An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 37

"So what exactly are you hoping to find?" Akari's sleepy voice had Ryan lifting his head away from the microscope in front of him. He'd been so engrossed in what he was doing he hadn't even noticed Ajax drifting off to sleep in the corner of his lap.

Rubbing his eyes, he squinted at the woman stood at his shoulder. The late night was most definitely starting to catch up with him.

"I'm hoping to see what makes you and Lenah different on a molecular level only I haven't found anything." He couldn't help the frustration leaking into his voice.

He'd been looking at the results of the tests he'd run but he hadn't found what he needed, at least not yet.

"Okay? So what have you found out?" Akari couldn't help the excitement seep into her words.

They'd never run any tests to see the difference between her and her sister so she was intrigued about what it would bring up. Hopefully it would be the proof she and her brother needed to convince the advisers about lifting Lenah's banishment once and for all.

Ryan ran his hands through his hair and pushed away from his desk. He wasn't sure what he'd found other than it wasn't totally what he'd imagined.

He wheeled himself over to his laptop and began flicking through the images he'd already saved and enlarged before motioning for Akari to join him.

"So these are your cells and these are Lenah's." He pointed towards the screen showing two identical pictures. He saw the confusion on Akari's face which did amuse him.

"They look exactly the same to me." She said as she leaned forward to get a closer look.

"That's because they are exactly the same." This time he couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on his face at her stunned expression even though he could imagine the thoughts running through her head.

For over a millennia the day walkers had claimed that shadow walkers were a different species and yet here it was in front of him, proof that they were in fact the same. He'd expected similarities in their cells and blood work, thinking that they were more likely to be divergent species than different beings, but this proved that they were far more connected than that.

Still he expected there to be some difference or else he couldn't explain the variation in their markings or their magic. He was hoping that once his DNA analysis was completed he would finally have his answers.

"How is that even possible?" Akari asked in a shaky voice, unwilling to tear her eyes away from the pictures in front of her.

Shadow walkers were always thought to be different beings because their bodies were supposed to be able to hold much more magic than day walkers. The history she'd been taught explained that shadow walkers' magic came from a different realm, therefore they were believed to be something different. Only, looking at the images in front of her she could no longer believe that was true.

Lenah's cells were identical to hers, there was no extra strength to them, no ability to hold more magic. As much as it confused her it also explained something to her which she hadn't been able to understand.

When she'd watched Lenah call her magic that night, it was the first time she'd ever experienced a shadow walker's magic, only it hasn't been what she'd expected. It wasn't dark magic like many people said, it didn't scare her nor was it out of control. In fact when she felt her sister's magic for the first time it soothed her. She felt her soul, her very being, reaching out for it. No it didn't scare her, like so many of their stories told them, but instead it made her feel more connected.

The magic itself felt no more powerful than her brother's, although infinitely more powerful than her own but then she'd never been raised to be a leader like her brother or a warrior like her sister.