Chapter 76: The Original Subject

Felix Grant was not his real name.

His real name was Dr. Felix Voss.

Helena Voss's younger brother.

I stared at Rhea.

"She had a brother?"

"Half-brother."

"Why wasn't he in the records?"

"He changed his name twenty years ago."

Felix had worked in metabolic genetics.

Not mate-bond science.

At least officially.

His research focused on how werewolf bodies responded to extreme physical transformation.

Weight loss.

Muscle growth.

Shift efficiency.

Hormonal adaptation.

My stomach turned.

"Why me?"

Rhea opened an old medical file.

My file.

When I was sixteen, my parents had taken me to a clinic because they worried about my weight.

Nothing unusual.

Routine blood work.

Nutrition consultation.

The clinic had secretly shared anonymized samples with Felix's research program.

Illegal.

My sample showed something rare.

My wolf physiology remained unusually stable across significant body mass changes.

Most wolves who lost large amounts of weight quickly experienced temporary shifting weakness.

I didn't.

My wolf became faster.

Stronger.

More efficient.

Felix marked the sample for follow-up.

Then I lost ninety pounds.

He noticed.

"Did he cause it?"

Mom went pale.

"No."

I believed her.

Knox had motivated the decision.

My own fear had driven the methods.

But Felix had monitored me through medical databases.

Without consent.

My body had been research material while I thought nobody was looking.

The phrase original subject referred to an early theory.

Felix believed physical transformation could awaken dormant Alpha traits.

That explained why my Lunaris bloodline power became more obvious after weight loss.

Except the theory was wrong.

Rhea found older records.

My Alpha markers existed before.

The transformation hadn't created them.

It simply coincided with age and maturation.

"Then why is he still obsessed?"

"Because researchers hate abandoning beautiful theories."

Evelyn sounded disgusted.

Felix had later introduced Helena to his data.

She adapted parts of it for Moon Crown.

Not only mate compatibility.

Physical optimization.

Helena wanted ideal bloodline pairings.

Felix wanted ideal bodies.

Together, they treated wolves like design projects.

I wanted to throw up.

Rowan sat beside me.

"None of this changes who you are."

"I know."

But knowing didn't remove the feeling.

Every old compliment suddenly felt contaminated.

Your wolf form is so elegant now.

You look incredible.

You became beautiful.

Felix had recorded similar observations clinically.

Like I was an experiment reaching target condition.

I stood.

"I need air."

Nobody followed immediately.

Thank you.

I walked to the cedar.

My wolf paced inside me.

Angry.

Not ashamed.

That helped.

Felix hadn't created her.

He hadn't created me.

He had watched.

Measured.

Interpreted.

That wasn't ownership.

Rowan eventually approached.

"Can I sit?"

"Yes."

He sat.

"I keep thinking about how hard I worked."

"You did."

"And now some man has graphs."

"Graphs are famously incapable of running."

I laughed weakly.

"He turned it into data."

"That doesn't make the experience his."

I looked at him.

Good answer.

Rhea called.

Felix had contacted her.

He wanted a meeting.

Alone.

Absolutely not.

We agreed to meet under controlled conditions instead.

Felix chose an abandoned research campus.

Council security surrounded it.

He appeared on a video screen.

Not physically present.

Coward.

He was in his fifties.

Thin.

Grey hair.

Calm eyes.

"Nessa."

"Dr. Voss."

"You've grown into exactly what I predicted."

"No."

He smiled.

"Your Alpha emergence—"

"Was already happening."

A pause.

"You've seen Rhea's interpretation."

"I've seen evidence."

"Evidence can be interpreted."

"Consent can't."

His smile faded.

"I never harmed you."

"You monitored my medical records."

"Anonymized initially."

"Then not."

"You became scientifically important."

"I was a child."

He leaned toward the camera.

"Do you know how many lives your physiology could improve?"

"Ask me."

"What?"

"Ask."

Silence.

"Would you like to participate in research?"

He stared.

I smiled without warmth.

"See? Easy."

He ended the call.

But not before Rhea traced the signal.

Greyhaven.

Near the airport.

Of course.

We moved.

Felix was arrested in a private laboratory less than five miles from where Rowan and I had first met.

Inside, investigators found years of records.

Mine.

Others.

Dozens of wolves tracked after dramatic body changes.

Some knew.

Many didn't.

The scandal expanded beyond me.

That was important.

I refused to let coverage become only "Alpha Nessa was secretly studied."

The real story was unauthorized research.

Felix had built a career on bodies whose owners never knew his name.

When he was taken away, he looked at me.

"You benefited from your transformation."

I felt something inside me settle.

"Yes."

He seemed surprised.

I continued.

"I became stronger. I became healthier in some ways and less healthy in others. I learned discipline and also hurt myself."

I stepped closer.

"All of that can be true."

His expression tightened.

"But none of it means you had the right to make me your subject."

For once, he had no answer.

The Council contacted every person found in Felix's files through independent privacy officers. Nobody was forced to learn details they did not want. Some requested full records. Some asked for deletion. Some joined the legal case. Others wanted nothing to do with it. That variety mattered. There was no single correct survivor response. I chose to read almost everything about myself, then regretted parts of it, then accepted that curiosity had been my decision. Even informed choices could hurt. They were still mine.