Olive. The Trilogy.

Chapter 4

“Xpectra Technologies.” Elijah introduced, he tore his eyes away from Olive’s closed off demeanor, as the logo of the big private military company popped up on the screen behind him. “They are the government’s first pick when it comes to private military contracts. Their technology is second to none, it is so advanced, there’s almost no digital footprint of their operation. What we did find though, ranges from satellites, sniper rifles, bazookas, bombs, biochemical weaponry” as Elijah spoke, the screen displayed specifications on all of Xpectra’s stock. “And what we are interested in” a lightly redacted chemical report popped up “is a super soldier program, named Project Prometheus. Despite the fact that Xpectra is now the number one PMC, it didn’t exist two years ago. In fact up until six months ago Xpectra didn’t have a board of directors or a CEO. But now when you visit their website, they have one. Even though the company is set to celebrate its fourth year.”

“Someone did a bad job covering their tracks” Olive mumbled into her glass as she doused her lips in the strong bitter liquid.

“Don’t doubt that they hid it well” Elijah pronounced, his tone hard “I’m just good a finding things.”

“And loosing them, apparently…” Olive muttered under her breath, but the low growl that emanated from Elijah’s chest confirmed that he had heard her snide comment. 

The picture on the screen changed to show a picture of a man in a form fitting black suit. His black hair and piercing blue eyes held a flirtatious evil that surely had people drawn to him by a force only explained as unparalleled curiosity. His smirk held a snobbish gleam; it was almost curled up in a taunting scheme to remind everyone how superior he knew he was. “This is James Luther-Baker, CEO of Xpectra Technologies. We connected him to these guys” the picture on the screen changed.

“That’s Phillip Baker” Olive mumbled, pointing to the picture on the left.

“Yes. Assistant Director Phillip Baker of the FBI.” Elijah confirmed.

“And who’s he?” Anthony pointed to the man on the right.

“Lyle Baker, he’s married to James. According to the CIA file we hacked, Lyle is a soldier turned biochemist. He was in Fallujah in 04, a lot of s**t went down there, and the whole file has been redacted. We only know that he disappeared during springtime in ‘04 and they only have him resurface in ‘06 where he then went and did two tours before retiring in 2011. He then married James in the fall of that year.  There are no records of how long James and Lyle were dating or how they met. Heck, James Maverick Luther didn’t exist before ‘06.”

“Does anyone else find it odd that the year Lyle was ‘found’ is the same year James all of a sudden existed?” Anthony questioned and nods of agreement bobbled in the room.

“How does Phillip Baker fit into all of this?”

“He is hosting a Gala tonight at Killington Mansion, to thank the hard working service men and women. It also two parts as a charity event to help raise funding for research on; effective ways of helping veterans assimilate back into civilian life and help treat those with PTSD” Elijah spoke voice clear, in a professional tone. Okay, there was a hint of sarcasm. It was as if he was giving a speech at the United Nations. “Officially that’s the story but real reason for this event is for Xpectra Tech to get funding for Lyle’s new top secret research. Aka; Project Prometheus. We intercepted a call he made three days ago to a shell company in Budapest.” Elijah, let his fingers glide over the petite Bluetooth keyboard on the table to play the call.

Lyle: ”I’ve captured three more subjects within the last two months. We have fifteen living specimens; the tests we’ve been conducting have yielded remarkable results. With more of your support we can have a perfected serum by the end of the month.”

Unknown: “make it happen.”

“According to our sources, Lyle has kidnapped – including our parents – eighteen supernaturals, with the help of his brother’s back channeling with foreign dignitaries. Judging from that call only fifteen of them are still alive and that number decreases every day.” Elijah bit out the last sentence, his emotions raw from not knowing whether or not his parents, his Alpha, his family are alive. “He wants to merge human DNA and supernatural DNA to create some sort of super human soldier.” The look on Elijah’s face mirrored utter disgust.

He was a proud man but an even prouder Lycan and had always been interested in his history. Learning all that he could about how the supernatural world came to be. How his kind, were the first to ever grace this earth and lived on it in harmony. The balance of nature had been at a perfect equilibrium, each supernatural species having its own place and role. Everyone respected the ebb and flow of Mother Nature’s song. There wouldn’t be death, without life. Darkness, without light. Rain, without sun. But when the humans came, the balance was disrupted. Greed, jealousy, hatred and fear had contaminated the air, leaving the stale stench of senseless chaos.

“Now, if we get either of them alone we must find out who is sanctioning this project, who is financing Xpectra, and how they found out about our existence. Then we can find out what we are up against and where our parents are.” Elijah skimmed through a few papers on the glass coffee table in front of them and found a paper that stated how much money one had to donate upon entering the Gala. Pulling up the sleeves of his cotton charcoal jersey, Elijah exposed his veiny, tattooed forearms. The sight sent a pang into Olive’s chest and chill down her spine. She still loved him – at her very core – but she hated him more. “We need 1.5 million each just to enter. And thanks to Olive” Elijah gave Anthony a smug look, whilst Olive raised her glass in acknowledgment of her hard work “we have more than enough, if we combine it with the money we got from the Milan job.”

“So is this an extraction mission or just reconnaissance?” Olive asked, her head spinning from looking at the tribute olive-tree tattooed on Elijah’s forearm.

“Ideally, we keep a low profile at first. Figure out what we’re up against – who are the players on the board – instead of blindly attacking.” Elijah responded.

“That won’t matter if we can’t even get on the guest list.” Anthony mumbled.

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Martha stated from the door.

“Ye, of little faith” Elijah teased as he smirked at her perfectly timed entrance.

Martha was Elijah’s younger sister and Anthony’s mate, she was also Olive’s best friend. Tying her long black hair into a messy bun, Martha walked over to the single couch Anthony was sitting on and sat on his lap. “My friend Alex is” she dropped her voice to a whisper “our informant in the CIA. Apparently, there are some high-ranking officials who are part of this secret government society that plans on taking over the world. When I say, secret – I mean – hush hush, the president doesn’t even know who he can trust. So he put together an intergovernmental task force. Officially they’re tracking corruption, unofficially they’re looking into Xpectra and they suspect, can anyone guess?” she asked quirking her brows. 

“Assistant Director, Phillip Baker of the sss f*****g I” Olive completed.

“Exactly!” Martha high fived her “it hasn’t been confirm but Xpectra is suspected to be responsible for the deaths of 800 people between here and the Middle East. A group of one of their early experiments had terrible side effects; violent outbursts that resulted in murderous rage that lasted for hours, heightened blood pressure, too high for any human to have without having a heart attack and an intense insatiable craving for blood. They killed all forty-five of the soldiers they turned into hybrid monsters and disposed of their bodies in a chemical waste plant. Then they made more, trying to perfect the serum. We have no concrete proof of any of this but it’s because they’re so good at covering their tracks.”

“Who are they?” Elijah asked rereading the heap of papers spread out in front of him “obviously someone is running the show or at least giving Lyle a stage.”

“It’s buried. We can’t find out who’s helping the Bakers. They know how to remain in the dark.” Martha replied, sinking deeper into her mates embrace.

“You said we didn’t have to worry about getting in?” Anthony reminded her of her earlier statement.

“Yes. I spoke to Alex and he got us four tickets to the Gala and our names on the guest list.” Martha pulled a small red USB Drive out of her pocket and connected it to the computer. Immediately a file popped up on the screen with four aliases. The first being Leah Noveki, soon to be Leah Noveki-Smith, a woman in her mid twenties who co-owned Noveki Pharmaceuticals with her brother Mark, and soon to be wife of Connor Smith, heir to The Spencer Smith Hotel fortune.

“I’m not going undercover as his wife.” Olive spoke quick and precise after seeing her identity for the night, her face shamelessly showing distaste.

“Fiancé.” Elijah corrected.

“Bite me.” Olive muttered with an eye roll.

“In public?” Elijah winked at her “kinky.”

“Asshole.”

“Guys” Martha mediated. “You’re going to have to love, we can’t change it now.” Martha told Olive, pleading with her eyes. “Besides, you guys have great chemistry.”

“I need another drink.” Olive growled under her breath as she pushed herself off her seat and poured herself a second glass, this time making it a triple.

“Olive it’s just for tonight, we really need you for this.” Anthony tried to reason and got a scoff in return.

“No.” Olive gulped down the smooth brown liquid and poured another “why can’t I go alone? We’ll tell everyone my poor fiancé fell down the stairs of his hotel” she enunciated bitterly.

“Olive” Elijah spoke her name softly. The contrast in their tones jarring.

“You don’t get to speak on this.” Olive warned, pointing her forefinger at him, while curling her other fingers and thumb around the glass. The bottle sat snuggled in the other hand. “You lost your chance when you fuc-“

A loud growl tore through Elijah’s lips effectively silencing Olive. The sound reverberating off the walls, rocking the entire room, “don’t.” His muscle clad back tensed, forcing his hands to ball into fists. “Anthony. Martha. Get out, now.” His velvety voice was deeper, rougher more animalistic.

“Well that escalated quickly.” Olive commented, pouring herself another drink.

Getting up from their positions, Anthony and Martha tried to make a beeline for the door. However, Olive moved quickly, her agility a thing of beauty and stood in front of them. “Briefing isn’t done, they aren’t going anywhere.” Her words were directed to Elijah although she didn’t acknowledge him with her eyes.

“Olive.” Elijah spat out venomously, warning her to tread lightly.

“Babe, I really think we should give you guys some space…to talk some things through.” Martha reasoned, seeing her brother’s anger hike up to unpleasant levels. Grabbing Anthony’s arm they maneuvered around Olive and slipped out of the room.

“I don’t like your tone, when you address me.” Elijah muttered while his fists opened and closed.

“And I don’t care what you like.” Olive replied in a bored tone.

“Fine.” He huffed “This is the last time I’m going to say this; if you continue to disrespect me I won’t hesitate to put you in your place.” Elijah was patient and he was almost as calculated as Olive but he could never accept blatant disrespect from anyone, not even his mate.

The same mate he hurt… I’d say that in itself is disrespectful...but what do I know. I’m just the narrator.

“It’s that so?” Olive laughed, completely stunned at Elijah’s cockiness.

“Yes. Our parents have been taken-“

“I’m aware of that dipshit, you don’t have to remind me.” Olive interrupted.

“Watch it.” Elijah snarled, his eyes going black and body posing in attack. “In order for us to find them, we need to go to this event. Stop acting like a f*****g child for one night and grow up.”

“I hate you.” The words were said in a low voice encapsulated by a growl but that didn’t take away from the menacing chill that vibrated through every perfectly enunciated syllable. Olive’s piercing eyes glowed, matching her words, in venomous intensity.

“Yeah, well I’m not fond of you either, princess.” Elijah bit out, spitting out the word princess with such disgust. The way he said it was insulting enough.

“I, Olive Joubert hereby, reject-“ before she could approach the end of the sentence, Elijah crossed the room and had her by the throat, slamming her against the wall.

“Don’t you ever f*****g do that again.” He voiced lowly in her ear, rocking her body with fear. Whenever Elijah yelled out of anger, Olive, could gage how far she had pushed him, never feeling unsafe. However, in that moment, his quiet fury shook Olive to the core. The two black holes that could’ve been mistaken for eyes were void of emotion and it was like darkness personified was staring back at Olive. She had never feared Elijah up until that point; she knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to make an example of her.

If a Lycan doesn’t want their mate anymore they have an option to reject them. A rejecting of a mate is a very serious offense. Immediately the mating mark burns off the skin, leaving it to fester and rot. If the infection of the wound doesn’t kill you first, you lose a part of your soul that you can never get back. The Lycans that reject their mates go through all five stages of death, the body starts to rot from the inside, corrupting the heart and mind. Transitioning becomes a challenge, bones breaking but not realigning, canines don’t come out fully. It’s a painful process. Rejected wolves go into a depression and die from literal heartbreak. It’s bad for both parties.

The feeling of fear slowly simmered and the realization that she almost rejected Elijah sunk in and Olive’s heart constricted in her chest. She still loved him. She hated that she did, but she knew that it was better to hate him and be stuck with him than hate him and die. Not liking the way the mate bond tugged at her chest at Elijah’s proximity. Olive broke out in a fit of laughter and pushed at his chest, creating some much needed space “don’t you get it?” She screamed back at him “I will never” enunciating every letter in the word ‘never’ “love you again. I’d rather die!”

She didn’t want to die.

“You don’t mean that” Elijah’s hard expression softened, knowing the truth. He took sure steps towards her and pressed the side of his face to hers. “We have to find a way to get over this because I’m never letting you go.”

Fighting the urge to believe him, she pushed him off and walked away, towards the study door. Slipping through it, a tear fell from her eyes as her heart hurt from almost rejecting Elijah. Deciding not to think about it any further, she pushed everything regarding Elijah to the back of her head. Once Olive made it to her room she collapsed on the bed and took a well-deserved nap.

***

“Mr. Smith, Mrs. Noveki it is a pleasure to have you both here tonight. I’m James Luther-Baker, CEO of Xpectra Technologies.”

“Good Evening James, please, call me Connor and this is my fiancé Leah” Elijah introduced.

“The work that you both do in your respective fields is quite impressive, well done.” James said disingenuously, guiding Elijah and Olive as they walked through Killington Mansion. He clearly hadn’t done his homework on the people who come to these things, only learning names “and congratulations on your engagement!” At least that’s something he knew.

“Thank you James, the moment I laid my eyes on her I knew she’d be mine forever” Elijah gave Olive a genuine look.

“Honey,” Olive inwardly cringed as she spoke “don’t lie, we both know you’re going to leave me for someone blonde and young.” She laughed at the way James’ eyebrows were nearly at his hairline “I’m kidding! We all know that I scored myself the best, most loyal man in the world.” She gently stroked his cheek, giving off the illusion that they were happy. All the jabs Olive had taken had left Elijah searing under his mask of happiness.

“My comedian,” Elijah bit out hidden behind a smile ”can you tell she’s the funny one, between the two of us.”

“You two are the sweetest couple I’ve ever met, joking around like that, you’re very comfortable.” James gushed; “I want you to meet my husband.” Pulling Olive by the wrist who, then had Elijah following in toe, James maneuvered his way through the crowed till he stopped in front of, none other than Dr. Lyle Baker. “Hun” James interrupted Lyle’s conversation with an old man and his wife “sorry guys” he apologized “look who I ran into, Leah Noveki, as in Noveki Pharmaceuticals and her fiancé Connor.” Lyle gave Elijah and Olive a once over and then excused himself from the conversation he had before being interrupted.

“Good Evening, I hope you are enjoying the party?” He asked as he extended his hand to shake Elijah’s.

“Connor Smith” Elijah lied perfectly, meeting Lyle’s hand. “The party is wonderful, haven’t had this much fun at a work function since I took over my dads business.”

“You’ll have to thank my brother for that, he has a knack for grandiose events. He will find any reason to throw a spectacle it’s his forte.” Lyle laughed lightly then turned to Olive “oh my, you are as stunning as a red rose in the middle of winter.”

“Thank you” Olive blushed “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, your work in the biochemical industry has changed lives all over.” Olive gushed, “I read your paper on DNA modification for the survival of the human species. Your revolutionary perspective of, the correlation between hybrid mutation in animals and specie survival is ground breaking. “

“Oh that, that’s nothing.” Lyle said smugly “you should see what I’m researching now, it’s going to change life as we know it.”

“Really?” Olive pried hoping to get more out of him “is it a cure for cancer” she joked.

“Even better!” Lyle said excitedly “but I’m getting a head of myself...”

“I’m sure whatever it is, it’s going to be revolutionary.” Elijah said, stroking Lyle’s ego.

“It is.” Taking a sip from his champagne, Lyle asked Elijah a question “did you know that we are only aware of less than ten percent of the species in our oceans?”

“Yeah, it’s general knowledge.” Elijah responded coolly.

“Well we know only know forty percent of the worlds species. This includes land. With my research, Xpectra is going to unlock an estimated twelve percent.”

“Oh wow and how do you expect to do that?” Olive asked feeling a mixture of confusion and fear.

“That is top secret” Lyle joked “but I promise when everything falls in place and my name goes into the history books you will be there to celebrate with me.”

“Haha, of course. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Elijah tried to sound genuine, especially because he was trying to control himself “would you excuse us, we’re going to go greet everyone else.”

“Sure, Sure.” Lyle and Elijah shook hands once more, this time Elijah applied more pressure than before “oh, very strong grip” Lyle yelped.

“Would you excuse us?” Olive pulled Elijah by the arm and they both walked away. “We have a problem,” she stated, speaking to Martha and Anthony through the earpiece she wore. “Lyle knows something but he’s tight lipped about what it is. If his serum works, all hell is going to break loose.”