Page 9 of Mountain Air
Chapter Six
Garrett turned the car off as he parked in front of his uncle’s house. It was a A-frame, two-story lodge built in the early 1900s. All the timber was from when they were developing the town and cutting down trees. The conclave met in the wide-open area of the house on the new moon. Contrary to popular belief, shifters didn’t have to shift on the full moon or any moon really. His uncle did like to do a check in with the conclave every few months so… new moon meeting.
“Come on, Doc,” he said as he climbed out of the vehicle.
“Why are you calling me ‘doc’? I’ve got my doctorate, but you can use my first name,” Doc said as he joined Garrett at the back of the SUV.
“First names have more connection to them for shifters, you should know that.” Garrett frowned and gestured for Doc to head to the door.
“I keep telling you… not a shifter,” he called over his shoulder. Garrett couldn’t understand why he was still insistent that he wasn’t a shifter but that was up to his uncle to figure out.
Knocking on the door, Garrett waited a minute before he turned the knob and pushed open the door. He watched Doc as he saw the interior for the first time. The vaulted ceilings, the heavy leather seating to the right, the stone fireplace to the left with the area rugs spread in front of it. The lodge was a sight to behold.
“Nepot, you haven’t visited in weeks,” Uncle Mario said as he approached, arms wide. Garrett could see the minute his uncle smelled Doc’s cat. His arms dropped and he halted ten feet in front of them. “Why didn’t you request permission to enter my territory?” Garrett almost dropped to the floor when his lion heard thesuaderefrom his uncle.
“Sir? I’m not sure what is going on, honestly. I didn’t mean any disrespect to you or your position. Your nephew keeps insisting that I’m a shifter but I’m not. I’m just a human with nothing special about him. My name is Robert Brown. I’m here to do research on invasive plants in the area. And I’m from San Jose,” Rob finished. Garrett could see the confusion pass over his uncle’s face.
“Brown? That’s not a shifter surname. What are your parents’ names?” his uncle asked. Holding up a hand, he said, “Wait, please have a seat. Although this is abnormal, I don’t sense any deceit from you and my lion seems comfortable in your presence.”
Garrett followed the two men as they crossed to the couches. Once they sat, he took a seat next to Doc. He wasn’t sure why, but his lion didn’t want to be far from him.
“Your parents?” Uncle Mario asked.
“My parents are Beverly and Ronald Brown. They’re both from large families in and around San Jose,” Doc said.
“Was your upbringing happy?” Garrett wasn’t sure where his uncle was going with his questions, but it wasn’t for him to argue about.
“Once I was adopted, yes,” Doc responded, causing his uncle to gasp.
“Adopted? From where? How long ago?” The rapid-fire questions weren’t like Uncle Mario at all. Normally, he’d ask one or two and then move on after the answers were provided.
“I was maybe three? So twenty-seven years ago. Mom told me that they didn’t have any luck getting pregnant and back then there weren’t as many options for fertility. She said they were impatient for children and local adoptions were going to take years.” Doc shrugged as he said that. “They found an international agency to go through. My brother and I had been in an orphanage in Toluca, Mexico for fifteen months when they adopted us.”
Garrett’s uncle tilted his head and remained silent as Doc finished. After a few minutes, his uncle said, “If I remember correctly that’s where and when there was a series of shifter murders. It took about a year before they found the culprits. A group of humans were hunting illegally. Thought they were on trophy hunts for pumas, but they killed shifters instead. I don’t remember hearing about orphans though,” he finished. “I’ll need to inform the council. If you and your brother exist, then the possibility is there that there are others out there too.”
“Others? Sir, again, no disrespect intended but I can guarantee you that both my brother and I have never shifted to a doodoo bird never mind a puma. We’re not shifters,” Doc said adamantly.
“Of course you haven’t shifted. Your alpha parent would have used theirsuadereto compel you to shift when you were a toddler. Barring that, you’d shift after exchanging bodily fluids with your fated mate then were in a stressful situation, or you’d be compelled by your mate’s Alpha,” Uncle Mario corrected.
Garrett felt Doc tense up next to him and could tell he was about to argue with his uncle more, so he interrupted. “Speaking of stressful situations, have you seen my sister lately?”
His uncle frowned at him before responding, “Kim? She hasn’t been seen for a month or so and neither have her cubs.”
He thought that was going to be the answer. “I’m sorry to tell you, Uncle Mario, but something’s wrong with her. Today, I stopped her from attacking Doc here as she thought he was going to hurt the girls. When I looked at her eyes, they were glazed over like she was taking drugs.”
“Drugs? Kim’s taking drugs? From where? Who? If there’s a dealer in the conclave, they’ve signed their death warrant.” Uncle Mario stood up and started pacing. “The Quad needs to find this person.” He pulled out his cell phone and almost put his finger through the screen. “Thiago, get the others and report to the lodge immediately.”
“Um, Uncle Mario? I’m not sure if Kim was high or not. There aren’t drugs that can affect us when we’re shifted anyway. Our system wouldn’t allow us to shift under the influence of anything.” Garrett was confused.
Uncle Mario shook his head. “I was going to tell the conclave next new moon. I didn’t think our area had been affected yet. The council sent out word that there’s a faction that is targeting shifters in the US with a concoction that can be used on us. They’re not completely sure what is being used to create the drug. The notice said that it can trigger our base instincts to attack and kill.”
“What the fuck?” Doc said, making both him and his uncle turn to him. “Why would someone want to do that?”
“We’re not sure. From what they’ve been able to figure out is someone thinks that if they can control our animals and cause us to kill then if the formula is adjusted, they’ve got a new weapon to use.” Uncle Mario dropped his chin to his chest and sighed. “It apparently doesn’t work. Yes, it triggers our violent nature, but the council said that those that have been exposed aren’t controllable. The human part has fought the animal and they’ve run off. When they shifted back, they acted as if they were in withdrawal. Scratching at themselves, asking for more.”
“Not to be impolite, or echo the doc, but what the fuck?” Garrett knew that obscene words weren’t appreciated by the Alpha and his uncle was in full-on Alpha mode right now.
His uncle chuckled at Garrett’s question. “I know,Nepot, I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing. The Quad is aware of the drug’s existence already. Now for us to find the person responsible for bringing it to our area.”
