Page 72 of Callen's Captive
Kate smiled back. It was a nervous smile, but she was dauntless as always. Having her here, knowing he could turn to her for advice, support, or even a smile to help him make it through whatever Damien was going to tell him was what he needed in his life. A life that apparently no longer included his pack.
“The reason he took Alex, and we believe the reason he wanted Anna so badly, was to work on a virus that targets humans.”
“What?” Kate said.
Callen remained quiet. None of what Damien had said truly surprised him. In fact, it explained much of Drake’s behavior of late.
“When Drake realized he couldn’t get Anna back, he grabbed Alex. Which worked out better for him, I guess. Alex being a virologist and all.”
“You’re infected, aren’t you? The whole damn pack is.”
Damien had been intentionally maintaining a distance of no less than ten feet, as had Mason and the others who’d surrounded him before. All that growling and baring of teeth had been a warning to stay back, to protect him, not threaten him.
“Ravirez infected Alex, and then Drake released him. He counted on Alex returning to Boulder to spread the virus to the human population, but he came to us instead. In doing so, he infected us. Shifters are totally safe from its effects, but we’re carriers. Drake tested the virus on a group of humans he captured trespassing on his territory. The virus is fatal to humans, one hundred percent mortality rate as far as we know.”
Callen turned to Kate. “Move back. Ten more feet.”
“But—”
“Just do it!”
Kate didn’t argue. She backed up another ten feet, away from Damien, who shot her a sympathetic look. Callen wanted to get her as far from the area as he could, but he had to hear everything Damien knew, as well as what he planned to do about it.
“Alex said he tried to build a kill switch into the virus, but Ravirez prevented it. Anyway, at this point, he’s working on coming up with a vaccine for the virus.”
“Whole damn planet’s gonna die off because everyone’s playing God.”
Haggard and tired, Damien sighed. “We’re sitting on a powder keg. I can’t afford to let it spread to the humans. The government would see it as the attack it is, and they wouldn’t take the time to determine which pack was responsible. Drake, Liam, us. . . The military would wipe us all out.”
“What about Drake?” Kate yelled over. Callen was surprised she could hear the conversation from there, but it was just as well. She needed to know what was happening since it involved her, too.
“Liam has been handling Drake, keeping him from doing anything stupid,” Damien said.
“Hell! Drake’s shifters. . . are they infected too?” Callen asked, lowering his voice. Chitman and his friends hadn’t touched Kate, but they’d touched Callen, and if he was a carrier, he could have already infected her.
“No, just us. Alex is ground zero. Drake would rather we incur the blame and wrath of the government while he quietly sits back in the shadows. He thinks he’ll be spared, but that’s the fallacy. The government won’t care which pack started or even spread the virus. The humans see us as one nation, and they’ll annihilate us as one if we can’t control this virus. Drake can and will spread the virus if the WSSO boxes him in.”
“Fucking asshole!” Callen stopped, stared again at Kate, who limply smiled at him. “The WSSO has already targeted our pack, Damien. Kate hacked their servers, found a ton of information on us, including aerial photos and assault plans. How did you know to leave?”
“Anna discovered that the WSSO had contaminated the salt licks, spreading the shifter virus to the deer.”
“Then Anna’s safe?”
Damien nodded. “They made it back without any trouble. Once she discovered that the licks were contaminated, we started testing all food sources before eating. It soon became clear the WSSO was trying to wipe us out with the virus, to pass it off as a natural occurrence. They’ve been starting fires to destroy the bodies of the shifters they kill with the SEV2 virus. The government is concerned about the risk of the fires getting out of hand and costing taxpayers millions to fight.”
“But they don’t care that the WSSO is wiping out entire packs?”
“Doesn’t appear to be a big concern for them. We were already getting organized to leave when Alex returned. He passed out when he reached our border and the patrols brought him in. Then Pryce was examining him.” Damien took a deep breath, his long pause sending a chill through Callen.
“It spread so fast, Callen. By the time Alex woke and told us everything, the virus had already spread through the pack. We didn’t even know what was happening until it was too late. We all just thought it was a simple cough that our wolves healed quickly. We didn’t know it was lethal to humans until Alex woke and told us. We’re all carriers, which is why I’ve imposed a quarantine. No one in and no one out.”
“How many of our pack were out at the time?”
Damien lowered his voice considerably to keep Kate from hearing. “Twenty-nine. I’ve ordered all patrols to turn away everyone who tries to return. I’ve only allowed the mated shifters with families in the quarantine area to return. But the unmated ones, they haven’t been allowed to enter, even though some still have parents and siblings here. When Hayden returned, I explained to him much as I’m doing to you now. He’s not infected. I sent him back to work with Liam, and Liam is dealing with Drake, trying to convince him to get rid of the virus before something happens that we can’t undo. So far Liam’s convinced Drake to hold off on spreading the virus, but this is Drake we’re talking about.”
“Someone needs to put him down.”
“It’s an option,” Damien said without delay. “But it would only take seconds for him to infect his own pack, let it spread to Liam’s forces if he invades, and we can’t risk anyone else getting infected, especially Drake’s pack. If anything happened to Drake and with the chaos there lately, his shifters would split off and spread this virus in all directions. Our pack is contained, but if even one infected shifter gets away, we’re talking possible pandemic.
