Chapter 10: Defector

 Nikolai Volkov drove a plain sedan to Blackwood Estate three hours after Viktor's video went viral, claiming to have a hard drive with everything Elena needed to destroy Viktor and Dmitri.

Elena watched him pull up to the gate through security monitors and felt a mix of hope and suspicion because Nikolai was family, but family in the Volkov organization meant something different.

Nikolai was searched twice before Dante let him into the main hall, and Marcus was close enough to intervene if Elena's cousin moved suddenly. Nikolai appeared tired and older than Elena remembered, with shadows under his eyes indicating he hadn't slept in days.

I'm defecting "Nikoi addressed Dante without preamble, focusing on Elena. "My uncle is a monster, no more denying it. All the evidence on this drive proves Dmitri knew Katerina was alive and sold her blood to Viktor for 18 years.

He gave Marcus the hard drive, who immediately took it to security to check for digital traps.

Elena wanted to believe her cousin was telling the truth because Nikolai was one of the few people in her father's organization who treated her like a person, not an asset, but she'd learned the hard way that sentiment didn't matter under Dmitri's orders.

"Why now?" Elena asks. "You've worked for my father for eight years and never questioned his methods."

He had many methodological issues "Nikoi corrected. "I couldn't leave without him killing me for knowing too much. I can't watch him try to kill you for not marrying Viktor. Elena, you're family. Should mean something.

Elena felt sick seeing Nikolai's evidence when Marcus returned with a laptop and pulled files from the hard drive.

Blood extraction schedule from Katerina's medical records. Financial records showing Dmitri received millions over time. Email correspondence between Dmitri and Viktor on maximizing blood yield without killing the source.

More "Nikoi opened another folder. “Dmitri has been in touch with Isabella Cross for six months. They plan to eliminate Dante and split his territory, with Isabella controlling pack and Dmitri using Blackwood shipping routes.

Dante became dangerously cold as he read the correspondence. Isabella gave Dmitri information about Blackwood security weaknesses while he gave her weapons and money for a territorial challenge.

Isabella called for a tribunal so quickly because she'd planned this power grab before Elena crashed into werewolf territory, according to the partnership.

Nikolai opened another file. Viktor is dying. "His body is breaking down cellularly after three years of injecting prototype hybrid serum. His doctors estimate three months before his organs fail. He's escalating the attacks because he needs Elena's genetics to perfect the formula before time runs out.

Elena gazed at Viktor's medical scans and felt grim satisfaction that the man who tortured her mother for eighteen years was dying painfully. "How many more hybrids?" she asked.

Nikolai said thirty, not twelve as the video said. Viktor no longer cares that most are too unstable to be soldiers. He won't bluff—he'll release them all into major cities if you don't surrender. He has nothing to lose.

Marcus whispered thirty hybrids. This could kill hundreds of people before anyone could stop them. The werewolf council would have to publicly contain the threat, revealing our existence.

Exactly what Viktor wants "Said Nikolai. "If he doesn't have Elena's genes, he'll burn everything down before leaving. The exposure will start a war between humans and werewolves that will make his hybrid experiments look minor.

Elena saw Dante's impossible calculation as he pulled up maps and called in his tactical team. They had forty-eight hours to find and kill Viktor before he released thirty rabid hybrids into Seattle, but they didn't know where he was hiding after the factory explosion.

Nikolai said, I know where he is, and everyone looked at him. A favor to Dmitri, I helped him set up the new facility two weeks ago. This old medical research center outside Tacoma was closed for safety violations. Viktor has at least twenty human mercenaries guarding the perimeter and has secured the entire building.

How do we verify your honesty?" Marcus demanded. "How do we know your uncle didn't set this up to kill Dante and capture Elena?

Nikolai simply said no. You don't have time to verify my information before Viktor's deadline. You must decide whether to trust me or release thirty hybrids into a major city.

Elena read her cousin's face to see if he was lying, but Nikolai had always controlled his expressions. She said, "Show me your phone," and Nikolai looked confused but handed it over. Elena searched through his recent messages and found an encrypted text to a number she recognized as one of Dmitri's enforcers.

"You're still reporting to my father," Elena showed Dante the message thread.

I never said I'd cut ties "Nikoi spoke carefully. "I'm telling Dmitri what he already knows while hiding your vulnerabilities. Dmitri will kill me in 24 hours if he thinks I've fully betrayed him, so I'm playing both sides.

Marcus said flatly, "You're a double agent.

Nikolai corrected, "I'm a survivor." Right now, surviving means helping you defeat Viktor before he destroys everything. Next, I'll deal with Dmitri one apocalypse at a time.

Elena could see Dante's doubts about trusting her cousin in his eyes. Elena remembered all the times Nikolai had covered for her as a child, making life in Dmitri's house a little easier. We verify everything using his information "Elena said. Nikolai is guarded until this is over.

Nikolai agreed, surprising her because she expected him to argue about the guard.

Marcus frowned as he read the alert on his phone. "We have a problem," he said. "A wild animal attack tore three bodies apart in Pioneer Square, according to Seattle PD. Wounds resemble hybrid claws.

Dante said Viktor started.

Nikolai said, "No," pulling up something on the laptop. That wasn't Viktor. Isabella's territory was attacked, so either she has hybrids or someone is trying to frame her for Viktor's crimes.

As everyone processed that, the room went silent. Isabella would be more dangerous with hybrid technology. If she was framed, there was a third player they hadn't considered.

Elena answered an unknown call against her better judgment. Viktor's voice was clear and funny.

“I see you've been busy making friends with your cousin,” he said. "Did Nikolai say Dmitri sent him to plant a tracking device to lead me to Katerina? No? Try checking his coat pocket."