Chapter 62 The Lie That Loved Me
“No.” The word came out strangled. Wrong. “That’s impossible. Aunt Clara raised me. Sacrificed everything for me. She’s not Collective.”
“The records don’t lie.” Sienna pulled up more documents. “Clara Cole owned the biotech company from 1985 to 2003. Sold it right after your parents died. Made millions but lost all her money. Then disappeared into a normal life. Raising you.”
My legs gave out. I sat hard on the floor. The room spun.
Lycian crouched beside me. Hand on my back. Steady. “Could it be a different Clara Cole? Same name, different person?”
“I checked. Social security number matches. Date of birth matches. It’s her.” Sienna’s expression was sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Elowen. I know this is a lot.”
A lot. That was putting it mildly. My entire world was collapsing. Again.
The woman who raised me. Who I trusted more than anyone. Who’d cried over my wedding. Was part of the conspiracy that killed my parents. That experimented on my mother. That wanted to control me.
“We need to confront her,” Lycian said. Voice hard. “Now. Before she knows we found out.”
“No. Not yet.” I forced myself to think. To breathe. “If we confront her without a plan, she’ll run. Or worse. We need to be smart.”
“Smart how? She’s been lying to you your entire life. She doesn’t deserve consideration.”
“She deserves answers. I need to hear her side. Understand why.” I stood on shaking legs. “Let me talk to her. Alone. Find out the truth.”
“Absolutely not. She’s dangerous.” Lycian’s eyes flashed gold. “I’m not letting you walk into a trap.”
“She’s had twenty-two years to hurt me. She hasn’t. That has to mean something.” I touched his face. “Please. Trust me on this. I need to do this myself.”
Through the bond, I felt his conflict. Fear versus trust. Protection versus respect.
“Fine. But I’m listening through the bond the entire time. Any hint of danger and I’m coming in.” His jaw clenched. “And we do this here. At the estate. Controlled environment.”
“Okay.”
I called Aunt Clara at dawn. Asked her to come over. Said it was important.
She arrived within the hour. Smiling. Bringing coffee and pastries like always.
“What’s so urgent?” She set everything on the kitchen counter. “You sounded upset on the phone.”
I showed her the documents. Watched her face change. The smile fading. Color draining. Hands starting to shake.
“Where did you get these?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Does it matter? Are they true? Did you own the company that experimented on my mother?”
She sat down slowly. Carefully. Like her bones might break. “Yes. I owned it. But it’s not what you think.”
“Then explain. Make me understand how you could do that to your own sister.”
“Mary wasn’t my sister. Not biologically. We were both experiments. Created by the Collective. Raised together in the facility.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “But I loved her like a sister. She was my family.”
The floor tilted. “You’re an experiment too?”
“Yes. Created the same way Mary was. Human base with wolf DNA spliced in.” Her hands twisted together. “There were dozens of others. Most died. The few who lived became the Collective’s assets.”
“So you joined them. Helped them.”
“I didn’t have a choice. They owned us. If we didn’t obey, they killed us.” She met my eyes. “Mary escaped when we were sixteen. I stayed behind. Tried to protect her from the inside.”
“By running the facility? By making more experiments?”
“By documenting everything. Gathering evidence.” She showed me files. Decades of records. “I’ve been building a case for thirty years.”
I stared at the phone. Every experiment. Every death.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the less you knew, the safer you were. If they knew you were aware, they would have taken you.” Her voice cracked. “I couldn’t let them have you.”
“But you let me think I was human.”
“I thought you’d live a normal life. Safe.” She wiped her eyes. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Through the bond, I felt Lycian listening.
“Show me the evidence,” I said. “All of it.”
She sent everything. Thousands of files. A quick scan showed it was real.
“This could destroy the Collective,” I said. “Why haven’t you released it?”
“Because I was waiting for you. Someone with the bloodline to challenge them.” She stood. “You can finish what your father started.”
“I don’t want power. I want them gone.”
“They can’t be destroyed. But they can be redirected.” She touched my hand. “That’s what your mother wanted. What I’ve worked toward for thirty years.”
I pulled away. “I need time. To process. To verify all this.”
“Take the time you need. But Elowen, please believe me. I love you. Everything I’ve done has been to protect you. To prepare for this moment.” She moved toward the door. “When you’re ready to talk again, I’ll be here.”
After she left, Lycian emerged from the bedroom. Where he’d been listening.
“What do you think?” I asked. “Is she telling the truth?”
“I don’t know. The evidence seems real. Her story makes sense. But she’s had decades to prepare lies. To create convincing documentation.” He pulled me close. “We need to verify everything independently. Trust but confirm.”
“Sienna can help. Cross-reference with what we already have.”
We spent the next hours going through files. Comparing documents. Looking for inconsistencies. Found none. Everything checked out.
Aunt Clara’s story appeared to be true. She’d been gathering evidence for decades. Building a case against the people who created her. Who killed her sister. Who wanted to control me.
“So what now?” Lycian asked. “Do we trust her? Work with her?”
“I don’t know. Part of me wants to believe her. But she lied for so long. How do I know she’s not still lying?” I rubbed my face. Exhausted. “And even if she’s telling the truth, it doesn’t change what she did. What she participated in.”
“No. It doesn’t. But it might explain it.” He took my hand. “People do terrible things to survive. To protect the people they love. That doesn’t make it right. But it makes it understandable.”
“Are you defending her?”
“No. Just trying to see all angles.” He kissed my knuckles. “This is your call. She’s your family. Your decision whether to trust her or not.”
I thought about it. Really thought. Aunt Clara had raised me alone. Worked multiple jobs. Sacrificed her health. Her happiness. All to keep me safe and cared for.
But she’d also lied. Hidden my heritage. Let me believe I was something I wasn’t.
Could I forgive that? Should I?
“We use her information,” I said finally. “But we don’t trust her completely. Not yet. She has to earn that back.”
“Fair enough.”
That afternoon, we released the evidence. All of it. Richard’s files. Aunt Clara’s documentation. Everything.
Sent it to media outlets. Government agencies. The Wolf Council. Human authorities. Everyone.
Within hours, the story broke. Headlines everywhere. “Secret Society Controlling Wolf Packs.” “Illegal Genetic Experiments on Humans.” “Conspiracy Spanning Decades.”
The Collective tried to respond. Deny. Discredit. But the evidence was overwhelming. Undeniable.
By evening, arrests had started. Council members. Business leaders. Politicians. All connected to the Collective. All going down.
Victoria Cross was arrested at her estate. Didn’t resist. Just smiled at the cameras. Like she’d won something.
Elena disappeared. Ran before authorities could reach her. No one knew where.
Richard’s murder was solved. Victoria had ordered it. Punishment for betraying the Collective by leaving evidence for me.
It was over. Really over. The Collective was falling apart. Their leaders arrested. Their operations exposed. Their power broken.
We’d won.
But I felt hollow. Empty. Like victory should feel better than this.
“You did it,” Lycian said. Holding me while we watched the news. “You brought them down. Got justice for your parents. For everyone they hurt.”
“Then why doesn’t it feel like enough?”
“Because justice never feels like enough when you’ve lost people you love. But it’s still important. Still necessary.” He kissed my hair. “And now it’s done. You can finally rest. Finally live without fear.”
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to think we were finally safe.
But part of me knew better. Knew that organizations like the Collective didn’t die. They just went underground. Regrouped. Came back stronger.
My phone buzzed. Unknown number. One last message.
Well played, Luna. You’ve dismantled our structure. Arrested our leaders. Exposed our operations. Impressive.
But you didn’t destroy us. You just forced us to evolve. To adapt. To go deeper.
We’ll be back. Not today. Not this year. But eventually. And when we return, we’ll be stronger. Smarter. Harder to find.
Until then, enjoy your victory. You’ve earned it.
Oh, and one more thing. Your wolf genes? They’re activating. Should happen within six months. Hope you’re ready.
See you soon, sister.
The message deleted itself. Wiped from my phone like it was never there.
And I realized with cold certainty.
This wasn’t the end.
It was just the beginning.