PROJECT Z – A WITCH’S VENGEANCE
abioduntosin17 · Ongoing · 38.5k Words
Introduction
As an elite operative of The Vanguard Initiative, his job is simple: hunt mutants and keep the world safe.
But when a dying mutant sends a secret Morse code message, Eric discovers a terrifying truth.
The mutants were never animals.
They were human.
Now caught between a powerful witch seeking revenge and the organization that created him, Eric must uncover the secrets of Project Z before the real mastermind turns the world into a battlefield.
Because some monsters are created in laboratories.
And some wear suits and run the system
Chapter 1
The front door of the abandoned Red Lion Pub burst inward under Eric Vaughn's boot.
Rotting wood exploded into splinters as the reinforced door slammed against the far wall. Dust rolled through the dim building while the smell hit him like a physical blow—a nauseating mix of blood, decay, mold, and burnt chemicals.
His visor immediately highlighted movement.
Six heat signatures.
"Contacts confirmed," Rafe's voice crackled through the squad comms. "Three upstairs. Three below."
Eric swept his plasma rifle across the room.
"Tessa, Martinez, Chen, secure the ground floor. Eric, you're with me. I'll take the basement."
A grin tugged at Eric's lips.
"Trying to beat my score again, Tank?"
Rafe laughed.
"You're the one who owes me from last week."
"That was luck."
"No," Rafe replied. "It was skill. Loser buys drinks for a month."
Eric chambered a fresh energy cell into his rifle.
"Deal."
They split without another word.
---
The first mutant never saw him.
It dropped from a broken ceiling beam, its elongated arms reaching for his throat.
Eric reacted on instinct.
Two plasma rounds.
The creature's head exploded into glowing blue mist before it even touched the floor.
"One," Eric muttered.
Static buzzed through the comm.
"Already at two," Rafe announced proudly.
"Show-off."
Eric climbed the stairs two at a time.
His enhanced muscles barely registered the effort. Three years of Vanguard's enhancement serum had transformed his body into something stronger, faster...something no longer entirely human.
He tried not to think about that.
Another heat signature darted behind a doorway.
A mutant lunged.
This one still wore shredded clothes, almost as if it had once cared about how it looked.
Eric ducked beneath its claws, drove the stock of his rifle into its jaw, and fired point-blank.
Its chest burst apart.
A third creature rushed him from behind.
He spun, kicked its knee backward, then emptied three rounds into its skull.
The hallway fell silent.
"Three," Eric reported.
"Five."
Rafe sounded winded.
"You slowing down, Vaughn?"
"I've still got one left."
"So do I."
A deafening crash echoed somewhere behind the building.
Rafe's voice sharpened.
"One escaped the basement. Rear alley!"
Eric was already moving.
---
He burst through the back door with his rifle raised.
Moonlight spilled into the narrow alley.
The mutant stood trapped between a brick wall and a rusted chain-link fence.
It wasn't charging.
It wasn't snarling.
It simply stared.
Unlike the others, this one looked...almost human.
Its mutations were subtle.
Its eyes were clear.
Aware.
Eric steadied his rifle.
"End of the road."
The creature slowly lowered itself to its knees.
Then its jaw began moving.
Click.
Click-click.
Click...
Eric frowned.
Not random.
Rhythmic.
Deliberate.
The mutant repeated the sequence.
Dots.
Dashes.
Pauses.
Like someone tapping on a table.
"Eric?"
Rafe's voice echoed through the comm.
"You there?"
The mutant clicked again.
A different pattern this time.
Long.
Short.
Short.
Then another pause.
It wasn't begging.
It wasn't growling.
It was...
Talking.
His finger rested on the trigger.
Every lesson drilled into him screamed the same command.
Mutants lie.
Mutants kill.
Mutants do not communicate.
The creature looked directly into his eyes and repeated the pattern one last time.
Eric pulled the trigger.
The plasma bolt punched through its forehead.
The mutant collapsed without making another sound.
Silence settled over the alley.
Only the ringing in Eric's ears remained.
"Target eliminated," he finally said.
No one answered for several seconds.
Then Rafe sighed with relief.
"Nice work. Mission complete."
Eric looked down at the corpse.
For some reason...
It didn't feel like a victory.
---
The Vanguard recreation room was louder than usual.
Someone had found decent beer.
Music blasted from battered speakers while soldiers laughed, celebrated, and pretended another successful mission meant tomorrow was guaranteed.
Rafe had won the bet.
Seven kills.
Eric had six.
Naturally, Rafe insisted on buying the first round.
"Because," he declared proudly, raising his bottle, "a true champion is also generous."
The room erupted in groans.
Eric forced a smile but barely touched his drink.
Across the table, Tessa noticed immediately.
"You've been staring at that beer for five minutes."
"I'm thinking."
"About the alley?"
He looked up.
"You saw?"
"I had a clear view from outside."
She leaned closer.
"That mutant wasn't attacking."
Eric hesitated.
"It was clicking."
"I know."
"The rhythm..."
"It sounded intentional."
Before either of them could continue, Rafe dropped into the empty chair.
"What'd I miss?"
Eric glanced around before speaking quietly.
"The last mutant."
"What about it?"
"It wasn't making random noises."
Rafe frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It kept clicking its jaw."
Eric tapped two fingers against the table.
"Like this."
Tap.
Tap-tap.
Pause.
Tap.
Long pause.
Then another sequence.
Rafe's expression changed.
"Do that again."
Eric repeated the rhythm.
Without saying another word, Rafe reached into his jacket and produced a small notebook.
His pen began moving almost immediately.
Dots.
Dashes.
Dots.
Tessa watched over his shoulder.
Then her eyes widened.
"No way."
Rafe didn't look up.
"This..."
His pen continued scratching across the paper.
"...is Morse code."
The table suddenly felt much quieter.
Eric repeated the sequence once more.
Rafe translated each rhythm carefully.
Letters appeared one after another.
K...7...E...2...L...M...A...P...5...S...T...R...
He stopped.
The three of them stared at the page.
"What does it mean?" Eric asked.
Rafe slowly shook his head.
"I don't know."
Martinez wandered over carrying another bottle.
"You all look like someone died."
He glanced at the notebook.
"Gibberish?"
"Looks like it," Rafe admitted.
Martinez shrugged.
"Probably coincidence."
He wandered back toward the celebration.
Rafe eventually followed.
Then Tessa.
Within moments, laughter filled the room again as if nothing had happened.
Eric remained alone.
His untouched beer had gone warm.
He stared at the meaningless string of letters.
K7E2LMAP5STR.
It shouldn't bother him.
It meant nothing.
Just random sounds from a dying monster.
Yet somewhere deep inside him, a single thought refused to disappear.
What if the mutant had been trying to warn him?
Last Chapters
#33 Chapter 33 Ghost Utilities
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#32 Chapter 32 Grid Work
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#31 Chapter 31 Sidelined
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#30 Chapter 30 Assembled
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#29 Chapter 29 Still Waters
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#28 Chapter 28 Graveside
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#27 Chapter 27 The Deal
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#26 Chapter 26 Summons
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#25 Chapter 25 Origin Point
Last Updated: 5/22/2026#24 Chapter 24 Converging
Last Updated: 5/22/2026
You Might Like 😍
First Taste in a Century
But Lysander’s arrival spells disaster. In a clumsy accident, he doesn't just ruin dinner; he obliterates her state-of-the-art scientific instruments. With her life’s work destroyed and her synthetic supply cut off, the scent of his living blood overwhelms her engineered senses. Forced to break a century-long abstinence, she takes what she needs, only to find herself addicted not just to his taste, but to the man himself.
Using the equipment as a flimsy excuse to lure him back, Vivienne battles a terrifying new obsession. She craves his body despite believing he’s taken, despising her own weakness. Meanwhile, Lysander’s initial terror curdles into a forbidden fascination. Can a relationship survive when one person feels everything, and the other only hungers?
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate
Beautiful Aubrianne Ivanov, raised by her single mom, had a tough childhood. With low self-esteem, she became an outcast and was alone one too many times for her liking. Time spent at her part time job, she eventually grew into a brave, confident, and determined young woman who walked right into an opportunity that would change her life forever.
Will Aubrianne truly feel whole? Will she find what has been missing in her life? Will she allow herself happiness and joy? Will she find love, and most importantly, will she survive what's to come?
Join Aubrianne on her journey as she discovers who/what she is and navigates all the heartbreak, betrayal, drama, and exciting and thrilling events that come her way...
Excerpt:
She lay before him in all her magnificent beauty draped across his king-size bed in the most compelling and provocative way known to man or beast. And for Alpha Zayne, it was the most captivating view he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own eyes.
She stared at his every movement, lips slightly parted, her stunning brown eyes scanning every inch of his gorgeously toned and glorious body while heat radiated off of hers. He was HERS.
Her body trembled in delight and anticipation; she was ready and wanted to be with him in every way.
As innocent as she was, she wanted him to...no need him to take her in the worse ways, bringing her to heights of pleasures she had never experienced before.
Fuck she is beautiful, one fine specimen, and she is all MINE, MY MATE. A wave of pure unbridled possessiveness vibrated through Alpha Zayne. He thanked the Divine Moon Goddess, for she has truly blessed him.
He drank her in, eyes trailing up her toned sexy legs spread wide for him, and she gave him that come-and-get-it look.
Survival Island
Zane, a powerful vampire and the island's owner, has spent centuries unable to feel desire for any woman. But when he notices Zara's intelligence, resilience, and determination to survive, she awakens something in him that no one ever has. For the first time in his vampire life, he is interested in a female, and his member is also starting to come to life. Who is this woman and why does he suddenly crave her and not just for her blood?
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
Cursed Fates
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Human Capture (Up North #2)
Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.
Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.
One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.
But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?
The Ice Between Us.
Then comes Jax Miller.
Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.
Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.
