Page 55 of The Awakened Wolf

Still, the pass through the hybrid stage was awful enough to draw disgusted groans. But I knew my gift had been proven—born shifters never experienced anything like that—so I nudged Evan away and let the new Jayla slide to the floor for the final round of twitching and whimpering. Evan looked at me, and though neither of us dared to crack a joke right now, I could see one lurking in his eyes about how we’d made a pup together after all.

After the shortest time I’d yet to witness, Jayla rose on all fours, a gorgeous, shining black wolf with eyes like golden moons. She lifted a paw, stretching the toes and staring at it. Then she waved her tail and turned, looking at it and waving it again.

“Whoa.” Her mind spoke to mine, but I doubted she knew that.

No one else said a word.

And then…

“What do you want us to do?” Tony’s perfect cheekbones were drawn, tugged by the grim twist of his jaw.

“Evan,” Kiana said, “can you walk them through it since Jayla is otherwise occupied? Oh,” she paused, “and welcome to the pack, Jayla. Happy to have another strong female join.”

Jayla paused, looking stunned. And even though I was still in my wolf form, my jaw dropped open. As did Evan’s. But he held his tongue and nodded, launching into explanations of how we’d gotten our pack’s vaccines. I turned my attention to Jayla.

“Jayla.” I tested her telepathy. “Are you okay?”

Jayla’s black wolf shook itself, stretching. “I guess so. I feel amazing, actually. Like I’m a kid again or something.” She looked up at me, and her eyes widened. “Oh my God, we’re mind-melding. This is so cool! And weird. And cool.” Her wolf grinned, pink tongue flopping out the side.

“So, let’s assume we steal and administer these vaccines to our respective packs. Then you’re saying it takes a week for it to work?” Tony said, bringing my attention back to the meeting.

“Correct,” Evan said.

“We can still do this even if I’m in human form, okay?” I said to Jayla.

“Okay.”

I shifted and stood, feeling self-conscious in front of everyone in my shiftskin. Jayla padded beside me as I returned to my chair and plopped herself onto her haunches between me and my mate—a perfect example of why I didn’t want real children for quite some time. I laid a hand on her shoulder and scratched gently at the rapidly healing scars I’d given her, eliciting a soft rumble.

“The plan then,” Kiana said, “is to lure Moone to our chosen battleground so he attacks us not knowing we’re immune to his stupid disease. We can dispatch him once and for all.”

“Won’t that make the humans hate us even more?” Gigi asked. “I can see #justice4moone or some shit all over socials in seconds.”

“I agree,” I said, “though isn’t it your job to quell that kind of thing?”

She rolled her violet-lidded eyes. “I’m a Beta, not a miracle-worker.”

“They’re going to hate us no matter what we do,” Evan said quietly. “Or they won’t. We don’t control what they think. But we also can’t roll over and let Odin wipe us out. We have to fight back.”

Tony sighed—a deep, throaty huff—and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. “Tell me again how we’re supposed to get all these shots?”

“Like we did,” Kiana said. “Steal them. Why did you think I had Evan explain all that?” The familiar irritation crept back into her voice.

“No, no, way,” Tony said, gesturing to the other two Alphas, who nodded their agreement. “You want our participation? You bring us the goods. Seems like you guys have a pretty good handle on theft so…”

“Well, there’s no way I’m sending anyone from my pack to another borough right now,” Kiana said. “Not with things the way they are. And I resent the insinuation that my pack is accomplished at criminality.”

“If the collar fits…”

“Enough,” Julius interjected, his voice tight. “I grow weary of time wasted on egos rather than ideas. We meet at Roosevelt Island. You bring the vaccines. We strategize together.”

Tony’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he sat back, nodding his agreement with the older male. “I agree. We meet in person or this whole plan is off.”

“Fine.” Kiana said, smoothing her hair. “Then let’s make it midnight, when there won’t be so many humans about.”

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

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