“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 corporateespionage—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.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
GARRETT
Four paws barely touch the snow as I walk. Body stays close to the ground, using the shadows to my advantage as I stalk my prey. Not once has the shifter turned to look in my direction. That benefits me. My nostrils flare, taking in every scent in a mile radius. We’re utterly alone, no one to interfere, no one to tell me I’m doing this wrong. And most importantly, no one to stop me.
The silver wolf pauses along the trail, scenting the air too late. The wind already stilled.
Mine, my wolf growls, eager to dominate.
