Page 65 of His Curse

"Jesus.” I set my plate on the bed then get a closer look.

Henry Clearwater was someone I actually knew so I had all of his details, but Lark's addition is his... fuck, it's hisdate of deathand how he died.

The grizzly was fucking euthanized on April 17th, 1980.

Euthanized.

Son of a bitch.

I move to the next photo—Amanda Holly—and find my mate has added the same information about her but also added what she was—a harpy—how old she really was—nine-hundred-and-four—where she originally came from—Crete—and whether or not she was the last of her kind, which she was not at date of death.

Holy shit, my mate is fucking amazing.

"This is incredible.” I scan the notes again, my eyes pinging all over the cork board before I face her. "How do you know all of that?"

She shrugs, avoids looking at my face then sits on the floor, leans against my bed and sets her plate in her lap. "Socializing was almost encouraged so it could be observed. It helped to keep some level of normalcy for us by trying to get to know each other, and once Kentworth started killing people in the name of science, I wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten."

Fucking amazing.

Lark stiffens a little as I sit down next to her but relaxes when I keep about two feet of space between us and don't directly look at her. "Do you know how many people have been taken? Have a total on prisoners over the years?"

"One thousand, seven hundred and eighty six. Seventeen eighty seven if you count me."

"Fuck,” I whisper, my eyes bouncing all over the wall. "How does he find them?"

"Fuck if I know. That's probably the one thing I've never been able to get an answer on.” Lark takes a long drink of orange juice, makes a relatively obscene sound while she does, then stuffs a couple more pieces of bacon in her mouth. "I know he has scouts,trackersorhuntersis what he calls them, and they're either ex-military that were discharged for reckless and unstable behavior, or government rejects that didn't make the cut for similar reasons. They have the skills and training of soldiers backed by homicidal tendency, severe mental illness, and a heavy dose of physical dependency on whatever the hell Kentworth injects them with. Some sort of steroid and methylphenidate concoction."

"And he just offers that information up to you?"

"He might be a genius, but he's a stupid son of a bitch."

I can't help but chuckle a little. "And that's how you knew he found out about us?"

"He likes to talk to me while he experiments. I actually think in some sick and twisted way, I reminded him of the daughter he lost.” Lark takes a bite of French toast and chews slowly as she stares at all the names and photos. "It was weird really, the way he'd share things with me. He's always done that, always told me way more than he should because he had to have known I'd use it against him one day. I locked away every piece of information Kentworth shared and it's how I knew the layout of the facility as it grew, how I knew where to go when I got out. And it's how I know I am going to go back and set everyone free before I kill that disgusting human with my own two hands. Hearing about the things he did to the others, the way he let the guards get away with everything including murder… he signed his own death warrant the day he opened his mouth and told me anything at all."

Gods, I fucking love this female.

She isexactlywhat I need, what I always wanted in not only my mate, but my Luna, and I have to make things right with her.

Not right this second, though, but soon.

Right now, I have to satisfy my morbid curiosity and find out what was done to my mate, find out all the reasons why I'm going to dismember that motherfucker after she kills him.

"Can I ask you a hard question? One you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Lark nods and finishes her meal before I even start on mine. "You want to know what he did to me?"

"I do, but only if you want to tell me."

"It doesn't matter.” She shrugs, fuckingshrugslike I asked her if she likes spring or fall better, then sighs. "Our routine was always followed to the letter unless I was being punished. Kentworth would send Dick, the head guard, and two orderlies to get me right after breakfast. They'd cuff my hands and feet, chain them to my collar behind my back then put a muzzle on me in addition to tightening the metal disk so it touched my throat. I had to wait completely motionless until they were done then they'd lead me through South Hall to West Hall where all of the testing takes place. Once I got there, they'd put me on a stainless steel table, strap down my chest, waist, knees, and ankles before they removed the shackles, then they'd strap down my arms at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist before they'd finally remove the muzzle and my collar. After that, they’d strap me down at the neck and wait for the doc to give the all clear before they left."

Maybe this was a bad idea.

She hasn't even told me about the actual testing yet, and I'm ready to start destroying things from the anger building in my gut. And gods help them if she says anything about any kind of sexual abuse. I might just blow a fucking gasket at that.

"Doc would do a quick exam: check my vitals, roll the table onto the scale and check my weight, use a tape measure to get my height and other measurements. Then he'd draw no less than four vials of blood, force a shift, and do the same as my wolf. He'd then force me to shift back and make me perform a number of physical tests to check my strength, stamina, endurance, and resistance. Another forced shift and he'd run the same routine on my wolf.” Lark takes another drink of her orange juice. "After he got my baseline, Kentworth would give me a fifteen minute break before he would administer what he callsvitamins,but I highly doubt that's what they were, and after another fifteen minutes he'd repeat the first set of tests again."

Lark sets her plate on the floor, pulls her knees to her chest, and wraps her arms around them. "Early on, he'd make me fight others. He’d make us fight to the edge of death like this to see if our gifts were dependent on a shift. Kentworth didn't get creative in his testing until he had more of us, more of each kind to compare to.” She gives me a sideways glance then drops her chin to her knees. "He had a series of psychological tests, stuff that went beyond ink blots and family history, but it wasn't until he had a few other wolves that he realized I was different.” Lark snorts in disgust. "Whatever it is that he likes so much about my blood kept him from doing his worst."

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