Lady and the Rogue

The Experiment

Jamila

“I have to get out of here.” I thought to myself. Marrying Mark was not an option and I wasn’t going to be here until they felt like coming back. I was tied, hungry, and tired. I tried to my best to maintain my strength by keeping my stress levels low, but it’s got colder at night and I haven’t slept at all. I knew that would weakened Imani even more. I also knew that Mark wanting me to marry him not only gives him the right to become the alpha but for him to make decisions on behalf of the pack. I had a feeling that something bigger was brewing and meeting Silas could have given me some ideas of what it may have been.

Out of the blue, the door handle moved. I was thinking that it was Mark or Leo, but this figure appeared in a white coat with a brief case. I stared at her wondering who she was. She wasn’t no wolf. She was fully human.

“Hi Jamila. I’m Dr. Thorne. I’m going to be doing some test on you.”

Her voice was sympathetic, but I wasn’t buying it. She had fair skin, green eyes, and brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She pulled tubes and a needle with the tourniquet and tied to my arm. She drew blood, filling the four tubes. After she finished, she connected small wires on the temples of my head. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I knew I had no choice but to cooperate. Besides, I needed all the information I could get.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked as calm as I could be.

“It’s for an experiment.”

“But I didn’t consent to being a subject.” I rebutted.

She didn’t respond. She just continued making sure the wires were placed properly.

“What is this test?”

“It’s a test. I’m focusing on the Alpha-Beta spectrum of consciousness, a werewolf’s brain activity would show a violent "Phasing" event, where the prefrontal cortex is suppressed by the limbic system.”

“Why? This isn’t only for Mark.” My voice was starting to raise.

She walked to her laptop and opened the screen. She typed in a few keys and then multiple waveforms appeared. Suddenly, electrical voltages surged through my body causing unimaginable pain. The sound my spikes alarmed and I began to scream out in pain.

“Stop! Ahhhh!”

She stopped then noted a few things down on a notepad. I breathed out and then she did it again.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” My voice roared.

Tears fell down my face and I felt weaker. Imani was still out and my heart felt like it was going to burst.

“Just a few more, Jamila.” Dr.Thorne’s voice was like ice-cream melting over glass. “Then we can excise the..problematic portions of your genetic makeup.”

“Gen..et..what? I was trying to ask breathless. “P-Please, d-don’t ddo tthis.”

“One more time, okay. I know this is a lot.” She tried to sound so compassionate, but I only wished to rip her into shreds. “Okay, here we go.”

She pressed the button and I cried out. The pain and pressure of electrical current was so painful that after some point it stirred something in me. I thought it was my wolf, but I didn’t shift. Something else happened. My skin shimmered with an inky, liquid blackness. My body began to unravel into a swirling vortex of shadow. The air around me grew colder, absorbing light. Dr. Thorne’s eyes widened in fear, she stepped back trying to go up the stairs. I was no longer solid. My human form had dissolved, replaced by a formless, shifting void. I felt like I was everywhere. The cold concrete beneath my non-existent feet, the faint breeze on my insubstantial skin. I realized was the shadow itself, no longer just a creature of it. I was no longer bounded.

"What in God's name..?” Dr. Thorne stuttered.

With a surge of newfound instinct, I flowed towards her. I felt angry and wanted to release it. The torture she did with no regard made me reach out and grab her by the neck. I saw her pupils dilated before I squeezed and cracked her neck. Her eyes rolled back, her head tiled side ways, and body went limp. I dropped her like she was nothing and floated out of the door.

I felt free, powerful yet it was different, deadlier, and I knew I couldn’t go home like that. No one would understand. Not my friends, my father, nor my pack. I needed to figure this out on my own. I floated into a wooded area and on its own accord, my body solidified back into my human form. I collapsed onto the ground, Imani finally stirring, but she was different now. She felt cloaked in the very dark energy I had just wielded.

My vision blurred and I passed out.

When I did wake up again, I thought Mark and Leo had found me, but as I glance around the room, I noticed it was day light. I was under a warm blanket, and lamps were on the nights stands the bed sat in between of. I squinted my eyes and sat up, but immediately felt nauseous. I took in a deep breath and blew it out, the bile that was threatening to rise subsided quickly.

“Welcome back, princess.”

My eyes followed the sound of the voice to Silas, who was standing at the end of my bed. He looked rough. His beard wasn’t neat and his eyes seemed tired. He wore a fitted dark shirt, and grey sweatpants. Behind him, there were four monitors in which three of them were either turned or on stand by.

“How are you feeling?”

Unsure of how to answer, I simply nodded.

“I have some food for you. You need to eat and your wolf needs her strength again.” He grabbed the tray from the table behind him and walked around to the side of the bed.

He sat the tray across my lap and removed the top. It was a simple meal. Soup, fruit, a salad, and water. But I was grateful.

“Thank you.” I managed to say.

“You’re welcome.”

“How did you find me?” I began to eat the soup.

“I wasn’t easy but once I got to you, you were passed out on the ground.” He answered vaguely.

I didn’t respond because it all felt like a dream and I wasn’t sure how to process the dark void took over my body. Imani was asleep and honestly I wanted her rested. I wondered if Silas somehow knew about it.

No, he couldn’t have.

I continued eating and then drank some water. After eating about half of the salad, I became full. Silas took the tray and told me that we needed to talk.

“About what?”

“I want you to tell me what happened.”

“Mark and Leo kidnapped me.” I answered simply. “They knew that I had my wolf and wanted to blackmail me into marrying Mark. They threatened to tell my father and if you know Samuel, he hates when he’s been deceived.

“The pot calling the kettle black.” Silas thought, but didn’t say it. “And who are they?”

“They’re the sons of my father’s friend, Aunt Sarah. She wanted me to marry Mark so that she could have a son that became the alpha of my pack.”

“Why didn’t your father send for you?”

“He trusts Aunt Sarah and she told him that I was building houses for the people in need.”

“That makes sense. He wouldn’t question the timeframe of your disappearance.” Silas nodded in deep thought. “Let’s use it our advantage.”

I frowned, feeling a little better. “How?”

“Something bigger is happening beyond territorial pack control and your marriage to Mark. Mark and Leo took you into Blackwater territory.”

This was interesting news. I thought they had some secret hideout of her own. But if they were using Blackwater territory, then that means they’ve been communicating.

“But why?” I asked.

“I’m not sure but I feel like it’s connected to the Crimson Peak Pack.”

I shook my head at the thought of Dr. Thorne testing my genetic makeup. “No. It’s deeper than that.”

Silas tilted his head and I bit lip.

“There was a doctor that did some tests on me.” I explained. “She knew exactly where to come and while I believe Mark and Leo have something to do with this, I feel like it’s also related to the government.

Silas sat on the edge of the bed, his presence making me feel a pull towards him. “Tests? What type?”

“Labs and something like an EEG except she would send electrical voltage throughout my body.”

I felt Silas becoming angry, the lines of his features creasing as he’d imagined what happened to me. He blew out a breath to compose himself.

“Something else happened.” I confessed. “I shifted but it wasn’t my wolf.”

He gazed at me with a ‘not surprised’ expression. “I know, which was why I wanted to meet up with you. You’re not just a wolf, Jamila. You’re a shadow wraith.”