\[Serenity’s POV\]
All eyes come to rest on me as they try to process what I’ve just said. Although there wasn’t any way to really know if my blood was the reason that this strange man couldn’t shift anymore, it was very likely.
Since birth, I was aware that my mother’s bloodline was special, but it was also cursed. Where my mother and my deceased aunt both possessed special gifts that made them stand out amongst wolves, I was the one who developed the curse.
When I was first born, my grandfather and some mages attempted to capture me but didn’t succeed, thanks to my father, mother, and their friends doing everything in their power to protect me. It was because of this battle that my aunt was no longer with us, and joining her in death was my father’s best friend, who was like family.
Since the battle between good and evil things in Emerald Moon was quite peaceful, however, the fear of something like that happening again always remained over us.
Feeling my heart squeeze, I look down at the serpentlike birth mark that still marks my skin, starting near my thumb and traveling up to my elbow. This mark was the only proof of the curse that surrounded me and part of the reason my peers didn’t quite trust me. Was it also proof that my newest fear was actually true? Would any wolf who bit me turn human?
“Serenity,” my mother says gently, drawing me out of my head and back to reality. “Whatever you’re thinking, it can’t be true.”
“How do you know?” I ask quietly. “Before he bit me, he was...” stopping for a moment, I let a shiver erupt through me. “He was a terrifying beast.”
“There’s a way to know,” Tristan offers, coming toward us. “We would just need to do some testing.”
“Testing,” my father repeats, his voice holding a deadly tone. “And how the fuck do you intend to do this testing?”
“We would just have to draw some blood.” Tristan explains. “Then we combine it with the cells of a wolf and see what happens.”
As Tristan speaks, his voice fills with excitement, revealing him to be the true mad doctor that he was beginning to be.
“Are you sure we will get answers that way?” My father pushes. “Or do you intend to try to do something with Serenity’s blood?”
“Are you doubting my son?” Maria demands, her anger spiking. “If you want to question Tristan’s motives, then you can…”
“It’s fine.” Tristan chuckles. “After all, I haven’t given the man much reason to have faith in me.”
Biting back on the laugh that wants to escape, I begin to remember the times when Tristan was first learning medicine and other things. How many times did he nearly kill himself or others around him due to his testing? The name Mad Doctor truly fit him.
“Rosco,” my mother says gently as my father prepares to argue more. “If we want to get to the bottom of what is happening, we’ve got to see if this man’s current condition has anything to do with Serenity.”
For a moment, my father doesn’t speak as he looks from my mother to me, and when he finally gives a nod, I know that he is going to agree.
“Fine.” He sighs, narrowing his gaze on Tristan. “You’re only allowed to draw a few drops, and if I find out that you’ve attempted anything more, I won’t hesitate to throw you into confinement, got it?”
“Got it.” Tristan grins, his eyes flashing with excitement over being able to experiment with something interesting. “I promise that I won’t go overboard.”
Nodding, my father looks at me.
“Are you sure about this, Serenity?” He asks slowly.
“Yeah,” I respond evenly. “If there’s something strange about my blood, I think it is something we should know.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Tristan grins, grabbing my wrist. “Now please come with me.”
I don’t get a chance to respond or protest before I’m being tugged behind the overly excited, mad doctor.
“Where are we going?” I gasp when we exit the infirmary and make a sharp turn toward the main wing of Emerald Moon. “This is the way to...”
“My room.” Tristan announces happily. “My lab is in there, so of course it would be where we need to go.”
His lab. He was really talking like a scientist instead of a med student, prepping to work with his mom in Emerald Moon’s infirmary since Olga retired.
“You do realize that you aren’t a scientist.” I point out when we reach our destination. “To call your room your lab would be...”
I don’t finish my words as Tristan thrusts open his door so I can look inside. Instantly, my argument seems to not work at all, given the lab tables and machines set up around the room.
“I stand corrected,” I murmur, continuing to take in the scene. “But where do you sleep?”
“Over there,” Tristan responds, pointing to a pile of blankets and a few pillows in the corner.
“That’s…”
“Come with me.” He continues before I can finish speaking. “Take a seat.”
Not waiting for a response, he pushes me down in a cold metal chair and then heads to a cabinet so he can withdraw a syringe before he heads back toward me.
When he reaches, he goes through the motions of prepping me to withdraw blood, and when he finishes, he heads to a table with a microscope.
“Wanna see?” He asks, putting a few drops of my blood on a glass strip and then using a different needle to prick his finger so that he can add it to mine.
“See?” I repeat as he positions the test strip under the microscope. “Will we be able to see the blood doing its thing?”
“If my hypothesis is correct, we will.” Tristan responds, setting everything up and then pushing the microscope toward me.
Not speaking, I place my eye against the viewfinder and watch as what looks like tiny particles in the blood squirm around.
“Those dots are the werewolf gene.” Tristan explains while I watch. “And the squigglys are your genes.”
“My genes,” I repeat, watching those very genes begin to swarm and then almost devour the circles. “Holy shit.”
“Did they just obliterate the circles?” He asks in excitement.
“They,” I gasp, lifting my gaze to Tristans. “They did!”
“I knew it!” He announces happily. “It seems that your blood is capable of destroying the werewolf gene. Do you know what this means?”
“No.” I respond slowly. “I don’t know what it means.”
“It means that you are very special, Serenity. You could rid the world of all wolves if you wanted to, but at the same time, if someone were to find out about this, they could use you to do it themselves, and if they do, they could lead our world with an iron fist.”