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Slowly, the brightness dimmed behind my lids, and I managed to open both of my eyes to see Mom hovering over me, with Dad and Miti standing behind her.
“Hi, Mom,” I croaked.
“Oh, my poor boy,” Mom said, leaning down to engulf me in a hug. She was shaking, and I could feel her tears dripping onto my cheeks.
“Mom, I’m okay.” This was one of the few times I was thankful for being a shifter. Anything broken had healed already, and with a bit more rest, I’d be good as new.
“Well, good!” Mom said, pulling back from me. Her demeanor suddenly changed, doing a complete one-eighty from concerned parent to enforcing disciplinary action. “If you’re doing fine, then answer me this. What was the big idea of attacking your brother? Your own flesh and blood! You could have killed each other, Jacob!”
“Alia,” Dad said in warning.
“Don’t ‘Alia’ me! Two of my sons attacked each other to the point where they drew copious amounts of blood, and Miti is telling us that Pac’s tonic might have something to do with it. I don’t know what to think anymore.” Her face crumpled, and she threw herself at Dad.
My heart broke watching Mom crying in Dad’s arms. Had I really done that much damage to Bruno? Over what? Searching my memory, I began piecing together snippets of our earlier conversation. We’d been discussing the painting at the gallery—and Millie. At the thought of Millie, my wolf growled, and Dad was on me in an instant with his alpha power.
“Jacob?” He was not going easy on me. There was fear rolling through him, clenching me to the bed.
I thought about Millie and the first time I met her and pushed any other thought of Bruno and our conversation to the side. It was almost impossible to do, but the look on my parents’ faces made me focus. Slowly, I started regaining some control, forcing myself to focus on the waft of Millie’s smell, her shyness, the way she carried herself. It all came rushing back to me, and I closed my eyes to revel in the feeling. After what had happened between me and Bruno, I couldn’t delay it anymore. I had to prove myself to her before Bruno snatched her up.
“I’m fine, Dad. Really,” I said.
He slowly let go of me and took a step back. Miti took his place and made me drink something that tasted like bitter turnips. I tried to spit it out, but Miti was stronger than any of us gave her credit for and clamped her fingers around my nose, making me swallow the whole thing.
“Miti! That was disgusting!” I said as soon as she pulled the cup away.
“You need to drink it,” she said firmly. “It’s not as strong as it should be, but it should start counteracting the effects of the tonic Pac made.”
“Do you know what the tonic does to us?” I asked.
She nodded. “To some degree. I’ve tested every member in our pack, and everyone has the same deformity in their blood. Those who have not mated, like you and Bruno, are seeing a mutation in your cells faster than anything I’ve seen before. I have a theory, but it’s just a theory.”
“Tell us,” Mom said.
Miti took a look at the three of us and sighed. “I think it preys on the strength of the person and turns it against them. For example, Jacob is our calm, organized planner. He has a good head on his shoulders, but this mutation is making him lash out, even at his own family.” She eyed me for a moment, then asked, “You don’t remember anything you did, do you?”
“Well, I do, but it’s all fuzzy, like a dream.”
Miti nodded. “Bruno said the same thing. He is our loud, outgoing one and seems to have the calmness of a monk now.”
“Can I see him?” I asked.
“No,” all three of them said.
“Okay . . .”
“We can’t trust you around Bruno right now, sweetheart,” Mom said, putting a hand on mine.
My heart died a little knowing I’d hurt my brother so bad that my family had to keep me away from him. Would I ever be able to hang out with him again? But then my wolf growled and reminded me Bruno had said Millie was his mate too.
“How can two shifters have the same mate?” I asked.
“It’s not possible,” Dad said.
But Miti was not going to take that answer. “It has happened before, but it is very rare. In all my years of living, I’ve only known of one pair that mated with their female successfully. In this case, however, I think something has gone terribly wrong.”
“I need to see Millie,” I said, trying to get out of bed, but Dad was there again, holding me down.
“Not yet, son. I want Miti to run some more tests on you before you leave.”
