The Beta's Justice

Chapter 20

Darren's POV

A month has passed since I had given Alpha Leon and Dr. Richard the files I had found in Ryker's underground office. I wanted to know what they contained. For the most part, it seemed they were written in regular language, but different parts appeared to be in some kind of code or possibly medical language. Either way, I couldn't understand everything and wasn't sure if I should even be reading the files.

“Darren, do you have time to meet?” Alpha Leon linked me suddenly.

“Yes, is there a particular reason?” I didn't want to assume it had to do with the files.

“Dr. Richard has concluded his research on the files,” he informed.

“When should I come?” I inquired.

“Now. He is on his way, as we speak.”

“Then I am on my way as well.”

I carefully rolled over and quietly slid out of bed. Audrey moved slightly, almost waking up, but she went back to sleep. Just as I turned to go to the wardrobe, I heard her voice. “Why are you up so early?” she muttered in a groggy voice.

“Shh... back to sleep. You need your rest,” I tried to encourage her.

“No...” she groaned as she started to push herself up.

“Please, stay. I'll be back before you know it,” I promised her as I went over and gently pushed her back down.

“Stop,” she whined, but didn't fight me. “Where are you going anyway?” she huffed.

“Got a meeting with the Alpha,” I told her, hoping it would help her to stop fighting me.

“Then you'll be coming back here, right?”

“Yes, as soon as the meeting is over, I'll be back beside you,” I smiled down at her and then bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Okay,” she whispered as her eyes began to flutter close.

Quickly, I slipped from the room before she woke again to try and keep me longer from the meeting. Our date last night had ended so well. She had me lay beside her until she fell asleep and I must have dozed off at some point. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my lips. Last night, nothing happened. Yet it had been the best night of my life. I had never slept so well. I had never felt so much peace. Each day, I felt it, our bond growing stronger.

Descending the stairs to the first floor, I saw Dr. Richard come in through the main doors. "Good morning," I greeted.

"By the Goddess, it will remain as such," he responded solemnly.

"Is there something I should be worried about?" I questioned. But he didn't need to respond. I could see it on his face. He had found something. Something to worry about.

"Possibly. I will explain further in the meeting," he assured me as we both headed down the hallway to Alpha Leon's office.

Dr. Richard knocked on the door and we waited for him to call us in. "Come in," his voice boomed from the other side of the door.

Entering his office, we found him at his desk, which was covered in documents. He appeared exhausted. "Close the door and sit," he ordered. The usually somewhat cheerful Alpha was all business today.

We each took a seat. "Dr. Richard, please explain your findings," he said as he set down his pen.

Dr. Richard cleared his throat as he set the briefcase on his lap and opened it. I had only given him four to five files but it looked like he had expanded them to three times their sizes. He took out the one labeled Nova and then closed the briefcase. He set it on the floor next to his chair. "Since she is to be our future Luna, I believe I should start with her file."

"It is quite I bit bigger now," Alpha Leon observed.

"Yes, I've added my own notes, test results, and observations to the file," he told him.

"Your findings," Alpha Leon prompted.

"Yes, according to Ryker's notes and the tests I had already run on Nova, my findings are more conclusive now. Nova is a scientifically engineered hybrid between a wolf, dragon, and enough witch DNA to connect her biologically to the twins," he finished. We all knew Nova and the twins were related by witch DNA, or so Catherine had told them.

"Your conclusion stands that we will not be surprised by any more sudden changes to Nova?" Alpha Leon said in an attempt to get clarification.

"That is what I can presume. However, this is under the assumption that her DNA remains the same. There is a chance that as she grows it could activate her witch DNA which appears to be dormant," he responded with uncertainty.

"If it were to activate what do you think will happen?"

"Considering the amount that she was injected with, she may be able to complete or use a small amount of magic. In theory, she will not become a danger if it were to activate," Dr. Richard told Alpha Leon. "However, when it comes to genetics and how the body will react when mixed with different strands of DNA, we can never be a hundred percent sure of what will happen."

"I see," Alpha Leon seemed relatively happy with the response. "Please continue," he motioned to the briefcase next to the doctor's chair.

"Right." He leaned over, grabbed the case, opened it, slipped Nova's file back in, and pulled out the twins' files. Setting the case back down, he cleared his throat. "Since the twins were genetically designed by Catherine unbeknownst to Ryker, there was less in their files," he started. "However, Caden and Aiden were kind enough to come in and let me run a few tests to check if there was anything hidden in their DNA as there was in Nova's."

He paused, appearing to wait for Alpha Leon to give him the go-ahead to continue. "What were your findings?" he prompted.

"Yes, well, it would seem, as Catherine said, their witch DNA does indeed match with Nova's. However, their werewolf DNA matches with Audrey's. This concludes that they are truly both related to Nova as well as Audrey. In essence, they can be called half-siblings have the she-wolves." He stopped for a moment, letting both Alpha Leon and I have a chance to digest this information. We had assumed that since Catherine hadn't been completely honest from the beginning, she possibly lied about the twins' relation to either she-wolf. "Upon further tests, I found that their order of DNA had been reversed. This means that their werewolf DNA is dormant. I can only speculate whether or not their werewolves will come forth when they are of age. Considering Nova has witch DNA yet she has not shown any magical abilities then I presume the twins will not have access to their wolves," he concluded.

"The magic they have been using as of late, can we assume that it is the extent of their ability or will they only grow stronger?" Alpha Leon inquired.

"It is my understanding of witch DNA that there are factors in whether their strength will grow or not."

"Which are?" Alpha Leon pressed.

"Their continued use and refinement of the skills as well as education in the art of magic. Just as with any other skill, the more you use it, practice, and learn, the better you will become. However, there is always a limit to any skill, which is dependent on DNA and endurance. With the twins, it is my opinion that they have only begun to show their true power," he seemed sure of himself as he spoke.

"Are they a threat?"

"Only if they turn on us. Otherwise, they have shown great restraint and skill with the use of their magic," he said.

"I suppose anyone is a threat if they were to turn on us," Alpha Leon muttered thoughtfully.

"Shall I move on?"

"Please do."

I sat next to the doctor wishing he would pull Audrey's file out next. Hoping he would say that she was going to be okay and there were no surprises. To my dismay, he pulled out Nova's parents' files. I tried to steady my heart and reason with myself. They were the future Luna's parents and so they held priority. That had to be it. It couldn't be because there would be more to discuss with Audrey.

"As for Nova's parents, her father's file was thin, due to no experiments conducted on him. It is merely the results of physical tests and genetic tests. Ryker seems to have been searching for something which appears to not have been found in her father. However, her mother is a different story. The file was much thicker. He ran and conducted numerous experiments. Most of which seemed to be in an attempt to alter DNA which has already been formed. It would appear that her mother arrived around the beginning stages of Ryker's experiments."

"I see," Alpha Leon responded. There wasn't much more that could be said, since her parents both perished.

"It is a marvel that Nova not only survived the experiments but that Ryker in essence accidentally gave her additional DNA," the doctor added.

"Does the file hold anything we should be concerned about?"

"No, we obtained this information and more already from Nova herself. The file simply helped to confirm everything we already know. The files document their living conditions as well as the cause of death. It was also intriguing to find photos within the file that were not related to any of the experiments."

"Wait, there are photos of her parents inside?"

"Yes."

"There were photos of the experiments in their files as well as the others?" It struck him when the doctor mentioned photos that more than candid shots were on each file.

"Yes," the doctor responded.

We all sat silently for a moment. I'm sure Alpha Leon was wondering the same as I was. What kind of photos the experiment photos were? But neither of us wanted to see. Knowing what I do about Ryker, I have to assume they were not for the faint of heart. Now I felt bad for the doctor. He had to see them, all of them.

"I will continue to the final file that was given to me, Audrey's, " he told us. Finally!

He pulled out her file and, to my dismay, it looked just as big as Nova's mother's. Which over the course of this meeting, I had surmised, meant she had more experiments to document. His own child. How could he?

"Audrey, as suspected, has siren DNA which would account for her ability to control others through simple commands," he started, but then stopped. Something was wrong. There was more.

Alpha Leon and I waited patiently for him to continue, but he appeared uncertain if he should. “Please, go on,” urged Alpha Leon.

He glanced down at his notes, seeming to gather his thoughts. “Somehow, Ryker placed a type of dormant gene in Audrey, according to his notes. However, what type of genetics she has been infused with along with her wolf and siren DNA is unknown.”

“What do you mean it's unknown?” I finally spoke.

“I don't know due to Ryker's code.”

“Code?” I asked.

“Yes, it would appear that Audrey's file has many things written using medical jargon, however, he chooses to write this in a kind of code,” he sighed. “I've tried to break it, but have not been so lucky.”

“Then what can we do?” I worried.

“At this time, I can only run tests on her as I did with the twins and hope to find out the secret Ryker intended to hide from the world.”

“Why wasn't that already done?” I asked, trying to keep my temper in check. He had tested the twins prior to this meeting and, of course, Nova long before.

“Yes, of course, I understand your irritation. I have tried to contact her to come to the hospital for a few tests, but she has been so busy. Each time she rescheduled with me. Finally, I decided that I should meet with you both and at least give you the information that I have,” he explained quickly. I had never seen the doctor look worried or was he scared? Was my Alpha presence slipping out?

“I will take her to the hospital today for the tests you need her to have done,” I informed him, determined to find out whatever secret Ryker was trying to hide. Although part of me prayed to the Moon Goddess that this secret was more of a ruse meant to cause fear and mean nothing more.

“Good, bring her any time today. I will make sure to be quick and efficient,” he promised me.

“Is that everything?” Alpha Leon interjected.

“Yes,” the doctor answered.

“Good, then let's close this meeting. I have another meeting in a few minutes,” he informed us.

I stood and gave him a slight bow. “Thank you for including me.”

“Of course, we wouldn't even be having this meeting if it weren't for you finding the documents. It is far more helpful as well to know that the remaining documents have been transported to the hospital to help us understand what has been done to all the new special wolves that now live in the pack,” he praised me, however, it felt undeserving.

“It was my pleasure,” I bowed again, trying to show him as much respect as I could. We left his office and I reconfirmed that I would bring Audrey to the hospital today.