The doctors and scientists in our pack were voraciously working to find a cure for the insanity that had infected the wolves. It took them nearly four days to find a minuscule trace of silver in the wolves’ bloodstreams, but without knowing how it was ingested, there was no way to stop the spread.
Rush sat across from me at our desk that had been converted to include a workspace for me on the other side, chin resting on his fists. We had been staring at each other for twenty-four minutes, blankly. There was a quality about being near your mate that calmed you, even when we felt powerless about protecting our pack.
Beckett came in and slumped into the couch cushions.
“Is this what romance looks like nowadays?” he said dryly. We didn’t look away from each other.
“You don’t know what romance is, Beck,” Rush refuted theatrically. I cracked a smile from my mannequin-like exterior.
“Four humans were killed in town before the humans shot and killed the wolves.” Beckett’s head fell into his hand sadly.
“Isn’t it funny that we might be the only thing between humans and certain death even though that’s what we figured would happen anyway?” My voice held no humor, just a dry, sarcastic wit.
“Just let the wanderers into the human town, saves us from having to do it ourselves.”
I grunted in disgust at Beckett. “Those wolves are sick, Beckett, it’s just cruel.”
He shrugged and stood up. “It’s the truth, even if it is cruel,” he pointed out, rolling his eyes and chuckling. “I need something to drink if we’re going to continue this riveting banter.”
Beckett left, and Rush and I resumed our quiet staring match. My phone began to buzz on the desk, but I ignored it. Rush broke our eye contact and glanced down, looking at my phone. His eyes grew wider, and he reached for the phone.
“Hazel, that’s Harrison’s daughter, right?” he asked frantically. Her name continued to flash on the screen as I took the device from his hand, instantly accepting her call. I put her on speakerphone and set the phone on the desk.
“Sloane?” her voice wailed.
“Yeah, I’m here, Hazel. What’s wrong, what happened?”
“Sloane, it’s too horrible. I swear I didn’t know anything about it!”
“Hazel, just take a deep breath and tell us what’s wrong,” Rush soothed, looking up at me worried.
“That’s your fiancé?” her cheerful voice asked. I shrugged to Rush, I hadn’t told her I was a wolf, let alone that I had a werewolf mate.
“Yeah, that’s Rush,” I confirmed.
“Oh my gosh, this is horrible. You both should get out of town now before this gets any worse. The wolves are coming into town, and they’re killing people, Sloane!”
“We heard,” I said hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, my father won’t let me leave the house. Just, don’t worry, this stuff shouldn’t affect us in any way,” she sighed.
“What “stuff,” Hazel?”
“Your neighbors didn’t tell you? I’m sorry I’ve been so concerned with my father and everything, and I know you said you lived out in the woods, or I would have visited sooner. But this is actually good, the scientists that work in another town developed an agent to help subdue the wolves. They’re getting really violent, as you can probably tell, and if we’re going to negotiate with them, this might be the only way to do it.”
“Hazel, I need you to tell me exactly what you know,” Rush spoke clearly and forcefully.
“Uh, the only thing I know is that they put something in the water, it’s supposed to suppress their instincts,” she stuttered out.
“The water?” I clarified, my heart pounding loudly in my ears.
“Yeah,” she breathed. I ended the call and ran out of the room. Rush was close behind me. I clattered loudly down the stairs; arms spread out to catch me if I fell. My momentum pushed me farther than I wanted, crashing into the doorframe as I ran into the kitchen, Rush bumping into me.
Beckett stood near the sink, refilling a second, tall glass of water from the faucet. Rush maneuvered around me and knocked the glass out of Beckett’s hand. Beckett turned angrily, but Rush grabbed onto his biceps, shaking him to get his attention. Beckett growled and pushed Rush away.
His eyes flashed chartreuse green.
Forgive Me
“The Cronus pack has the antidote,” Maeve informed us. “We’re going to retrieve it now. We should be back by this time tomorrow.”
“And it works?” My voice sounded disbelieving.
“It doesn’t work past a point.” Her brown eyes cast down. “It prevents those who were infected from reaching the point Marguerite and the others reached, but it can’t bring them back past that point.”
“You’ll take guards with you?” Rush confirmed.
Maeve nodded. “We’ll have three guards with us.” She left the office.
“Will she be back before Beckett…” I covered my mouth, unable to finish the sentence.
“She will,” he said weakly. “She has to be.”
“What if she isn’t?”
Rush looked at my forlorn face and reached over for my hand, tugging me closer to him until his arms wrapped around my waist. His right hand lifted and guided my head to his chest.
“It’ll be okay,” he promised, his fingers softly moving through my hair.
“What if it isn’t?”
“Shh,” he quieted me, kissing the top of my head. “Just focus on the positive, we’re getting the antidote, and we know what’s causing this. That has to be good enough for now.”
“But Rush-”
“Will you ever stop talking?” he asked softly, his voice coated in adoration and teasing. I breathed a laugh and ducked my head.
“No.”
“Figures.” He smiled.
“I just...” I leaned back and looked up at him. His face seemed a little more aged lately than it used to. His smile seemed a little more tired, and his eyes crinkled a little more. “I
