Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 536: The Mnemosyne Crown

Ace’s mouth went dry, but he continued reading especially when it came to to the risk part.

Werewolf Physiology:Lupine cortex rebound; scent-blindness (temporary to permanent); dissociation; split-shift episodes; blackouts; aggression spikes. Outcome for human Physiology: brain-dead risk at moderate amplitudes.

Notes:Werewolf neuro-regeneration reduces catastrophic failure probability. Memory "bleed" into adjacent non-target recall clusters expected; can be managed post-procedure with guided re-imprinting.

Ace set the paper down slowly, as if any sudden movements might set off whatever trap he’d just walked into. He tore his eyes from the text and scanned the table and there he saw it.

It was exactly like the sketch. A crown of matte metal and braided leads, petals of mesh overlapping like armored leaves.

The Mnemosyne Crown.

"What are you doing?"

Ace froze and turned slowly. His mother Zara stood in the doorway. The mark on her throat was fading, but the bruise was still there, covered with salve. The herbal scent drifted with her, but her eyes were sharp and cold.

Her gaze slid from Ace’s face to the Mnemosyne Crown in his hands and the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

She crossed the lab in three clean strides and plucked it from his grip. "Who told you to intrude on my work?"

"What are you doing, mother?" Ace snapped back, anger rising in his chest. He gestured to the spread of papers. "I saw the drawings and the diary. Don’t tell me you’re going to put that thing on him."

crown down with more care

she said, closing the diary. "Do you think he’s in

"Because you drugged him and dragged him home? He said you betrayed

bad the curiosity was eating him

stepped forward and he stepped back unconsciously. "What any mother in my position

about his brother dating her and seen once or so on

said flatly. "Despite the fact that she already has a mate. Not just one but two.

The sentence didn’t fit in his head.

was nearly impossible to get a Matebond these days. Having two, that was

doesn’t make sense.

Zara finished for him. "She’s feeding my son with nonsense and I would not stand still and let that happen. I won’t

into his lungs, "he’s confused. And given

That girl has her claws deeper in him than you want to admit. What will she ask him to do next? To finish the job by slitting my throat in my sleep? I

maybe you’re just being paranoid," Ace

head snapped toward him. "Do not tell

Ace swallowed and he picked his next words

cortex wraps the hippocampus. You start damping

note she’d written in the margin. "Dissociation? Split-shift episodes? He could lose control mid-shift and never know why. He could black out and wake up covered in someone else’s blood. You interrupt scent-triggered reactivation, you’re not just targeting her, you’re taking a

will soften the blow. We target the episodic track—the where, the when, the faces—and leave the procedural memory intact. He will still know how to shift, how to fight, how to breathe. He just won’t remember her. And anything

saying you would rather erase