The extravagant wedding drew family from all over Australia. It often surprised Neve how many their numbers had grown given the original five families who migrated to the country. It some ways it made sense to cull the half-breeds. The country was large but not large enough to have too many families dominating the space.

Neve flew over for the weekend and stayed with his parents. His mother informed him at least another six months in Perth should appease the council and then when Neve returned he too would be facing his own wedding. Neve did not like to think about the prospect of getting married but it was inevitable and it was not like he was ever going to fall in love again.

All he could hope for was a few one-night stands if he was ever going to enjoy the pleasures of other men. However, even if he did meet another man he would want a relationship with how would he ever explain his reasons for his marriage? Then there would be the lies he would have to make to his wife and family. He would need to keep his life a secret from everyone. It would never work; it would drive him mad.

The weekend after the wedding, Neve returned to Perth. He spent his Saturday lying on the couch once more feeling sorry for himself. His moods varied and the busier he could keep himself the easier it was to forget his past mistakes but the week’s events had wearied him. His friends wanted to catch up but Neve had no desire to see anyone, rather he wanted to wallow in self-pity and regret his life choices with several bottles of wine.

The unexpected knock at the door annoyed Neve. His new friends he’d made in Perth wouldn’t call on him at home and so he chose to ignore the knock. When it echoed through the apartment again, Neve became cautious rather than curious. At the door, he looked through the small view hole into the corridor and the man standing there was a stranger to him.

Another knock made Neve jump, and opening the door he came face to face with a tall gentleman, maybe in his late forties. He wore a black suit and shirt, his dirty blonde wavy hair showed hits of grey around his ears. His piercing blue eyes drew Neve’s to him and Neve was hard pressed to look away.

“Can I help you?” Neve said after a moment of silence.

“Are you Neve Saunders?”

Neve immediately became suspicious and almost fearful about the gentleman before him; he didn’t reply.

When the gentleman realised Neve was not going to respond he said, “Cory sent me.”

Neve hadn’t realised he had staggered, almost fallen, as his legs gave way until the gentleman reached out quickly and grabbed him under one arm, lifting him up. The gentlemen took the liberty of entering Neve’s apartment uninvited as he helped Neve in towards the couch. A multitude of emotions coursed through Neve as the stranger closed the door to the apartment and proceeded to move around the kitchen until he found a glass and filling it with water from the tap, bought it back over to Neve handing it to him.

He sat beside Neve and watched as Neve drank the entire glass of water.

“I’m sorry. I realise it might be a shock my being here.”

Neve picked up the British accent, and it puzzled him a foreigner would know about Cory. From what Neve knew about Nikali, he was Italian and his family lived in Italy. However, that did not mean this man could not be associated with Nikali’s family. So who was this man exactly and what did he know about Cory?

“Who are you?” Neve finally asked.

“Sorry, I’m Professor Christopher Reid. I work for the Scientific Institute of Genetics in the United States but I was also a member of the group TAMS.”

He paused after he spoke and Neve continued to stare at him and after a moment when Neve did not respond Professor Reid asked curiously, “Have you heard of TAMS before.”

Neve frowned and asked, “What does it stand for?”

“The Advancement in Mutant Science.”

Neve stared in shock and slowly shook his head. “No. Never.”

The Professor’s face look surprised but only momentarily before he said, “TAMS, as it is known, is an English - Germany research facility based in Germany. Their scientists work in reproducing DNA and genetics to alter aspects of a person’s body to allow them to have advanced skills beyond human capabilities. The organisation has been around for several hundred years and has gone by many names. Its original purpose was to locate and kill werewolves; however, over the last eighty years they have moved from eradication to reproduction. Its main purpose now is to locate live samples of the werewolf species and reproduce it into human soldiers.”

Neve stared at Professor Reid in shock. Reproduce their DNA to create soldiers where they out of their mind. Quietly he said, “You work for them?”

“No, I work for The Scientific Institute of Genetics.”

“And the difference is?” Neve hoped there was a difference.

“We’ve never looked to reproduce werewolves; our goal has always been to eradicate them.”

Neve was horrified. Who was this man and why was this the first time Neve had heard anything about any of this? Surely, such information as this was an important part of their upbringing, and yet Neve knew nothing about those trying to reproduce their kind or trying to eradicate them. Was this a small part of what the elders of their family were trying to protect them from.

So many questions stirred through Neve’s mind but he couldn’t find the question he wanted answered, there were too many.

Neve huffed trying to keep his composure, and said, “There is that word again werewolf haven’t you all realised yet we don’t actually turn into beasts.”

The Professor laughed then, and it surprised Neve.

“Yes, in this day and age we are equipped with the technology to understand you don’t transform into beasts but the nature of your condition once you reach maturity puts you in the same league as a wild beast.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Neve told him, “I’ve never seen anyone not mate before maturity.”

“No it’s actually very rare these days to see that happen, it fact there have been no reported cases of mass murder due to extreme violent behaviour for over a hundred years. So tight is the control over the species that it’s become almost impossible for us to research your kind.”

Neve stood then and walked away from the Professor before turning back, asking, “Why are you here?”

The Professor smiled but Neve didn’t like the feeling he was getting from the man being in his apartment.

“To tell you that Cory is now in the US and working with us. He has been assisting us with finding a cure to the genetic mutation your kind possesses.”

Neve stared at him, silently shaking his head; it was impossible. Cory would never do anything like that? He was supposed to be with Nikali who was going to find him a family to take him in.

“Why isn’t he with Nikali anymore?”

“After we spoke with Cory, he agreed to travel to the US with us.”

“You kidnapped him.” Neve retorted, not surprised if this was the case.

“No, he willingly came after it became apparent his life and that of Nikali and his families were in danger. Nikali and his family has existed for over a century researching, tracking and monitoring werewolves. It’s their life and they know nothing else. They refused to help us because our organisation is about the eradication of your kind not saving them. Therefore when it came to our attention that Nikali had a werewolf who was willingly helping him we took the opportunity to seek out that werewolf ourselves.

“However, TAMS also discovered Cory and for everyone's safety Cory came with us. It was the one thing we all agreed on, and that was we would never allow TAMS to reproduce the werewolf species. Since his return to the US with us he has agreed to be a part of our experiments to find a cure.”

Neve let out a sigh and sat back down on the single seat near the Professor, “So your intentions are not to kill us, only cure us. That was why he went with you, hoping you might be able to remove the part that makes us what we are and become human again.”

“Yes. We have been working on genetic modifications for some years now, but without a live sample, we have never known how successful our methods have been. With Cory’s help we have been able to create a suppressant for the mutation and that’s why I’m here.”

Neve found himself confused by the entire conversation, Cory was willingly allowing these people to experiment on him and how severe were the experiments, was Cory suffering, and why was he doing this. So many thoughts went around Neve’s head and he didn’t know what to think.

Without waiting for Neve to reply Professor Reid said, “Neve, it’s only a matter of weeks before we can confirm success with the suppressant for your mutation. I’m here because I want you to help me, when the time comes, to administer the drug to your entire family and remove all trace of the mutation once and for all.”