||Taylor's P.O.V||
"How is she?" I looked up from the bed as Evan walked in, a tired look on his face. He had gone to visit Ariel in the hospital again. Evan refused to let me leave the pack. I was so weakened by whatever curse was in that knife, I could barely channel enough strength to lift the coffee mug- much less my powers.
He'd been visiting her every day for the past two and a half weeks.
"She's still alive," Evan told me, and I sighed with relief.
"Does Hudson have any more evidence from the crime scene?" I asked.
"What crime scene?" Evan scoffed. "It's a cliff edge."
"I'm sorry." I looked down, twiddling with my fingers. We were both on edge, not knowing if our Queen would be alive, and we'd often found each other's breaking points.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Evan came over to the bed and kicked his shoes off, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head, tossing it on the floor.
"It's okay," I said quietly. He laid down with his head in my lap, and I ran my hands on his head, tangling my fingers in the dirty blonde hair that he was beginning to grow out.
He kept the side of his head above his ears cut short, but he had some fluff in the back, and on the top of his head, he had at least three inches of golden brown soft locks that waved to the side in a straight pattern.
I had cut mine to shoulder length, and he was sad to see it go. But I loved his hair. I loved running my fingers through it.
Evan closed his tired blue eyes and sighed heavily. "I've missed you." he said softly. I hadn't seen him all day... for weeks.
"I've missed you too." I replied. We'd both been so busy with the packs. Evan was helping out the best he could with the mess at the Blood Pack, and Orion and I had our work cut out here.
Evan looked up at me, his eyes soft and filled with longing. I bent my head down and gave him a kiss.
I broke away after a moment, but he wasn't satisfied. He grabbed my face gently and pulled me back down.
He turned his body over and pinned me gently to the bed, his lips working against mine, slowly becoming more passionate, and more desperate.
"I love you," he murmured into the kiss.
"I love you too," I replied, confused.
"Just let me love you," he said softly, and I gasped when he kissed the mark. "Please."
I gave into him, letting him love me all night long, and long into the morning.
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My phone began ringing, and I walked over to it, picking it up and answering it. "Hello?" I asked.
"Taylor, we're ready. You should come down here and see this." Isabella told me. I sighed.
"Alright. I'm coming."
I left the house and headed up to the pack house, finding Evan's office and knocking on the door before entering.
Evan looked up from his desk, setting down the paper he was reading. Orion waved at me from his seat on the couch.
"Time to go," I said to him, nodding out the door. "Isa cracked the drive."
"About time too," Evan muttered, rising to his feet and walking over to me. He grabbed his leather jacket and shrugged it on, fixing the collar.
"Don't mind me, I'll just finish up your work for you again." Orion teased, laughing. Evan rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly, taking my hand in his and pulling me out into the hall.
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I waited in Isabella's lab with the others, leaning against the wall. Evan had his arm slung around my shoulders and was hugging me to his body. He was nervous every time I came here. He didn't like the idea of them getting a mission and me wanting to go out into the field.
He wanted to shield me from any action.
"So, what's the verdict?" Ariel entered the room, and Isabella looked up from her laptop.
"Just... just watch," she said with a sigh, plugging the USB drive into her laptop. It appeared on the large plasma in front of us.
The screen loaded, and a dark skinned man's face appeared.
Who's that? I asked Evan through our link.
Dr. Brown. Everyone called him Doc.
The one who died when Ariel shifted that one time when we-
Yeah. Evan nodded slightly.
"I'm not really sure if I'll be able to explain this in person," Doc started. "But I might as well just start at the beginning."
He slapped the monitor he was on suddenly. "Damn technology. How do I work this? Zoe!" Doc turned, and I watched Zoe and Kylee lean into their Dad, sniffling.
On the screen Zoe appeared, and she moved the mouse around, typing. "Hitting it won't make it better, Gramps." On screen Zoe scolded.
"Thank you sweetheart." Zoe left, and Doc was alone.
"I was young and searching for the next scientific breakthrough," Doc started. "I'd heard of a civilization that could potentially have the answers I need.
"I went in search of this civilization. Now, I can't say much for safety's sake, in case this drive falls into the wrong hands. I found something that shocked me down deep to the core.
"The argument in question has always been whether or not the Gifted are wolves. They shift like wolves, they belong in packs, they act like wolves, and they heal and bleed like them too.
"That is because the Gifted are wolves."
"What did I say?" Lance spoke up. "Wolves."
"But they're also not." Doc continued shocking us all.
"You were saying?" Camila asked wryly from beside me.
Not wolves?
"The Gifted are hybrids with a blood running through their veins that runs through many of us. The Gifted can just tap into that dominant gene." Doc explained.
"You see... the Gifted have Elven blood in them."
"Elves?" Garrett turned to Ariel, eyes wide. "Like, pointy ears, live a thousand years elves?" my eyes were glued to the screen. Elves?
"Yes, I did say elves," the recording continued. "Elves are an extinct race, but they were once very powerful beings. What you called natural powers was you receiving the dominant Elven gene, allowing you to harness your powers.
"The world nearly ended when the Light and Dark elves clashed in their civil war. The King had to decide what was best for the entire planet. This brought upon the mass extinction of the elves, and ripped a whole in our world that took centuries to recover from.
"Ten werewolf hybrids survived, and moved on to continue spreading the blood to every race. Every race holds an Elven gene, but it seems that only werewolves have the ability to tap into their powers- and scientists have only killed the humans and witches trying to pull out the recessive gene.
"They could never pull it out- not even in wolves. But then Ariel was born. A reincarnation of the Sorceress- the Queen of the Light Elves, who was a wolf hybrid. This Queen's power latches on to a soul it seems worthy, so Ariel herself is not a reincarnation, but her abilities are. Ariel is indeed the rightful Queen of the Gifted."
"We told the Council," Manny said smugly.
"Ariel has powers she doesn't even know of," Doc continued, I glanced at Ariel, who stared at the screen in stunned silence. "She has the ability to pull out that recessive gene in a hybrid- but the forced transformation is what gives them what Isabella called unnatural powers.
"When Dante and the Good Doctors heard of this, everyone scrambled to get her power. But they couldn't get it out of her, so they chose to use her blood and try to concoct a serum that would do the job for them.
"Those who were experimented on in the orphanage were the only ones who survived because- unknowingly- Ariel used her powers to manipulate the serum to save her people. Now keep in mind, Ariel was eight years old when this all started. She had no idea what was happening.
"I do not know if Ariel has gone through the Phoenix process yet, but I expect she will. The pure power harnessed deep in her soul takes all of her energy to channel. The telekinesis, however, should not. Ariel stopped an experimentation on her sister, Phoebe, using her telekinetic ability.
"This ability was the first that Ariel received- and saving her sister was the first time she had used it. The Doctors put a blockage in her system that we cannot remove. They wanted to remove it to turn her into a more deadly soldier, but the process almost killed her."
The vague, faded memory appeared in the back of my mind.
"The Good Doctor later on realized that a combination of Ariel's blood and the recessive gene from a family relative would push the process faster and potentially make it safer for the subjects.
"Seeing as how Phoebe Porter had been turned, the Good Doctor had to go out on a whim and test the only other living relative Ariel had. Ariel's Mother, Dr. Nadina Porter."
"Mom?" Phoebe whispered. My heart broke for them.
"Dr. Porter is a willing donor to this day. And as sorry as I am to say this, Dr. Porter is the one who told Dante where the orphanage was." Doc took off his glasses as he ripped my heart apart. "Dr. Porter was aware her daughters were there, and wanted her daughter to help her experiments.
"Dr. Porter was experimenting on normal wolves, trying to put Elven genes in them. As far as I've seen, the only wolf to survive is Davies, and he has no powers. Every other wolf died in the process.
"Dr. Porter needed Ariel to change those results- and she needed Phoebe as leverage against Ariel. As far as I can tell, Dr. Porter is the Good Doctor's right hand woman, and any maternal instincts are absent. If you are hearing this, Ariel, I am so sorry. But your Mother is the bad guy. And she does not care whether you live or you die. She wants a power she never was given."
Tristan wrapped his arms around Ariel, who was looking down on the floor.
"Ariel is the only one who can stop Dante. She is the only one who can kill him. Dante is no ordinary wolf- he is a follower of Mitus. If any other kills him, he'll just rise up from the dead. Ariel is the only one who can kill him and keep him dead."
The video diary cut off, and the board room was left in silence.
"Well that was..." Hudson trailed off.
"We do have dirty blood," Willow whispered, hugging herself.
"Ariel?" Tristan asked softly.
Ariel walked out of the room, throwing the door open and slamming it shut. I turned to Evan.
"Mitus?"
Evan met eyes with Hudson, and he turned to me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. Everything will be alright. He linked me.
I was shocked. I couldn't think. Even if I could, I didn't know what to think.
Summer walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me. "It's okay," she whispered.
"I don't understand how it's possible. Elves?" I asked in disbelief.
"Have you been hiding pointy ears under there all this time?" Uriah joked, brushing back my hair.
"What is that?" Kate grabbed my left hand and inspected my ring. "You two got married and you didn't tell me?!"
"I couldn't. No one outside the pack could know." I shrugged. "At least, not during the ceremony. After..."
"Was when your insane brother-in-law stabbed you with a cursed dagger and the coven had to rush to save you from near death... again." Uriah deadpanned me.
"Sorry?" I formed it as a weak question.
"We really need to tell each other these things before it's all okay afterwards," Kate said, and I nodded in agreement.
"Our communication has been crappy."
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"Are you ready for this?" Brianna asked me as I suited up, slipping on my gauntlets and grabbing my Bo staff.
"I've been itching to get back in the field," I admitted. I grabbed two standard glocks and slipped them into the holsters at my thigh and waist, added a couple knives, both in my boots.
I walked up the stairs and met Evan in the briefing room, walking into his open embrace. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
I don't like this, he stressed through the link.
I'll be fine. I assured him.
Ariel, Evan, Manny, Jake, Brianna and Willow were joining me on this mission. Somehow Isabella had been able to find a brand new, grand facility using keywords like elf. We discovered that Manny's older brother; Alexander, was in there.
"Let's do this," I said to Brianna, and we bumped forearms, wearing matching grins of excitement.
--------------------
I raised my hand, sending a brave doctor who tried to fight back through the glass wall, crashing onto the floor a few feet away.
I turned to the other three doctors cowering in the corner. "Unless you want to get shot, I suggest you shut up and don't fight back." I snapped.
I placed them all in handcuffs and sat them against the wall.
"How's it coming guys? We're running out of time." Ariel said over the comms.
"We're almost to the cells," Jake replied.
"Hold on!" I heard Brianna call from down the hall.
Brianna kicked down a door in the office next to me, and I heard a man screaming in agony. I peered through the glass to see her palms on either side of his head. She was using her pyro abilities to burn his ears.
Ouch, that outta hurt.
He tried to stab Brianna with the knife in his hands but I raised my gun and fired a single shot, hitting him in the back and killing him instantly.
"We're rounding up the doctors," Brianna informed Ariel, and we grabbed them, hauling them to their feet and pushing them in front of us.
I heard Evan roar outside, and overheard his lycan form ripping apart a hunter.
"Taylor, what does that mean?" Manny asked.
"I'm his mate, that doesn't mean I speak lycan roar," I retorted with exasperation.
"I mean, I just assumed that you would know with the mate bond and everything-"
"Focus!" Willow cried, cutting Manny off.
We made it down the stairs and out the stairwell door when we were attacked by a rogue. I was tackled to the ground, and looked up at Brianna. "Go! I got this!" I yelled.
She nodded reluctantly and shoved the doctors outside. I rolled the rogue over, punching her in the face and placing my hand on her shoulder, surging.
She screamed in pain and I heard the bones in her shoulder snap like a twig.
I heard someone running up the stairwell and chased after them, ignoring Willow and Isabella speaking over the comms.
I found the guard on the third floor and tackled him, sending us skidding down the hall. I grabbed the long haired man by his hair, slamming his face into the ground multiple times. He kicked me off and scrambled up, running through another lab.
I scrambled to my feet and ran after him. He held something in his hands when I found him, dark eyes glinting with hatred and determination.
My eyes widened. Is that a freaking flamethrower?!
I didn't have time to think, I just lifted my hands and surged, sending him crashing out the glass window and into the air, before falling down.
"Guys! Get out of here now!" Ariel yelled, sounding panicked.
I ran to the window and looked down. I heard the sound of steel bending, and Evan's human-like paw appeared, his claws digging into the side of the building. His long snout and vibrant orange eyes appeared just inches from my face, and a growl rumbled from his chest.
This place is about to blow. Come on! Evan linked me.
I jumped onto his massive back and clung to him, my hands tangling in his black fur as he hurriedly let loose some of the traction, sliding down the side of the building with an ear splitting screech.He landed on the ground and took off running. The wind stung my eyes and I held on tight for dear life.
What about the others? I asked Evan in the mind link worriedly.
We're regrouping with Brianna. Ariel and Jake have shields. I just need to keep you safe. Evan replied.
I spotted Brianna in the distance, pushing the doctors ahead of her. Behind us, I heard the horrifying BOOM! of the building exploding.