Page 29 of The Awakened Wolf

Her admission drew the heat from my outrage. My shoulders sagged. “Why, Kiana?” I said, plopping my butt on the coffee table with a huff. “Why do we have to slink around in the shadows if people already know we’re real?”

She waved at the screen. “Why do you think? We keep the secret because of the Mantels over the past century who’ve pretended to be allies and then hatched ceaseless plots against us. It’s a necessary precaution that we don’t raise our pups to cavort with the humans like everything is fabulous. But this…” She shook her head, her brows a pale silhouette against her flushed face. “It must have been them. And that’s why we can’t just bust Blaze out of jail. It’s got to be a trap.”

“But we can’t just leave him there,” I said, standing. My legs voted against that, their bone-weariness becoming impossible to ignore, but I overruled them. There were many miles to go, it seemed, before we slept.

“We can’t let ourselves get caught like him,” she argued, “and if he’s infected, we can’t let him loose to infect the rest of us. They’re probably counting on that.” This last bit was spit from her lips like sour milk.

“Guys, I hate to interrupt…” Evan said, and we both turned. His expression was troubled. “Isn’t the disease already in the building? With Jesmyn and the others? And, um, do we know if it’s really, you know…” He drew a finger across his throat.

I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of a disease that can kill shifters, have you Kiana?”

“No,” she said. “That’s why I think it’s the humans. Mantel and whoever else wants to snuff us out. They made some kind of superbug—”

“But how does that make sense?” I said. “Where does Moone come into it, then? And the wolves?”

“Yeah,” Evan chimed in. “Like, how does it spread? Jesmyn was bitten, and both Elyse and I have been close to her, gotten her blood all over us. Is that enough or do we have to be bitten too? Isn’t it most effective if it’s like, in the air? Maybe we need a quarantine.”

“Gods, help us. What a horrific thought, Evan.” I murmured, my mind flying to check in with my body unbidden. But other than feeling like I’d been part of a battle to the death, followed by a flight for our lives, and then being dragged about in a churning sea of emotion until I washed up on Kiana’s shore like a stubborn plastic bag, I was dandy.

No fever. No searing pain. No upset stomach. Well, besides the corner of my stomach that was devoted to unceasing wailing over the unknown whereabouts of my fated, of course. But that internal alarm had been blaring at full blast without interruption for so long now that I was getting used to it.

“Kiana, maybe Evan’s right. I think we quarantine everyone who was bitten by Scary and Freaky for observation. Maybe tell the Manhattan pack to do the same.”

“Yeah,” Evan said. “Get some doctors to take some samples and see what we’re dealing with.”

“No!” Kiana stood. “Absolutely no doctors. We’re not trusting any humans. Like, ever again. And you…” She made a zipping motion as I opened my mouth. “You need to be reminded that you agreed to follow my orders.”

My lips slammed together again in frustration. But a deal was a deal.

“This,” she said, regaining her characteristic undercurrent of outrage, “is why we don’t cozy up to the humans. I know you thought it was some kind of snobbery when we were pups, but I’m glad you’ve seen and heard everything you have today because it’s time you grew up.”

“We’ve always had to keep humans from coming after us, one way or another. And whether it was through war or peace, it was always hard won. Now they outnumber us so much that we can’t pretend that our secret—or we—are safe. You saw the crowd at the press conference. The humans want us dead. Not quiet. Not law-abiding fellow citizens. Dead.” She strode toward the door. “I need some time to think before I speak with the other Alphas.”

“But what about Blaze? And us?” I followed her into the elevator with Evan on my heels. Kiana pushed the button for the next floor down and crossed her arms. “Wait,” I said, “Are you going to consult with Father? Can I at least—”

“No, I’m going to my office. And you are going to your room to lay low.”

The doors opened as she said this and shoved me out. I whirled, grabbing the doors before they could close again. “Fine. But don’t leave me out when you figure out what you’re going to do about Blaze. I want to help.”

“Your job,” she said, peeling my fingers off the door one by one, “is to make new shifters.” Kiana leered at Evan who was still in the elevator. “One way or another.”

As the color left Evan’s face, I grabbed his wrist, dragging him out after me. “Maybe we’ll get started on that right now then, shall we?”

Instead of hearing the sarcasm, my sister tilted her head and nodded. “Good idea. He’ll be more invested in a pup if there’s a chance it’s his.”

She tapped the button, and the doors whooshed shut. But my wolf launched my human body at them anyway, both of us kicking and screaming in raving unity. My fangs lengthened, and my kicks began denting the pristine stainless-steel doors.

Good! I didn’t care. I was done.

With her.

And Sebastian.

And Max.

And Mooney the One-Eyed Looney.

Each name was punctuated by a vicious thump from my now aching feet, but there was no thought of stopping. With the list I had going in my mind, I could have thumped until my toes fell off. Whatever calories remained in my shaking legs were focused on one thing before they burned out of existence—blasting their way through the elevator doors.

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