Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
BECK
Ileft Charlotte sleeping and made my way downstairs.
The scent of coffee and frying butter greeted me as I entered the kitchen.
Cal stood at the stove, flipping pancakes with the ease of someone accustomed to cooking breakfast for a search and rescue team of ten bear shifters.
Everett sat at the table with his laptop open, his fingers flying over the keys.
They both looked up when I entered.
“How is she?” Everett asked.
“Sleeping.” I poured myself coffee from the pot on the counter. “Finally.”
Cal plated a stack of pancakes and set them on the table. “We searched the forest all night. Henry’s followers are dead.”
Relief loosened something in my chest. “All of them?”
“Every last one.” Cal dropped into a chair and reached for the syrup. “Ilya tracked two of them to a cave about five miles north. They’d holed up there, probably waiting to see if Henry would regenerate.” He drizzled syrup over his pancakes. “They didn’t put up much of a fight.”
“The bond broke when Henry died,” Everett said, closing his laptop. “Without access to his blood, the withdrawal would have killed them anyway.”
Cal grunted. “Vampires are a plague. Any day with one less walking the earth is a good day.”
“Fewer,” Everett murmured.
Cal flipped him the bird, then shoved a bite of pancakes into his mouth.
Everett turned serious eyes to me. “Charlotte made a huge sacrifice ruining her research. Her reputation might not recover.”
My heart clenched. I set down my coffee, my appetite deserting me. “I know.”
Cal swallowed. “She did it for you. For all of us.”
“I know that, too,” I said. “But I’m not sure I’m worthy of it. It feels selfish asking her to waste her potential.”
Silence fell over the kitchen.
Everett tapped his fingers on the table, his expression thoughtful. Then he sat up straighter. “What if she doesn’t have to waste her potential?”
I looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Everett’s eyes held the gleam they often got when he’d landed on a new idea.
“I’ve been on the fence about it until now, but I’ve been thinking of expanding my work.
I want to move from theory to experimentation.
Instead of trying to understand why compatibility is so rare, I’d like to find a way to edit our genes.
” He leaned forward. “I could use Charlotte’s help. ”
My heart kicked against my ribs. “You’re serious.”
Everett nodded. “She’s smart as hell. If anyone can help me figure it out, it’s her.”
“Anything you need,” I said, “just name it. Money, equipment, extra space. I’ll build you a new lab.”
Everett grinned. “You might regret saying that. Henry was a dick, but seeing his setup last night got me thinking. We can get CRISPR equipment and run our own experiments.” He started ticking items off his fingers.
“We’ll need better climate control and probably a second lab with its own power source.
I’d like to get a new autoclave and a thermocycler—”
A shuffling sound made all three of us turn.
Charlotte stood in the doorway. She wore one of my flannel shirts, the hem hitting her mid-thigh. Her hair was a red tangle around her shoulders, and her glasses sat slightly crooked on her nose. She looked adorable.
And well-loved.
My bear stirred, pleased at the beard rash that peeked above the shirt collar.
I fought the urge to scoop her up and carry her back to bed so I could put more on her skin.
“I heard you talking about a lab,” she said, pink touching her cheeks.
Rising, I went to her and took her hand. “Sit, honey. Everett will explain.”
Charlotte settled into the chair, and I brought her a mug of coffee and pulled a second chair next to her.
Everett launched into his explanation, sharing his vision for expanded genetic research and his quest for a deeper understanding of shifter-human compatibility.
“And I’d love to have your expertise,” he finished. “I think we’d make a great team.”
The sleep had cleared from Charlotte’s eyes, and she leaned on her elbows with an excited look on her face. “It’s an ambitious idea.”
Everett smiled. “It’s Alaska. Everything is bigger here.”
She frowned. “I thought that was Texas.”
Cal huffed. “We have twice the land mass. Texas is putting up rookie numbers.”
Touching Charlotte’s chin, I turned her gaze to mine. “This isn’t just a consolation prize, sweetheart. The work you do in Bear Cove will matter.”
Her brown eyes searched mine. “You really think so?”
“Absolutely.” I brushed my thumb over her jaw. “There’s no one else I trust more to help the clan.”
Tears glistened in her eyes, but she was smiling. “When can I start?”
Everett laughed. “Give me a month to get the equipment ordered. Maybe two.”
Joy and mischief sparkled in Charlotte’s eyes. “I guess I’ll have to find something to keep me busy until then.”