Page 61 of Hayden's Haven
Mila walked over to Truman, ignoring Vance who stood only a few feet away. She could sense Vance’s anger that she hadn’t acknowledged him, even though it was proper to acknowledge the alpha first.
“I apologize for rushing out of here earlier,” she began, keeping her eyes locked on Truman. “I was surprised, and my mind was elsewhere. Damien tells me you thought I was kidnapped, and you came here to rescue me.”
“Yes. We sent trackers after you. His shifters killed three.”
“To start, you should know that I left voluntarily, and didn’t even meet his shifters until I was in Wyoming, helping an injured shifter. Kate, the shifter who paid for my medical education. She had contacted me, and that’s why I left. I owed her.”
“You didn’t tell anyone. I would have given you permission to leave, especially to help another shifter who’d helped you in the past.”
Truman had always supported her desire to educate herself. It wasn’t that Truman was a bad alpha, he was simply weak when it came to certain things, like Vance.
“I guess I wasn’t thinking straight. She was in bad shape. I was rushing to get to her as soon as possible.”
“You took your research. Vance noticed it gone.”
She hadn’t taken that much that he should have noticed anything. Especially since he never went into the back room of her house where she worked. He avoided it, except to drag her out of there when she didn’t run to him fast enough.
Mila contained her shudder. Her focus was slipping. The mere mention of Vance would do that. Hayden’s hand returned to her lower back. It was a slight touch, nothing more, but it meant the world.
“Step away,” Truman growled at Hayden. “This is private. And since your alpha won’t allow me to be alone with my packmate, the least you can do is step back and not pressure her.”
“He’s not pressuring me,” Mila spoke up even as Hayden opened his mouth to protest. “And he’s fine where he is.”
“Hayden, back away,” Damien ordered.
Appearances. Always a pissing match when it came to alphas. Mila reached to her left, gave Hayden’s hand a slight squeeze. “I’m fine.”
Except she wasn’t, for she caught Vance in her line of sight as she retrained her focus on Truman. His face held no emotion. All others would think him neutral, standing by while his alpha took care of business, but she knew better. He was raging behind that cool façade, planning her punishment for the second they were alone. She had to make sure being alone with him never happened. Which meant giving Truman the answers he needed so he’d leave.
Hayden stepped away from her as ordered, but curiously didn’t move toward Damien or Callen. In three strides he stood in front of Vance. Arms crossed and blocking her line of sight so Vance couldn’t intimidate her. Mila smiled as she turned back to Truman.
“The shifter, Kate, was from Damien’s pack. I knew this at the time.” A slight lie there, but she could sell it, which is what she had to do. Sell her story.
“I was hoping I might have a chance to confer with the doctor here when I helped Kate back to her pack, so I grabbed my notes and a few samples of SEV2. We need a vaccine that will work, Truman, and my research wasn’t going anywhere. I was too isolated. That’s why I didn’t think to tell you or leave a note. My mind was racing, trying to take advantage of an opportunity to confer with the doctor who devised the original vaccine.”
“A vaccine that didn’t work for us.”
“No, it didn’t. Because the virus mutated by then. But he still had a head start on understanding the virus and just because we were hit once didn’t mean we can’t be hit a second time.”
“Seriously?”
Truman looked shocked and worried. He hadn’t considered the possibility that the virus could return, wipe out dozens more shifters while leaving those who survived broken and unable to shift.
“I’m making progress here. They have a genetic engineer here. We make a great team, and I think we might have a solution.”
“When?” Damien asked, stepping closer.
“Soon. Another week or two. Maybe longer. It’s hard to say.”
“Will it work?” Truman again.
“We’ll test it in the lab.”
“You’ve been here long enough, Mila,” Truman said. “You can continue your work back home.”
Her panic returned, and the words wouldn’t come out. Mila thought she had a handle on this, but she didn’t. Her alpha had already made up his mind. He didn’t want to lose any shifters and have his pack appear weak.
There was shuffling of feet to her left. Hayden and Vance were staring at one another. “Move aside,” Vance warned. “You heard my alpha. He’s ordered her home.”
