She Bites Back
1502 Words
The cassette tape sat on the conference table between them.
No one reached for it.
No one spoke.
It was as though the small plastic rectangle carried enough weight to silence an entire empire.
Elena broke first.
“Play it.”
Lucien’s gaze remained fixed on the faded label.
“Not yet.”
Her patience snapped.
“Not yet?” she repeated incredulously. “That’s all you’ve been saying since I met you.”
He said nothing.
“You tell me to wait.”
She took a step closer.
“You tell me I’ll understand later.”
Another step.
“You tell me the truth will come when the time is right.”
She stopped directly in front of him.
“I’m done waiting.”
Lucien finally looked up.
“So am I.”
He reached for the evidence bag.
Before he could touch it, Elena grabbed it first.
The room froze.
Adrian instinctively moved forward.
“Elena…”
She held the tape tightly against her chest.
“No.”
Lucien’s voice remained calm.
“Give it to me.”
“It’s about me.”
“It could also endanger you.”
“Everything already does.”
She backed away another step.
“I’m not handing over another piece of my life.”
Lucien’s eyes followed her every movement.
“You don’t know what’s on it.”
“Neither do you.”
She wasn’t wrong.
That irritated him more than he cared to admit.
Adrian glanced between them.
“Boss…”
Lucien lifted one hand.
“Leave us.”
Adrian blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“But—”
“Outside.”
Reluctantly, Adrian motioned for the remaining guards to follow him.
Within seconds, the room was empty.
Only Lucien and Elena remained.
The silence between them felt different now.
Less like hostility.
More like two stubborn people refusing to surrender.
Lucien spoke first.
“If you run, I will find you.”
“I’m not planning to run.”
“If you open that tape alone, you could trigger exactly what our enemies want.”
She searched his face.
“For once…”
Her voice softened.
“…stop talking to me like I’m someone you have to protect.”
“What should I do instead?”
“Talk to me like I’m someone who deserves the truth.”
Lucien was quiet for a long moment.
Then he nodded once.
“You do.”
The admission surprised them both.
Before Elena could respond, the room’s intercom buzzed.
Adrian’s voice came through.
“Boss.”
Lucien pressed the button.
“What?”
“We have another situation.”
His tone immediately changed.
“What happened?”
“The woman is here.”
Lucien’s expression hardened instantly.
“What woman?” Elena asked.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward the door.
“Send her in.”
Seconds later, the door opened.
An elegant woman in her early forties walked inside wearing a cream-colored suit. Her auburn hair was pinned neatly behind her ears, and her posture was flawless despite the obvious exhaustion on her face.
The moment her eyes landed on Elena…
She stopped breathing.
Tears instantly filled them.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“No…”
She whispered the word as though she’d seen a ghost.
“It can’t be.”
Elena frowned.
“Do I know you?”
The woman slowly lowered her hand.
“You were just a little girl.”
Elena’s pulse quickened.
“I’ve never seen you before.”
The woman’s gaze shifted to Lucien.
“You found her.”
Lucien gave a slight nod.
“I did.”
The woman closed her eyes briefly, as if steadying herself.
Then she looked back at Elena.
“My name is Dr. Amelia Hawthorne.”
She took one cautious step forward.
“I was your mother’s closest friend.”
The words hit Elena like a wave.
“My mother never mentioned you.”
Dr. Hawthorne gave a sad smile.
“She couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because the day she died…”
A tear slipped down the woman’s cheek.
“…I was the one who promised to disappear.”
Elena’s grip tightened around the cassette tape.
Every answer she found seemed to create three new questions.
Lucien watched the exchange carefully.
He knew exactly why Amelia had come.
And judging by the fear in her eyes…
She hadn’t come alone.
Somewhere beyond the walls of the mansion, a black SUV slowed to a stop.
Inside, a man lowered a pair of binoculars.
He smiled as he watched the lights in the communications wing.
Then he picked up his phone.
“It’s starting,” he said.
“The doctor finally made contact.”
A voice on the other end replied calmly.
“Good.”
“Should we move?”
“Not yet.”
The caller paused before giving the order.
“Let them believe they’re uncovering the truth.”
Another pause.
“By the time they realize what the truth really costs…”
His cold laugh echoed through the speaker.
“…it will already belong to us.”
Dr. Amelia Hawthorne stood perfectly still, her eyes never leaving Elena.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally, Elena broke the silence.
“If you were my mother’s closest friend…”
Her voice trembled.
“…why did you never come for me?”
Pain flashed across Amelia’s face.
“I wanted to.”
“What stopped you?”
“I made a promise.”
“To who?”
Amelia glanced briefly at Lucien before answering.
“Your mother.”
Elena shook her head.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It didn’t to me either.”
Amelia took a slow breath.
“The night your mother died, she knew people would come looking for you.”
“Who?”
“I still don’t know all their names.”
Lucien’s jaw tightened.
“I do.”
Amelia nodded sadly.
“That’s why I stayed hidden.”
Elena frowned.
“You abandoned me because my mother asked you to?”
“No.”
Amelia’s voice cracked.
“I stayed away because she begged me to keep you alive.”
The room fell silent.
Amelia reached into her handbag and slowly removed an old photograph.
Unlike the one inside the locket, this picture had faded around the edges.
She handed it to Elena.
It showed three young women standing arm in arm, laughing beneath a blooming cherry tree.
One was unmistakably Elena’s mother.
The second was Amelia.
The third woman’s face had been deliberately scratched away.
Elena traced the damaged photograph with her fingertips.
“Who did this?”
“I don’t know.”
“It wasn’t always like this?”
Amelia shook her head.
“When I found it years later, her face had already been destroyed.”
Lucien stepped closer, studying the photograph.
“They erased her.”
Amelia nodded.
“Every picture.”
“Every record.”
“Every name.”
Elena looked up in confusion.
“You mean someone erased an entire person?”
Lucien answered quietly.
“Someone powerful enough to rewrite history.”
A chill settled over the room.
Amelia looked at Lucien.
“They’re getting closer.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have much time.”
“I never did.”
Elena’s frustration boiled over.
“Would someone please stop talking in riddles?”
Both of them turned toward her.
“I deserve the truth.”
Amelia’s eyes softened.
“You deserve far more than the truth.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your life began long before you were born.”
Before Elena could ask another question, Adrian burst through the door without knocking.
“Boss!”
Lucien immediately recognized the urgency in his voice.
“What happened?”
“Our surveillance team intercepted another transmission.”
“From Viktor?”
Adrian shook his head.
“Worse.”
Lucien frowned.
“Explain.”
Adrian placed a tablet on the table and pressed play.
A distorted voice filled the room.
To Lucien Devereaux.
The recording crackled with static.
Stop protecting the girl.
Elena felt a knot form in her stomach.
The voice continued.
She isn’t your greatest weakness…
A brief pause followed.
She’s your greatest mistake.
The recording ended.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Lucien’s expression remained unreadable, but Amelia’s face had gone completely white.
She stared at him with unmistakable fear.
“They know,” she whispered.
Lucien didn’t ask who.
He already understood.
His eyes slowly lifted to meet hers.
“So…”
His voice was calm.
“They’ve found the file.”
Amelia nodded once.
With trembling hands, she whispered the words Lucien had hoped never to hear.
“They’ve opened Project Lycan.”
The name alone was enough to drain the color from every face in the room.
And for the first time since Elena had entered Lucien’s world…
Even the Wolf looked unprepared for what was coming next.
- Writer
