Chapter 83 Nico
NICO
Not long after the report on the news, the alphas began to file out, heading to their cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
Though it looked like everyone was simply leaving after a party, there was an ominous undertone in the air.
They had to get back to their packs to protect their families, land, and all those who counted on them for leadership.
Yet, it seemed strangely final. Like men heading off to a war zone or walking down death row.
I still had faith in our cause, but the odds were stacked against us.
I stood at the edge of the field, shaking hands and talking to each alpha as they left, mentioning to each of them that we should stay in contact daily.
Harvill stopped and squeezed my hand tight. “Good luck,” he said. There was a haunted look in his eyes.
I returned the squeeze. “Stay safe. Email, text, call, whatever. I want to hear from you guys often. We’re in this together.”
“You got it,” he said before heading to his truck.
Once they were gone and the gates closed, I made the trek back up to the house.
The pack lands had been full and vibrant with all the visitors.
I didn’t know that I’d want that many people here all the time, but it was nice for a little while—almost like a family reunion.
Most of the men who’d come were complete strangers.
Others were the barest of acquaintances, but we’d all had a common goal and a single thing we wanted to work toward.
That had pulled us together like nothing before.
As I walked, I told myself it might be a good idea to do this more often.
Maybe once a year or something. If we survived or were free a year from now, that was.
I walked into the house and was surprised to find Tiago sitting at the kitchen island with Maddy, drinking coffee. My surprise had me off-kilter when I spoke. “Uh… Tiago? I… uh… aren’t you leaving?”
Tiago grinned and took a sip of coffee before answering.
“Well, I only came as a gesture anyway. My son takes over as pack leader at the next full moon. I relayed everything we spoke about over the last few days. I was hoping you’d allow me to stay on a bit.
My boy’s watching the territory now; he didn’t feel safe coming to the meeting. ”
I was a little taken aback. I glanced at Maddy, and she was grinning at me. It seemed like she’d made a new friend.
“Don’t you want to help protect your pack?” I asked.
Tiago leaned forward on the table. “My boy’s got things handled.
I’ll be honest, he’s always been very independent, and he seemed hesitant about taking over as alpha.
I think letting him have the reins for a while without me breathing down his neck will help him develop into the leader I know he can be.
I’d love to help out here since it looks like you all are right on the front lines of this little situation.
Besides,” he said, glancing over at Maddy, “your little lady over here and I seem to be kindred spirits.”
I smiled, unsure, and sat at one of the vacant stools. “What do you mean by that?”
Tiago shrugged. “She reminds me of the daughter I never had. I was misunderstood in my youth, and I sort of understand what she’s going through with being the descendant of Edemas.”
He didn’t go into any more detail than that. Maddy reached out and put a hand on my forearm. “I think he’ll be a great help. You said we need all the backup and assistance we can get. Right?”
I reached over to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup, even though it was a little late for coffee.
The sun had gone down a few hours ago, but I was sure I’d have a hard time sleeping regardless of my caffeine intake.
“I think we can find a spot for you. How would you like to be part of a wolf shifter clan?”
Tiago raised his mug in a toast. “I love a change of pace.”
All three of us chuckled, but then I turned the conversation to more pressing matters. I looked at them both and frowned grimly. “So… this poison?”
Tiago and Maddy’s faces darkened, and in that instant, all their worries became obvious. They’d been anxious about it as well.
“What do you think they could put in it to prevent a shifter from changing back to human?” Tiago asked.
Maddy put her cup down and clasped her hands together. “Are we thinking it can keep a shifter from changing into their animal, too? Abi wasn’t totally clear on what her guards had said.”
I shook my head. “If that was the case, the royals would be all over the place, poisoning water sources and wells to keep us from using one of our main strengths. No, I think whatever they’ve developed only works to keep us as animals.
It pushes Viola’s agenda—the whole feral shifter disease she’s managed to trick the country and government into believing.
Like we’re some kind of existential threat that has to be dealt with.
” They looked somehow both relieved and more worried.
“I remember what it was like,” Maddy said.
“When I was trying to shift and couldn’t, it was like I was stuck.
It was uncomfortable, God, it was terrifying.
And that was when I was in my human form.
I can’t imagine how scary it would be to get stuck as my animal.
It’s wonderful when I shift, but my human form is who I really am, you know? ” She shuddered at the thought.
The same thought was in my own mind. Half of all I was, rested in my wolf, and the other half was human, but as she said, that was the body I’d been born with.
It would be scary not to be able to change back.
“Yours was probably from having your wolf suppressed by drugs for all those years,” I said.
Tiago raised his eyebrows. “What?”
Realizing only a few of our inner circle in the pack knew the whole story, Maddy and I relayed everything that had happened—her adoption and the story of her birth parents, Kenneth, Europe, and everything in between.
When we were done, Tiago was looking at us with newfound respect.
He nodded once for emphasis. “You’ve all had a helluva year, haven’t you? ”
Maddy and I looked at him dumbly for a moment before we burst out laughing.
That was one way to put it. If anyone had come to me a year ago and told me where I’d be and what I’d be dealing with right now, I’d have had them committed.
I’d always thought my life was fairly eventful and exciting.
I’d never thought I lived a boring life, but since getting involved with the royals, things had become a thousand times more interesting.
“What about herbal poisons? Has anyone ever heard of something that could do this? Even old legends?” Tiago asked.
“No,” I said. “Never heard of anything like that. I mean, there’s wolfsbane, but that would kill us. Hell, it would probably kill humans, for that matter.”
“Silver?” Maddy said, venturing a guess.
Tiago and I shook our heads. “No. Too much would kill a shifter, a tiny bit would hurt like shit, but it can’t force you to shift and stay as an animal,” I said.
We mulled it over for a few minutes. Eventually, I looked at Maddy. Her brow was furrowed, and her eyes kept moving back and forth like she was watching a movie or reading. She was remembering something. Suddenly, she gasped and put her hands to her head. “Oh, holy shit,” she hissed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I am. I just thought of something. When we were in Germany.” She looked me in the eyes, and I could see a strange fervor behind her eyes. Whatever she’d remembered had her spooked. “The stone wolf’s head?”
That was something I’d rather forget. The mental image played across my mind. The way the stone teeth had pierced her flesh and drained the blood from her body. Then my face went slack as I connected the dots. “Your blood?”
She nodded. “I was stuck as a human. Viola knew that. What if, when we left, they went back and took my blood out of the vault? It was there. Could they be using my blood to make this poison?”
I thought about it. She had the blood of Edemas, the most powerful shifter ever, a werewolf king.
Maddy was right about how difficult it had been for her to shift.
Could the scientists and chemists who worked for the royals have found something in her blood to reverse-engineer this poison?
It was far-fetched, but nothing else made a lick of sense.
“This is all my fault,” Maddy whispered.
“No,” Tiago and I said at the exact same moment. I leaned in close to her. “You can’t say that. This isn’t your fault. This is the royals’ fault.”
Maddy was pale and looked ready to vomit. I was sure she was thinking of the video on the news and the poor bear shifter who had been gunned down in the street. I understood. I really did, but it wasn’t her fault. I wished I could make her see that.
Without warning, Maddy’s face went hard. “I wonder who they tested this on?”
She was thinking again, but this time I couldn’t think where her thoughts were taking her. “Maddy?” I asked warily. Tiago also looked worried.
Maddy’s fists clenched. “What if they used this on my birth mother? What if they still have her? Or caught her again if she got away the first time?” Her body trembled with rage.
I’d never even thought of them using this on her mother.
Maddy had been hopeful that her birth mom had somehow gotten away, but I’d had a more realistic view.
If they had synthesized something, why wouldn’t they use it on a shifter they already had in captivity?
It’s what I would have done if were a sociopathic nutjob like Viola.
Maddy’s fists began to shake, and her lips peeled back, revealing her teeth.
Her anger started to boil up from within her.
I could sense her rage and power building.
It was emanating out from her body. I spared a glance at Tiago.
The old alpha was looking at me with wide, surprised eyes.
He frowned, and I could see his fingers and shoulders start to tremble.
He bowed his head in instinctive subservience to Maddy.
My own reaction came slower, probably because I was her mate, but an innate fear welled up inside me that I couldn’t hold back any longer.
It was the kind of fear a child had when they knew a parent was mad at them, that same anxiety you got when you were called into the principal’s office.
It came out of Maddy in waves. I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes to stay on Maddy.
Her face was twisted in a mask of suppressed anger.
Tears shone in her eyes. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through.
If I’d learned they’d tortured or experimented on my parents, I’d have been enraged.
Her wolf was probably exacerbating things.
As her aura completely filled the room, I leaned forward and put my hands on her cheeks, holding her head. “Maddy? It’s okay. It’s all going to be all right. You need to calm down.”
She glanced up at me and bared her fangs, fangs that had grown long and sharp in her mouth. She growled through the wicked-looking teeth.
“Maddy, I know you’re angry, I understand it, but you have to calm down. You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack or something. We’ll figure this out, and we’re going to win. Do you hear me?”
The growl died in her throat, and the teeth retracted and became human again. Maddy leaned forward and pressed her forehead against mine. As she calmed down, her emotions changed, and I sighed with relief as her aura evaporated.
Tiago gave a heavy huff of breath as he looked back up, the aura of Maddy’s lifting itself off him. “Jesus,” he muttered. “Never seen an alpha that strong.”
Ignoring him, I pulled Maddy close, and she curled herself into me. She seemed exhausted as she slumped limply into my embrace. I stood, scooping her into my arms and heading toward the stairs.
“Where are you taking me?” Maddy murmured.
“To bed. You need to sleep.” I stepped into our bedroom and set her down on the mattress. I tugged off her shoes and pants and tucked her in.
“Nico?” she asked as she slid her legs under the sheets.
“Yeah?”
“You’ve got a weird look on your face.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Sorry. I feel guilty about all this.”
“If anyone gets to be guilty, it’s me,” Maddy said. “I’m the one who willingly put my arm in that damned vault. I caused all this. We should have fought harder or something. Now they have my blood, and they’ve made this poison, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“You can’t blame yourself. You had no idea they could even do that.”
“If I can’t, then why are you blaming yourself?”
“I shouldn’t have allowed you to get kidnapped in the first place. If I’d ensured your safety, they never would have gotten you. That’s why I feel guilty.”
Maddy sighed and snuggled into the pillows and blankets. “Sounds like we both need to get out of our heads.”
“We know what Viola is up to now. We can plan to stop her. You’re right. We both need to quit acting sorry for ourselves.”
“Mmm,” Maddy grunted, her eyes already closed. She was asleep before I got to the door.
I looked back at her. How could I get her to stop carrying so much weight on her shoulders?
I was here for her, and I wanted to help.
My own guilt and shortcomings were nothing compared to what she must have been going through.
We were in this together. I promised myself I’d do better to try and be open and available for her. I needed her, and she needed me.