Alpha Ian's The One and Only

Chapter 17

"Let her go." Ian's deep rumble broke through the emotional fog surrounding me and Jay. With one last squeeze, Jay releases me.

"You came. It was a far-fetched hope, but I still hoped you will. It is good to see you again, kiddo," he whispers.

"You fool! Why didn't you come home?"

"To keep you and rugrats safe."

Ian broke our little reunion. Again. "We need to take you both out of the open. There's too much to discuss but not here. Is the cave secure?"

Looking around, Jay notices others surrounding us, keeping guard. "Yes, it is secure."

"Can't we go home? He will be comfortable there," I say, looking at Ian. Ian helps me stand, and then stands between me and Jay. Instead of Ian, Jay answers, "I cannot go back home, Nat, not when I have no control over myself." I nod in understanding.

"We will shift now," Ian says tersely. Within seconds, Ian's wolf is standing beside me. I climb on Ian's back, very ungracefully. We took off instantly with Jay at the lead and others surrounding me and Ian in a protective circle. We leave the beautiful bluebell field behind, weaving through trees, splashing across a stream and up the mountain. It would have been a beautiful experience if I wasn't dizzy due to speed. Finally, we reach the cave, and this time, I got down without Ian saying anything.

The cave has sleeping bags, packed dry foods to keep animals away, battery-operated lamps, and other essential things. I sit on one of the sleeping bags beside Jay, Ian stands by my side, Markson is in front of us, and the other three guard the cave entry.

I empty my bag looking for the first-aid box, but when I turned to him I realised it was not needed. "Your face is healed."

"Yes."

"What happened, Jay? What did they do to you? Where have you been?" I ask, now sitting cross-leg facing Jay.

"I don't know if you will believe me. It's all unnatural." Jay rubs a hand over his face looking tired.

I gesture around me. "Didn't you notice the company I keep? Try me."

"Do you remember our last phone call? I said I will be out of reach for some time?" I nod. "We had to undertake some medical tests and physical evaluation at a centre where we will have no contact with anyone outside. That's routine protocol. But it took almost a month and a half for the orders to come, so we stayed at the centre. One week into the mission, my men started behaving strangely. Aggressive behaviour, migraines, muscle pain, and even a bloody toothache. It didn't make sense since we all were declared medically fit for the job. We were at a medical facility and monitored daily. I know my men, and no one had anger issues. Later, things got worse. Everyone developed a high fever and had seizures. Three of them started transforming, and, in my feverish state, I thought I was hallucinating. Because it is bizarre, how can a normal human being transform into a fucking animal? I was the last one to transform. Everyone else died but me." He walks to the other end of the cave. Looking down at his hands, he says, "I don't know how I survived. Why I survived? But I knew someone tried to play Frankenstein and murdered my men. Someone higher in the rank passed the order, and I needed answers. So I cut all the connections with the base and everyone. I knew I would find the answers in that medical facility, so I went undercover. Do you know what I found? They were using us as guinea pigs because instead of vitamin shots they injected us with some serum to modify our genetic code." He removes a ziplock which had a pen drive from his pants pocket. "You will understand this much better than me," Jay says and hands me the pen drive.

"Did you find out who sanctioned this?" Ian asks.

"No. That information is hidden. There is no mention of anyone in any of the documents I came across."