Page 23 of Hayden's Haven
“Sorry, I’m kind of tired of being a pin cushion. I’ve seen more needles than most drug addicts. Alex felt entitled to stick me when and as often as he liked. Fortunately, he left all his research so maybe that will cut down on the need to stick me.”
“You were the only one in your pack to get sick?”
“The virus hasn’t swept through here, exactly. I’m a carrier, at least that’s what Alex said.”
“Carrier?” Hell, she hadn’t considered the virus could remain dormant in shifters like chickenpox in humans and re-emerge at some point, either in the same form or mutated. It could explain part of the mutations she had seen.
“The virus destroyed my bridge enough that I couldn’t access my wolf,” Tess said with a casual wave of her hand as if it was no big deal. “Healing, sight, scent, shifting. Everything gone. I was as human as Anna, though not mentally prepared to live with that loss. I tried. I really did. It was tough acclimating, and then Anna came in and, well, she can tell you the rest.” Tess handed Mila the pile of bedding and led her up the stairs to the bedroom.
“The shifters in my pack will be thrilled to hear about this.”
“And not you?”
“Of course,” Mila ground out with a forced smile. “I was assessing the shifters, trying to stop the spread. I ran out of gloves and masks.” Vance burned them in one of his fits. “That’s how I contracted the virus.”
“Luckily, you survived. Though not all survivors see it that way. They’re too caught up in the loss of their shifter abilities. It’s scary, but I’ll say this much, Mila. Once your bridge is repaired and you can access your wolf again, you’ll appreciate what it is to be a strong shifter. You’ll be thankful you’re no longer weak.”
Silently, Mila followed behind Tess. Getting the treatment wasn’t going to help Mila. She had been lucky enough to survive the virus, but whatever Anna’s treatment was, it wasn’t going to make her a strong shifter.
Chapter Five
HAYDEN
Hayden watched Mila go from the cookhouse to the storage unit, what Anna referred to as The Lab. That place needed an upgrade. The pack’s two most valuable resources, Anna and Mila, were working in a damn shed that someone had hooked up with a generator so Anna could run her lab equipment and refrigerate samples. The floor heaters weren’t keeping the place warm either, which he knew because Blade had been rather vocal on the matter. Certainly, the pack could do better for them for the doctors tasked with saving wolf shifters from the deadly SEV-2.
Without knocking, Hayden entered the storage unit. Mila was sitting at the long table that she shared with Anna, pulled away from the microscope and looked to see who had entered.
“Hayden?”
Three days since they’d arrived. The bruises on her cheek and neck were yellow purple. They should be gone. His hands fisted at his side as his eyes moved to her wrists. The gauze around her wrists was gone; angry red scars having taken their place. Those scars, that reminder of what she had been through, shouldn’t be there. Her wolf had been overtaxed and instead of resting, Mila was in a freezing cold hut working long hours.
“May I speak with you, Doctor?”
Anna looked up from the pipette—at least that’s what he thinks she had called it the last time he had helped carry in a load of supplies for her. Curly blonde hair swung behind her as her head swiveled from him to Mila. It still amazed him how much the human looked like Reina, even had the same sky blue eyes.
“Good timing, actually,” Anna said, rising. His presence still made her nervous, understandably so. No matter how much he tried to get to know her—to let her get to know him—she still saw Drake when she looked at him. That’s what Hayden guessed was her issue with him. He had asked Blade once, but Blade had politely asked him not to talk about Drake, to either of them. Blade didn’t blame him for how brutal Drake and his pack had been to Anna, but Hayden’s and Blade’s relationship had changed afterward. Blade looked at Hayden almost as if he no longer trusted him. Hayden understood it too. Blade had a blood-bonded mate. He’d feel her distress through the bond. When it came to a choice between a brother and a mate, the mate always won out. As it should be. There was little Hayden could do about his relationship with Blade, other than try to make Anna feel comfortable around him.
“You don’t need to leave on my account, Anna. I’ll only be a moment,” Hayden said.
She patted her baby bump. “Junior’s hungry.”
He raised a brow. “Junior?”
“Just a temporary name. For my little Blade.”
“What if it’s a girl? Like we’re all hoping for.”
“Everyone’s hoping for a girl?” she said, her confusion clear.
“Well, maybe just me.”
“Why?” she asked with all seriousness, even some trepidation. He sighed. It seems everything he said got wrapped up in suspicion these days.
“Because I don’t think the pack can handle the antics of another male like Blade. You, however, are calm and get along with everyone.”
Anna didn’t say anything for a moment. When had he lost his gift for talking to shifters—and humans—without setting them off? Finally, Anna flashed a nervous smile. “I can see your point, but a girl will still have Blade’s genes. Our baby’s antics could rival Blade’s in time.”
“Then perhaps it’s good you’re a geneticist.”
