March 11th
Slick is the key.
A biological component essential to conception and mating appears also to be the answer to our stabilization issue. After approximately thirty deceased Alpha test subjects, Command has restricted us from further human trials… for now. We have continued testing on lab animals, and with the newest serum variation, we are finally observing stable DNA mutation patterns. The animals cannot shift, of course, and all have died, but the mutations held significantly longer before cellular collapse. This is promising enough to justify resuming human trials once authorization is reinstated.
We now face one remaining obstacle.
The slick produced during pregnancy differs from the slickproduced during heat. Omegas do not enter heat while pregnant, and I am convinced that heat-phase slick is the last component needed to complete the serum and achieve full genetic stabilization. We will need to collect this sample once Patient Zero delivers her pup and cycles again.
Captain Green has been selected as the first alpha to mate with her. He is an excellent candidate. His genetic record is undeniable; his two sons are strong, exceptional alpha specimens. Captain Green's lineage is ideal for this stage of the project.
We are close. So close to achieving the answers we have been pursuing and completing a stable mutation serum at last.
April 16th
Patient Zero has become far more compliant, allowing us to collect samples and monitor the pup without resistance. This shift in behavior occurred shortly after she was informed of her impending breeding with Captain Green. She appears to detest him, which is unsurprising given her temperament, yet, strangely, she has developed a noticeable attachment to Dr. Russell. He has been the only doctor able to calm her during procedures, and she responds to him with a level of trust that is… concerning.
In fact, I believe Dr. Russell has grown attached to her as well. His interactions with her have taken on an unprofessional softness, a humanizing tone that could compromise his allegiance to the project. I have already prepared a recommendation for his removal once the pup is born. Sentimentality has no place in scientific progress, and his emotional entanglement poses an obvious risk to the integrity of our work.
Patient Zero is nearly full term now, and it appears she has finally resigned herself to her situation. She will be the key, the keyto one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs the world has ever known. Not only will the shifter genome become an inheritable trait, but we will also be able to create shifters at will. What was once controlled exclusively by nature will soon belong entirely to Arca.
Arca may have been the only functional society to survive after the genetic mutations reshaped the world, but new powers have risen, threatening our dominion. Shifter colonies in the North are becoming organized and aggressive, attacking our alpha units during missions. Meanwhile, Helix Territory in the South has begun constructing its own defensive wall, a direct challenge to Arca’s authority.
This research will end all doubt. It will secure our control, solidify our dominance, and claim power the world has never seen before.
Who would have imagined that the defiant omega shifter captured months ago would become the key to reshaping civilization?
Chapter 21: Rowan
Nightmares had begun plaguing my sleep again. Even the warmth of my alphas’ arms and their comforting purrs could not keep the fear at bay after reading Melker’s journal. Patient Zero—Isabel—my mother, had endured horrors beyond imagination.
Captivity.
Experimentation.
Forced breeding.
We would never know every detail, but we knew enough to assemble the bigger picture. After reviewing Arca's database files, Melker’s journal, and the stolen classified documents, here is what we knew for certain.
Firstly, the man I grew up calling my father… was not my biological father.
My mother had been almost three months pregnant when Arca's soldiers captured her north of the border. Dr. Russell smuggled me out of the base before disappearing into the no-man’s-land beyond Falcon City, raising me under a false identity. His insistence that I remain on suppressants hadlikely been to hide myshifternature even more than my omega one. He knew I would inherit my mother’s genes, and after witnessing what happened to her, he also knew exactly what Arca would do to me if they discovered what I truly was.
The fire that destroyed the medical wing in the old base mere hours after I was born had almost certainly been a diversion. A way for him to fake our deaths and escape undetected.
A small, desperate part of me wanted to believe my mother had escaped too. I hoped her death had been fabricated the same way as his. But deep down, I knew better.
The grief in my father’s voice whenever he spoke of her was too real. Too raw. When you love someone that deeply, loss leaves a wound that never closes. It shapes every breath, every decision, every lie told to protect what remains.
And if she had survived, I know beyond a doubt she would have come for me. She would have reunited with me.
How could a mother accept being separated from her child?
Secondly, we now knew exactly what Dr. Zolkos and General Green were after. And why they were so interested in me.
The same thing Dr. Melker had been pursuing.
The ability to turn alphas into shifters and create a wolf army for Arca.
