~~~2. His Favorite Experiment.

“Dad, where is my brother?” Mia’s lips trembled as she asked, her grip tightening around her father’s arm. “I hope he’s alright.”

Tyler smiled gently, patting her bandaged head with his free hand. “He’s fine. He just suffered a minor knee injury.”

Mia let out a deep breath as she finally settled quietly on the bed. “I feel relieved.”

“You don’t need to be that worried.”

“I thought he didn’t make it.” Then she paused, her eyes widening. “The driver?”

Tyler shook his head.

Understanding flickered in her eyes before she scoffed, “I thought as much. And that trash Moonless? I believe he didn’t even breathe the air after that crash.”

Tyler sneered. “You don’t have to worry about him. I sent him right into the jaws of death. No escape this time.”

Mia hissed. “I can’t believe I’ve missed my chance to be an influential Alpha’s girlfriend.”

“You don’t need to be worried about that.” Tyler smiled. “Our lives are about to change.”

Whatever life he was imagining for his daughter, it was already being paid for in a cell miles away, with a price Tyler only knows about.

The underground cells never knew daylight. The concrete walls remained damp throughout the year, carrying the strong smell of different omega pheromones.

Every few minutes, footsteps echoed through the corridor as guards patrolled, reminding every captive that escape existed only as a fantasy.

And in the room at the far end of the cells, Moonless’s scream—“please, you can’t do that again”—was oozing out.

His wrists were restrained by heavy steel cuffs above his head and legs were also restrained to the poles. Sweat slicked his skin as he struggled to break free.

Three scientists, dressed in their lab coats, stood a few steps away from him, each with a syringe in hand.

“It hurts. Please.” Moonless’ lips trembled, spit drooling from the corners of his mouth.

One of them moved forward.

Moonless’ breathing palpitated as his face locked with the syringe.

If the scientist successfully injected him, that would be the fourth session of the night. And Moonless didn’t want that.

But the scientist proceeded, planting the needle into Moonless’ skin, forcing another scream out of him.

“Arrggghhhhh—”

The other two scientists also moved swiftly, pressing their needles into his skin.

The third needle deliberately went in slower than the others and Moonless’ vision splintered white at the edges. His back arched hard enough that the cuffs bit new marks into his wrists.

Something inside him felt like it was being rearranged from the inside, his muscle and bone protesting a change his body hadn’t agreed to.

His head fell backward as he rolled his hands into a fist, the pain searing deep into his veins.

“Keep quiet.” The only female scientist said, adding more pressure to the syringe.

The first scientist that had injected Moonless pulled out the needle and stepped back.

“Please, stop this.” Moonless shrieked, his body vibrating as the chains made a loud noise.

“That’s enough.” The first scientist ordered.

The other scientists pulled out their syringes from Moonless’ skin. He let out a deep gasp as his head fell forward again, his hair covering his face.

His whole body throbbed in time with his pulse. Even breathing hurt—his ribs ached from how hard he had strained against the restraints, and his throat felt raw and torn from screaming. He could still feel the syringes under his skin like phantom pressure, even though they were gone.

“Go test his blood again.” The first scientist said. “We need to be sure. There is no way the compatibility rate could be that high.”

“Yes.” The third scientist responded calmly.

He led the way and the female scientist followed him, carrying a tray along.

“I’m exhausted.” Moonless breathed shakily as he stared at the floor. “Why are you doing this to me? W-what do you want from me?”

“I want nothing from you. Just following orders.” The scientist replied with a straight face. “Enjoy your stay here just like the others had.”

He concluded and gave him one hard look before he turned around and exited the room swiftly.

Only a few hours had passed since Moonless was kidnapped, yet time inside the cell had become impossible to measure, compared to the amount of times needles had pierced his skin, causing him immeasurable pain.

He closed his eyes and Tyler’s voice surfaced once again, just as it always did whenever the silence became unbearable for him.

“You’re nothing but a handsome face.”

“My son is better than you.”

“My daughter has more value than you.”

“If beauty was enough to feed a family, perhaps then you would finally become useful.”

“You should be grateful I even let you stay.”

Moonless smiled bitterly.

Perhaps Tyler had finally gotten what he wanted—one less disappointment living under his roof.

He wondered whether anyone had reported him missing. Then he answered his own question: probably not.

That thought hurt more than the chains around his wrists.

“Can I just die already?” He managed, more tears filling his eyes.

Exhaustion finally won where the pain couldn’t. His head drooped, his breathing evening out despite the ache still throbbing through him, and somewhere between one ragged breath and the next, he slipped into an uneasy sleep.

The sound of metal scraping against metal jolted him awake.

His eyes snapped open, disoriented, chains rattling as his body flinched on instinct before his mind caught up. The corridor outside had gone tense with the noise.

The guards straightened first, their backs stiffening, heads bowing a fraction before the door had even opened. Whatever was coming, it commanded the room before it arrived.

The steel door slid open. Three armed guards entered, boots striking the floor in perfect unison, and split oddly to either side, forming a corridor of their own.

Then, silence.

A shadow fell across the threshold before the person did—tall and every step deliberate enough to feel rehearsed. An iron mask caught the dim light as he crossed into the room, and the faint, unmistakable scent of an Alpha rolled ahead of him like a warning.

Moonless straightened on instinct, his whole body going rigid before his mind caught up to why.

The Masked Man stopped directly in front of him.

Moonless’s body trembled, even with his head down.

The Masked Man observed him for another moment before reaching forward and lifting his chin with a gloved finger.

“So the reports were accurate.”

Moonless panicked. “W-what r-reports?”

Instead of answering, the Masked Man quietly examined his eyes, his skin, even the pulse beating beneath his neck, as though he were nothing more than another laboratory sample.

Moonless instinctively pulled away. “Please, let me go.”

“I can’t.”

“W-What do you want from me?”

A faint smile appeared beneath the edge of the iron mask.

“You’ll find out soon enough, my favorite experiment.”