“Thank you.”
As she sits, I see him bend a little and take in the scent of her hair.His eyes widen and he looks directly at me.He knows.Of course he does.
“We are being joined,” he says a little stiffly.“By other betas.”
“Good.”I take a seat beside Maisey and then look to my left as four betas—Drago, Benji, Malek, and Val—walk in.
“What’s going on?”Drago asks taking in first me and then Maisey.
“I have information.”Fraser sits and steeples his hands beneath his chin.He waits for everyone to take a seat before continuing.“A message has been circulated from the elders of the bear clan.”
“The bears?”Malek huffs.“What have they got to say that can possibly interest us?”
“They’ve had a case of moon fever.”
“What?”I curl my hands into fists hoping I’ve heard him wrong.Moon fever is never good ...oh, no ...no way.
“That hasn’t been seen for over a century and then it was in South America.”Val’s eyes widen.“I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, what are they up to?”Malek asks with a snarl.“Trickery?”
“You’re going to have to believe it,” Fraser goes on.“The human attacks in Central Park are as much proof as we need and the bears have admitted to it.”
“Admitted to it?”My eyes widen.
“Yes, one of theirs is guilty of the kill.Went completely mad with the sickness in his blood and was overtaken with the need to murder as violently as possible.”Fraser grimaces.
“And what of the infected shifter?”I ask.“There is only one way to approach this.”
“He has been neutralized.”
“What does that mean?”Maisey asks.
The betas all turn to her.
“It means,” I say, “that he is dead now.There is no cure.Any shifter infected must be dealt with as swiftly as possible to prevent him spreading the disease and killing more humans.”
“Who is she?”Val asks and points at Maisey.His beard is longer than when I last saw him and his shaggy eyebrows almost cover his dark eyes.
“She’s with Elias,” Fraser answers before I can speak.
“But...”Maisey leans forward, her fingers spread on the desk the same way she’d done at the bar.“There have been two attacks, one a bear and one a coyote.So, the infection has already spread, and between two groups.”
“What?Two attacks from two different culprits?”Fraser flicks his attention from Maisey to me.“What is she talking about?”
“It’s true,” I say.“I’ve seen the evidence myself.Unmistakably a bear attack and a coyote.Easy to spot the difference when you know how.”
“And have we heard from the coyotes?”Malek asks, his voice as calm as usual even in a crisis.
“What do you think?”Fraser huffs.“Wily, sneaky, that’s their MO.No, we haven’t heard a word.”
“But we need to assume they’ve also had a case of moon fever,” Maisey says.“And hopefully the infected individual has been neutralized.”She shudders slightly.
Beneath the table I squeeze her thigh gently.
Drago sniffs loudly and leans closer to Maisey.“You are not human despite what you look like sitting there.”
“No, she’s not,” Malek says, his eyes narrowing at Maisey.“Your scent is old, centuries old, as though you have flames from an ancient fire in your blood.”
