Maya's POV

The room spins around me. My father. Here. Leading Project Apex.

"That's impossible," I hear myself say. "He's just a drunk. A failed accountant. He barely understood pack politics, let alone genetic engineering."

But even as I say it, I know it's a lie I've been telling myself for years. The pieces were always there. I just never wanted to see them.

The way he watched me after my first transformation. Not with fear or disgust. With scientific interest. The questions he asked ...