Page 14 of Healer's Call

“English please for us mere mortals,” Sage interrupts his tirade, which I’m grateful for because he totally lost me.

“All that to say something is really wrong. The blood tests are on four different individuals and yet they’re all saying the same thing. The blood levels are toxic.”

“So, you’re saying--” Sage interjects.

“That if they weren’t shifters, they’d be dead. They should already be dead.” Paul’s words hit me hard. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s beyond deadly. It needs to be found yesterday, or every shifter in that pack is going to die. Rose, you and Ava need to get out of there. If you get this in your system, you’re going to be dead within hours.”

I stumble and sit on my bed. Paul’s still talking, but I’m having a hard time processing it. His words are sort of a buzz in my head. And then he says something that gets my attention, my complete attention. “Poison.” I jerk back. He keeps talking a mile a minute, but I interrupt him.

“What?”

“It’s poison, Rose,” Sage says.

I shake my head. “I don’t understand. How--” my words trail off.

“I don’t know how,” Paul says, sounding wound up. “I don’t know what kind. I’m running tests now, and I’m sending more tests to the lab. But it’s going to take time. I don’t know where it’s coming from, how it’s happening, but you need to talk to Alpha Cade now. Better yet, let me talk to him. The entire Orlando pack is at risk, whether this is coming from something in the environment or somebody is doing it, I don’t know. But I’m going to talk to Garrett; you and Ava need to get out of there. He’s on his way here now.” I shake my head but don’t geta chance to respond. “Something or somebody is targeting the Orlando pack, and they are in extreme danger until we figure out what it is.”

I hear voices, and then Alpha Garrett’s voice comes over the line. “Rose, are you okay?”

His deep voice makes my eyes tear up. He represents a sense of security in my non-secure world. “I’m okay,” I manage to say, but my voice sounds weak even to my own ears.

“Are you able to get Alpha Cade in on this call? He needs to hear this conversation when Paul explains what’s going on.”

“I’ll try to get him.” I slip my shoes on and head out into the hallway. I knock quickly on Ava’s door. When she doesn’t answer, I knock harder, more aggressively than I normally would.

She opens the door, eyes wide. “Rose, what is your problem? Why are you banging on my door this late at night?”

“Alpha Garrett is on the phone as well as Sage and Paul. They have the results of the testing and need to talk to us and Alpha Cade right away.” She must hear the seriousness in my voice because she doesn’t say a word as she slips on flip flops and follows me. I hear Sage and Garrett and Paul talking while I make my way to the other side of the building. When I get close, a shifter stops me.

“Can I help you, Healers?”

Well, at least he knows who we are. “We need to get to Alpha Cade.”

“Not tonight. It’s late, and he’s with his family. You'll have to wait until morning,” the man says in a no-nonsense voice.

“Rose,” Garrett’s voice comes across the line. “Put me on speakerphone.” It’s his alpha voice, the one that dares anybody to disagree with him or cross him.

“You are,” I say quietly.

“This is Alpha Garrett from the Northwoods Pack. This is an urgent matter regarding the danger that the Orlando Pack is in, and I need access to your alpha now.”

The shifter in front of me nods. “Yes, Sir.” Without another word, he opens the door and nods for us to follow. We follow him down yet another hallway, where he stops outside a door. He speaks to the shifter standing there, while Ava and I stand back. It only takes a moment for Cade to come out. They must have communicated through their pack link. The door opens a moment later, and a solemn Amber steps out as well.

“Ava, Rose,” he says with a nod. “Follow me.” He wraps his arm around his mate and walks down the hallway to another room. “Carl and Van, stay on task. Eli is coming.”

“Come sit, Ava and Rose,” Amber says as she settles into a chair at a long table. We sit next to her, neither of us saying a word. I put my phone on the table, so everybody can hear.

“Garrett, I’m here with my mate and Rose and Ava. I’m just waiting on my head enforcer.”

“I’m here with Paul and Sage,” Garrett returns.

Cade sits down at the table and takes Amber’s hand in his. He’s giving off seriously powerful vibes right now, so I just keep my head down. It only takes a few minutes for the door to open. “Eli, good. Come on in.” A man that looks as big as Max comes into the room. He’s dark skinned and has tatoos all over. He’s massively built, and I can see instantly why he’s the pack enforcer. When his eyes meet mine, I quickly look away. “Eli, thanks for joining us. This is Rose and Ava.” Cade points to each of us as Eli settles at the table. “Garrett is on the phone.” Eli takes all this in without a word, reminding me of Max. I wonder if that’s a head enforcer thing—you have to just grunt a lot and have the muscle to make things happen. Cade’s words bring me back to the issue at hand. “Everybody’s here, Garrett, go ahead.”

“I’m going to have Paul explain what’s going on; I haven’t heard it all in detail yet myself.”

The room is silent as Paul’s voice comes across the line. “Good evening. I’m sorry for the late call, but the results came back just a little bit ago from the blood samples Rose sent. The results are too important to let go, even overnight.” Then he goes on to explain everything he said to me. He mostly loses me again until he uses that wordpoisonagain. The tension that was already present in the room ramps up, and I feel myself unable to breathe.

“Cade, dial it back,” Amber says softly. “It’s getting hard to breathe.” Instantly, it becomes easier to breathe.

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