His Tainted Mate (Alaskan Tails #3)

Chapter 2

ELLE

Elle paused for a moment, catching her breath. She’d made it. She hadn’t been sure she would. So much was unknown about the disease that had begun to overtake her and had devastated her kind and their purebred counterparts. She’d recognized when the disease had begun to manifest from just genetic markers to the more progressive stages. Her sister Trudi had been sending reports for months that a vet up in Alaska was working on a cure, but Elle had begun to believe it wouldn’t arrive in time to save her. So, she’d packed up the things that were important to her and left to make her way to the Cradle Mountain wilderness.

Cradle Mountain was located on the other side of Tasmania from Hobart where she’d been born and raised. The mountain and the wild country that surrounded it was a stunning and iconic natural landmark renowned for its dramatic landscapes and diverse ecosystems. The mountain itself was characterized by its distinctive jagged peaks and rugged terrain. Composed primarily of dolerite columns, it had a unique and striking appearance. The diverse landscape that surrounded the mountain included alpine heathlands, glacial lakes, ancient rainforests, and grasslands, creating a rich tapestry of natural beauty.

The area was a hotspot of biodiversity and home to a variety of endemic plant and animal species. The vegetation ranged from ancient pines and beech to button grass moorlands and colorful wildflowers in the spring and summer. Wildlife was abundant and included, among other things, her elusive and pureblood Tasmanian devil counterparts, who were also in danger of extinction from Devil Facial Tumor Disease, the same disease that was now threatening to take her life.

Elle had left without telling anyone she was going. She knew that those in her community would have tried to stop her, but she had no interest in waiting around for a cure that wouldn’t come. Her sister meant well, but Trudi had always been an optimist and concern for Elle’s well-being had forced Trudi to make compromises and deals she never would have made. She knew her sister, whom some saw as a traitor, would never have agreed to work for Abraham Strode had he not promised her a cure that would save Elle. Never. Thankfully Trudi’s mate, Hamish, had been able to intervene on Trudi’s behalf and had kept her safe.

Hamish, the striking snow leopard-shifter. Elle shook her head. She knew that shifters sometimes mated outside their own kind, but it was rare, and she couldn’t think of two species less likely to even be attracted to each other. A snow leopard from the Highlands of Scotland and a Tasmanian devil from the island state of Australia? Pretty much polar opposites, but he made her sister happy and kept her safe and that was all that mattered to Elle. Trudi would be fine when Elle was gone and would perhaps allow Hamish to claim and turn her, ensuring Trudi and any of their children would not be subject to DFTD.

The climate around Cradle Mountain was notoriously unpredictable, with conditions that could change rapidly. At the moment, the sky was a vivid blue with white, fluffy clouds that looked as if they had been made of spun sugar, but there was something on the wind that made her stop as she knelt beside one of the glacial lakes at the foot of the mountain. She dipped her hand into the cool, clear water and took a sip, looking back toward the life she had left behind—the life that would never be and wondered if the man she saw in her dreams would even feel her lifeforce slip from this mortal plane into the great beyond.

Shaking her head, Elle stood up and pressed on. There was a place not too far ahead that was nestled in the side of the mountain, away from prying eyes, where she could make a camp, settle in and bring her life to a close. She planned to re-read her favorite books and walk the trails she loved until the ravages of the illness prevented her from doing so; then she would retreat into her devil form and allow the disease to steal her life away.

Those with whom she had shared the outlines of her plan—but not the specifics—had told her to keep a positive attitude and not to be so fatalistic, but Elle hadn’t seen it that way. Instead, she felt she was approaching the inevitability of her death in the same way she had approached life—practically and pragmatically. Even if Trudi’s friend had found a cure, it would arrive too late for Elle, and she refused to allow her beloved older sister to watch her succumb to death. She wanted Trudi to remember her for who she had been, not what she would become.

HAMISH

“What do you mean my sister has gone off to die on her own?” screeched Trudi. “How the hell could you let her do that? I have the serum with me. It will work. I came here to show all of you and to save my sister.”

“There now, lass,” said Hamish. “They had no way of knowing.”

“The hell they didn’t. I told them—I told Elle—that Lara was close to finding a cure. She risked her life for our community, for Elle, for me, and now it doesn’t matter.”

As his mate sank to the ground—defeated, demoralized, and exhausted from the disease beginning to eat away at her health—he reached down to pull her to her feet before scooping her up in his arms. She was barely awake as he lifted her up. “I need to find Trudi a place to rest.”

“In here,” offered Dr. Hart. “Has she been given the serum?”

“No. She refused to take it until we got here. She wanted you to take a blood sample before she took it so others could see it would work and that she had done nothing to skew the results in her favor.”

Hamish carried her into a small, private room in the large house that had essentially become a hospice home for terminally ill Tasmanian devil-shifters. By the time he got Trudi settled, Dr. Hart had returned with a needle and was preparing to draw blood.

“She could have had Dr. Dixon draw the blood before she administered the serum.”

“Aye, but Trudi was afraid there were some in your community that might have questioned it, especially as it was developed in Alaska by a human.”

“She has a point. It seems to me that you don’t agree with her decision.”

Hamish considered keeping his thoughts to himself, but decided he’d spent enough time biting his tongue. “Nay, I don’t. I question if your community actually wants to live.”

“How dare you say that!” said Dr. Hart.

“I say it because it’s true. Why did no one offer to help Lara with her research? I know she sent you reports in the beginning, but when she heard nothing but criticism, she didn’t bother anymore. Trudi went against every moral belief she held dear in order to try and find a cure. Granted, Strode was lying to her, but my lass didn’t know that. All she could see was the possibility of saving you people. Her sister, to me, exemplifies what I see—you all just gave up and were going to allow your kind and the purebloods to go extinct.”

“Hamish, it’s all right,” said Trudi as she placed her hand on him.

“Nay, lass, it isn’t. I’ve put off doing what I know will cure you in deference to what you wanted to do for your people. I’m just beginning to question whether they were worth it.”

“Oh, I like that,” Trudi teased. “You’ll let me get well and show them Lara was right, and then you’ll bite me and change me from Tasmanian devil to snow leopard.”

“Damn right,” Hamish muttered. He turned to look at the doctor. “Now that you’ve got the before sample of the blood, how about if you inject her with the bloody cure?”

“You have to find her,” said Trudi.

Hamish patted her hand and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Aye lass, I know. Do you have any idea where Elle might have gone?”

“Cradle Mountain. It was always her favorite place to be.”

He looked at Dr. Hart. “Why are you still standing there? Should I inject her myself?”

“No. No. Of course not,” Dr. Hart looked flummoxed. “I’m sure I can find some of our people to go after Elle.”

“If any of you had really cared or thought you could do it and bring her back, we wouldn’t be standing here, and Trudi wouldn’t be so upset. I’ll handle it my way.”

Dr. Hart gave Trudi the injection. “I’m not sure some of our people will agree to that.”

Hamish chuckled. “I’m not asking for permission, and while Tasmanian devils might be the top predator on this island, they are no match for a snow leopard.” He watched as Trudi drifted off to sleep. “God help you people if she dies. I will not be as tolerant or as forgiving as she has been.”

He went to stand outside on the balcony overlooking the River Derwent and placed a call to Sean Campbell at Castle Curaidh.

“Hamish? Is Trudi all right?” answered Sean.

“The disease has taken more out of her than I would have liked, but she’s made sure her people can see that the serum works and has finally had the injection.”

“You know turning her would fix the problem, right?”

“Aye, but this was important to her, and she believes she’ll be fine… after she’s well, then I’ll turn her, and I’ll do it sooner if it looks like it won’t cure her. But I need a favor.”

“Ask it, and if it’s within my power, it’ll be yours.”

“Her sister, who’s the one who started this whole mess, has gone missing. Apparently the DFTD started to take hold, and she just decided she’d go off alone to die.”

“For fuck’s sake. Not to worry, Rab’s out for a run. As soon as he gets back, I’ll send him your way. Hobart, right?”

“Aye, Alpha. You have my thanks.”

“If you’re still insistent on remaining in Mystic River, then I’m not sure I’m still your alpha.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You will always be my alpha.”

“I am honored to be so.”

The two old friends spoke for a few minutes more, then ended the call. Hamish looked out on the town and river spread below.

“You’d best still be alive when he finds you, Elle,” he threatened the wind.