Page 47 of Hayden's Haven
“I caught a strange scent. Stay here,” Frank said as he dropped his backpack and shifted.
Hayden did the same. They had already crossed into their territory and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Frank go up against intruders alone.
* * *
MILA
“It’s only been a week,” Anna said as they walked down the hill to check on the progress of the new lab. “I told you it could take a few days before your shifter abilities were returned. Still have three days before the Running of the Moon. You might be able to shift by then.”
“I’m not worried about the run.”
“Then what? I realize I’ve only had the chance to give the treatment to Tess, but it worked. I’m confident you’ll be back to normal.”
That’s what she was afraid of. Why had she consented? Merely because she had been so cold? Stupid, stupid, stupid. She had been acting on instinct lately, even without her wolf to lead her down the wrong path. She’d let Hayden claim her. It had been careless, stupid and had felt so damn right. He’d be returning soon. What was she going to do about him?
“You won’t tell Hayden, right?”
Blue eyes dimming just a fraction, Anna nodded. “Are you sure you want to keep this a secret from everyone?”
“Yes. Please don’t ask me to explain. It’s. . . complicated.”
“So, you and Hayden, huh?” Anna said, not exactly smiling.
“It’s complicated.”
“You already said that,” Anna pointed out.
Anna had told Mila of her first husband, Kurt. Of all people and shifters, Anna would probably understand Mila’s decision.
“Hayden will understand,” Anna said. “He’s not a bad guy.”
That surprised Mila. “I thought you didn’t like him.”
“I never said that.”
“No, but I see how you flinch when he’s near, how you often leave when he comes close. You don’t like being near him, like most of the pack.”
“Is that how I come across?” she asked, her eyes going wide.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to stress you, especially now.”
“That’s Blade talking. Talk to me as Mila, or even Dr. Evans, but don’t parrot Blade. I can decide for myself when I’m stressed, and I’m not stressed!”
Mila ground to a halt and raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” Anna said, softening her voice. “I’m a little stressed. But it’s because of the virus. If the virus comes here, this baby’s more prone than anyone.”
“Or. . . more protected,” Mila said, as a new idea starting to form.
The noise picked up as they rounded the corner past a clump of trees. Before them stood the completed exterior of the lab. The shifters on the construction crew had done a fabulous job. The lab looked like another house, which made sense since that’s what they built around here more than anything else.
“I have nothing against Hayden,” Anna said as they headed inside the new lab.
Wires were hanging from the ceiling and down walls in key locations. The shifters inside were upstairs, arguing over how to run some cables after a shifter had screwed up and cut a wire too short. Despite whatever the issues were upstairs, the place was fabulous. Anna and Mila would finally have a warm space to work with plenty of room for all the equipment they both wanted.
Mila wished Hayden were here to see this since the lab had been his idea. He’d return and see it soon enough, but coming here without him felt kind of empty. Just being in the camp without seeing him, hearing him, had made the past two weeks drag, despite how busy she had been working on the vaccine. And she was really close to finding the answer she needed too; she could feel it.
Anna placed a hand on Mila, guiding her back outside so they could finish talking away from the shifters inside. “Hayden’s never done anything to me. He’s always been a sweetheart, but when I look at him, especially when my mind is elsewhere, and I run into him or he just pops up out of nowhere, I see Drake. It takes a few seconds for my brain to catch up to my eyes and let me relax around him.”
