Page 42 of The Awakened Wolf

The meeting of the minds must have ended because Evan came over to me, his face red and hands animated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s rabies, Elyse, I know it. Godwin Moone’s wolves are rabid, and he’s lying to the world that it can’t spread to humans. But your sister won’t believe me, and that’s a real shame because rabies has a vaccine and a treatment that works if you take it before you start showing symptoms.”

This came out a breathless monologue, and my mind turned immediately to Jesmyn. If there was anything that could save her from Max’s fate, we had to consider it. But could it really be that simple?

I frowned. “Why would Moone lie about it not spreading to humans?”

“Maybe he’s hoping to take out any humans who are too cozy with wolves?” Evan said, and my mind turned immediately to Jayla.

“His name,” Sebastian said—breaking his stupor and startling the fluff out of me—“is Odin, and he may not know he’s lying. If you’re right, they wouldn’t have called it rabies a thousand years ago.”

“I knew it.” Evan pumped his arm.

I stared at Sebastian, stunned. “How in Leto’s name do you know this?”

He let his head loll back against the wall with a sigh. “American packs have stripped the Old Stories down to the bones, but I heard other versions while I was in Europe.”

Ah, yes. The years he spent searching for his fated mate. To no avail.Because she would be me. I knew it was wrong that this sent a thrill through me, given the current hellscape in which we found ourselves. But it did.

“Go on,” Kiana said, as she and Kenzo joined us, Atlas trailing in their wake.

“I thought you didn’t go in for all this stuff,” Sebastian said, raising an eyebrow at my sister—the woman he’d once been contracted to marry, who’d killed his possibly rabid father-figure, and who was now his Alpha. All in all, I’d say he was taking it well.

“Don’t make me order you,” she said, settling onto the floor with us. “It’s been a day.”

I stared daggers at her.

“For everyone,” she added. At least she had the decency to blush.

“Ah, sure,” he said, ruffling his hair. “I’m not an expert, keep in mind. But from what I remember, Odin was a demigod with some kind of vendetta against us. He hunted shifters with his wolves—”

“Gary and Frecky,” I said confidently, and Sebastian’s lips quirked. I frowned. “What? That’s what he calls them. I don’t get it either.”

“It’s Geri and Freki,” Sebastian repeated, with a fancier European pronunciation. “G-E-R-I.” He spelled out like I was a child. “And F-R-E-K-I.”

My cheeks reddened. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“In Bronx-ese,” he chuckled, and then cleared his throat at my glare. “Anyway. Odin used them to purge entire packs all over Europe before he was finally killed in battle by a son of Marrak named Fenrir. Legend says Geri and Freki vanished into thin air when he died.”

Evan and I looked at each other, remembering how Geri had done exactly that after our skirmish. But Odin wasn’t dead. He was well on his way to a career in politics or, at the very least, reality TV.

“So he’s been hunting and exterminating us since the fluffing dawn of our kind?” Kiana said, aghast. “Why? What did we ever do to him?”

“I don’t know. They never said. But prophecies said he swore to return to finish the job.” He paused. “Shit. I should have thought of it when Ayla spoke of the coming foe.” His eyes flew to mine. “Wait, what happened to the Children of Leto?”

I winced. “Kenzo?”

With a grimace, Kenzo replied, “I’m sorry, but we don’t know. They were hiding from Max. You know how he was, Elyse, like, recently…” His voice trailed off and then he shook his head. “But they disappeared after the raid on the Plaza, and no one’s heard from them since.”

“Don’t feel bad,” Kiana said. “They weren’t reliable sources anyway. After all, they failed to mention that I have a gift too.”

“What?” Sebastian turned to me.

“Her bite is the reverse of mine,” I said. “She can kill the wolf and leave shifters human.”

“Are you serious?” Sebastian’s head swiveled between the two of us. “Like Chann and Marrak? That’s—”

---