Chapter 4

They took me to an internal interrogation room beneath the Institute. It was used to hold suspects accused of stealing research or selling classified information to hostile packs.

“Let me go. I am Dr. Hale's student.”

The head of security sneered. “The only student Dr. Hale has ever acknowledged publicly is Nolan Hayes. A woman from a remote territory dares to impersonate his student?”

The door opened abruptly. Brielle entered carrying a sealed file.

“Captain, we found this hidden inside the lining of her coat.”

It was an early draft of my report on the silver-toxin regeneration inhibitor, which I had brought for reference. The captain's expression grew more severe with every page he read.

Though it lacked the final revisions, it contained detailed experimental data and a well-developed theoretical model. It was clearly part of a core research project that had not yet been released.

Shock also flashed through Nolan's eyes. He recognized the final conclusions in the report. In our previous life, this had been the achievement that carried him to the position of chief researcher.

But he remembered only the outcome, not the complete experimental process. If the report became public now, everything he had built over the past five years would collapse.

“That is the project I am presenting tonight,” I said. “Call Dr. Hale if you don't believe me.”

Nolan immediately objected. “My mentor is preparing for the summit. There is no reason to disturb him over a suspected thief.”

The captain did not dare handle research of such importance carelessly, so he made the call anyway.

“Dr. Hale, is a newcomer scheduled to present a new direction in silver research tonight?”

“There is no newcomer,” Marcus answered before ending the call.

I understood at once. He had told the truth. I had worked in lycan medical research for nearly ten years and was no newcomer. The project also had to remain absolutely confidential until its formal announcement. Marcus would never disclose it to an unidentified caller.

Brielle smiled immediately. “You heard him. Dr. Hale denied it himself.”

“Call him again and give him my name.”

“There is no need to waste more time.” The captain pulled a black hood over my head. “Tell us which hostile pack sent you. Confess now, and you can spare yourself some pain.”

I forced myself to remain calm. “No one sent me. I am a researcher at this Institute, and that report is mine.”

Nolan's voice came coldly from nearby. “No one at the Institute has ever seen you. You are nothing but a woman I rejected. What right could you possibly have to enter this place?”

“You have not conducted a formal investigation. You have no authority to torture me.”

The captain paused, then burst out laughing. “A traitor wants to lecture me about procedure? If we force the name of a hostile pack out of you, you will have handed us a major achievement.”

The Council official immediately became interested. “If we uncover a case of scientific espionage, would that qualify me for a promotion?”

Nolan and Brielle clearly had no intention of letting me leave unharmed. The restraints tightened around my wrists. A suppression collar locked away my wolf, and they tried to force me to confess that I served a hostile pack that did not exist.

The captain knocked me to the floor. I tasted blood, but when he demanded a confession, I gave him the same answer.

“Call Dr. Hale. Give him my name.”

“Nolan...” I struggled to raise myself. “If you don't want your entire career destroyed, make them stop.”

Brielle seized my hair and forced my face upward. “I told you that you would not escape today.” She leaned close enough that only I could hear her lowered voice. “You have to be ruined, Elara. Only when you disappear completely will there be no one left to destroy my happiness.”

An urgent knock sounded at the door.

“The summit has begun. Dr. Hale is looking for someone. Everyone involved is required in the main hall immediately!”

Nolan straightened his suit and issued a cold order. “Bring the traitor out.”

In the main hall, Marcus stood at the lectern, demanding to know why the staff still had not found me.

The side door suddenly opened. They threw me onto the floor before the stage, my face still covered by the black hood, my wrists bound and a suppression collar locked around my neck.

Nolan raised my report and addressed Marcus solemnly. “Dr. Hale, we caught a traitor attempting to steal classified research from the Institute and leak it to a hostile pack. The evidence is right here.”