They Buried Me in the Desert. I Built Weapons for the Crown Chapter 02

They Buried Me in the Desert. I Built Weapons for the Crown Chapter 02

It was the denial notice for my final transfer request eight years ago.

The document read as follows.

[The transfer request submitted by Iona Ashborne is denied due to suspected serious research misconduct, with the finding entered into the official personnel file.]

My mind went blank.

I had already received my transfer order, only to be told right before I left that it had been canceled.

So that was why!

Harlan sighed.

“Back then, Ashborne Pack used every connection it had to bury that disciplinary finding in your confidential personnel file.”

“It wasn’t until recently that we discovered Seraphine Ashborne was the one who falsified the research.”

“They framed you to make sure nothing stood in the way of her sealing the mate bond.”

I gripped the document so tightly my knuckles went white.

No wonder I hadn’t been promoted once in eight years, no matter what I accomplished.

They had sacrificed my future to clear the way for Seraphine!

With the document in hand, I went straight to the hotel where my mother was staying.

Octavia was sitting there, calmly sipping red wine.

She barely glanced at the document in my hand.

“So you found out.” Her voice was almost chillingly calm.

“Why did you do it?” I stared at her. “I’m your biological daughter. Do you have any idea what a mark like this on my record means for me?”

Octavia set her glass down with a crisp clink.

“Iona, you need to think about what’s best for the pack.”

“Sera was supposed to seal the mate bond with Veyr Pack’s alpha Julian. She was going to become his Luna, and she couldn’t have a stain on her record.”

“You’re just a C-rank wolf at Sable Ridge. It won’t hurt you nearly as much.”

“But if Sera and Julian had failed to seal the mate bond, Ashborne wouldn’t just have lost money—we would have lost Veyr as a powerful pack ally!”

“You’re an Ashborne pack member too. What’s wrong with making one small sacrifice for the good of the pack?”

I was so furious I laughed. “So you’re sacrificing a ‘pack member’ who was practically cast out and hasn’t set foot in Ashborne territory for twenty years, all to protect your own interests. How noble.”

Octavia rose and walked over to me, her tone softening.

“There’s no point talking about this now.”

“All you have to do is sign the stem-cell donation consent form and save Sera.”

“I can use my connections in medicine, personally write a formal statement clearing your name, and have the misconduct finding removed from your file.”

“Otherwise, you’ll carry this stain for the rest of your life.”

She looked at me as if controlling me were the most natural thing in the world.

I stared at her, overwhelmed by the irony.

My own mother used the innocence I was owed to force me to surrender my health.

“What if I don’t sign?” I gave a humorless laugh.

Her expression darkened at once, her eyes narrowing.

“Iona, don’t push me.”

“The sand-lung syndrome you contracted is rare.”

“Without my say-so, not a single healer in the entire Lycan realm will dare treat you!”

I looked at her cold, arrogant face and smiled.

“Go ahead. Try it.”

I turned and walked out without looking back.

Soon, several healers I had contacted earlier sent apology texts almost simultaneously.

Each gave a different reason, but every message meant the same thing—they wouldn’t take me as a patient.

Octavia had moved even faster than I expected.

After forty years in Lycan medicine, her network ran deep enough to shut me out of treatment.

But I wasn’t out of options.

I called the internal line and pulled up RLARI’s dedicated medical-provider roster.

They still thought I was just an ordinary C-rank wolf on the research staff.

But I had joined RLARI—Royal Lycan Armaments Research Institute—ten years ago.

My medical care came directly through the Crown’s highest-tier medical network.

I reviewed the roster and chose a Crown healer responsible for the health of personnel working on classified defense programs.

Within two hours, Sable Ridge’s logistics team had completed every arrangement.

Against the Crown, Ashborne Pack’s blockade meant nothing.

I had just started to smirk when my phone rang.

It was Harlan.

His voice was grave.

“Iona, get back to RLARI now. Someone has filed a signed complaint accusing you of betraying the Crown, leaking classified information, and taking a massive bribe from a rogue in rogue territory.”