Alek

I agreed to meet Norvin on his turf: Alfie's Chow Palace. The smells were especially nauseating as they attacked after an unsettling exit from Verity's life the night before and a long drive in a rental car from Las Vegas this morning.

Norvin watched with a smirk as I picked at the French fries he'd ordered for me. "You've gotta grow thicker skin, Alek. You're too sensitive. Can't even stomach a bit of fried food."

Bastard. "What does thicker skin and vulnerability have to do with indigestion?" I asked. Norvin knew exactly what was wrong with me and yet he still reveled in putting his gaslighting skills on display. Sighing, I bit off the end of a fry and chewed. "Can we just get on with it?"

"On with..."

"You tell me." I placed an elbow on the table and used my hand to prop up my head. A night without sleep and the last punishing look on Verity's face lingering in my memory were starting to take their toll on me. "You're ready to negotiate. Great. Does that mean I can expect you to answer my questions and then leave me and Verity alone forever?"

"Negotiation means just that. I tell you what you need to know. And then we decide together what needs to happen next. For the good of us all."

For the good of us all. Sure, I'd believe that if the "us all" didn't certainly refer to only Norvin and the upper echelon of Aurum Venari. "You claiming to be altruistic all the sudden, Norvin, or are you just trying to play me from a new angle?"

Norvin wiped burger grease from his chin with a paper napkin, still maintaining that stupid grin of his. "This isn't a trick, Alek. This is truth telling. If you're ready, we can begin."

"What about the whole 'come alone' part of your text? Am I trying to negotiate for the truth or for a hostage release."

His grin spread. "Perhaps neither suggestion is too off base."

I snapped myself upright again. "You better explain yourself immediately, Old Man, or I'm out of this grease trap and will have a wolf on your ass before the day is over."

Norvin's chill demeanor remained in place. "You can't possibly mean Verity. She's in Nevada and, correct me if I'm wrong, the two of you are not on the best of terms now."

"How would you know—"

"You wanted to get down to it," he interrupted me, "then let's get down to it. No need to pretend you'll sic your Next Gen werewolf on me."

That was new. "Next Gen... what? Are you a sci-fi supervillain now?"

"Just shut up and listen to me for once, will you?"

I leaned back in the booth and did just that, wondering what I had ever done in my life to hear what he was saying and think, finally we're getting somewhere instead of I really should look into an involuntary psych hold for this man.

"I'm entrusting you with this information, Alek, because despite everything you've done, you're still the best shot we have."

So many snarky responses percolated in my brain, but I bit my tongue and nodded at him to continue.

"You've gathered by now, thanks to Chip, that Aurum Venari has a long history studying the science of werewolfism. We have had great success, in fact, and have been able to manufacture wolf shifters such as Chip and the members of his pack."

Wow, he'd finally admitted to it. I took a deep breath, trying to avoid vomiting all over Norvin's lunch. "This is hard to wrap my head around."

"It's not how I wanted you to find out, obviously. Chip broke his NDA."

"Chip... has an NDA... preventing him from telling people how he became a werewolf. You know how that sounds, right?"

"It sounds like the truth. And there's far more to it than that. Please, try not to get caught up in the little things."

So, Aurum Venari manufacturing werewolves while also hunting them down and exterminating them was considered a little thing. I braced myself for the rest of Norvin's reveals.

"A natural-born werewolf is exceedingly rare," he told me. "Did you know that?"

"It's not like I assumed they bred like bunnies."

"For every few dozen manufactured shifters, there's only one or at most two natural werewolves out there."

"Good Lord, exactly how many werewolves have you guys created?"

"That's the point. Not many. Which makes naturally occurring werewolves the equivalent of someone who's won the lottery. Twice."

"Let me guess. You're going to claim that Verity was a Mega Bucks winner."

He cocked his head. "Yes and no. Her mother, though... Luckiest unlucky woman in the world."

Now we were getting somewhere. "Cora Hargrave was a natural werewolf?"

"Sure was. And back when we first became aware of her existence, there were only half a dozen others that we knew of in North America."

"I don't get this. If she was already a werewolf—from birth, then why was Aurum Venari experimenting on her?"

"Val Marquez brought her to our attention. Got her to the lab."

"Wait, I thought they became friends after they met at the clinic."

"Friends? Perhaps. But before that, Val found her. Knew we had her on a potentials list and convinced her to seek out treatment with us. We needed a natural at that time for our work."

"You used her blood to make werewolves, didn't you."

"Plasma, actually. But yes. She wasn't the first, of course. Our work predates her. That said, she came at just the right time to assist in significant advancements. It was your father who figured out the real breakthrough. Cora Hargrave—she made it all possible."

"Made what possible? How does Verity factor into this?" How did I, for that matter?

A shadow crossed his face. "I was warned not to get you involved with her, but I did it anyways. Maybe, deep down, I wanted you to find out the truth. But what you must remember is that, even though Verity may be different than a werewolf like Chip, it doesn't make her less dangerous."

"So, you say." I did a quick assessment of Norvin's logic. "Wait a minute. If Chip is so dangerous, why is he allowed to run a pack and live freely?"

Norvin winked at me as he took a swig of coffee. "Did I say he was free?"

I thrummed my fingers against the table. "Let's talk about why Verity is supposedly so dangerous then."

"Not supposedly dangerous. She is absolutely a menace in waiting. That's what I need you to grasp—before it's too late."

"You aren't selling me on it though. Make me understand. Why is Verity a psychic werewolf, or a Next Gen or whatever you want to call her? Did you experiment on her when she was a child?" And on me?

He looked off to the side, taking his time to respond. "I was opposed to it. You might think me amoral, but even I have my limits. Your parents, on the other hand..."

I leaned in towards him. "What are you saying?"

"I didn't know what was happening until it was too late, I swear to you, Alek. They'd tested Verity, found out she carried the werewolf gene, and then..." He trailed off, hailed the waitress over and I waited as she topped off his coffee.

"It's difficult for me to admit all this to you. You have every right to be angry with me for lying. Aurum Venari may have started as a werewolf hunting club, but it's been far more than that for many years. We employ some of the most brilliant scientists, swear them to secrecy, and then let them loose into an experimentation playground." He swung his wrist around like he was casting a spell with an invisible wand. "The science of the supernatural. It's real if you can believe it. And your parents, they loved that playground. Your mother was the neuroscientists who believed in a connection between the brain and shifting, and your father was a geneticist who perfected werewolf creation. And together? They figured out how to take things one step further." He shook his head. "No. Not one step. Infinite steps."

"To project one's wolf self into the world instead of physically transforming?"

"Yes."

"So, you knew all along what Verity was."

"I didn't know. How could I? I hadn't seen her since she was five, and any werewolf tendencies wouldn't have manifested until early adulthood. But I suspected, of course. I knew what your parents were aiming for. What they hoped to achieve with this whole project."

"And what exactly did they hope to achieve?"

"To create a weapon. And in the end, they didn't hope to achieve it, they did achieve it. Verity Jayne is the fruition of your parents' dreams."

I formed my hands into fists. "Verity isn't a weapon. I've never once seen her wolf out of control. You're wrong about her."

"Am I?" He took a manila folder out of his briefcase and slid it across the table. "Verity may be a rarity, but she's not the only Next Gen. We made a handful of others before the program was shut down."

He opened the folder so I could examine its contents. I flinched as he flipped over photo after photo, each one illustrating in dramatic black and white the horrific end of someone's life. Limbs torn off, bodies lying akimbo on blood-stained carpet, eyes glossy and empty as they peered up at the ceiling.

Slapping his hand away, I shut the folder before anyone in the diner could see it. "What's this got to do with Verity? This looks like classic werewolf mayhem to me."

"It does look like that. Only it's not. This is the work of a Next Gen werewolf. One wolf. Fourteen bodies in a ten-day killing spree before an Aurum Venari hunter exterminated it. Before that spree, he'd been a normal, upstanding citizen too, just like Verity. And just like Verity, his handler thought he posed no danger. So, going on that intel, we loosened our leash." He took back his folder. "We won't make that mistake again."

I gazed at the liver spot at the base of Norvin's thumb as his hand rested on the Next Gen nightmare folder. More needed to be said, both from him and from me, but my brain seemed unable to connect to my vocal cords.

"This is a lot for me to throw at you," he said. "I am sorry for that."

I stayed unmoving, letting the tension build behind my eyes until I thought I might burst a blood vessel.

What about me?" I finally asked him. "Did my parents..."

"Experiment on you?" He finally saw fit to frown. "Yes. They thought they could... well, it doesn't matter. They ran out of time, and they never completed the process. You're fine." He reached across the table and cupped my shoulder. "I made sure of it."

Releasing me, he put his folder back into his briefcase and took out a folded sheet of paper, placing it in my palm. "For when she returns to the city. I trust you'll know what to do with it."

I slid the paper into my pocket and didn't look at it until I returned home that evening.

"That son of a bitch," I said to my houseplants as I read over the contents of the page.

Days passed and that single piece of paper coupled with Norvin's revelations threatened to catapult me straight into a downward spiral. When finally, the date arrived for Verity to return, I showed up at her door sleep deprived, my emotions raw and confused. All I wanted was to forget everything Norvin had said to me, take her into the bedroom, and free us from our burdens. When she demanded to know what was wrong, though, I took out the paper Norvin had given me and held it out to her.

"He's created a treasure hunt," I told her, putting a wall up to guard my thoughts—and myself—from her. "I have a feeling I know what's waiting for us when we solve it."

___

Author's Note: A lot to unpack with this chapter... Has your perception of Norvin changed after reading this? Do you think he's right about Verity being dangerous? Why did he give Alek a treasure hunt and what will be the "treasure" that they find if they solve it?

We're not done yet, but we are entering the home stretch. Lots of excitement to come! Thanks for reading!