“I believe what we have here is a novel virus. One that is an offshoot of another. Maybe. I don’t know for sure. But the virus appears to affect the werewolf kind. This inability to shift back has to have something to do with the virus. Don’t you think?”
Ryan nodded. “Sounds like that could be the case.”
“You haven’t had any flu-like symptoms, have any of you?” she asked them.
Impressed at the logical way Carol dealt with a medical mystery, just like he would in a P.I. investigation, Ryan peered over her shoulder at the lab results.
“No. I think you might be right. Everyone in the pack needs to be warned not to shift if they can avoid it. Especially if there’s any indication they’re coming down with a bout of the flu. Hell, I need to notify my pack and my sister.”
He lifted his phone off his belt, hoping no one in Green Valley had been inflicted with the virus, if that’s what it was. He called his sister first.
“Rosalind?”
“Well? Did you finally see the light with Carol?” She sounded like she knew he had, even before he told her so.
“Listen, we’ve got problems here.”
His sister remained silent. She knew that when his voice took on that dark tone, he meant business. “At least one of the people in Carol’s pack has come down sick with something. A flu-like virus, it appears. It seems that if a person with this virus shifts into the wolf, he or she can’t shape-shift back into human form.”
“You can’t be serious!” Her voice was more than concerned.
“I am serious about this. I’ll call my second in command, but I don’t want you to be exposed to anyone until we can sort this out.”
“Ha! This is the biggest season for my nursery business, Ryan.”
“Rosalind.” He only had to say her name once for her to know how grave this was.
“All right,” she said tightly. “Carol discovered it, didn’t she?”
He glanced at Carol. “Yeah, Carol’s the one who discovered the sickness and the results.”
“Through her visions, right?”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“Didn’t I tell you so?”
“Yeah, so you’ve said already, and I’ve finally… well, hell, she’s got really good hunches.” He gave Carol an elusive smile as she raised a brow at him.
“Not just hunches.”
“She’s the real deal.” His voice turned more commanding. “Don’t shift, all right?”
“All right already. I said I wouldn’t.”
He let out his breath. “I’ve got to call my sub-leader. I’ll be home soon. Keep yourself isolated from the others. All right?”
“I will.”
“I’ll call you when I know anything new.”
“Good luck, Ryan. She’ll do it. She’ll find a cure.”
“Now you can see the future?”
Silence. Then his sister said, “Yeah, just like I know that if you haven’t taken her for your mate already, you will soon.”
“Bye, Rosalind.” He wasn’t about to say anything to her about mating Carol while Jake and Matthew were listening in on the conversation. He clicked off the phone.
“Hunches, huh?” Carol asked Ryan.
“Yeah, damn good ones. It’s going to take a while to get used to you knowing things before I do… in an unscientific way, but…” He shrugged, punched in another number, and said, “Granbury, it’s McKinley. Find out who all in our pack might be sick with a flu-like virus. Upper respiratory ailments. Make sure you warn them not to shift. That has dire consequences.”
He looked over at Carol and found her observing him, a frown knitting her brow.“They can’t shift back if they turn into the wolf. I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve got an expert on the case. No one else who can help it should shift, either. But especially those with the flu.”
“Your administrative assistant was sick this morning.”
“Hell. Has she shifted?”
“Not that I know of. She called in sick today. I’ll call her, and if I don’t get an answer, I’ll run by her place and warn her.”
“All right. Make sure she gets plenty of fluids. The canine flu isn’t supposed to transfer to humans, but the way this is affecting our people, we’re not sure of the effects with the shift. I’ll give you an update as soon as I can. And let me know what’s going on with Ingrid.” He snapped his phone shut and put it away.
Carol gave Ryan a weary smile. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, Carol. I guess I was just too set in my ways before.”
Jake raised his brows when Carol looked at him. He was studying her way too much. His gaze shifted from her to Ryan.
She rose from the chair and headed for the stairs. “How are the wounded men doing?” she asked Matthew.
“They’ll be fine. They’re still in their wolf form. The bullets aren’t silver. But the men lost some blood, and all three are sick with whatever Doc probably has. Three of them suffered hind leg wounds. One was hit in the rump,” Matthew said, leading the way up the stairs, Carol following behind. “If we could have found Doc Mitchell, he could have performed the surgery at his vet clinic.”
Ryan watched as Carol disappeared and then turned to see what Jake was doing in the staff lounge.
Jake glanced at the couch and drew closer. Then he bent over it and poked around. Hell. Jake pulled the silk bra out from between the back and seat cushions and took a deep breath. He shook his head and tossed the bra to Ryan.
“Looks like you two took the plunge.” He gave Ryan a dark smile. “About time. But Darien will not be pleased.”
Ryan tucked the incriminating evidence into his pocket. Carol would not be pleased to know Jake had found her bra, and while he didn’t like to keep secrets from his mate, he had no plans to tell her about this.
He took off for the stairs, and Jake followed him. As soon as Carol finished treating the injured men, Ryan had every intention of transporting her home. To his home. His bed. He had people who could keep her safe just like Darien did. Now she belonged to his pack, not Darien’s. And if his own people could suffer the same trouble as Darien’s, Ryan needed to be there for them. He rubbed his chin in thought. As long as she could do her research in Green Valley. He’d have to make sure she could.
After they arrived at the operating room, Jake and Ryan served as guards and waited inside by the door. While Matthew assisted, Carol removed the bullet from the first of the patients. Ryan admired Carol for her dedication to the patient’s care. She worked efficiently with steady hands, her deportment self-assured. Matthew aided her, his expression one of deep admiration, as if he had every confidence in her abilities. When she stitched the man’s wound closed, she looked as though she could work like this all night. She had to be tired, but she didn’t let on.
“I keep telling you that you ought to be a doctor, Carol,” Matthew said. “Before Doc Weber arrived here, you’d removed how many bullets from pack members?”
“Three men wounded in that bank robbery. We heal faster, as long as the bullets aren’t made of silver. Rifle bullets can do a lot of permanent damage to humans, but our bodies will heal from the injury, given time. So it’s not the same.”
“You have the smarts and the skill to do it, Carol,” Matthew argued.
She might believe she wasn’t capable of doing the job, but with her determination, Ryan thought differently. If she wanted further medical training, he’d back her all the way. But one thing was certain: his Green Valley pack needed a lupus garou who had the medical skills she did. He needed to arrange for a wolf doctor to start a clinic, and she could attend him. If she wanted further training after that, Ryan was all for it.
Matthew bound the man’s injured leg, and then they moved on to the next man.
Avery. Hell, he was sick now. And he’d danced with Carol. She’d been around Doc all day, too. Ryan had danced with Marilee, and she also was ill. He wondered how long the rest of them had before they shifted with no way to change back.
Ryan turned to Jake. “Where are Marilee and Becky now? They’re both sick with this crud. If they’ve got it, we don’t want them returning to their pack and carrying the virus there.”
“What if they brought it from their pack?” Jake jerked his phone out of its pouch and punched in a number. “Bertha? This is Jake. Marilee and Becky were staying at your bed and breakfast, right?” He frowned and then stared at Ryan. “Hell. All right. I’ll tell Darien and give Ryan the word.”
Jake hung up and punched another button.
“Darien,” he sighed. “We’ve got more trouble.”
Carol finished removing the bullet from the third wounded man, although concentrating had become an effort as soon as Ryan and Jake left the operating room to discuss some new trouble with Darien in private.
Matthew said, “Wonder what else is going on.”
Carol took a deep breath. “Nothing good, we can be sure.”
“You did it with him, didn’t you?”
She glanced up from stitching the man’s wound closed. Matthew looked slightly annoyed, eyes narrowed, lips pursed. “If you mean Ryan and I are mated, yes.”
“He’ll expect you to leave right away. To move to Green Valley. To take care of his people.”
“I’m staying here until we resolve this.” Beyond that, she hadn’t really thought of leaving. Just that she’d be Ryan’s mate. Why hadn’t she even considered it? Did they have a hospital in Green Valley? Certainly not one that was run by werewolves, she imagined. Would she be able to get a position? Should she even try, considering her shifting problem?
She ground her teeth and sighed. “Like you heard Jake say, if we’re all infected because we’ve been exposed to this, we can’t go spreading it to other packs.” She figured that went without saying.