“It all happened so fast, we didn’t have a chance. By the time we figured out our wells had been poisoned, it was too late for the males and pregnant females. The lab we sent the samples to confirmed that most of us had been poisoned—including me—but for some reason the poison interacted worse with the males. The man I spoke to thought it had something to do with testosterone or the higher metabolism of the males. And you know how weak pregnant females are. It’s no wonder they died so quickly. I contacted the Council afterward and sent them blood samples, but by then we had things under control. Now we all drink bottled water, most of our food is from whole food stores and we provide our own meat.”
“So why do we need an outside doctor for this?”
“Do you want to wait for the Council to send someone?” Without waiting for a response, she continued. “Dr. Graham was there for our pack when we needed him. When he found out what was going on he offered up his services immediately when a lot of those at the hospital would have scoffed at us. He’s one of the few humans we trust.”
He didn’t respond. Just frowned.
Ana narrowed her gaze at him. “I know you don’t like bringing in outsiders but we don’t have a choice. And I trust him.”
“I’m still calling the Council. About the feral wolf and this. They need to know what’s going on.”
“Feral wolf?” Carmen asked from her seat on the other side of Teresa’s bed.
Crap. Ana hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone about what they’d found.
Connor answered before she could. “Ana and I found a feral wolf on the south side of the property today, but he’s been taken care of. I’m going to call a meeting later tonight, but make sure you spread the word that no one is to wander off anywhere by themselves, okay?”
Wide-eyed, Carmen nodded, then returned her attention to Teresa.
Ana pushed up from her seat. “The doctor should be here by now. I’m going to go meet him.”
Connor followed her out into the hall. As they descended the stairs, he said, “I’ve sent Liam and Ryan to take care of the wolf’s body.”
“When did you have time to tell your brother about … never mind.” She’d forgotten about the telepathic-mind-link thing. She should have figured it out anyway. The two of them had always looked at each other like they knew what the other was thinking. Now some things made sense.
As they stepped outside she spotted the doctor walking through the gate. Her heart twisted as she thought about what could happen to her packmates. Watching her parents die had been hard enough. She didn’t think she could bear to lose her sisters or cousins. Or Connor. That thought brought a rush of unexpected tears to her eyes. She wanted to protect her heart against him. And she would. Still, the most primal—and apparently masochistic—part of her was damn happy he was back in her life.
She quickly blinked, but Connor didn’t miss a thing.
“Hey,” he murmured. Stopping in his tracks, he lightly brushed his thumb against her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “You’re not going to lose anyone. I promise.”
“What, are you a mind reader now?” she asked, semijoking.
He shook his head. “No, but I can read you.”
Before she could respond, the doctor interrupted them. “Ana, I’m so glad you called me.” The blond-haired man in his late forties rushed toward them, carrying a medical bag. Even though he smoked regularly, he was aging well.
“So far Teresa’s the only one affected. We’re not even sure what kind of poisoning it is, but the symptoms are similar.”
The doctor nodded politely at Connor, then focused his attention on Ana. “I want to test her blood immediately.”
“Of course. Doctor, this is Connor Armstrong. He’s the new Alpha of this pack and my mate.” He was one of the few humans who had a minor understanding of shifter dynamics, so she was free to talk in their terms.
“Pleasure to meet you.” The doctor held out his hand, and to Ana’s annoyance Connor hesitated before grasping it.
“She’s upstairs.” Ana motioned to him and led them.
Once they were in Teresa’s room Ana hung back with Connor and Carmen as the doctor checked her vitals and took a sample of her blood.
After a few minutes of working in silence, he finally spoke. “I won’t know for certain until I have the tests back, but she looks the same as the others. I’m sorry.”
“Can you tell how she was poisoned?” Connor asked.
He shook his head, his expression grim. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Then why is no one else sick?” Connor spoke again.
“I can’t answer that. She appears too incoherent, but I’d like to monitor her food intake from this point forward. If we can stop this now it might not spread like it did before.”
“We’ve already started checking our food,” Connor said.
The doctor paused and eyed Connor curiously. Ana knew he was used to dealing with her, and maybe he was nervous around Connor. Lord knew the wolf could be intimidating when he wanted. Finally Dr. Graham spoke. “Right now that’s the best thing you can do. Make sure everything is clean and keep a running list of the items that are silver-free.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Is there anything else you need?” Ana asked.
“No, but I want to keep an eye on her for a while.”
“I’m going to stay too,” Carmen murmured.
“Okay.” As Ana and Connor left they nearly stumbled over Vivian, who sat directly outside Teresa’s bedroom.
Ana crouched down next to her. Vivian was so young; Ana didn’t want her around any of this. “Hey, sweetie. What are you doing? I thought you were playing with Lucas.”
“Is Teresa going to die?” Vivian’s voice shook.
Ana paused and tried to choose her words carefully. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to upset the little girl. “The doctor is going to do everything he can to keep that from happening.”
“But you can’t know he’ll save her. What if you die too?” She suddenly pushed up from the floor and raced past them.
Ana’s heart lodged in her throat. She started after her, but Connor placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me talk to her, okay? She gets upset if anyone even talks about dying. I know how to calm her down.”
Ana wanted to argue, but he’d known the little cub longer. “You sure?”
He nodded and placed a soft kiss on her lips. There was nothing hungry or urgent about it, but her heart rate ratcheted up instantly. When he pulled away he dropped another kiss on her forehead. “Start scanning the food in our house and I’ll meet you back there.”
Mutely she nodded and forced her rubbery legs into action. A hundred different worries raced through her mind, but if she let herself focus on what might happen to her cousin or the rest of her pack, everyone else would sense her fear. Even if she didn’t want to, she had to stay strong for them and for herself. Pack life wasn’t so different from the lives of human families, she supposed. They all depended on each other to get through hard times.
“It looks like they’re burning Mike’s body.” Vince handed the binoculars to Taggart.
He peered through them and squinted at the two men standing in front of a controlled fire. The wind wasn’t in their favor today, so they had to keep their distance. “I think you’re right.”
“You think they know why he went feral?” Vince asked.
Taggart shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They won’t be able to prove he was feral now.”
Vince frowned. “But he was.”
Taggart bit back a sigh at Vince’s obvious statement. “We know that and whoever killed him knows that, but they won’t be able to prove it.”
“So?”
“Someone in their pack killed one of our pack members, and they’re going to pay for it.”
“What are you planning?” Vince’s voice was cautious.
“I’m going to demand a piece of their property in exchange for Mike’s murder.” Taggart had gotten the best end of the deal and he planned to capitalize on it. With Mike dead and burned, there was no proof that one of his wolves had turned feral because of meth use. He’d been a fucking idiot using that shit, then shifting to his animal form. Taggart had planned to kill him anyway, but now he didn’t have to worry about it. Since that problem was out of the way, he was going to take that land. Hell, he might even be willing to give up Ana for it.
“Connor won’t go for it. He was probably the one who killed Mike.”
The wind suddenly shifted in their direction and he scented Ana. It wasn’t fresh, but she’d been there recently. “You smell that?”
“Yeah. Ana. You think she killed him?”
“No. Her mate wouldn’t have let her out of his sight. If she was here, so was Connor.” But if she’d been there too and she knew without a doubt the wolf had been feral, she’d fight tooth and nail against parceling some of her land to him.
Which meant he’d likely have to use force and intimidation against them. He smiled to himself. He’d probably lose a few of his wolves if they went to war with Connor and Ana’s pack, but it would be more fun that way.
Liam steered his truck into an empty spot in front of December’s bookstore. Maybe he should give her some space, but after dealing with a dead wolf and possible poisoning at the ranch, he wanted to see her again. Hell, he needed to see her, regardless of all the other bullshit. If only to reassure himself she was safe. After dinner last night it had taken all his willpower not to kiss her.
But she hadn’t been ready. Unlike shifter females, the curvy redhead was very easy to read, and while she was attracted to him, she was still nervous around him. Not scared, which would have driven him crazy, but he hated the skittish vibes she put off.
The little bell jingled overhead as he entered the store. Her eyes widened when she saw him but she was helping another customer. She smiled shyly at him and returned to ringing up the woman at the cash register. He ducked down one of the aisles and flipped through a couple books until he heard the bell jingle as the woman left.