Chapter 42 #2
Hayden’s eyes widen suddenly. “Fuck. It’s more widespread than the rescue teams, Damien. That near incursion a few weeks back,… I smelled skunk. What if that was the WSSO spraying cadmium along our borders? All the guards would be affected.”
“Everyone will have to be tested,” Mila says. “Guards first, since they’re on the perimeter, but even the inner pack. There’s no telling where the humans have been, or what they’ve poisoned.”
Anna’s face drops and her mate stands behind her, massaging her shoulders. It looks like he’s there supporting her, and then I realize why. She’s human. A fact that still shocks me, mostly because I can’t scent a difference between human and shifter, as I should be able to.
“What’s wrong, Anna?” Damien asks.
“I don’t have enough supplies for Mila to treat more than a few shifters.”
“Write up what you need, quantities, where we can get it, anything Langdon will need to procure the supplies.”
“We can get the supplements from pharmacies easily enough, but the rest is medical grade materials. Not medicines we can just walk into Dr. Fleming in Devil’s Peak and request without explaining.
This isn’t like requesting antibiotics or childhood vaccines.
I mean, is this the type of thing we want others to know? ”
“We need to discuss this. Figure out not just a defense but what the WSSO is planning,” Damien says to Hayden.
“Which is why we’ll have to be subtle about obtaining the supplies Anna needs. We can’t let the WSSO know we’ve figured out what’s going on.”
“Agreed. Let the WSSO think we’ve lost the ability to scent them initially, but we have to move fast, because as long as they think we’re working at a disadvantage they could attack any time.”
“This could be fairly widespread,” Blade says. “Angelina said other groups entered that valley. This could be the prelude to a massive regional assault.”
“I’ll talk to Drake about getting the medical supplies.” Hayden again. “We’ll need to inform him and the other packs anyway, and he can move faster without the WSSO knowing.”
“I can draw up instructions for their medics to test their shifters,” Anna says.
“Good idea. You and Mila pull in anyone you need to develop the cure. Coordinate your needs through Hayden. He’s in charge of procuring medical supplies through Drake or any other means.
Blade, get hold of Pryce, get him up to speed.
You two are in charge of contacting the other packs and distributing Anna’s instructions on testing. ”
“And the treatment for cadmium poisoning if anyone’s afflicted,” Mila adds.
“That too.”
“What a fucking mess.” Frank scrubs his face. If we move too quickly or cause a panic—”
“Mila, you’ll have to coordinate testing. Tell our shifters whatever you have to, but make sure you tell me the cover story first, so we don’t fuck it up.”
She delivers an easy smile. “No one will panic. I’ll tell them we have a viral going around—a flu variant—and everyone has to be tested. Alpha’s orders.”
“That’ll work,” Damien says.
“Just don’t pin it on Angel,” Garrett speaks up.
“Of course not. If anyone asks, we stick to the truth as closely as possible. As long as no one mentions the WSSO, our shifters won’t think it’s anything other than one of those viruses that pops up in winter.”
“But our wolves usually cure those,” Garrett says.
“True, but even wolves need time to cure ailments. That’s why I became a doctor. Sometimes our wolves need a little help. I’ll be open about the testing, loss of scent, and that it’s easily treated. No one will panic. And Angel will merely be considered one of the more severe cases, that’s all.”
It’s all moving so fast, the plans their making, how to test and treat not just their pack, but others, as if they’ve been through this before. They work so smoothly as a team. I can barely keep up with what they’re saying as a horrid thought overtakes my brain.
“Breathe, Angel,” Garrett says from where he’s kneeling in front of me, rubbing my arm and trying to get me to focus on him.
I calm my breathing.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“You’re having a panic attack, Lina,” Mila says. “We need to slow your breathing. Look at me. Breathe in slowly—one, two, three, four. Hold. Now out—one, two, three, four. Again. Just focus on the counting. Close your eyes if that helps.”
I close my eyes and focus on her voice. The sounds of my slowing breaths fill my ears and slowly I calm. When I open my eyes, I see not Mila in front of me, but Garrett. Concern quickly transforms into a smile.
He cups my cheek. “Better?”
“My pack had good security, Garrett,” I blurt out. “They’d been poisoned by the cadmium. That’s the only thing that explains why they didn’t smell the humans coming. And now they’ve relocated somewhere we won’t be able to reach them with the cure. If the WSSO finds them again—”
“We’ll find them,” Garrett says with a calming smile. “Because Drake will give us that chance.”
“Drake? I don’t understand.”
“Hayden had to make a deal with Drake to let us enter his territory to search for you. I agreed to infiltrate whatever he needed.”
“You mean my pack? He wants you to infiltrate my pack?”
“Initially, I think he planned to send me in for some corporate espionage—it’s a white wolf specialty—but Ronin irritated him enough that he couldn’t let that prick get off with just a warning. He wants to send a message.”
“That message can be two-fold,” Hayden speaks up as he pulls a chair over and motions for Mila to sit. She looks tired and grateful to get off her feet.
“Garrett infiltrating the pack will prove to Ronin he can’t hide from Drake, that he’s vulnerable. Drake will like that. And it will give Garrett the chance to relay what we know about the cadmium poisoning, Angelina.”
“Lina,” I say, because it’s hard considering any of these shifters as anything less than friends. “And thank you.”
“We can’t let you lose more family or pack,” Garrett says, cupping my cheek.
God, I love this shifter… and this pack. I never thought I’d say that, but this here, them going out of their way to help not only me but other packs as well, including my former pack…I have no words. But I know one thing. I’m not going anywhere. I’m finally where I should be. Home.