Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ANGEL
When we enter the lab located down the hill behind Damien and Tess’s house, I’m surprised to see a room full of shifters there, not just Mila. Damien, his top shifters, and Anna, a human who blood-bonded Blade. I’ve only met her once.
“I thought my exams would be private,” I say to Garrett as we enter. He’s only here because he looked so rejected and sad, as if I’ve been intentionally ignoring him. I guess to some extent I have been.
It’s been six days since we returned to the pack.
I spent the first two resting and healing.
Once my wolf finished healing my injuries, I got so focused on my private journey that I didn’t make the time to reach out to Garrett.
A part of me feared I’d get caught up in him so easily, that I’d forget about my goal of belonging to more than Garrett, but the pack as a whole.
Garrett’s pinkie strokes the hand he’s holding. “You okay?”
“Slightly distracted. No worries.”
“Angel, I will always worry about you, especially when I smell your fear.”
Fear of not fitting in, of losing not the pack but Garrett. If I leave here, he’ll follow me. That’s part of why I love him, but I refuse to rip him from family and friends. I know what that feels like, and I won’t let it happen to him.
“Just nervous about my diagnosis. And why all these shifters are here.”
“Glad you finally made it,” Mila says. “I called Frank, Hayden, Blade, and Callen in ahead of your appointment to run the same test on them that I did you. And you brought Garrett. Perfect. Stand still, shifter,” she orders as she lifts a swab to take a nasal sample.
Garrett raises his hand defensively. “What’s that for?”
“Cooperate,” Damien orders.
Garrett doesn’t move, letting Mila get her nasal swab. She places the swab on a tray and passes it to Anna. “Angel, we found an organometallic compound in your nasal tissues, specifically cadmium thiol.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“It damages your olfactory epithelium—special nerve endings in your nose—by binding to the tissues. This is the area responsible for scenting. Your vomeronasal organ is similarly affected, making it hard to detect pheromones and chemical signals, such as fear and excitement.”
“Like the day little Alex went onto the river? I’ve been kicking myself because I didn’t pick up on his excitement before he got on the ice. If I had, I would have reached him in time to stop him.”
“Exactly. You’ve been working with a handicap since you arrived, Lina.”
Relief floods me. I haven’t been lax or too emotionally crippled to function. There’s something physically wrong with me.
“Is it treatable?” Garrett asks.
“Yes, the cadmium mercaptan compound damaged but didn’t destroy her olfactory receptors. Anna’s creating the chelating agents needed to bind and remove the heavy metals from her tissues.”
“It will be a nasal rinse with a specialized solution,” Anna speaks up. “I might need to add some supplements to your medical regimen, though. I’ll have the solution ready tomorrow.”
“Two weeks of treatment should do the trick,” Mila finishes as Anna walks off with Garrett’s swab. “Then your wolf can take over and heal your olfactory neurons in a matter of weeks, two months tops. Full recovery within three at most.”
“That’s wonderful!” I hug Mila. “Thank you!”
“Good news, indeed,” Damien says. “But why did you test the recovery team?”
“I kept wondering why the WSSO would destroy Angel’s sense of smell. From everything she told me, they had no reason to. They already had her under their control. She confirmed they never did any testing on her, only used her as bait to lure other shifters.”
“That’s right. No exposure to any chemicals.”
Mila shakes her head. “That you’re aware of. You mentioned cannisters in the truck they used to transport you.”
“I remember those,” Garrett confirms as I nod yes.
Anna rises from her lab stool. “What type of canisters? Can you describe them?”
“Short and squat. They reminded me of the oxygen tanks firefighters carry, but dark green. They had initials on them and were in the truck every time they took me out to lure more shifters.”
“What initials?” Anna asks.
I close my eyes, thinking back to a time I’ve tried so hard to forget. “CD-MERC. I remember thinking merc for mercenary.”
“Mercaptan.” Anna faces Mila. “Maybe methanethiol or ethanethiol. I’ll have to run more tests to see which. Either way, it explains the skunk smell the men complained about on their return.”
“We already considered the humans might be trying to mask their scent with skunk musk, but that doesn’t work,” Damien says.
“We’d still smell the humans underneath it.” Hayden adds.
“I thought I scented a human, but it was so faint, I dismissed it as being days old.” The words tumble out of Garrett’s mouth.
Hayden glares at him. “You didn’t say anything at the time.”
Garrett inhales deeply. “I dismissed the possibility humans were nearby.”
“Which could have cost us our lives.”
“Agreed.” Garrett swallows hard, and I can just imagine the guilt he’s holding in.
“You’d stopped trusting yourself by then,” I say softly. All heads turn to me. “Because of… Marla.” I hate saying her name, but he needs to forgive himself for all that resulted from her actions.
“Yes.” He says nothing more.
“Scenting humans… Damnit, Garrett,” Damien lays into him. “You know better. Even if you didn’t think much of it, it’s info you’re to share in the field, and later in debriefing,”
“It wasn’t his fault,” I try to defend, but Garrett tugs my hand to silence me.
“This isn’t about fault, darlin’. Right or wrong, I was off and screwed up.” He faces Damien. “It won’t happen again.”
Damien stares at him for a moment, grinds his teeth, then says, “Moving on. You look like you had more to say, Anna.”
“I don’t think they were using the musk to hide their own scent,” Anna says. “Mercaptan, when used in aerosol form, can release skunk musk as a byproduct.”
“Aerosol? For what?” Damien says.
“Aerosol makes a fabulous disbursement system, especially in a wide area like a valley.” Anna looks to Mila for help.
“Anna found Cadmium in all of you. That’s what’s affecting your scenting abilities.”
“I can still scent,” Frank says. Garrett, Hayden, Blade, and Callen all nod in agreement.
“We haven’t tested how well you five can scent,” Mila answers. “I guarantee, you’ve all lost some of your ability. The more exposure, the more severe the damage. You four are fortunate you didn’t stay in that valley any longer.”
“Like me,” I say.
“Yes, precisely. Thank you, Mila,” Anna says.
“It’s hard not getting caught up in the science of it all.
The WSSO has been relatively quiet for a while, and I think we now know why.
I used a dithizone reagent kit for testing heavy metals on Garrett’s sample.
I need lab confirmation, but the initial reaction indicated Cadmium in him as well.
Higher than in Hayden, Blade, Frank, and Callen, but not as high in Angelina. ”
“That tracks.” Mila says. “Garrett returned for Angel, incurred more exposure. The level of cadmium in Angel’s nasal tissue is nearly off the charts, which is why she’s lost nearly ninety-three percent of her ability to scent.”
“An entire year,” I mumble. “I breathed in whatever poison they were using out there for an entire year and it was so gradual, I never realized I was losing my ability to scent.”
Garrett’s arms curl around me from behind and he rests his head on my shoulder. “You had more pressing concerns, baby. But Mila and Anna will cure you. Won’t you?” he asks as he lifts his head and looks at the women.
“There’s a cure,” Mila confirms. “It will take time to make.”
Garrett kisses me below the ear. “The nightmare’s almost over.”
I close my eyes and let the warmth of his arms sink in, reassuring me. For the first time since I arrived at his pack, I no longer feel inadequate. I understand why I haven’t felt like myself. I haven’t been myself.
“Thank you,” I whisper to him, for standing by me, putting up with all I’ve gone through, but mostly for not giving up on me.
“Am I missing something?” Blade asks. “Why poison the valley with something that doesn’t kill?”
My knees collapse from beneath me as so many memories rush at me all at once. Garrett catches me, lifts me, and puts me in a chair.
Mila hands me a bottle of water, but I’m too stunned to drink or talk. “Angel?” She flashes her penlight in my eyes.
I push the light away. “I never understood why they wanted me to convince you to leave on your own. I thought they feared you. They had guns. High-powered, long-range rifles with scopes and enough bullets to rip through thirty wolves. They didn’t kill you or even try to capture you.
The only thing they ever said to me was get rid of the groups or we’ll kill them and you. ”
I pause a moment, Schneider’s voice and words so clear in my head. It’s not until Garrett puts a hand on my shoulder that I can separate myself from the memory.
“They only captured the lone shifters because to them they were throwaways, easy prey to experiment on. Shifters who wouldn’t return to their packs.
” I scan the faces of everyone in the room.
So many shifters who used to be strangers to me, intently listening to me.
Trusting in me. “Don’t you see? It was the groups of shifters they wanted. To poison them with the cadmium.”
“Any group who entered the valley would likely sense humans nearby and leave, but by then they would have already inhaled the cadmium. That was the goal,” Garrett says.
I nod.
“Still not sure what that would get them,” Frank speaks up. “So they kill our ability to scent. What’s the end game? ”
Damien’s face hardens. “To get to the pack. Weaken us without our realizing it. Multiple rescue teams. Numerous missions… they could all be affected. If we’re ever attacked…”