around and noticed what he was worried about. Not all these guys were mated and I was feeling a little bit like Red Riding Hood on my way to grandma's house.

"They should know better. I'm not sparring with a handicap." I told him.

He sighed and nodded. He'd gotten a lot nicer to me of late and I was thankful for that, but almost laughed as I heard him growling at the rest. "That's our Beta female. Keep your eyes and d***s in check."

I loosened my muscles a little more before Braden approached me. "Should I wait until you don't look like you've already gotten beat? Don't want you to claim you were already tired." He asked again with a smirk.

"It's just a friendly spar is it not?" I smiled sweetly.

He grinned and took a step back. "Sure."

The moment Isidro gave the signal. He's on me. He's fast, I gave him that. It made me briefly wonder how I got the drop on him both times. I didn't have a lot of time to think about it as his punches come fast and I'm not dodging all of them. His punch combination was familiar to me. There was only one man I know that would throw that punch-kick combination. Did he study under Miles too? Or was this just a coincidence? Suddenly, his punch slipped through my guard and I could feel a rib break. I gritted my teeth as I grabbed onto my side. He grinned at me again and this time it all clicked. I saw the resemblance and suddenly the voice in my head finds a face. It was his voice and that was his grin. Whenever he outsmarted me with a new move. That first time I beat him in a fight. When I finally proved I was not to be messed with. He may not look like him but I'm almost sure it's him.

I started to breathe heavily as the memories started flooding my brain and emotion threatened to take over. I have to be sure though. I attacked, going for nothing difficult to let him think I'm tiring out. I left myself open and then he went for the move I knew he would. He kicked high and I caught him without much difficulty. He tried to complete the kick with the other leg but he ended up hanging upside down as I held both of his legs. Confirming my suspicions, he bent upwards, then swung down for momentum, and once I let him go, wrapped his legs around my neck and arm in a triangle choke hold expecting me to pass out.

"Give up princess, before you go for a nap." He huffed but now I am enraged.

"You would know about giving up, wouldn't you? You let him die alone." I raged before I stood up with him still holding onto me. I twist before I take him down with me as I flipped backward. He falls to the ground and shakes it off before he stood up but I no longer wanted to spar. I wanted to kill him. I scuttled up to my feet and launched at him. My arm went around his neck and I slammed his face down to the ground as hard as I could manage. He didn't get up right away, dazed from his face hitting the hard ground. I flipped him over and straddled him. I started punching him. "You let him die alone. He was an old man. He didn't deserve it. Do you know what I would have given to be allowed to be by his side when he took his last breath?" I yelled as I pummeled his face to the ground. The tears fell from my eyes. They mixed with my blood and fell onto his bloody face but I didn't stop. I had begged to be allowed in when they told me he was dying but they refused me. No matter who I threatened, no matter what I offered. They wouldn't let me in and Miles Lee had died alone, with nothing but nurses and doctors that didn't give a s**t about him.

Two arms grabbed me and pulled me off him and though I could feel the sparks surround me, my anger and grief had a hold of me. Adrien appeared at my side and tried to calm me down but it wasn't working. Gonzalo dropped us to the ground without breaking his hold around me. He whispered soothing words in my ear but all it does is drop me further into my grief.

"I begged. I tried to force my way and I wasn't able to get to him. He could have been there for him and he chose to stay away. The one thing he should have done for the father that saved him from a life in prison. YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THERE AND YOU CHOSE TO BE A COWARD." I screamed.