Page 39 of Rock Pucking Bottom

We walked in.

"Welcome to our pack's archives. Well, some of them. There's other stuff beyond that door that I don't have access to. Only the alpha and his right-hand man do."

I was impressed with how cool the room was. There were four massive walls with mahogany shelves that were in a square. The door he pointed at was in the one corner and there was another door in another corner.

It seemed like the wall that Eoghan led me to was one of the most packed with various books and artifacts.

"So my pack is very different from most. We were founded when four alphas decided to join forces and create this little enclave. Each one of these walls was donated by those alphas’ families. We have the Blades, the Rainclouds, the McPatricks, and the Coopers."

I had no idea that his family had some sort of clout.

He picked up one of the small leather-bound books (at least, I hope it was leather and not something like skin or a pelt).

"Wow. That's impressive. Your family donated a lot."

He nodded as he filled up with pride. "Yup. Granted, most of us aren't alpha material anymore, but we want our history to be passed down. This is my great grandfather's diary."

We walked to one of the tables that was in the middle. He flipped it open, and you could see compact but neat handwriting. It was hard to read since it was tiny cursive with old-fashioned styling. There were several drawings of bodies and anatomy.

"He was a doctor. He had some major discoveries related to the two major illnesses that werewolves can get."

He continued to carefully turn the pages until he found what he was looking for. He passed it for me to read. I scrutinized the text so I could understand what he wanted me to see.

"So, this goes over blood madness. A shifter only gets it if they attack humans and other shifters. Much like a wolf in the wild, they will get a taste for human blood and nearly go rabid. It's the pack's worst nightmare. The last two wolves with blood madness, nearly exposed the pack to the human world. They left a trail of bodies and newly turned wolves in their wake."

That wasn't what caught my eye. Sure, I saw much of what he was saying about the cause of blood madness. But I was most intrigued about the treatments his great grandfather tried. Some of that was cutting edge. But no matter what he tried, he couldn't cure the blood madness. The shifter was wild and craved human flesh.

Looking up at Eoghan, I asked, "Is this why you always say that I'm safe around you?"

Eoghan nodded. "Yup. Blood madness is very rare anymore. But when it happens, all the safety patrols are ramped up until our trackers can put down that wolf. My mom used to scare me with Carlos Sequoia. Always telling me he will get me and all my friends."

That wasn't a name that I was familiar with. "Who's Carlos Sequoia?"

Eoghan looked towards the door that he didn't have access to. "He's the last wolf diagnosed with blood madness who was part of our pack. Although, he was always a lone wolf. Despite being put down before I was born, he’s basically the Lord Voldemort of my pack to this day."

I giggled at that comparison. "So, he's your boogie man?"

He nodded.

I continued to skim the diary but was more interested in the graphics and the drawings. I was trying to be so careful, since this was a real treasure from history.

About three-fourths of the way through the diary, Eoghan stopped me and said, "This is the other big thing he discovered: how to tell if mates were most prone to blood sickness."

The two diseases seemed so closely named, I tried to decipher his great grandad's handwriting, but in this section, it seemed to be harder to read than earlier in the book. Everything was more jagged.

"Why do they call it blood sickness?"

Eoghan smiled as pulled the book towards him and he looked over the notes. "Well, my namesake said he called it blood madness because it seemed like the desire for blood drove men mad. As for blood sickness, that's the name had from his old pack that was still based in Ireland since it is a sickness that happens to the blood when mates separate before the bond was fully formed. It's a shame that the herb he used is extinct to figure out if the bond had happened. I would love to test it with us."

Wouldn't that be a thought? That way, I didn't have to worry about seeing his wolf and we could find out if we sealed the mating bond rather than playing this game of maybe/maybe not.

"It's a good thing I love hanging out with you."

Chapter 34

Eoghan

Therewasaloudthud on my door. We got back to Vancouver late, and I was still jetlagged. The guys knew I planned to work out solo later this afternoon instead of doing it with them this morning.

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