5. THE FACT

Willow didn't move, just stared at Kyler coldly, her arms still crossed. Kyler withdrew his hand and cleared his throat quietly, he was starting to get confused about how to explain everything to Willow. Well, not everything all at once, but the things Willow needed to know right now.

"So what?" Willow asked, going straight to the point.

"Your daughter was kidnapped by my pack, the Messer."

The look in Willow's eyes turned to emotion and she immediately ran to the kitchen. She grabbed a knife and a handful of garlic, and with shaking hands she plunged the knife into Kyler. Even the garlic.

"What was that for?" asked Kyler in a casual tone. "Calm down, Willow. I'll explain."

"Your pack? Then you conspired with them, and now you want to blackmail me?" Willow shouted angrily. "How dare you! I told you, there are two officers here to arrest you right now!"

"Put down the knife and the garlic. Are you going to cook me?"

Willow looked confused, stressed, and tired. She sighed softly and threw the two items in her hands onto the island. "What did I do wrong, God? Why is this happening to me?" She began to sob.

"This may sound crazy, not just to you... but to everyone. That's why I want you to listen carefully."

Kyler is no ordinary human. He was a lycan descendant, from a pack known as the Messer family. All was well, he was able to blend in with humans for 26 years of his life. However, in the last ten years, the leader of the Messer pack began to do things that were out of the ordinary.

Messer's pack began kidnapping children and teenagers to be used as experimental material. Where they are injected with some kind of anti-silver serum. So that the Lycans would be immune to bullets and weapons made of the metal.

For years, Kyler kept quiet, but when he was asked to become the new leader of Messer's pack and continue the research, he refused. A few weeks ago, Kyler ran away from his pack because he did not agree. However, Kyler's pack didn't just let him go, they pursued him until Kyler was injured and then found by Zoey and Willow.

Kyler had no intention of staying, he knew everyone could be in danger if they were around him. What Kyler didn't expect was that Zoey was apparently a target for kidnapping.

"There are so many children and teenagers in this world that could be kidnapped," Willow said. "Gosh, you could say I'm a bad person at heart. But why does it have to be Zoey? I know I'm selfish."

A silent pause between the two, who were both sitting on the couch, although they were far apart. Kyler looked at Willow worriedly. The man knew Willow to work hard, often unintentionally 'neglecting' Zoey. But Kyler knew how much Willow loved her only daughter.

"My pack doesn't just kidnap children or teenagers out of nowhere," Kyler said, breaking the silence between them.

"Oh, so you're looking for that kind of data or IQ? Which you probably hacked off the internet? Then you kidnapped them while their parents were unaware."

Kyler shook his head. "Only hybrid children."

"High breed?"

"No, but hybrids."

"What do you mean?"

"The offspring of a lycan and a human."

Willow thought for a moment. All she knew about hybrids was from the plant channel. Lycan and human? Even her mind could not accept Kyler's explanation, although the man spoke slowly and carefully.

"My Zoey is just a little girl, I'm human. How is that possible?" muttered Willow.

"And her father?"

Willow's eyes just blinked.

Max? She said to herself. He was normal, at least Willow knew that. Max never had a gang or a group of friends that looked suspicious. Willow had met Max on prom night and they had been seeing each other ever since, going everywhere together. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Although Willow had never met Max's parents, she knew where they lived.

That was the mystery. Even when Max suddenly disappeared.

"Willow, it's possible that Zoey's father is a Lycan," Kyler said.

Willow's laughter sounded discordant when she heard Kyler's words. It was like one of those jokes that were thrown around that made no sense and only meant to make Willow feel worse.

"How is that possible? I know Max, there's no way he's a Lycan," Willow denied.

"I've lived with humans my whole life, Willow. Do you think I'm a Lycan all the time? Of course not."

"The Lycan, the form you took when you were a dog, or the monstrous creature the day Zoey was taken?"

"The second option."

"Then the form of a dog? Does every Lycan have this ability?"

Kyler sighed softly. "It's a wolf, not a dog. And the answer is, not every Lycan. I was once a lab rat for a few years, and the effects of the serum allowed me to transform into a wolf," Kyler explained.

"It's like a mutant story."

"Yeah, more or less."

"You're a hybrid?"

There was a shake of Kyler's head. "I'm a high breed. Alpha."

The woman pressed her forehead, which began to throb. She had not slept long and woke up in the middle of the night, the information from Kyler making her even more dizzy.

"I'll explain slowly so you understand," Kyler said.

"Kyler, I don't need to understand anything anymore. I just want to find Zoey," Willow replied tiredly. "After hearing your story, I'm more afraid that Zoey was used as a guinea pig."

"Let's hope not. Which is why we need to find Zoey as soon as possible."

"How?"

"There are several labs I know of, though not all. Maybe we can check them out one by one, whether Zoey is there or not."

"For how long? Searching takes time."

"But we should at least try, Willow. I can't just walk into every lab, even if I'm part of Messer."

Willow understood, even Kyler was a kind of fugitive within his pack.

Kyler got up from his seat, then glanced at the wall clock, which showed one past morning.

"I'll see you soon, if I get any new leads," Kyler said. "You should get some rest."

"When will you be here?"

"As soon as possible." The man suddenly fell silent, his eyes staring intently at the front door of the lodge. "This is strange," he said suddenly.

"What is it?"

"The officers guarding you, why aren't they patrolling or..."

Kyler did not continue, he hurried to the door and peered through the curtains. The police car looked dark, there was no movement. His keen sense of smell began to pick up a fishy odor. Concerned, Kyler half ran over to Willow.

"I sense something is wrong," Kyler whispered.

Willow stood up and looked at Kyler in confusion. "What's going on?"

In the distance, they both heard a gunshot, somewhere in the middle of the forest. Without thinking, Kyler grabbed Willow's arm and half dragged her out the back door.

"Come on, Willow, run. They're here!"