The Alchemist

-Daniel- Cursed... the werewolf species was cursed... Another blow on our population since the modern age. Only a few packs were remaining in the world, mainly due to civilization and over urbanisation... In North America there were only 5 packs remaining, including ours. Located across both Wyoming and Colorado, just part of the Rocky Mountains, our pack was one of the largest in the area. The other packs were split between the US and Canada, two in each country. The Alaskan pack were still preserved from modernisation but didn't thrive as wolves there struggled to find their mate to produce strong offspring. Mating with your fated mate always resulted in strong offspring, while taking a chosen mate could bear weaker ones. The other US pack was in Alabama, and was the one closest to us in form of support or allies as their alpha, Jacob, is a good friend of mine. The Canadian packs were also allied to us, but the alpha from Saskatchewan, Nick, was too cocky for his own good while the one in the Boundary waters area, Tim, was too afraid of the humans in his vicinity to grow and expand his territory. I've heard of packs across Europe, Africa and Asia but our contact was limited. We used to have a supernatural council but it was abolished during the middle ages, after what happened to the Witches. Vampires and Werewolf were just part of the folklore for humans, and they still don't believe we existed. Well, after what happened to the Witch, I can't say I'm sad they still doubt we exist. Better this way. Humans are dangerous, they fear what they don't understand and act on impulse. They are also easily motivated with money, which works fine for growing our business and our pack. My grandfather invested in land, and my father was in the stock market. They made quite a name for themselves even in the human world. Anderson Inc. was quoted and even appeared in the Forbes magazine for our fortunes built over three generations. I was a bit of a mix of both and started to invest in projects, both real estate and technology, and to this date own most of the buildings hosting my pack members across the two states and various tech startups. My latest investment being in a pharmaceutical group called Genetech who works in genome editing. This investment is in direct link to the new curse that plagued my people... curse... more like a disease... and I'm becoming desperate to find the cause to cure it. It seems to affect the last generation only and girls more than boys. The condition manifests around 12, when the affected wolf seems to be unable to shift into their wolf. They still endure the pain of the first shift but they don't turn into a wolf. I'm monitoring this seriously since the 8th case have been reported in my pack. Out of all of these cases, 3 were halflings, with only one parent being a werewolf, so I wasn't alarmed at first. but when 5 pure blood teens couldn't shift, 3 of which had fated mates as parents, then I could no longer ignore the issue. Initial work seems to indicate this is cause by a mutation which is effectively turning us into human. My pack is scared, and from the latest news from the other packs on the continent, it also happened there. My issue is I have to rely on humans to find the cause and the cure, since only a few portion of my pack decided to go study science at university. I can't blame them as this meant going to cities into crowded place with mainly humans and study for a number of years with limited shift into their wolf. For us, it is very hard to feel connected to the wolf without shifting regularly. It takes a toll on you. and the few pack members who did, became doctors, nurses, dentists, nutritionists etc. but none became researchers either biology or chemistry. And now, I was desperate for a brilliant mind in both, so I had to recruit those talents for Genetech. I already found a genius biologist from Harvard, and I only needed to finalise his contract of employment. For a hefty sum, Dr Ken Yung would hopefully be the key to the cure. Ken was easy to convince, for the Asian young PhD, an attractive salary, decent holidays and extra flight to Hong Kong to visit his family sealed the deal to make him say yes. His work was promising and despite him not being a pioneer in the gene editing field, he certainly had a good hang of it and was breaking through new discoveries. The deal was easy, I had done my research and saw that Ken was a single man, completely devoted to his family who remained in Asia, with little to no hobbies. I tracked my prey, not in the wilderness this time, but my wolf still found the satisfaction to have stalked and assessed adequately. The signed contract felt like we went for the kill. Ken is short for werewolf standards but stocky for humans. He had this nerdy type about him, that I guess every crazy scientist has... He was quiet but polite, a man of a few words but immense wisdom. He had that peaceful aura about him, that made he cool and collected. The first day he saw the laboratory, he was excited yet he just looked around and asked pertinent questions. The project we sold him was to work on wolf DNA to see how we can use it on gene therapy for medicinal benefit for humans... I'm not entirely sure he will buy it , but he seems fascinated already. I guess we'll cross that bridge if we see results. But I fear this smart man would need to be made aware of our species to be able to fully solve our issue and understand why it will have to stay a secret... So the biologist part is done and now I need to get myself a top chemist to actually prepare the cure in a suitable system. I had my eyes on the research of this French chemist, he's a professor in one of the top universities there but everything about that man is mysterious. Dr Cam Pesquet is an enigma. I don't know what leverage I could use to make an attractive offer to him. He seems dedicated to his work, well respected in his field, but there is no photo of him anywhere, no gossip, no information on his private life and if I didn't know myself, I'd say the guy could be a wolf. But I contacted the french pack and they didn't have any scientists in their rank. Anyway, I found out there was this big symposium in Europe and Dr Cam Pesquet will give a talk. That will be my only chance to meet the man face to face so I must go there and mingle until I have sufficiently studied him to make him an offer he cannot refuse. I can only have the best working on this cure and his discretion is a massive bonus for us. I must succeed in this mission, recruiting the french chemist is key to save my pack, and maybe my whole species... So for a few days, I will be heading to Berlin, in Germany to meet and greet this mysterious french man and get him on board with Genetech. If only I knew what he looked like or what makes him tick, I could prepare my pitch, but I'm going blindfolded here and I'll have to think on the spot. While my wolf is thrilled about it, I wish I had more information to prepare for this hunt. While I feel anxious, my wolf is on the surface, ready for the taming of the French man, ready to assert his dominance and persuasion as an Alpha. While humans don't understand it, they can still feel my aura if I push it onto them. Time to meet, elusive Dr Pesquet!