36. EPILOGUE

ASANI

Nepheline is currently pacing the hallway, angry that I rushed into my clinic the moment we arrived home. I dragged Nolan in with me once I found out that he has a background in biology. He will at least understand the paperwork that I'm currently pouring over.

In that house, Nepheline noticed something. Something that no one else caught. Silas' words were off. That kill was way easier than it should have been and whatever this is, is far from over. The fact that Maverick didn't immediately debunk Silas' version of fate and Mother Nature worries me even further.

The worst part is the folder I'm currently leafing through, a folder I was supposed to destroy with everything else in Enzo's clinic.

Mateo will have my ass for this but it's for good reason. Enzo was an organized freak, a crack doctor, and an even worse Alpha but everything in his office matched. From folders to pens to the brand of glass he used for his beakers. The problem is that the one folder I swiped is a new color. His current project was in green and yellow folders. This one is red.

And it was the only one.

"What are we looking for, Alpha?" Nolan asks as he scoots closer. I flip through another page, frowning at formulas that couldn't possibly work. The Beta leans over the desk, reading upside down before pointing to one of the descriptions. "He was perfecting the serum but this wouldn't have worked for any of the pack of the Forbidden."

I read through the numbers and equations. "Was he trying to revive himself? This is for a sick Alpha. An Alpha on the verge of death. It would have never worked on Silas." Fear bleeds through me as I continue to sift through the papers, remembering that there was a vial missing from Silas' tabletop fridge. Had it been in the lab, I wouldn't have thought twice but that cabin was for Silas to hide away.

He didn't even make it a few steps inside before Maverick took him down. Which meant that the fridge should have been stocked. That missing vial haunts me—even if all the remaining ones are now destroyed.

Nolan stops me again, thinking much clearer than I am. Nepheline yells again through the bond and I know that she's going to have me sit out the next fucking orgy but this shit is important. God, I fucking hope it is.

"Look, it is for a sick Alpha. His name is here."

I stare at the name, letting out a dark chuckle. There's no fucking way that it's for that Alpha. I refuse to believe that this shit has come full circle. Even so, I rush over to some of the records I brought to my clinic in the woods, leafing through old notes until I find the notebook I wrote down observations in as we buried every last wolf from the Redstone pack.

Walking through the clearing had been a terrifying sight but checking and cataloging their wounds was worse. They died so viciously and unnecessarily, Silas' reasoning fucking stupid for the damage he caused. I run through the list of names and the wounds they suffered, frowning when none of them fit the profile I need.

Just over three months ago, I buried Casimir and Locke. Neither one of them suffered an arrow wound but there was a broken shard by Locke when he was carried away. My heart sinks into my stomach at the revelation swirling around in my head as I bound back over to the desk, reading the name from Enzo's file again.

Locke, Redstone Alpha. Age 37.

"Wasn't her entire family killed?"

I nod. "And yet, it seems that Enzo had a dirty little secret." I blow out a deep breath, scouring through a few more pages before I decide to let the cat out of the bag. When I open the door, Nepheline is there, her hair billowing around as she pushes past me, her fists curled at her side.

"What was so fucking important that you had to lock yourself in here when we got back?"

I don't answer right away, trying to find a way to softly give her the truth. That's never really an option with Nepheline, though.

"Whatever you tell me, Asani, just don't lie to me."

"Your brother is alive."

Her entire face falls as she just stares at me, several seconds of silence falling between us. The bond tightens, dread rushing through it before she drops to her knees. "He's alive?" Her gaze darts to the open file on my desk, making the connection I didn't want her to make so soon. Somehow Locke is alive through experimentation that can't be good for any of us, least of all Locke himself. "I knew Silas' death was too easy," she whispers and I swear my heart breaks when I hear those words.