Page 1 of Mortal Blood
Chapter One
“She’s nobetterat all?”
I searched the pack doctor’s face, and he shook his head grimly.
“I’m sorry. I wish I had better news for you.”
“No,” I said, exhaling heavily. “I understand. I knew she might not be. I guess I’d just been hoping…”
Cole rubbed his hand over my upper arm soothingly, but it did nothing to soothe me. My mom’s mental health had been in a downward spiral these last five weeks, and it wasn’t likely to change just because I wanted it to.
“It’s not your fault, you know,” Cole murmured in my ear, but we both knew that was a lie. Guilt clawed at my throat.
“She’s been getting worse ever since I pressed her about my father. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“You had no choice. Finding out your father’s true identity is your best chance of silencing the council.”
“Screw the council!”
The doctor pretended to be too busy looking through a case file to hear my outburst, and Cole rumbled a chuckle.
“I should have found another way,” I said. “What if she doesn’t recover from this?”
“Enough of that,” he said firmly, and tucked one finger under my chin, using it to draw my eyes up to meet his. “You had no way of knowing, so stop blaming yourself.” He softened his tone. “She’s in the best possible place. The doc will help her through this, you just have to give them time.”
“I hope so.”
“Come on, let’s leave the doc to work. My father will want an update on your shifting progress, and if we don’t go to him soon, he’s going to come in search of us.”
I swallowed. There was no part of that I liked the sound of. Cole’s father, and alpha of the pack, had taken a dislike to me when he discovered I was his only son’s fated mate, on account of me being human. You’d have thought my unexpectedly turning my arm into a wolf leg complete with razor sharp claws would have come as a relief to him at least, but if anything, the opposite was true. Now I was worse than a human—I was an unknown quantity. Because the whole pack agreed I didn’t smell like a shifter.
But worse, there was no progress to report. It was like I’d imagined the whole damn thing, for all the success I was having making it happen again. And I was in no hurry to admit that to Alpha Cain and give him even more reason to hate me. No, what I needed right now was an excuse.
“There. That’s her.”
I whirled round to see Cain himself, flanked by three heavyset guys—and if the uniforms hadn’t given them away, the callous expressions on their faces would have. These guys were enforcers for the council.
Shit. That was very much not the kind of excuse I’d had in mind.
“What do you want with my mate?” Cole demanded, stepping in front of me.
A dark-haired enforcer with a jagged scar running the length of his forearm made a jerking motion with his chin.
“Council business. Step aside.”
I placed a hand on Cole’s bicep before he could say anything to land us both in hot water. We’d known this was coming, after all.
“It’s okay. Astor said they’d be coming, right? We just kind of assumed they wouldn’t keep us waiting six weeks.”
I directed that last part at the scarred enforcer, and he grunted in reply.
“The council keeps its own schedule. It’s not for the likes of you to question their decisions.”
“The likes of—” I snapped my jaw shut, intent on not giving him the satisfaction, but the glimmer that flashed through his eyes told me he was enjoying my frustration just the same. I forced a smile. “Never mind. I forgot I was talking to a messenger boy for a moment there.”
His jaw clenched and then turned to the other two. “Take her. Bind her hands.”
“You’ve got no grounds to arrest her,” Cole snapped, his eyes warning the enforcers back.
