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."

set the crown down with more care than

brother did out there," she said, closing

and dragged him

bad the curiosity was

and looked him squarely in the eyes. She stepped forward and he stepped back unconsciously. "What any mother in my position would do," she said. "I saved him

about his brother dating her and seen once or so on

brother believes he’s going to be mated to her," Zara said flatly. "Despite the fact that she already has a mate. Not just one but two. He believes he’ll

The sentence didn’t fit in

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

make sense.

my son with nonsense and I would not stand still and

confused.

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

paranoid," Ace said before

"Do

in half. Ace swallowed and he

the stack of papers. "You’re talking about attenuation of episodic memory anchored in the bond lattice. The lupine cortex wraps the hippocampus. You start damping

the side 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

still know how to shift, how to fight, how to breathe. He

would