A/N- I'm so sorry that's it's been so long since I last updated. I promise to work on getting more chapters out as soon as I can. For now, I hope you enjoy the latest one!

Chapter 39

Chloe's POV

"I'm looking for my sister, Beca Mitchell." Chicago's words echo throughout my head as I wait for the tea to finish. The long lost brother returns; too late. After he said that to me, I motioned for him to follow and we walked in silence to my apartment. The only thing I've said to him since he told me who he is, is that I'll make tea and without another word, left him in the living room.

I have to have time to process him being here. Why now? What fucked up universe couldn't let them two see each other one more time before Beca passed? Why is it choosing me to tell him the horrible news? A loud whistling breaks me out of my thoughts and I make two mugs of tea.

"Sugar or honey?" I call out and he says that sugar is fine. With shaking hands, I carry the finished mugs into the living room. Chicago is standing at the mantel, studying all the photos of Beca. There's some from when we were just friends all the way to a year ago. The one that seems to have caught his eye is our wedding photo.

"You look beautiful," he whispers. "So does she." Tears clog my throat and all I can do is nod. When I clear it, I hand him his mug and lead him to the couch.

"This is my favorite picture of us," I say, handing him the bonfire photo. He looks it over, a sad smile taking precedence on his face.

"It's clear how much she loves you and how much you love her."

"Yeah." That one word is all I can manage.

"I wish I could've been there. At your wedding." Chicago looks wistfully at the pictures.

"I wish you could've too. She would've loved that." Chicago starts to nod, but pauses at my words.

"Wait, would've?" The look in his eyes is heartbreaking and causes the threatening tears to fall.

"She um.. She died in a car accident a year ago."

"Oh god," he chokes and looks away. "I'm too late. Too fucking late."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Chicago swallows audibly. "There's so much I wanted to tell her."

"Like what?" Curiosity overtakes me and I lean forward, eager to do whatever I can to keep Beca alive in my mind. Chicago looks me over as if deciding whether it's okay to tell me or not.

"Beca was… different. I can't explain why bu-"

"She was a werewolf," I interrupt, letting him know that I knew about Beca. His eyes widen in shock.

"Yeah," he draws out. "She told you?"

"After being pushed a little," I start, Luke flashing through my mind, "yes. Beca was actually my mate."

"Woah. She could have one of those?" I frown, not sure what he means.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't know? Of course not. I didn't get here in time to explain it to her." Chicago sighs sadly. "Let me start from the beginning. When I was 8, I learned that my mom was pregnant. We weren't sure of the sex just yet, but I secretly wished for a brother like any normal boy would." Chicago grins, making me smile.

"At that time, my parents were doing some very classified research. I didn't know much since I was so young, but I occasionally heard stuff about DNA change or supernatural. For a while, I thought they were playing a game until I saw Beca for the first time. She was a few months old when I first met her. My parents told me that she was sick and that's why she stayed in the hospital for a while, but later, they explained it all to me.

"Our parents were scientists, researching DNA modification to create the perfect soldier. It took them several years until finally, they found out a way to extract DNA strands from supernatural creatures. Specifically ones that contained the creatures ability. For example, strength, better senses and theoretically, the ability to shift for a werewolf."

"You're saying…" I trail off as Chicago nods. "Beca wasn't actually a werewolf? She was just a-"

"Experiment," Chicago finishes my sentence. "When they finished all the experiments, one for each supernatural creature they knew of, it was time for the trials. Fortunately for my mom, she was pregnant with Beca and without telling my dad, offered her for the project."

"She didn't tell your dad?"

"No. I remember it quite clearly actually. She surprised my dad and I with tickets to a baseball game. The second we left, she headed into work and let them inject Beca's womb with the werewolf serum."

"Why did they choose that one?" My mind rages with a million questions but for now, I have to settle with one at a time.

"My mom told me later that they looked at my dad and hers genetic history. Most supernatural creatures powers are passed down through genetics, so if they didn't have any of those markers in their DNA, than those were out of the question. Werewolves genes are passed down and somewhere a long time ago in our ancestry, someone had a kid with a werewolf. Anyway, after they eliminated everything else, they gave her some options instead of picking one for her since she willingly volunteered. Plus, she was a respected scientist there, one of the best actually."

"Did she tell you what they let her choose from?"

"Yeah. The few she remembered was vampire, pixie, and werewolf. There were more, but it had been almost 6 years and she couldn't remember. Now for why she chose werewolves. She didn't want to associate with someone who drinks blood, so she quickly bypassed vampire. I later learned that she wanted to use Beca to infiltrate a wolf pack so that she and my dad could kill them all." A lightbulb goes off in my brain and it's like all the puzzle pieces finally start to come together.

"That's why they killed all those werewolves," I say breathlessly.

"Exactly. What no one expected was for them to go after Beca. They showed no signs of hostility toward her, though I've always seen the distance my mother put between them. Our dad loves Beca with all of his heart. He cherished her and hates all that happened. Anyway, no one knew how she would react to the serum and kept a close eye on my mom. My dad attempted to reason with her that this wasn't the right thing to do, but of course, it was too late. Couple of months later, Beca was born. She stayed in the lab for a few months until they were sure she was okay to be released out into the world." Something nags at my brain, something that he said, but I can't put my finger on it. Instead of obsessing over it, I ask him something else.

"What was so obvious about her that made you notice she was different?" Chicago grins and leans forward, gesturing excitedly with his hands.

"Her eyes were silver though they faded after a while. Beca was so beautiful and while my dad was worried I would hate her or be scared of her, I loved her from minute one. I constantly held her, played with her. When she cried during the night, I was the first one up and soothing her. After a few weeks of that, they moved her into my room. My mom was ecstatic that I adored Beca because that meant that she didn't have to have anything to do with her daughter. She saw Beca as a freak, a means to an end."

"How sad," I ponder quietly, my heart breaking once again for my mate. If only she were here so that I could comfort her for the mother she never got. Restless, I get up and pace, trying to process everything Chicago's told me. Chicago watches me with an unreadable expression on his face. Like he can't figure me out.

"So, why didn't you think that Beca could have a mate?" As the words leave my mouth, I absently trail my fingers where Beca claimed me. The marks that Chicago can't see.

"No one knew what would happen with the trials. The serum had never been tested and they all knew that there was a possibility that Beca could gain other werewolf traits."

"Wait. What about being stronger?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. They didn't just extract the DNA, they modified it. No matter what, she was going to be different and from your expression, that's the case."

"I guess it's my turn to explain," I sigh and Chicago laughs.

"If you don't mind."

"Of course not. Beca was physically and, in my opinion, mentally stronger than the average werewolf. She could partially shift and- I'm guessing you don't know what that means." Chicago nods. "It meant that she could partially change into a werewolf. Her face would morph, fangs overlapping her mouth. Claws shot from her hands and feet. She was stronger and faster. All the while she was like that, she could talk and remain upright."

"Damn," Chicago whispers. "What the hell did they do to her?"

"I don't know but whatever they did didn't make her who she was." Chicago sits up, his body going tense.

"And who was that?"

"The most beautiful, caring person. She knew just what to say and when. If I needed a laugh, she made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. If I needed a hug, she hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe. She saved me when I wasn't sure there was anything to save." Tears stream down my face now and I turn away, trying to study the photos through my blurry vision. For a few seconds, we remain in silence until Chicago clears his throat.

"Who did you lose? Other than Beca, I mean." At his words, I turn around, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"My dad. How'd you guess?"

"Just a gut feeling. I know what it's like to lose someone. When I was a freshman in college, there was this girl. I fought it at first, but pretty soon we were dating and getting serious. Fast forward to the summer, we were still going strong until one day she suddenly broke it off. Next thing I know, her sister is calling me and saying that she passed away. Turns out, she had cancer and didn't want me to know. When she got the news that it was terminal, she broke up with me to save me the heartache. Didn't work though." Chicago lets out a humorless laugh. I sit down next to him and place a comforting hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry. Beca was like that too. Protective and always aware of my feelings." We lapse into silence again, this time not as awkward or tense. My mind flicks through everything I've been told in the past hour and for some reason my mind snags on one thing.

Our dad loves Beca with all of his heart. He cherished her and hates all that happened.

What is it about those words? I don't- It suddenly hits me and I slowly take my hand off of his shoulder, moving a little away from him. He notices the instant my moods changes and he straightens.

"Chicago, is your dad alive?" For a second, we stare at each other. Defeated, he sighs and looks up at the ceiling.

"Yes."

"How? Beca told me that she saw him and your mom killed."

"He was shot and so was my mom, but the difference is that she died. He didn't." Chicago rubs his face obviously exhausted. "After they took Beca away, they discovered that he was somehow still alive. Once he was patched up, they threw him into jail until they could get a statement from Beca. When they learned that he held her down but didn't actually stab her, they gave him just a couple of years in prison."

'What about all those other people they killed?"

"That was my mom's doing. Yes, my dad wanted to kill the werewolves because they're dangerous. Not all of them, but that pack was. But my mom went crazy and started killing them with a gun she got earlier that day. She killed a few kids with a knife, the same one she almost killed Beca with. Before she could get to all of them, my dad stopped her. Somehow he managed to drag her back to the house."

"Where a little child was!" I shout. "Where their own daughter sat playing with barbies."

"I know," Chicago states calmly. "What I also know is that my dad loved my mom with everything he had. He also loves Beca and at the time, wasn't thinking clearly. When she suggested that they kill Beca, he went along with it expecting her to snap out of it. He just wanted to get them all out of the mess alive. But my mother didn't snap out of it and when he realized what she was doing, mutilating their daughter, he tried to stop her. Told her not to make it worse but my mom didn't listen. Before he could stop the brutal stabbing, people came in and shot them."

"Wow. So where is he? I mean, it's definitely been longer than a couple of years so he has to be out of prison." I clasp my hands together to stop the shaking. All this time Beca was lied to. Her father is alive. The one she thought wanted to kill her actually didn't. Maybe he didn't do much to try and save her, but still. He didn't want her to die and loved her.

"Currently, he's in a hotel just a couple of blocks from here." At my shocked look, he continues. "By the time he got out of prison and I graduated from college, we couldn't find Beca. They relocated her to the foster home and when we attempted to access their records, they turned us down. For years, we've worked to find her but the pack did a good job keeping her away from us. I have to thank them for that though."

"Why?" I ask, surprised to even hear him say something like that. Wasn't he just saying how much he loves Beca?

"Because they hid her from the doctor who heads Project P.I.T.C.H."

"Project P.I.T.C.H?"

"Perfect Intelligent Cross Transgenic Hero. Dr. Fergus started it years ago and my parents joined on as the first initial crew. "

"The first initial crew? Did something happen?" My head pounds with a headache at all this information.

"A scientist destroyed all the serums after Beca was given hers. No explanation. I'm guessing he woke up and realized how wrong it all was." Chicago smirks, the same signature one that Beca had, and a sharp pang stabs through my heart.

"Who was he? The scientist?"

"Um," Chicago thinks for a second, concentration coating his face. "Richard Beale, I think." Next thing I know, the floor is moving toward me, fast.