Chapter Three: Forgotten Ghost

Liana pov

The doctor arrived within minutes, a severe woman with silver hair and calculating eyes that reminded me of a predator sizing up prey.

"Strip," Dr. Volkov ordered, setting down a medical kit on the bed.

I crossed my arms over my chest, the thin nightgown suddenly feeling even more inadequate. "Excuse me?"

"Your Alpha requested a full examination." She did not look up from her instruments.

 "I do not have time for modesty, girl."

"He is not my Alpha." The words felt like a lie on my tongue, the mate bond protesting the denial with a sharp tug in my chest.

"Then you are fortunate I take orders from him, not you." Dr. Volkov's smile was cold. 

"Strip, or I will have the guards do it for you."

Humiliation burned through me, but I recognized a losing battle. I turned my back and removed the nightgown with shaking hands, feeling exposed and powerless in ways that had nothing to do with nudity.

The examination was thorough and invasive. She drew blood, checked my eyes, pressed instruments against my spine that made my nerves sing with discomfort. 

Through it all, she muttered in Russian, occasionally noting observations that meant nothing to me.

"Fascinating," she said finally, stepping back. "The suppressants are metabolizing out of your system faster than anticipated. Another week, perhaps two, and they will be completely gone."

"Suppressants for what?"

Dr. Volkov ignored me, already packing her equipment. "I will need to run tests. If I am correct about what she is." 

She stopped abruptly as the door opened.

Dominic entered carrying a stack of files, his presence immediately dominating the room. His eyes swept over me in the thin nightgown I had hastily pulled back on, something possessive and dangerous flashing across his face before his expression locked down.

"Out," he told the doctor.

"Alpha, the preliminary results suggest."

"I said out." His voice dropped to a growl that raised the hair on my arms.

Dr. Volkov left without another word. The door closed, and suddenly the room felt too small, the air too thick. Dominic set the files on the desk, his movements controlled, but I could see the tension in his shoulders.

"Put this on." He tossed me a shirt without looking. One of his, judging by the size.

I caught it reflexively, his scent washing over me, cedar and smoke and something uniquely him that made the bond purr with satisfaction. I hated how my body responded, craving more of that scent, more of him.

"Turn around," I said.

His eyes met mine, amber bleeding into the blue. "I have seen every inch of you through this bond, little wolf. Your modesty is pointless."

Heat flooded my cheeks, but I refused to back down. "Turn. Around."

For a long moment, we stared at each other, wills clashing. Then, surprisingly, he turned his back. I quickly pulled on his shirt, the fabric falling to mid-thigh, surrounding me in his scent until I could barely think straight.

"Decent," I managed.

He faced me again, and something in his expression shifted when he saw me wearing his clothes. His pupils dilated, the wolf rising to the surface. "Mine."

The word was guttural, possessive, and it sent a thrill through me that I absolutely did not want to feel.

"I belong to no one," I shot back, even as the bond sang between us.

"Wrong." He crossed the distance between us in two strides, backing me against the desk. His hands landed on either side of me, caging me in without touching. "You are mine, Liana. This bond makes you mine. And I am realizing that everything I thought I knew about you was a carefully constructed lie."

My breath caught. "What are you talking about?"

"These." He reached behind me, grabbing one of the files. "My father's private records. Sealed files about a project called Sanguis. Do you know what that means in Latin?"

I shook my head, not trusting my voice.

"Blood." He opened the file, and I saw photographs, a compound, wolves, and children playing in gardens I recognized from my fragmentary dreams. "Twenty years ago, a secret bloodline existed. Hybrids created by witches and wolves, bred to be weapons against Alphas. 

My father led the massacre that destroyed them all."

Ice spread through my veins. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you are in these files, Liana." He pulled out a photograph and held it up. A little girl with violet-tinged eyes smiled at the camera, holding hands with a dark-haired boy. "This is you at age six. And this." his voice roughened, "is me."

The world tilted. I stared at the photograph, at the children who looked so happy, so innocent. Fragments of memories slammed into me, running through gardens, a boy teaching me to track, his laugh, his promise to always protect me.

"No." I backed away, hitting the desk. "That is impossible. I would remember."

"Vincent Moretti erased your memories." Dominic's eyes burned with barely contained fury. "He used spells and medication to suppress what you are, to keep you weak and controllable.

 But the suppressants are wearing off now, and soon you will remember everything."

"What am I?" The question came out as a whisper.

He looked at me with an expression I could not read,anger, fear, something darker. "A Sanguis hybrid. The last of your kind. And your blood, little wolf, can either complete our mate bond permanently."

He paused, his jaw clenching.

"Or kill me with a single touch."