would be a gross misconception to say that every shareholder at Silex knew what Gavril was doing. The government only funded this project under the condition that the outcome would be short-term memory loss, not certain death.”
“Why would Gavril risk our truce with the vampires and do something like this to threaten all of our livelihoods?” Valdron asked. “He’s literally welcoming his own destruction.”
“Money, power…” Thane shrugged. “Because he can, maybe. He has no control over his kind, and can never lead a Pack because the shifting gene never passed to him. However, he likes to think that he’s superior to humans. As long as he has something they want, he feels he’s in control. Turning Gavril over to the FDA could be disastrous to our kind. If he presents the humans with the information about the reversal or what our DNA can do, he may net trillions. All he needs is a few of us shifters who are willing, or unwilling for that matter, to pump Silex’s labs with donations. My spies have already told me that he’s instituted such a program. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how he plans to extract our DNA. He owns two of the three shifter prisons, because he out bid other potential buyers. And when he couldn’t outbid one, he challenged and killed that one. He has access to inmates, dead and alive. Each prison holds about one hundred persons, mostly shifters. Area S2 held more than that. To him, all those inmates are living blood bags. Many will never escape. There is no reprieve for the crimes they have committed. All who are exiled are meant to die in the wilderness. These prisons were made to secure and keep our vicious killers off the streets so the federal penitentiaries made to house human criminals don’t have to.”
“So when he had the murder of your parents pinned on you, he knew you’d end up at one of his facilities?” Valdron inquired.
Thane nodded. “Multiple attempts were made to kill me while in transport to Area S2. I could have sworn I had died when they threw me in a ditch and left me there. I had a hole in my gut the size of a baseball.”
“What happened? How did you recover?”
“The human, David. He saw me in the ditch. I trusted no one at the time, obviously, and I warned him off with a growl. He threw a bag of supplies and water down beside me and left. With the supplies, I was able to survive long enough to heal.”
“But why? Why would Gavril think creating this drug is a good idea?” Zaid asked.
“I grew up with Gavril. Our father told us both that we were destined for great things. Sometimes I wonder if Gavril truly believes this is what my father meant,” Thane replied. “His hatred for anyone who dares to deny his reasoning is great.”
Valdron put a hand on Thane’s shoulder. “You’ve taken the blame too long. You’re not responsible for his actions. How did the drug alterations begin anyway?”
Thane rubbed his chin. He was not fond of others delving too far into the past and his family business, but this wasn’t a family issue anymore. “He began tweaking the formulas when he took over the company. At the time, I was transitioning into my role as Pack Alpha, but our parents discovered his treachery before anyone else did. My father and I weren’t on good terms. We’d had a disagreement two months prior because I declined to approve funding for land expansion of a paper mill. My parents tried to reach out to me for help while I was on a business trip in Russia, but the night my plane landed was the night Gavril took matters into his own hands. I caught him in the act, but it was too late.” Thane crushed his fists against the table. “My wolf wanted to rip out his throat, but I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. That’s when he told me he had Danika, and if I were to kill him or rat him out, she would starve to death before I ever found her. The police showed up while I had my claws deep in his chest. We were
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley