Right before I follow Hunter, I walk back over to my bed and snag my phone and pocket it. I make my way out to the living room, which seems tiny now with all these people here. The males especially make the space feel small. It’s noisy, and I take it all in almost instantly. Garrett and Emma stand over near the kitchen, talking to the beta, Liam, and his mate Talya. Bryce and Ava are currently talking to Max and Raechel. Ava is grinning at something Raechel said. Sage and Paul, the pack doctor, are sitting on the couch talking, heads close. Hunter’s leaning against the wall near the door, and Leo’s in a chair, plucking away on his laptop. As if everybody senses me at the same time, the noise dies down. Every head turns in my direction, and I watch as more than one set of eyes changes. I keep my breathing even and steady, even as I calculate what I would need to do to escape. “Hey, Sherese.” Ava walks over to me and stands at my side. “Everybody, this is Sherese, my friend. You’ve all met her before.”
“Hey, Sherese,” Sage says with a soft wave.
“Good to see you again,” Emma says with a smile.
“Sherese is here on my invitation,” Garrett says, stepping to the front of the room. Everybody moves into the living room. “Now that everybody’s eaten, let’s get to business. It’s been a crazy few weeks. First of all, members of the Phoenix Pack, thank you for coming on such short notice. The LA Pack reached out and wants to meet with me next week.”
“Really?” That’s from Bryce, who’s planted himself behind Ava. She’s sitting on the couch, and he’s standing behind her.
Garrett nods. “Yeah. They usually keep to themselves. My thought is they want to know the latest, which is why we’re havingthismeeting. We all know what went down in the facility in West Virginia when we hit it.” There’s a quietness in the room, and I know they’re all thinking of the alpha that died during that attack. I’d had to fly with them to deliver the body to their pack. “We know they’re after unmated healers. Any progress on finding Jackson’s mate?” Garrett directs that question to Bryce.
“No. Leo’s been working on it, but nothing yet,” Bryce answers, and I watch as Ava drops her head. I didn’t know much about the leader of the rogue wolves, just that he had gone after Ava at one point, thinking she was his mate. Later, they’d pieced it together that she’d run into his mate earlier in the day at a rest stop. Ava felt bad about it and had talked to me about it a few times over the past few weeks. But so far, nothing has turned up.
“If you ever track her down, I’d like to be part of the team to go after her,” Raechel says, looking between Garrett and Bryce. Garrett nods, and Bryce does as well.
“Me too,” Ava adds.
Garrett meets my gaze, and I keep myself perfectly still, so as not to appear a threat. He makes eye contact with every person in the room. “You all know that I invited Sherese here. I want to remind everyone that news of her being here does not leave this room. Our pack cannot know that there is a vampire staying here.” He meets my gaze. “They wouldn’t understand.” I cross my arms over my chest and nod at the powerful alpha. “You’re a vampire in a room full of wolves, but you didn’t choose this. You helped get one of our own out of that facility and then helped our team go back for her brother. Would you be willing to tell us what is going on in that facility? What are they after?”
Silence falls in the room, and I wonder why in the world I thought this would work. I'm literally surrounded by wolves. I feel my breathing speed up, and I remind myself that I’m fast.I’m faster than anyone in this room. I map out the exits in my mind again. I can get out if I have to. For some reason, my eyes find Hunter’s from across the room. He doesn’t react in any way; those dark eyes just watch me. But for some reason, it gives me the reassurance I’m looking for. I eye Max, their pack enforcer, warily. He’s not exactly giving off warm and friendly vibes, but I don’t let it derail me. I take a deep breath and then address the room.
“The facility in West Virginia is a new site for the vampires. After the war, they regrouped. At least the ones in that part of the country did and started up their work in the new facility. Money is no issue for the vampires; their pockets are deep. They used to try to convert females, but that didn't work. Then they figured out healers could survive. Healers are like the holy grail to vampires because not only can they survive the transition, but their blood is really powerful. Whatever is in a healer's blood that helps them survive the transition also helps create and control the vampires’ newest creations. They want an army of vampires. Obviously, there aren’t enough healers to turn. So, with their new serum, they can transform shifters into vampires.” A few low growls sound in the room, and my body stiffens involuntarily.
“Sherese.” I turn to Bryce. “You’re safe here and under my protection; I won’t let anything happen to you.” His voice is calm but full of authority.
“You have my word as well,” Garrett says. “Please continue.” Before I can say anything, Emma stands up.
“Sorry,” she says apologetically. “I need to leave. I need to check in with the babysitter.” She walks over to Garrett and talks to him for a moment. They kiss, and I look away. Once she leaves, Garrett turns back to me and nods.
“These new supercharged shifter/vampire creations are powerful. They’re stronger than any individual vampire orwolf, but they’re unpredictable. That makes them volatile and incredibly dangerous. The serum they got from Ava, mixed with her healing energy, is used in an emergency to control them. A little bit of it will drop a supercharged creation to the floor; it’s really potent stuff.”
“Do you know if they have any more healers in the facility currently?” Liam asks.
I pause a moment; they’re not going to like what I have to say next. “There was a healer before Ava, but she...didn’t make it.” I was right. A few low growls sound around the room. It doesn’t surprise me. Male wolves are super protective of females and children; it’s in their base nature to be protectors.
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“What happened to her?”
The questions come all at once. “I don’t know. All I know is I overheard them saying she hadn’t made it. That’s why,” I look over at Ava. “That’s why they came up with that white pill for you.”
“What do you mean?” Bryce asks sharply.
“They made me take a pill every day,” Ava says quietly. She looks pale, and I don’t like that she’s lost her feistiness.
“What’s in it?” Bryce demands.
But I don’t have all the answers. “I don’t know. All I know is after the last healer died, they created this white pill that is supposed to keep that from happening.”
“It almost didn’t work,” Ava says quietly. Bryce does not like that; it’s all over his face.
“No, it didn’t.” I don’t shy away from the truth. Ava almost died. She would have if Hunter and Bryce hadn’t gotten her out of there when they did. And even then, it was close. “As for right now, I don’t know if they have any healers there. There are nota lot of healers, which I’m sure you all already know. That’s why they’ve started creating their army of super soldiers.”
“And the wolves they’re using are mostly rogue wolves, correct?” Garrett asks.
“They do target rogue wolves, yes, but I think really, they’re after any wolves they can capture. I don’t think it really matters.”
