“Um, well, that changes things.” The two mages cleared their throats, nodded at Kai, and hurried away.
Kai raised an eyebrow at me and blinked. “I didn’t need your help, but thanks anyway,” he said in his usual quiet way.
“No problem.” I slapped him on the shoulder. “We’re pack mates now. I take care of my own.”
He mumbled his thanks again and jogged away toward the crumbling vampire dorm, which was still a shithole, but at least my uncle and his crew had fixed the roof and some of the worst issues.
Uncle Patrick and his bears had left for Diamond Peaks a few days ago. Even though the lumberyard had closed at the beginning of the enforced lockdown, they were doing small jobs for locals and friends, mostly to stay busy until the Supernatural Council lifted trade restrictions.
With every day that passed, ever more inflammatory hate speech appeared online, no longer confined to the darkest corners of the internet.
Boon believed some factions of the Mage Council were fanning the flames by encouraging hardcore magist influencers to post hate speech and racial slurs.
He was likely right. The rising tide of hatred toward lesser magicals was gathering pace at the same time as the increase in feral shifter cases.
The sun painted the melting snow warm gold as I unlocked my office. Raven would be in my mixed-year-group class this afternoon. With the rising threat from demons, Montgomery had instructed me to teach the students how to fight them. And since all year groups were at risk, I’d begun combining classes for maximum benefit.
The call from my father came as I was writing up some lesson notes.
“Everything okay?” Putting my cell on speaker, I opened my emails. I smiled when I saw my little mate had placed another order on Magizon. This time she’d ordered some books. Smutty books about monsters, judging from the titles. She probably hadn’t realized I monitored her purchase history.
“It’s your mother. She’s showing signs of feral shifter disease.”
The words on the screen faded into a jumbled mess as Dad’s words penetrated my brain.Mom sick? No way. My mother was never sick. She was a hale and hearty bear, like Dad. Like all of us. Bears didn’t get sick. Not even a sniffle.
“How? I don’t understand.” Everything I’d read said the feral shifter virus was sexually transmitted. My mother and father had beenmates for decades, so no way they had fucked other people. No two bears were more in love than my parents.
“Nor do we.” Dad’s voice broke, and I heard him sob quietly. My father never cried. Like most male bears, he was stoic and steady—the eye of the storm. He’d not even shed a tear when Seamus passed, so for him to show emotion, things must be critical.
“How bad is she?”
“Bad, son. You need to come home before she passes.”
“I’m on my way.” I ended the call.
I cursed under my breath. It would take fucking hours to drive home. Time I didn’t have. But first, I needed to tell Montgomery so he could cover my classes.
Zane materialized into view, making me jump.
“Need a lift?” For once, there was none of his usual smirking or innuendo.
“Lift?”
“I’ve been to the Diamond Peaks before, so I can teleport you straight there. And assist if necessary.”
I nodded, thinking fast. If he could get me to the town, then I’d be back home in less than an hour. Whether my mother would last that long was unknown, but I clung to the hope that perhaps the goddess would grant me this one favor.
“Can you go tell Raven so she doesn’t worry? I need a minute to change and call Montgomery.”
“Of course. I’ll instruct vampy and fish boy to watch her while we’re gone.”
He disappeared while I muttered a second prayer to the goddess to watch over my precious little mate while Zane and I were gone.
37
Raven
Alight dusting of flakes fell from the leaden sky as Glynda and I dragged ourselves to our PT class. Zane had popped into the library and informed me Maverick’s mother was sick, so my bear needed to go home. He explained he was taking him to save time.
