Chapter 576

Molly lay back down, still feeling a little drowsy. What struck her as odd was that the clingy white wolf, who had insisted on sleeping in bed with her every night lately, had, for once, curled up at the foot of the bed instead.

It felt a little off to Molly. “Roy, come up here,” she said.

Roy had wanted to keep his distance tonight, but he couldn’t resist Molly’s command. After all, she was the one he loved most.

He jumped onto the bed and lay down obediently, as still as could be.

Molly smiled and stretched her legs out from under the covers. “My feet are freezing. Warm them up for me.”

Her legs were long, and on her left calf was a tattoo, one she hadn’t had before. It had appeared during the two years Roy had been gone.

It was a thorny rose, winding and tangled, sultry and untamed.

Roy gently covered her feet with his body. His tail twitched without him realizing it. Faced with her bare legs so close, he felt a strange, growing tension he couldn’t quite name.

His ears drooped again as he quickly looked away, trying not to stare.

Warmth spread quickly from his body to her chilled feet. Molly let out a lazy yawn, already drifting off again, her eyes closing as comfort settled in.

Meanwhile, after Shermaine had left, she checked into a hotel. The screen of her device gleamed as her fingers moved quickly across it, searching for something. After a while, she found what she was looking for: a website.

The site had an administrator.

Shermaine registered for an account, and once it was approved, she had access to the forum and its posts.

The forum was filled with anonymous users, posting pictures of themselves after undergoing animal gene fusion. They were half-human, half-beast.

Some had turned their arms into vicious claws, and others had terrifying eyes where their legs used to be. Some hadn’t undergone any visible changes but had gained abnormal strength.

Most of them were criminals or terrorists.

They weren’t quite like Roy. No one had succeeded in the way he had, but they were more similar to Jason.

Shermaine finally found what she had been looking for. The Immortality Project was indeed casting a wide net, turning these desperate individuals into subjects for its twisted experiments.

Getting the data was simple. Shermaine didn’t even need to lift a finger. She just told Apocalypse what she wanted, and the job was done.

Before long, all the website’s data had been transferred to Shermaine’s Orthish.

The website had been created in Avalmere, and the administrator was from there, too. Shermaine quickly uncovered the identity of the person behind it. It was a former biotechnologist who had been imprisoned for murder and sentenced to twenty years.

But after just a few years, he had been released. Clearly, someone had orchestrated his escape.

Then, Shermaine found the woman who had turned Roy into what he was now, the crazy scientist, Faye.

Faye was every bit the maniac they’d described. Her criminal record was long, filled with countless offenses.

She had blood on her hands, hundreds of lives lost, maybe more.

Two years ago, after their lab in Harington was destroyed, Faye had been relocated to Avalmere, where she was hired by Joseph, one of the investors in the Immortality Project.

But what was odd was that Faye didn’t have a past. It was like she had appeared out of nowhere. Her identity had only been registered five years ago.

That night, Molly slept peacefully, but Roy spent his night in a strange state of unease.

Before dawn, he ran downstairs and wandered outside for a while, only to return after some time. He still had plenty of energy, but it felt like it wasn’t fully released.

Meanwhile, the husky, out on a leisurely walk, was suddenly hit by a gust of wind, blowing dirt and leaves straight into its face.

It had just had a nice bath the night before, and now it was dirty again.

The husky glared at the wolf’s back and barked angrily, its frustration evident.

It was so mad. If it were younger, it would have chased after the wolf, marking its territory in the most revengeful way possible.

Early that morning, Molly got a call from Shermaine. “Can you get a lab ready for me?”

“I’ll sort it out right away,” Molly replied without missing a beat. “Did you stay up late last night?”

“Yeah, I was going through some material. I’m heading back to sleep now. Call you later.” Shermaine ended the call and crawled back into bed.

Around nine, the shrill ring of her phone pulled her out of sleep. It was Joshua.

At the same time, someone was persistently ringing the doorbell.

Ignoring the door for the moment, Shermaine picked up the call, her voice still thick with sleep. “Babe, waking someone up from a good dream? That’s a crime.”

Joshua’s voice came through warm and smooth. “Eat something before you go back to sleep. Go open the door.”

She blinked at the phone, surprised. Even after flying abroad, he was still making sure she didn’t skip breakfast. He was nothing if not consistent. Dragging herself out of bed, she slipped on her shoes.

“Sheary, adjust the robe,” he reminded.

Shermaine lazily adjusted her robe and asked, “Darling, did you sleep well last night?”

Joshua, of course, hadn’t slept well without her by his side. He lay in bed, restless, with no sign of sleep. It seemed he had developed a new habit: if he didn’t have Shermaine in his arms, sleep just wouldn’t come.

He took a sip of the coffee on his desk, savoring it. “Only when you’re next to me.”

Shermaine opened the door for room service. A hotel staff member wheeled in her breakfast and quietly set it up on the table.

“You know, this habit of yours really needs fixing,” she said into the phone.

She’d thought about this more than once, but Joshua never seemed interested in changing. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he could, even if he wanted to.

As she headed to the sink to wash up, she continued, “You can’t rely on me being there every time you travel for work. And you definitely can’t depend on sleeping pills just to get through the night."

Shermaine knew well the consequences of relying on sleeping pills. They weren’t good for the body.

Truth be told, she didn’t even know when he’d developed such a terrible habit.

Joshua asked, half-seriously, “Why not?”

Shermaine raised an eyebrow but didn’t bother to answer.

“Why can’t I take you with me everywhere?” he pressed.

“You just can’t.” She spat out the toothpaste and turned off the toothbrush. “I’ll have Bradley send you some herbal supplements. They’ll help you relax.” Joshua wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but if it was Shermaine’s suggestion, he wouldn’t argue. Instead, he changed the subject. “How’s Roy?”

“Let’s just say,” she said with a hint of amusement, “a little trick last night flushed him out.”

Joshua laughed. “That’s my girl. Always two steps ahead.”

Shermaine gave a faint smile. “Back when we left, the Immortality Project wasn’t completely dismantled.

“Over the past two years, they’ve been laying low in Avalmere, recruiting new tech experts. Roy took the brunt of it. He was experimented on by a woman named Faye. She’s one of their lead scientists. He ended up becoming the project’s most successful test subject, a werewolf.

“Physically, everything looks perfect on paper. But the underlying damage is serious. If we don’t fix it completely, he’ll end up just like the others, dead from cardiac failure when the pain becomes too much to handle.”

Joshua quickly processed the news, his voice calm as he responded, “Thank you for dealing with all this.”

With Shermaine on the case, he knew even Roy’s messed-up biology had a shot at recovery.