26. Chase
Chase
“This is it?” I ask as I hold up the small vial of yellowish liquid.
Gage nods as he leans back in the office chair. “It doesn’t look like anything special. You’re sure this is going to change Blaze back to his human form?”
Gage sighs, pushing a hand back through his hair, which is looking a little messy since he’s spent the last two days in here working on this.
“Of course, I won't know for sure until we try it out. It’s not like there is anybody to test it on, not that we would test it on anyone else. I’ve never even heard of a human gaining supernatural powers before. ”
“Do you think there are more? Like him?” Hunter asks, suddenly sounding nervous. My stomach drops as my wide eyes lift to look at Gage. He’s looking at Maddox and my eyes ping between them.
“Shit. You think there are, don’t you?”
Maddox leans his elbows on his knees, leaning forward from where he sits beside Bain on the office couch.
“The truth is, we don’t know. It’s a pretty good bet that Dr. J created the stuff he injected Blaze with for a bigger purpose.
From what we’ve ascertained from Finn and the others, each of these facilities is run by an individual doctor who has a different primary focus. To what end, we’re not sure.”
“But we’re pretty sure Dr. J’s serum never went any further than Blaze,” Gage adds.
“How can you be so sure?” Hunter asks.
Gage holds up the notebook Maddox swiped from Dr. J’s lab. “He was recording everything he did in here. It seems he wasn’t ready to mass-produce it yet. He was still studying the effects it had on Blaze when we killed him.”
“Effects?” I ask, curiously.
“Yeah. Like if he was able to shift, if he’d be able to create a bond with another wolf.”
“Wait—” I hold out my hand as I stand up taller, my eyes moving to Cherry, sleeping between Bain and Maddox in her wolf form. “Are you saying Blaze hasn’t shifted?”
Gage waves the book in his hand before dropping it on the desk as he answers, “According to this, no.”
“It’s possible he shifted and didn’t tell Dr. J,” Maddox adds.
I hadn’t realized Blaze hasn’t shifted. “How do we even know he’s a wolf shifter?” I ask in confusion.
“He’s stronger than a human, faster, and he has a heightened sense of smell.”
I cock my head at Gage, still feeling confused as I ask, “But couldn’t a phoenix have those traits too?”
His brows furrow as he looks down at the book, as if he hadn’t considered that, which surprises me, but it’s Hunter who answers. “No. He smells like a wolf shifter, remember?”
“I suppose…” Gage starts, looking like he’s puzzling this out while he speaks.
“We don’t know exactly what Blaze is. The stuff Dr. J gave him was a mix of Cherry’s blood and some stuff of his own creation.
It could have given him some of her abilities or all of them.
Just because we haven’t seen him shift doesn't mean he can’t.
And you’re right, maybe he had more of the phoenix traits and just the scent of a wolf.
He’s an experiment and we have no idea what he’s capable of. ”
“Which is why we need to find him and stick that stuff in him,” Bain says, pointing to the vial I’ve placed back on the desk.
“I ordered a bunch of injector pens that we can keep in our pockets. You just slip off the top and stab him with it, the pen will do the rest,” Gage tells us as he pulls a box of them out and shows us.
“I’ll fill them all this afternoon. We’ll make sure we have them in all our vehicles and around the house too. ”
“We’ll have to show Cherry how they work and give her one as well,” Hunter says as we all turn to look at her.
She’d wanted to go for a run as a pack today, and when we got home from it, she was so tired she passed right out without even shifting. She spent so long in this form that I suspect sometimes this may feel more natural than being human.
But she’s been doing amazing with her shifting lately. She never accidentally shifts anymore and seems to have full control over it. The omega book said our bonds help to stabilize her, but the opposite is true too. I’ve never felt more sure and steady about my life than I do with her in it.
“So what’s the plan?” Hunter asks when the room grows silent. “Do we just wait for him to show up and try to take Cherry again?” Bain literally growls as he leans over Cherry, as if to protect her from Hunter's words.
“I think we should lure him out,” Gage says, surprising me.
“Lure him? With what?” I ask in confusion. When his eyes move to Cherry, my hands clench into fists as I level him with a glare. “Absolutely not. We are not using our mate as bait.”
“Not her personally. I’d never do that,” Gage says, looking at me as if I’m the unreasonable one here. “But we find a way to lure him with her scent to a trap we set. Cherry will be locked away somewhere safe when it’s happening.”
She starts to stir, and we all turn to watch as she lazily yawns and slowly blinks her eyes open. When she realizes we’re all watching her, she slowly sits up until her back is pressed to Bain’s side. He wraps his arm around her front, right before she shifts.
Our eyes widen, taking in all that beautiful skin on display.
She’s wearing nothing but her tracker ring hanging on the chain around her neck.
When she realizes we’re all unabashedly staring at her naked body, she glances down at herself as a squeal escapes her and she pulls her knees up to hide behind.
I chuckle in amusement, immediately pulling off my shirt and stepping over to her.
“You’re adorable, Blue. You know we’ve all seen you naked, right?
And recently?” I ask, waggling my eyebrows at her as I recall what we got up to with her in bed this morning.
I pull my shirt down over her head as Bain helps to get her arms through the sleeves.
“Thank you,” she says softly as she pulls my shirt down past her ass and bites her lower lip nervously.
Bain picks her up and sets her in his lap, banding his arms around her and shoving his nose into her mass of red hair. I narrow my eyes on him. Why didn’t I think about doing that?
“What were you guys talking about?” she asks as she leans back against Bain’s chest. “I thought I heard someone saying something about locking me up.”
“Not literally,” Gage corrects quickly. “I was just saying, when we lure Blaze in, we will make sure you’re locked away somewhere safe. We don’t want him getting anywhere near you again.”
She nods, her eyes moving from him to the mess around the office. Not that you could call it an office anymore. Gage had turned it into a science lab. Everything that doesn’t look like it belongs in a chemistry class has been shoved to the side or into cupboards to make room for his work.
“Is that it?” Cherry asks, moving forward and getting to her feet as she moves to the desk. “Is that the B-Serum?” she asks, looking at the vial.
Gage nods. “Yep, that’s the stuff.”
“I can’t believe you made this.” She glances up at him, and her slightly nervous look changes instantly as a huge smile splits her face. “You’re a genius, Gage. You know that right? This is incredible.”
He shrugs, looking slightly uncomfortable with the phrase.
“She’s right,” Maddox adds. “What you’ve done here is amazing. None of us could have even deciphered that notebook, let alone reverse engineer an antidote.”
“Thanks,” Gage says, scrubbing a hand up and down the back of his neck.
“Is it ready?” Cherry asks, pointing to the vial.
“Yes. I was just telling the others that I’m going to put it in these pens so we can carry them with us and leave them around the house.
For safety,” he adds quickly, then he looks from the pen he’s holding to her, a small smile pulling at his lips as he asks, “In fact, I’ll do the first one right now, and you can carry it with you everywhere. ”
“I get the first one?” she asks in excited surprise, making me grunt in amusement.
“Pretty girl, of course you do.” I place my arm around her shoulder as we watch Gage pull out another vial and use it to fill one of the injector pens.
Once done, he inspects it and holds it up to show her. “All you have to do is remove this lid, then stab it into him anywhere. The pen will inject the stuff instantly.” He clicks the lid in place and hands it to her as she stares at it with wide eyes.
“That’s it?”
“Yep. I made it as easy and fast as possible.”
“You did an awesome job on that,” I tell him gratefully with a nod.
“I guess I have to start wearing pants with pockets so I have somewhere to keep it,” Cherry says, making me chuckle. “Or I could carry a purse.”
“Maybe you’ll actually remember to keep your phone on you too,” Maddox says teasingly, since she’s always forgetting to carry it with her.
With my arm around her shoulder, I start to steer her toward the door. “Let’s go find you some pants now. Because we have some planning to do.”
“Planning?” she asks in confusion as she looks up at me in surprise.
“Yeah. Don’t tell me you forgot about our pool party already.”
As we step into the hall, her eyes widen. “I… totally forgot,” she admits, looking a little deflated.
“Well, no worries. I happen to be excellent at party planning.”
“Really?”
I steer her into her room and pull open her dresser drawer, grabbing a pair of pink joggers that just so happen to match my hair.
“Yep. First, let’s get these pants on you.” I kneel down in front of her, holding them open so she can step into them. She doesn’t comment on the fact that she could easily dress herself. And I don’t comment on the fact that her pussy smells like fucking candy.
Once they’re on, I lift her up, set her on the end of her bed, and pass her the phone, which was still plugged into her nightstand.
“First, we need a guest list. You text Erica and Lexi, and I’ll text her mates, plus Cody.”
“Isn’t this bad timing, though?” she asks in concern. “With Casper and those other two guys from the sanctuary missing?”
“I think you’ll be surprised how much everyone needs an afternoon to relax. We’ve all been through a lot lately, and it’s not like we have any leads to follow to look for them.”
Slowly, she nods, then she starts clicking on her phone. “I guess you’re right. When are we doing it?”
“Tomorrow at eleven. Tell them we’ll provide the food and drinks.
They just need to bring their swimsuits and towels.
” She nods as her fingers click away, and I turn to my phone to do the same, typing out a message in a group chat we started with her friends’ mates.
Since all of us guys have an omega for a mate, we thought it would be good to stay in close contact in case anything ever came up.
I also send a message to Cody. Once that’s done, I pull up the grocery store app, glad that even in Starfall Haven, we can get grocery deliveries.
“Okay, they said they’re in,” Cherry says excitedly, just as my phone pings as I see messages pour in from the guys saying they’re in, although there is nothing from Cody yet.
“Alright, now how about food?” I ask as I settle beside her.
“Be sure to get lots of snack food,” Hunter says as he steps into her bedroom and sits on her other side.
“Okay, chips, dip, salsa. What else?”
“How about a veggie tray?” Cherry asks. I wrinkle my nose, but she quickly reminds me, “Not all of them are meat-eating shifters. Erica and her mates probably eat vegetables.”
“Fine,” I huff as I add that to the cart. I also add in a bunch of sugary snacks and some cheese and cracker trays.
“What else?” Cherry asks.
“We need some real food. Like hamburgers and hot dogs,” Hunter says, and I nod, adding all the needed ingredients to the cart as he fires them off.
“Alright, I think that’s it. Should I get anything for dinner tonight?”
“Do you think we could make homemade pizza?” Cherry asks, surprising me.
“Sure we can. Is that something you’ve done before?”
She nods, looking a little sad. “Yeah, with my family when I was younger. We never ate out. We always ate at home, but pizza nights were my favorite. We’d have a bunch of ingredients on the counter, and then we all made our own pizzas together.”
“Okay, we’re definitely doing that tonight,” I say, already adding stuff to the cart.
“Did you watch a movie together while you ate it?” Hunter asks.
She nods, smiling at him in happy surprise. “How did you know?”
“Just a guess. We should do that too. Any particular type of movie?”
“Not really, just whatever we could agree on.”
“Okay, take a look at what I have here, and let me know if I’m missing anything,” I tell her as I hand her my phone.
She starts to laugh as she scrolls through the list. “You have way more here than we need.”
“But is anything missing?” I press, wanting it to be a happy memory for her.
“No, it’s perfect. Thank you, Chase.” She squeezes my thigh then turns to Hunter, doing the same. “Thank you, Hunter.”
I click the order button, then shove my phone into my pocket as I look at her.
“Now what shall we do while we wait for the groceries to arrive?” A grin pulls at my lips and her eyes widen slightly with excitement.
“Oh, I know!”
I reach up and cup her face as I ask, “What do you want to do, pretty girl?”
“Can you take me on another bike ride?”
I blink at her in surprise. That wasn’t exactly what I’d been thinking about doing, but now that she’s mentioned it, it’s been a few days since I’ve ridden, and I’m already picturing the air whooshing past us as she clutches me from behind, rubbing her little body against me as she holds me tight.
A smile fills my face as I nod. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”