“There’s one healer who has tried to study our genetics. She’s a little eccentric but seems fairly smart. I’ve only spoken with her a few times the last several years, so I’m uncertain whether or not she’s still pursuing knowledge.” Dr. Sharon scrawled notes in a battered manila file folder and didn’t meet Seth’s gaze.
Mia released the cotton ball, noting she’d stopped bleeding. “Who is this wolf shifter healer?”
Dr. Sharon stopped taking notes. “Her name is Doc Luna.”
Seth’s dark brows drew down. “Luna? We don’t have a Luna.”
“I know,” the doctor murmured. “Luna is with the Copper Pack.”
“Terrific,” Seth muttered.
Mia sighed. Four mining packs comprised the Stope Packs Coalition of wolf shifters, and Seth was the Alpha of the Silver Pack. While the packs had apparently come together centuries ago to protect themselves against outside enemies, it seemed they were at war with each other right now. She’d mated Seth only a couple of weeks ago, and she hadn’t had time to really figure out the possible threats. “Can’t we just call and ask her?”
“No,” Seth said bluntly. “The Copper Pack has cut off all communications with us and is threatening war unless either Erik dies, or I do.”
Mia blinked. “I thought that was old news.” Erik was Seth’s younger brother, and wolf law dictated that only one of them could become Alpha of the pack when their father passed away. Erik had circumvented the rules by becoming engaged to the heiress of the Slate Pack, and Seth had stood up as the new Alpha.
It was a job he didn’t seem to be enjoying much, considering threats were still coming for his head.
Seth stretched his neck. “The Copper Pack doesn’t like the idea of a familial loyalty between the Silver and Slate Packs. We’re too strong together.”
Dr. Sharon nodded. “Yeah, not to mention that you’re genetically related to the Granite Pack.”
“Cousin Jackson wants me dead, as well,” Seth said. “Or Erik dead. They don’t like our relationship, either.”
Mia shook her head. “So, the Copper Pack thinks you’re too close to the Granite Pack, but the Granite Pack wants you dead anyway?” Just what kind of a world had she entered?
Seth lifted a powerful shoulder. “I don’t know if Jackson wants me dead now that I’m no longer a threat to his position as Alpha of the Granite Pack, but I’m sure he doesn’t like Erik and me both becoming Alphas. Potentially.” Seth had been born in the Granite Pack, but his mother had then mated the head of the Silver Pack, and their Alpha had adopted him. “I could take out Jackson, but I assume whoever steps up will be just as dangerous.”
Mia’s mouth gaped. “Or you could call him, you know, on the phone. Work things out diplomatically.”
Seth just stared at her, his unreal blue eyes deep and unfathomable. “That’s not how wolves work, baby.”
She reared up. “You’re not the Enforcer any longer, Volk. You’re the head of the so-called nation, and diplomacy is part of that skill set. Perhaps you should work on that?” She tried incredibly hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but by the narrowing of his pupils, she didn’t entirely succeed.
“Like I said,” he said softly, “that’s not how wolves work.” He straightened and focused fully on the doctor. “I’ll have someone take Luna at the first opportunity.”
Mia jerked. “You most certainly will not.”
The wolf shifter didn’t answer her and instead kept his gaze on the doctor. “I mated Mia more than two weeks ago. Why isn’t she any stronger, and why does she have a head cold?”
The head cold was almost gone, but there was no doubt Mia hadn’t gained any strength or speed. She thought she could discern colors and smells with more keenness, but even those skills seemed to be waning.
“I truly don’t know,” Dr. Sharon admitted, her brown eyes soft. “It might have something to do with Mia getting shot with a silver bullet so soon after you mated, or it might just be genetics. I’ll take a look at her blood and compare it with the few samples we have from years past. Like I said, though, we have never studied genetics. Heck, I’ve only attended a few biology classes at the University of Washington when I had the chance.”
Mia pushed off the table, landing squarely on the scratched wooden floor. “That’s one of the many things that is going to change now that Seth is in charge. Kids will finish high school and then be able to go on to college or at least gain some experience outside of this small town.” For eons, the boys had headed into the mines upon turning sixteen, and the girls had aimed to get married.
“One thing at a time,” Seth drawled, also standing, and unintentionally towering over them both. “The first priority is to figure out your health.”
She waved a hand. “I’m fine. Maybe I won’t end up stronger or faster, and I don’t care. Either way, I need to return home and prepare for work tomorrow.”
In a barely perceptible movement, Seth’s nostrils flared. “I thought we discussed that.”
“We did,” Mia agreed. “But I’m still going back to work, Seth.” Sure, it was as a shrink for the Seattle PD and not as an FBI agent like she was before, but she still had hopes of regaining her job and tracking down a killer sweeping across the States.
She’d been a good agent until a serial killer, Robert Joseph Delaney, had nearly taken out her mother. She wanted to prove to everyone, especially herself, that she could still do the job. “It’s the only way I can come close to investigating this new serial killer leaving bodies indumpstersin a westerly trajectory.” Someone she suspected had ties to Delaney.
She was alone in that suspicion.
