Cole tried to shrug it off, to pretend his heart hadn’t just set off at a gallop. “The packs gonna fight over me?” He was only joking, but Logan’s expression didn’t change. “That’s ridiculous. I’m one person out of...” He trailed off, having no idea how many there might be testing at other clinics today.
“There are over a hundred medical centres carrying out these tests, over a period of ten days. That’s roughly fifty thousand candidates, of whom about sixteen thousand will probably be compatible,” Logan said, matter-of-fact.
Cole’s mouth fell open. He knew it was a lot, London was a big place, butfucking hell.“And out of all those people, you’re interested in me?”
“Among others.”
“Why?”
“I told you why.” Logan sighed, gaze drifting to the clock on the wall. “I have to go witness another test, but I just wanted you to know what to expect if you test positive. It’s gonna be rough, Cole. Packs can get a little—” He winced. “—aggressive when they want something badly enough.”
“Yeah, we’ve all heard the rumours about yours.”
A flash of something passed over Logan’s face but was gone too quick for Cole to figure out what it was. Logan shook his head. “For your sake, I hope we don’t meet again,” he whispered, and then he was gone, slipping out the door quickly and quietly, leaving Cole alone with his thoughts.
Yeah, you and me both.
Cole walked along the corridor towards the waiting room, wondering if Nick was out yet, when a girl raced past him, heading for the front doors of the hospital. Sarah—Cole recognised her from the waiting room and his heart sank to his stomach as he realised what was happening.
A nurse ran after her, yelling, “Lock the doors!”
Sarah charged through the waiting room, crashing into the double doors and collapsing against them when they failed to open. “No,” she sobbed, pulling in great lungsful of air and banging her fist against the glass. “I don’t want to do this. Let me go... just... let me go.”
The nurse looked as gutted as Cole felt as she knelt down beside her. “You know we can’t do that.” She went to help her up but was hustled out of the way by two hospital security guards. Cole saw the tattoos and scowled.
Shifters.
They hauled Sarah none-too-gently to her feet.
“Just bring her back to the room, I can still complete the testing,” the nurse tried. “She didn’t actually leave the hospital.”
Cole held his breath.
One of the guards shook his head. “She refused to take the test and tried to escape the facility. That’s a criminal offence.”
“I know, but—”
The guard gave her a frosty look. “Please move out of the way, unless you want me to arrest you too for interfering.”
With a resigned sigh, the nurse shot Sarah a sad smile but stepped back out of the way.
The whole of the waiting room watched in stunned silence as the two guards roughly escorted Sarah outside and into a waiting van.
“Fuck,” Nick muttered, coming to stand next to him, his hand on Cole’s shoulder.
“Yep.” Cole caught the nurse as she walked past them. “What’ll happen to her now?”
She blew out a breath, gaze drifting to the van as it drove off. “They’ll forcibly test her in prison. What happens after that depends on how that turns out.”
“Damned if she’s compatible, damned if she isn’t.”
The nurse shrugged and walked away without further comment.
Cole didn’t blame her. Nothing she could say would change anything, except run the risk of getting her in trouble.
It was just the way things were now.
CHAPTER TWO
