Well, that was a disturbing image.
“That stuff you were saying about Strickland coming after me being obvious,” Hadley said softly. “What did you mean?”
“A skinwalker can mimic another person’s appearance after a second or two of physical contact if they want to.” Kamden held up his hand, palm out. “You can’t see them because they’re microscopic, but we have little barbs on our hands and fingers. The barbs extract the victim’s DNA for the mimicry while also delivering a fairly strong sedative that keeps the victim docile or completely paralyzes them if wanted. But the mimicry only lasts for a little while. To maintain the appearance of their victim long-term to truly skin walk, they have to consume their victim completely.”
Carter frowned. “But the skinwalker who attacked Strickland was interrupted and only ate a portion of the body. So, he’s…what…losing the victim’s appearance?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Kamden said with a nod before looking at Hadley. “You probably noticed it the last time you saw him, but his skin is starting to peel and bruise like he got beat up or something.” At Hadley’s nod, he continued. “He needs a replacement body and he’s decided that he wants you.”
“But…” Hadley started, her expression bouncing back and forth between confusion and terror. “I’m a woman. Wouldn’t he want to be a man?”
Kamden gave her a rueful smile. “I’m close to ninety and can barely remember my real name, never mind what I originally looked like. This skinwalker after you could be five hundred years old or a thousand. If they’ve walked as many times as I’m guessing, I doubt they remember what their original gender even was. Hell, they may have forgotten the first few hundred years of their existence. Regardless, I don’t think they care that you’re a woman. Just that you’re interesting to them.”
Carter felt his heart start to race, his gums and fingernails starting to itch as his inner omega tried to fight its way out at the threat against his soul mate. It had been bad enough when he’d thought Strickland wanted to kill her. It was worse knowing he wanted to eat her. The fact that the skinwalker intended to become her sent his mind—and his omega—reeling.
He probably would have started to lose control and shift right there in the middle of Kat’s shop regardless of all three of his pack mates turning to glance at him with worried concern. But then Hadley was there at his side, her hand coming down to take his, and just like that, his omega began to relax.
Unfortunately, that still left the rest of his non-omega mind free to think—and freak out. How the hell was he going to stop this skinwalker when he could soon have additional walkers to help him?
His pack mates discussed how the Dallas SWAT pack might be able to help Turner and the marshals, but for the most part, Carter ignored the conversation, his head still spinning at the threat his soul mate was facing.
“This is going to sound strange, I know,” Kat said, something in her voice grabbing Carter’s attention and abruptly realizing that Turner and his pack mates had left. “But there’s actually a bright spot to Strickland being a skinwalker. We might be able to transfer Kamden’s essence into him.”
Carter stared. He had no idea what to say to that.
“If Strickland is as old as Kamden thinks, he could take on more skinwalkers without batting an eye,” Kat added. “And if he happened to be in the middle of a fight and needed the extra strength, he’d probably agree to the transfer without realizing what he was agreeing to.”
“Extra strength?” Carter repeated. “As in making an already strong skinwalker even more powerful right at the moment we’re trying to stop him from killing and eating someone?”
Kat winced. “Unfortunately, yes. But you’re a pack of werewolves. You’ll be able to handle him.”
Carter exchanged looks with Hadley and saw that she didn’t look any more confident in this new plan than he did.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Hadley realized she’d been staring at the same sentence in a patient’s record for at least fifteen minutes without comprehending a single word of it. Not that she was surprised. Today had been rather disturbing. It was difficult to focus on paperwork when facing the possibility of someone eating you and assuming your identity.
After leaving Kat’s shop, Hadley had been more than ready to go back to Carter’s apartment and spend the rest of the evening safe in his arms, but then her service had called, saying that one of her longtime patients had called asking for an emergency session. Carter had waited in the lobby for two hours while Hadley talked with her patient, not even complaining when she’d needed to stay a little longer to finish up the paperwork.
She’d offered to let him hang out on the couch in her office while she worked, but he’d waved her off, telling her he preferred standing guard from the outer office, where he’d be able to deal with anyone before they got close to her. Before she’d been able to question if that was something they needed to worry about, he’d distracted her by asking what kind of takeout she wanted. He’d get it delivered to the office and they’d take it back to his place.
She just had to finish this last page of notes and then they could get out of there and go home.
Hadley found herself smiling at the idea of Carter’s place being home. It was scary in some ways, considering how fast everything was moving, but she couldn’t deny she had some serious feelings for the man. A part of her continued to wonder how much of what she was experiencing was because of the soul mate thing, and how much was real. No matter where these feelings came from, they felt real to her. Wasn’t that the most important part? Her head wanted to rebel at all the mushy fluff, but her heart was more than ready to succumb to the pure romance of it all.
Of course, the moment her mind wandered in that direction, the word love immediately popped to the forefront. While she’d been quick to dismiss the idea the previous night, now was as good as any other time to officially define the relationship. To herself if nothing else.
Was she in love with Carter?
If the fluttering in her chest at the mere thought was any indication, the question was superfluous so she moved on to the next most important question.
What was she going to do now that she knew she was in love?
She couldn’t help but focus on the issues she’d have to deal with once it came out that she was in a relationship with a man who’d been her patient. Who technically still was. The hit her professional reputation would take couldn’t be overstated.
There was also the possibility of ruining Carter’s recovery. Based on the breakthrough they’d had the previous night, she felt safe in saying that getting him and his inner omega to work together was critical for his future good mental health. What if she compromised his recovery by making this about their relationship and not about what was best for him?
The mere possibility of ruining Carter’s life was enough to convince her to put a hold on their romance until he was officially out of danger, mental health-wise. But then images of what her life could be like if Carter was a part of it immediately flashed in her head. Like scenes of her and Carter moving in together, one dragging her furniture into his tiny but cozy one-bedroom apartment, and another of him moving into her much bigger loft. Both of them brought another smile to her lips.
