Page 62 of Wolf Crowned

Willa continued to impress me. She might have been a scared girl a few months ago, but she’d come out the other end stronger. “Have you found anything else that might help?”

Willa pressed her lips together and put her hand on her leg where her scratch was still healing. She rubbed at the spot absently. “I think I figured out how he is making the wolfsbane so potent.”

I leaned forward. This I wanted to hear.

She chanced a glance at Jacob who gave her an encouraging nod. She licked her lips. “I think he is mixing it with silver.”

That was an interesting theory. It kind of made sense.

Willa tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know we can touch silver without issue, but it’s been a common thought amongst most packs that if it were to somehow get in our bloodstream, then it would be toxic. I think he’s mixing both poisons together to make them more potent.”

I massaged my temples. “I think you might be right.”

It would explain a lot of things, like how her leg had gotten so infected.

Or how a few scratches had hurt Sawyer bad enough that he barely got away and had been rendered unconscious for over twenty-four hours.

I set my phone on my lap and crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t suppose you have any antidotes for that do you?”

Willa shook her head and frowned. “Sorry, no. Just the salve your mom has. But at least we know what we are working with.”

She smoothed her hand over her leg again. “There’s still a few hours before our group leaves. I might be able to do some more research to see what I can find out.”

I nodded. “Do it. Anything is helpful.”

I made a mental note when we got back from this to do a one on one with everyone that was staying in the pack. We had people that could do all sorts of things and we weren’t using their talents. I was going to fix that.

My phone blared from my lap. I jumped, my hand flying to my chest. I fumbled with it as I flipped it over. It was the call I’d been waiting for.

I gave Willa and Jacob a sympathetic look. “I have to take this.”

Jacob stood and took Willa’s hand. “We’ll see ourselves out. Thanks for meeting with us.”

I blew out a breath before sliding my finger over the phone, answering it as Willa and Jacob closed the door to the office. “Hello.”

Winston’s voice came out gruff on the other end. “Alpha, sorry for the delay. But we are here.”

I patted my chest and closed my eyes. “That’s good news, Winston. Did you run into any problems?”

He cleared his throat. “We had a tail for a bit, but we were able to lose them. Then we wanted to make sure they were really gone. We did choose a new location away from the second part of our group, just in case.”

I opened my eyes and nodded. “That’s good thinking. Keep an eye out for anyone that may be watching, but plan to meet up with the rest of us first thing tomorrow morning.”

Luna, we were almost there. Jacob would lead his group out after dinner and then I would take the final group with me a few hours later.

I leaned forward, putting my free arm on the desk. I fiddled with a pen, rolling it back and forth. “Let me know immediately if anything changes.”

“I will, Alpha.”

“Good. We will see you tomorrow. Be safe.”

The phone clicked as he hung up. I fell back in my chair and rolled my shoulders. That was one less thing to worry about.

The world shimmered.

Sawyer’s presence surrounded me. Sloane.

He was breathless, panting.

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