Page 66 of His Curse

"Like what?" I grit out because I'm not sure if I want to know.

"As his numbers grew, he started fucking with the way each kind would gravitate to each other. Allow us to form packs or whatever, then pull higher ranking members, make examples of them or put them in isolation to see how everyone coped. As he started taking fated pairs, Kentworth began what he called thebreeding program. He would force couples to mate in front of him and the nurses—he wanted them to conceive young in captivity while they took notes. When that didn't go as planned, he started pushing boundaries within that by making a female perform the act with someone other than her mate right in front of them, tried to see what would happen between the three, if young could be produced that way. He also tried a lot of interspecies breeding, still trying to mate those of the same kind but also those of different kinds just to see what would happen. And that led to himobservingthe mating processbetween same sex partners, multiple partners, any combination he could think of regardless of whether or not they were actual mates. And when someone didn't comply or fought back, he typically beat them, tortured them in front of the group to gauge yet another response and make a point. His focus shifted more to that, the breeding shit, because of his belief that being what we are is a birth defect, a genetic deformity. And since some species can only reproduce with their own kind or their fated mate, a lot of people died as a result of denying him the research."

I've always considered myself a patient male, a male that was able to maintain his emotions and keep them in check. Shifters have bad tempers by nature, are quick to violent reactions because of it, especially those of us who are predators, and it's even worse if you're an Alpha, but I've always been pretty even, at least on the surface.

Right now, though… right now I am doing everything in my power to keep my shit under control because so fucking help me, if that son of a bitch forced my Birdie to participate in this, thisbreedingprogram,I will lose my goddamn mind.

No one, and I meanno fucking onetouchesmymate,myLuna, like that and—

"I was never... I wasn't a good enoughcandidatefor that. The first time he suggested it his colleagues laughed because of... I just wasn't what they were looking for, I guess.” Lark squeezes her legs tighter and closes her eyes for a beat. "Not that I'm complaining, that was the last fucking thing I wanted and I went my entire time inside without it happening, but since Chumani and Hotah were able to conceive a few months ago, Kentworth wanted me to try with him, too."

My fork snaps between my fingers, the metal breaking right in half, but just before I can ask her how to get to the lab so I can kill that slimy motherfucker, Birdie cringes and winces almost like she's in pain. And that has my attention shifting focus because the last thing I want is for her to be in pain or experience any kind of discomfort. Something like that won’t be happening on my watch.

But it’s also something she apparently shakes off, or tries to anyway, because Lark keeps going. "He told me right before I escaped that he was going to try to breed me with Hotah, but between the fact that Hotah and Chumani are my friends, my friends thatarefated mates expecting their first pup, and the fact thatfuck that idea for so many other reasons, I knew I had to make my move then."

Slowly, very slowly, my heart rate regulates, slowing back down to a more acceptable pace but it doesn't stop me from asking, "So you never... were never forced to..."

Lark shakes her head. "Like I said, I wasn't acandidateuntil very recently, and that was probably because Kentworth did a big purge and had a limited selection left. He has always been more interested in my blood, whatever it is that makes it different from other wolves, so I never had to worry about that."

"And the guards, the human males? They never..."

"Gods, no,” She snorts. "I repulsed them and pissed them off, and they just beat me for that.” Then Lark drives a knife right through my chest. "Something I should probably be grateful for. If I didn't look the way I do, I probably would have been subjected to the same treatment most unmated females went through."

Yep.Fucking crushed.

That's what I am now.

But also a little grateful because in some warped way, what I did to Lark spared her that kind of abuse.

Gods, I am so fucked up.

And somehow I still manage to ask, "Why just unmated females?"

"Doc was protective of those who had mates because of the breeding program and the research their bonds allowed for. In the rare instance a female was unmatedandoff limits, it was because she was considered anelite. My friend Bella, if she didn't have her divined, Wes, she still would have been safe because she's a sorceress. Everyone else is pretty much fair game for the guards."

Gods, this all makes me sick. Sick and angry as fuck.

But I need to know everything. "Isn't he worried about young between the humans and the mystics?"

Lark shakes her head. "He figured if it happened it was more research, but he also knows it's unlikely. A lot of female vampires wound up pregnant but generally lost the baby since they're high risk in poor environments, and with everyone else, Kentworth was able to control whether or not they went into heat."

Which is really the only time females of any species can successfully conceive.

Well, it's the best time for them to conceive anyway. They don't always have to be in heat for it to happen, but that's pretty much a guaranteed young if they are.

"How?"

"Drugs. He cultivated some sort of suppressant that we all had to take daily, and a way to put a female into heat when he needed to. It was the only way for anyone to even try since most males of any species physically respond to a female during her need, and getting into the mood without it was damn near impossible. Having an audience, knowing the possible punishment that could come from not performing, the humiliation and shame, the jealousy. All of that made it pretty fucking hard to get down to business, but if he put a female into heat, then it typically worked."

Sick motherfucking bastard.

"So Kentworth is really just focused on finding out whatmakesa shifter, what causes a creature of mysticism?"

"Yeah.” Lark nods, cringes again and hugs her legs tighter. "That, and the whole super soldier thing. But he was doing other sick shit. Dissections, surgeries to figure out what makes us different from humans. He was pretty fascinated with the extra nerves and arteries, double or missing organs. Guy is a real whacko."

I scrub a hand over my face and look at the wall in front of us. "He sounds a lot like our very own version of Mengela."

"Pretty much."

---