Page 20 of Doctor Wolf's Human Nurse

“Fated mate. All shifters have a fated mate. Wild wolves only take one mate during their lifetime. Shifters are the same. Unless something happens, like Sean’s wife died or Rory’s wife left him, they only take one mate. It is their fated mate. According to what I’ve heard, a shifter will catch the scent of his or her mate. They know immediately that they are destined to be with the other person. It’s like their souls connect and becomeone. Sean said he knew I was his fated mate because of my scent. Later on, he fell in love with me. Perhaps Sawyer’s ability to create a calmness in you is a sign that he’s your fated mate.”

“That can’t be,” Abby said.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s my boss and my friend. I don’t want anything to ruin that.”

Xyla’s response was a loud laugh. “It might be too late for that, my friend.”

8

Sawyer

Sawyer thought about begging off of the meeting atHowlers’that night. He was tired and overwhelmed. He hated delivering bad news and hated even more the idea that he couldn’t fix it and make it all better.

At least in the United States, he has a strong chance of recovery. Treatments have come a long way.

He drove home and stared longingly at his couch and television before jumping in the shower. Everyone was just gathering when he arrived.

Sean clapped him on the back. “You look exhausted, man.”

“I am. I thought about calling in sick to the meeting but figured it must be important, so I managed to haul my carcass over here.”

“I’m glad you did. It’s important. I’ll tell you what, a beer and dinner is on me.”

“No thanks to the beer. It would likely put me to sleep right here. Dinner, on the other hand, is accepted, although you’ll go broke if you keep comping my meals.”

Sean laughed. “Nah. I’ll just raise the prices for everyone else.”

Zac coughed. “I heard that. I don’t want to have to pay fifty cents more for my meals so Sawyer can eat free.”

Sean gestured toward Sawyer. “But look at that face. Doesn’t he look pathetic and in desperate need of food?”

“More like desperate need of bed,” Sebastian said.

Matthias, Lucious, Josiah, Rory, and a couple other shifters from the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack took a seat at the long table. Zac’s face dropped all hints of humor and became very serious.

“We have some news, none of it good. We’ve had two more younglings disappear. A wolf shifter pup and a dragon shifter whelp went missing this morning. It’s the same scenario as before. The kids went outside to play. Their scent suggests that they were lured away from their yard. Then, the chemical Anthera-X was used to mask the scent of the kidnappers,” Zac reported.

Matthias ran his fingers through his hair. “The fact that the kidnappers are using Anthera-X tells us that they are likely shifters. I hate to think that shifters would turn against their own kind, especially children, but we’ve seen it happen before.”

“I wonder if there have been other shifter younglings kidnapped in the area and we just don’t know about it because they aren’t a part of our clans or pack,” Rory said. “I’ll check out the police reports for missing kids in and around Angel’s Creek.”

Lucious nodded. “That’s a good idea. You might go as far as Raton and Las Vegas.”

Sebastian finished his soda and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve found some interesting information. I went to the lab where Dr. Rick Rogers used to work, and a couple of people were willing to talk to me as long as I didn’t narc on them.”

Everyone leaned forward, eagerly waiting to find out what interesting information Sebastian had to relate.

“He was fired because he was trying to create a super virus that would have the same effect as the bubonic plague or the Spanish flu. He claimed that it was important that they get ahead of such illnesses so they could combat them before they happened and that people had no idea what Mother Nature could unleash upon the world. He was just trying to get ahead of the game.”

“Wow,” Rory said. “That’s diabolical. Aren’t there enough diseases in the world that need a cure without trying to create one?”

“That’s what his supervisors told him. According to one source, he was given a couple of warnings but kept working on his pet projects on the sly. Part of his so-called research was finding a way to expose a lot of people at once,” Sebastian reported.

Lucious let out a low whistle. “That sounds a lot like biological warfare.”

“That’s the same conclusion that the people who ran the lab thought, which was why he was terminated. As often, in such cases, the powers that be gave him the option to resign. That way, he could leave with his reputation intact and the lab wouldn’t have to admit that there was any potential wrong-doing on their premises.”

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