Maybe if I can impress him with the way I care for the kids, he’ll offer me a job fully in the company.
Fifteen minutes later, Jordan walked into the kitchen and started the coffee machine. In truth, he was up earlier than he wanted to be. He got dressed in his clothes from the day before, noting that he’d need to find sometime during the day to go to his apartment and pack a bag. An idea popped into his head, later once he got the kids settled after breakfast, he could send a text to Bronx to pack a bag then meet him somewhere and give it to him.
He wasn’t comfortable having another person in Duncan’s home, especially not after he was just hired. Maybe he could ask Duncan for permission to have Bronx bring him a few things. Jordan poured himself a cup of coffee, taking his first sip, moaning at the taste of the bitter liquid. He spied the document that his boss wanted him to read and sign. Jordan understood exactly why he needed to keep the existence of the kids a secret.
He picked it up and scanned it, noting certain important facts on what would happen if he were to reveal the existence to gain money or fame. Loss of income and reputation being on the top of the list. He had no reason to talk about the kids to anyone, but he would have to think of something to tell his parents and Bronx. Maybe he could ask Duncan for permission to tell his parents about the nature of his job. Jordan put his coffee and the contract down, he picked up the pen and signed on the bottom line.
He didn’t feel that dread of signing his life away. He couldn’t get over the fact that for the second morning in a row, instead of going to an office where he would work among his peers, he was an all-day babysitter. Not only that, but he couldn’t tell anyone what he was doing. If he thought about it, the job was nothing to brag about. He was not closing the doors on his dreams, but merely putting them on hold temporarily.
The doorbell rang just as he walked over to the cupboards to start breakfast and heard voices coming from the other room. There was a lot of activity going on early in the morning and he didn’t know if that was the norm for the Pryde household. But Jordan was more curious than a cat having the sweetest milk. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was his new life now for a while.
“The base of the drug was a synthetic aspirin in his system, but aconite was mixed in, whoever synthesized the drug knew exactly what they were doing,” Blayze explained. “The kids probably thought the drug was harmless and wouldn’t hurt them.”
“Shit, so we have nothing?” Duncan cursed.
Blayze was an excellent doctor, his knowledge on shifter physiology had kept them alive. “That’s not what I’m saying. I missed it the first time because I chalked it up to kids being kids, trying out new things. As shifters we are not affected by human drugs or ailments. Kids, even adults, are always looking for ways to get some kind of high and we can’t negate shifters from that thought either.”
“But wouldn’t they die the minute aconite is introduced to their system?” Parker asked.
“That’s what we all assume,” Blayze answered. “How many of us have somehow come in contact with a small amount of aconite and lived? We get it out of our bloodstream as quickly as possible, but as far as we can tell, nobody has ever died from touching it for a short period.”
“So, what you’re saying is that this happened over a long period of time?” Charlie asked.
“It might be an assumption on my part, but yes,” Blayze answered.
“Blayze, can you tell how long you think they were using the drug?” Duncan asked.
“No, I can’t. I’m sorry, Duncan,” Blayze answered. “It could be a couple of days to a couple of weeks.”
The news was troubling. Aconite was known to be deadly to lykosians when concentrated, but finding out that even at a low diluted dose over time it was just as deadly?Shit, we need to get that drug off the streets.
“Thanks, Blayze, get back to me if you find out anything else,” Duncan instructed.
“Yes, Alpha.” They hung up the phone and Duncan looked around the room at the four other men.
“So, we have more than one problem,” Sebastian said, breaking the short silence. Nobody disagreed with him.
“Where the fuck do we start?” Ryland asked.
“First, we need to find the supplier and the drugs and get them off of the fucking streets. I don’t want more of our pack getting their hands on this. It’s obvious it’s someone who knows about our existence,” Duncan said. “What’s troubling me is that the Blackburn Organization could be involved in this.”
“You’re thinking they could be the one supplying the drugs?” Charlie deduced.
“I wouldn’t put it past them to find a new way of getting rid of us without getting their hands dirty,” Duncan answered. “We’ve been plagued by their existence since the beginning of time.”
“I asked around town this morning and no one saw signs of the car you described. I also checked the license plate and it’s not registered in this state, or anywhere else for that matter,” Charlie told the group. “I think it was a fake.”
“So a fake license plate and we’re still at fucking zero,” Ryland said angrily.
“Not necessarily,” Duncan reasoned. “I have a feeling they’ll be back; we just need to keep a lookout for them. Also,check with any of your human contacts and see if they know anything about a new drug hitting the streets.” They nodded their heads and got up just as there was a knock at the door, he instructed whoever it was to enter.
Jordan poked his head in and looked around before his eyes landed on Duncan’s. “Breakfast is ready,” he told him.
“Thank you,Jordan. I’ll be finished in a bit,” Duncan answered with a smile.
“Okaythen, I’ll let the kids know.” He looked at the occupants in the room and Duncan saw curiosity cross over his face before closing it.
Sebastian, Charlie, and Parker turned to look at him.“Who's that?” Parker asked pointing to the door.
