Page 28 of Secrets and Ruin

“I have three werewolves put under magical sleep as far as I can tell. No conventional methods of waking them have been successful, and they’ve been asleep for nearly forty-eight hours from what we’ve been able to deduce. It was potentially ingested.”

“I see. Scents?”

“No scent of magic on them or the food, but they were found sleeping in the dining room. Do you know of the recent development that some have been able to hide the scent of magic from the moon cursed?”

“We have been made aware and will take that into consideration. Even without the scent of magic, it does sound like the sleep is magical in nature. Drugs are often burned out of your systems much faster than this.”

“How would you like me to bring them to the hospital?”

“Flight… actually, one moment. I’m sorry. Please hold.”

Suddenly, he was listening to elevator music, on hold as the lives of some of his werewolves hung in the balance. His hand tightened on the phone, but he bit back his temper, knowing there must be something that pulled her away, perhaps another life.

“Alpha Everson,” a man said after the elevator music ended. “This is Director Johansson.”

“Did you take over the call thanks to what happened with the Russians and Gwen?” he asked, believing they were about to pay for that meddling.

“Yes, but only to say you don’t need to bring the werewolves here. I’m going to send a team to you.”

Heath heard and processed that, mulling it over after an initial rush of gratitude. He knew he had to ask the all-important question as suspicion ran through him right after his gratitude.

“Why?”

“We have other werewolves here, and while we are neutral, not everyone in the building is,” the Director explained. “To keep all werewolves safe, I will be sending a witch and two fae who specialize in this sort of situation. They’ll be able to figure out what was done to your werewolves and wake them up.”

“I thought you might be getting me back for helping Gwen and Jacky,” Heath admitted.

“In a sense, I am. I’m keeping you off the property because trouble follows you and yours. I’ve heard things and would prefer them not to descend on my hospital. I wanted you to hear that from me and know the course of action I’m approving. We don’t often do house calls. In fact, we don’t do them at all.”

“Well, thank you.”

“It’s not a problem. The team will be there in one hour. Your fiancé might want to know that our cases of werewolves from Russia coming in with signs of abuse have dropped by a hundred percent,” he said, then hung up.

Heath pulled his phone away from his ear, frowning. Did Mygi Hospital know where they lived?

Probably. It seems like everyone knows where we live now.

He texted his inner circle in a group chat. He knew Landon would tell Jacky and Shamus would tell the boys. Just thinking of his son made him anxious. If there was a feeling Heath disliked the most, it was anxiety. He didn’t know how to shake it because there were half a dozen reasons behind it. He was worried about Landon if Dirk was hurt or killed. He didn’t want to see his son go through the terrible loss of a lover. Heath knew the pain of that all too well.

Heath’s more troubling situation was the anxiety Landon was feeding. His son wanted to kill a member of the pack, and he didn’t have the evidence to back it up. Landon wasn’t the type to threaten werewolves. He made promises, and his son never broke his promises. The only thing Heath could do was try to keep his son honorable.

He can’t kill Fenris without evidence. It sets a bad precedent in the pack. They need to know they’ll be innocent until proven otherwise. Just as I did with Arlo. Landon can’t say this is personal and act rashly. He can’t just kill someone because he has a feeling.

Heath could think of a dozen people who would want to capture Fenris, which complicated things. Callahan was at the top of that list. That Alpha clearly had some reason for keeping Fenris alive for a long time and had been pissed when Fenris walked away. If any werewolf had the power and means to make this abduction happen so smoothly, it was Callahan.

Then why not take all four of them? Unless taking someone like Teagan seems like it’s too far, especially if he has family in Corissa’s pack.

Heath needed more information, and he needed it fast.

One more hour and my werewolves will be awake.

He watched the minutes tick by, and with only five minutes to spare, the others started coming back. He couldn’t resist pulling Jacky to him as she came by. She sank onto the couch in his lap and wrapped her arms around him, exactly what he needed.

“What if Callahan took Fenris?” he asked the room. He saw Landon’s eyes go wide.

“Shit.”

“Exactly. If he did it, we’re in a different situation,” Heath said, sighing as he leaned his head on Jacky.

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