Hopefully, he would.
* * * *
THIS WASN’T THE DIRECTIONin which Alan had expected the walk with Matthew to go.He didn’t exactly consider this their first date, but the conversation had taken a turn.He’d thought they’d talk about their families or things like that, but no.They were talking about Matthew having some kind of ability he didn’t have before ending up in one of the company’s labs.
Alan still had a hard time wrapping his mind around that.His mate had spent time locked up in one of the Glass Research Company’s labs.Alan could all too well imagine what had been done to him there, and he hated it.He hated that anyone had to suffer like that.It wasn’t specific to his mate, although he supposed that he felt closer to the situation because of Matthew.He wanted the labs to be closed and the people there to be freed and allowed to return to their normal lives.
Except that, from what Matthew had just said, they couldn’t have a normal life.How could they?Matthew had come out of the lab changed.Alan wanted to know how much, but he was also afraid to ask.He didn’t think that Matthew would avoid answering.He seemed pretty open about that part of his past.Alan just didn’t want Matthew to have to think about it again.He shouldn’t have asked Matthew about his ability, but he’d been stunned when Matthew had mentioned it.He still was.
“It’s not widely known, but some of the people who were in the labs were experimented on and changed.Hayes, for example, can fly,” Matthew explained.
Alan blinked.“You mean like a bird?”
“He doesn’t shift.He’s human, and I guess that hasn’t changed.No, he can fly as a human.”
Alan couldn’t even imagine what that looked like.“And what doyoudo?If you’re okay talking about it, of course.I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“I’m fine,” Matthew answered with a smile.“I wouldn’t have been a few years ago, but I’ve made my peace with what happened to me.You don’t have to worry about hurting me.”
Alan suspected he’d always worry about hurting Matthew.It was probably because of their bond, but Alan wouldn’t want anyone to have to talk about something that had happened to them if it still hurt them to this day.Matthew seemed to be okay with it, but a lot of people wouldn’t be.Frankly, it was surprising that Matthew was.
“To answer your question, I manipulate electricity,” Matthew continued.
Alan frowned.“What does that mean, exactly?”
Matthew held his hand out.For a second, nothing happened, but then, Alan noticed the tiny bolts of electricity running over his skin.He sucked in a breath and leaned closer, careful not to touch Matthew.He didn’t think Matthew would hurt him intentionally, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t get hurt at all.
“It comes in handy when we raid the labs,” Matthew said as he lowered his hand.“That’s why we created our little group.”
“The tribe?”
“Not the tribe, no.We live with them now because we have similar goals and because a bunch of us have found mates within the village, but we were raiding labs before meeting them.We banded together after we were rescued from the labs.We slowly found each other, and we started sharing living spaces.We always talked about the labs and what had been done to us there, and eventually, someone had the idea of helping the people who were still stuck there.Our group grew, and we started going out on raids.Eventually, we found the tribe, and they offered us a place to call home.It was a massive change considering how we used to live.It’s good, though.Having so many people to rely on offers us a protection we didn’t have before.”
Matthew still hadn’t been explicit about what he meant when he spoke about the group with which he raided the labs.Alan could take a guess, but he wanted to be sure.“So this group of yours, what’s it called?”
Matthew smiled and shook his head.“We don’t really have a name.We call ourselves mutants, and I guess that stuck.”
“Mutants?”
“Aren’t we?We’re certainly not what we were before.Hayes isn’t human anymore.I’m not just a wolf shifter anymore.There’s more to me, with the electricity coursing through my body.Mutant isn’t an insult.It’s a descriptive word, and I feel it describes us.We all do.”
“And you go out there and rescue people.”
Matthew groaned.“Please don’t say it like we’re real-life superheroes.People have already said that to us, and I don’t think any of us feel that way.”
Alan thought theywerekind of like superheroes, but he wasn’t going to push.He hated what Matthew and his people had gone through.What the labs had done and were still doing was awful.
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured.
“What are you sorry for?”
“That you had to go through all of that.That, in some way, I contributed to hurting people.All the names I researched for Victor, of the people he wanted to help, or so he said.What if this is what happened to them?What if they were captured and taken to the labs and tortured the way you were?”
Matthew didn’t hesitate when he answered.“Even if thatiswhat happened, none of it was your fault.You were trying to help those people.You thought you were.If anything bad happened to them, it was entirely Victor’s fault, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for it.”
“I don’t know if I can stop myself from doing it.I can’t deny the fact that trying to help might have hurt those people more than helped them.”
“There’s still time for you to help.None of this was your fault, but now that you know, you can do more.You can help take Victor down.”
