Page 30 of Hayden's Haven
“She’s not going.” Callen folded his massive arms over his chest.
“It’s a good idea, Callen,” Damien agreed.
Callen was still starting at Hayden. “You of all shifters would send her in?”
“I don’t want to, but if Damien insists, she’s the one I’d send.”
As Callen started arguing with him and Damien, Hayden could feel Mila watching him, studying him almost. He glanced at her for a brief second, at how confused she looked. She was still innocent in so many ways, and so very important to their survival. If the government did confiscate and use the WSSO’s stockpile, it would be through one coordinated effort to wipe out shifters everywhere with the least damage to the humans, plants, and animals.
They needed the vaccine Mila was developing, now more than ever. She was here for that alone and had no interest in him. He would always be just a white wolf to her, a breed she didn’t trust. Once the truth came out about his connection to Drake, that would be the end of any chance Hayden had with Dr. Mila Evans.
* * *
MILA
There was more going on in that meeting that mere brainstorming. Mila couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly, only that it somehow centered around Hayden. How had the shifter become such an expert on Drake? And what was his connection to Kate that made Callen hold off from punching him like he clearly wanted? The more she lived and worked with these shifters, the more questions surfaced about Mila’s handsome white wolf.
After the meeting broke up, with Callen remaining back to continue arguing with Damien over the possibility of sending Kate in to spy on Drake, Hayden left without a single glance in Mila’s direction. That was odd. Each time they crossed paths in the past week, he had always watched her closely, like he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Perhaps that was simply her reading into what she’d seen in those deep black eyes several times now. She was torn between the need to get to know Hayden better and the knowledge that he would walk away from her if they ever got serious. From those smoldering looks he kept giving her, things between them could get serious, fast.
Nothing about Hayden was ordinary, from his handsome face and square jaw to the way he spoke with the shifters here with a casual ease while never losing that sense of command. Only once had she truly seen him lose his temper. Given the number of shifters here who clearly didn’t approve of him, his control was impressive.
More than once she’d heard shifters mumble behind his back, yet Hayden never turned and said or did anything to punish them. He had to hear them. Even she could hear the insults they lobbed. She couldn’t understand why so many hated him given how hard he worked and how much he truly cared about the welfare of this pack. The only shifters who truly had Hayden’s back were in Damien’s inner circle. Even in the meeting, where the tension had been suffocating, it was clear those shifters would do anything for Hayden, including put up with outrageous ideas like sending Kate in against Drake. Then again, it wasn’t so outrageous. Kate was Drake’s cousin. . . Mila still couldn’t get used to that idea. Poor Kate, to be related to Drake!
The curly-haired shifter Hayden was talking to on the edge of the main compound glanced over at Mila. This was one of those times it would pay to have better hearing. A half-smile should settle everything and let her escape with some dignity. Except it didn’t. Hayden dismissed the shifter and strolled over to her.
“Can we talk?” Hayden asked, his voice as serious as it had been at the meeting, except he was more relaxed and smiling. Oh, it was a real treat seeing Hayden smile, considering it was so rare. Her insides got all tingly when he smiled at her.
“Can I ask you something first?” she asked.
“Anything.”
“What was that all about in there? How do you know Drake so well?”
“Would you believe me if I said it’s part of my job? In addition to vetting new shifters and overseeing daily operations around here, I counsel Damien when it comes to our enemies. Though, technically Drake is an ally, or rather his pack is. It’s rather complicated, and I’d rather not bore you.”
“Just as well, thinking of him and all those white wolves on the border of this pack was the one thing that made me think twice about coming here.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Aside from making sure Kate was okay? I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do what I could to protect our race. I had procured a sample of the virus from one of the first packs affected and newer samples from a nearby pack before the WSSO came in and incinerated what was left of the small group. There were differences between the samples, evidence that the virus had mutated. I had heard both Damien and Drake had doctors working on the virus to develop a vaccine. Pooling information and resources may be the only way to get in front of this virus, but there was no way I was going near Drake’s pack, even though my alpha had asked me to.”
“Smart move on your part.”
“I was hoping to meet your Dr. Kerns, but at least I have his research. And Anna’s an invaluable resource as well.”
“Did she tell you about the treatment then, to return your ability to shift?”
“Yes, but it’s new, relatively untested.”
“It worked for Tess.”
“Then Tess is quite fortunate. A thousand things could go wrong, making it incompatible for the next shifter.”
“You’re not going to try the treatment?”
He looked and sounded shocked, and she certainly could understand that. For a shifter, the very idea of losing one’s ability to shift was scarier than the idea of dying in battle. Every shifter she knew who had survived the virus could no longer access their wolves. Every one of them would gladly give an arm or a leg to regain that ability.
“I’ll go over the protocols with her, so I can bring the treatment back to my pack when I leave here.” There, not another lie exactly, but a misdirect. She’d bring back the treatment to her pack, but she didn’t plan on taking it herself, at least not yet. Maybe eventually. Losing her connection to her wolf had given her a freedom she hadn’t known before, and that was something she couldn’t explain to Hayden. Maybe Finley and Benji would understand, but not Hayden.
