Nothing of value remained. Or so I thought.
Behind the desk hung framed credentials, degrees from prestigious institutions, and a large group photograph of men in lab coats. Hoping to recognize a face, I lifted the frame from its hook.
Something slipped free from behind it.
A small object hit the floor with a heavy thud.
“Guys!” I yelled, and they all rushed into the office.
“What is it?” Cade asked, bending to pick up the leather-bound notebook lying on the floor.
“A book, hidden behind the picture. When I pulled it off the wall, it fell.”
“Good find.” Cade thumbed through the notebook. “Looks like Melker’s personal notes. We'll go through them later. What about the picture?”
I set the dusty frame on the desk and wiped the glass with my sleeve. The grime was thick, but as it cleared, a pair of familiar sad blue eyes stared back at me.
Patient Zero.
Nearly a dozen men in lab coats stood around her, along with several uniformed alphas. She lay on a hospital bed at the center of the group, her eyes hollow and unfocused, her wavy, copper hair fanned across the pillow. Velcro restraints bound her wrists and ankles, and her stomach was round, painfully large beneath a thin hospital gown.
“She was pregnant,” I whispered.
“There.” Killian pointed at one of the uniformed alphas. The man had a square jaw, handsome features, and cropped hair. He looked disturbingly like Cade.
“Is that…”
“Our father,” Cade said with a grimace. “General Green.”
“And look, Zolkos,” Talon added, pointing to a younger version of the scientist standing in the back.
"That solves the mystery of how they know each other. They were both stationed here, working on whatever Project Flame was…" Cade remarked.
“They were both so young,” I whispered.
Then another face caught my eye.
So familiar, it shocked me.
I almost didn't recognize him without his beard, glasses, and graying hair, but his eyes… those gentle eyes…
My breath caught. The room tilted. A wave of nausea rolled through me.
“Rowan, what is it? What's wrong?” Talon asked, voice sharp with concern.
I tried to speak but pointed instead, my throat locked.
“Rowan,” Cade barked, snapping me out of my fog. “Who is that?”
The tall man at the back of the group wore a medical coat, not a uniform. He was a broad-shouldered alpha doctor. And his eyes… the same eyes that had watched over me my entire life.
“My father,” I whispered.
Chapter 18: Killian
Crane was pale as a ghost.
No color. Hollow. Empty.
