<h4>Chapter 140: The Good and The Bad News</h4>


    Dr. Reba Lewis, Professor of Gic Medicine at The Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), had built a distinguished career. She had earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she met Sarika under unusual circumstances... an incident that would mark the beginning of a lifelong friendship.


    It had been a quiet morning. The road was empty, and the pedestrian signal had just turned green. Reba stepped onto the zebra crossing while she was thinking about her studies. From the opposite side, Sarika was also crossing when a speeding car suddenly ignored the signal and charged ahead. Reba froze in shock, unable to move. Without hesitation, Sarika dashed forward, grabbed Reba by the waist, and pulled her out of the car’s path just in time.


    That moment became the foundation of a powerful bond. Sarika, who was then coborating with a research team studying the sociocultural anthropology of the Caral-Supe civilization, also known as the Norte Chico civilization of coastal Peru... had always carried a calm,manding presence. Her knowledge spanned history, science, and politics, and she was working with an international team on the origins of Andean civilizations, focusing on their urban nning, sunken zas, and early pyramid architecture. This culture, which thrived between 3000 and 1800 BCE, was widely considered one of the oldest known civilizations in the Latin America.


    Reba, equally driven but from apletely different field, found herself fascinated by Sarika’s world. Sarika, in turn, admired Reba’s curiosity and rity of thought. Despiteing from vastly different disciplines, the two hit it off immediately. Over time, their bond deepened. Reba’s passion for gics and Sarika’s grounding in ancient cultures often led tote-night conversations about evolution, mutations, and destiny.


    Afterpleting her undergraduate degree, Reba moved on to Johns Hopkins University, where she pursued her PhD andter joined the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Gic Medicine as a researcher. Sarika returned to India and took on more responsibility within her n, continuing her work both in the schrly and supernatural realms. Despite the distance, they remained close, exchanging updates and supporting each other through life’s twists and turns.


    When Sarika needed to conduct a sensitive paternity test... one that involved the King of Werewolves and Eleanor Elizabeth Raynor, there was no question in her mind about who to trust. Reba had the discretion, technical knowledge, and ess to a privateb facility where the data could be handled off the record. The confidentiality of the result was paramount. Sarika knew that if the gene sequence fell into the wrong hands, the consequences could be catastrophic... not just for Erevan and Eleanor, but for the entire werewolf society.


    Upon entering theb, Reba greeted her with a smile and pointed toward the chair across from her desk. "Sarika, sit down. The report’s in my drawer. I figured you’d want to see it for yourself."


    She circled the desk, sat down, and opened a drawer, pulling out a sealed envelope. She handed it to Sarika with a curious look in her eyes.


    "I have to say," Reba began, "the gic samples you gave me were fascinating. The sequences were... unusual, to say the least. It almost looked like a human mutation... something extraordinary, maybe even evolved beyond current human limits."


    Sarika’s face remained neutral.


    Reba leaned in slightly, lowering her voice. "Don’t worry. I deleted everything. No copies exist. Just that envelope in your hand. But I couldn’t help taking a look on the gene sequence. The sequences were... well, I’ve never seen anything like them."


    "That’s why I came to you. I trust you," Sarika said calmly.


    Reba exhaled and continued. "It’s good that you came to me. Because if this fell into military hands, your rtives could be considered living weapons. Trust me... someone would try to clone them. Can you tell me what are their powers? I mean... every autism resulted some sort of superpower."


    Sarika nodded. "Their strength is higher than normal human."


    "I could tell," Reba muttered, more to herself than to Sarika. "Just promise me something... never let them end up in the wrong hands. Whatever they are, they’re special. But also dangerous in the wrong hands."


    There was a pause.


    "Anyway," Reba added, straightening, "you wanted the test. See for yourself."


    Sarika opened the envelope and skimmed the pages until her eyes locked on the final line:


    "Based on the gic markers analyzed, the probability that Party A is the biological father of Party B is greater than 99.9999%. This result strongly supports paternity."


    For a moment, Sarika forgot to breathe.


    Although she had suspected this result, seeing it confirmed in ck and white sent a chill down her spine. Her instincts had been right from the beginning. The girl who had appeared in her vision, Eleanor... was indeed connected to the Lychos n. After the events in the ancient temple, everything had pointed toward this conclusion.


    She thought of Erevan, the werewolf king. He had searched for a mysterious girl he’d met thirty years ago... a woman who had changed his life in a single night.


    Born with Selective Sexual Dysfunction, Erevan had spent years believing he would never experience attraction to any woman. He had tried to bond with many werewolves and other races alike... only to be failed. Over time, he became frustrated and stopped searching. He thought, he would never have a sexual life. That was until he met her.


    It had been a party to celebrate a special Northern Lights. She approached him boldly, and to his utter shock, he feltfortable around her. Not only that... he felt desire for the first time in his life. The experience overwhelmed him. He followed her back to her rented vi, and they shared one night of passion.


    The next morning, when Erevan stepped out of the vi to buy breakfast for the girl, a messenger from the Lychos n reached him with devastating news... his father had been in an ident.


    He returned to Brontes Ind immediately, overwhelmed by the kingdom’s responsibilities and his father’s sudden disappearance. Days passed in a blur of duty and concern. By the time he finally remembered the girl, she had already left the area... disappeared as if she had vanished into thin air.


    There was no photo. She hadn’t even given her name to Erevan. For her, it was just a one-night stand. But for Erevan... who had finally found the only woman he could physically touch, it meant everything.


    Back then, there were no smartphones or advanced surveince systems. They had to rely solely on the tracking abilities of werewolves. But all they discovered was that the girl had gone into the sea and never returned.


    Erevan had no choice but to draw her portrait from memory and distribute it among the werewolf ns, hoping someone might recognize her. Yet, after all these years, not a single lead had surfaced. Some even whispered that Erevan had fabricated the story to excuse his inability of sexual rtionship.


    But today, she had found Erevan’s offspring. Still, she didn’t know how to deliver the news to him. It should have been a joyous moment... finally discovering a living link to the woman he had lost. But given Eleanor’splicated history, it was also heartbreaking.


    She now carried both good and bad news... and had to deliver them to her king.


    Sarika sighed deeply. "I finally found his child... and yet, I don’t know how to tell him. It should be the happiest moment of his life. But knowing Eleanor’s mother died at childbirth... it’s going to break him."


    Reba watched her with quietly for some moment and observed her disappointed expression. Finally, she couldn’t help but ask, "Wasn’t this the result you wanted? Did their father-daughter rtionshipplicate things for your rtives? If so, I can fabricate a different result to keep everything in line."


    Sarika suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. "No, no. I just remembered something else, that’s all. Thank you for the test, Reba. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to do it in secret."


    Reba offered a warm smile. "I’m always happy to help you, Sarika. You don’t owe me anything."


    The tension eased, and the two women talked for a while, catching up on various matters... scientific breakthroughs, political shifts, and some personal anecdotes. The sterile silence of theb was soon reced by softughter and shared memories.


    After more than half an hour, Sarika checked the time and stood up, her expression sobering again. The weight of the message she carried pressed heavily on her shoulders. It was time.


    She embraced Reba lightly. "Thanks again. I need to go now. My rtives are waiting for answers."


    With that, she left the research institute and made her way toward her helicopter. After boarded her ne at he airport, she rested in her cabin for some time while deciding how she would deliver the news.


    Her destination was Brontes Ind... where she needed to deliver the news to Erevan Brontes Lychos, the king of werewolves.