Page 55 of His Claim
She leaned forward, eyes glinting in the lantern light. “You know about the fertility drug, right? The one that’s going to make every human girl into a broodmare until she drops dead?” Her gaze flicked to Mariah. “Guess you would, considering you were on their list.”
Mariah’s jaw clenched.
Elsie went on. “Well, I know the rest. Because I’m with the Watch.”
Mariah frowned. “The Watch?”
“Regional branch of a group that hates wolves almost as much as I do,” Elsie said breezily. “They had sources inside, informants who fed us details the Council didn’t want anyone knowing. But we didn’t think we could stop them. Not really.” She tapped her temple. “So the Watch started testing something else. Something we like to call the rage serum.”
Mariah stiffened. “The one that…?”
“That turns humans into frothing nightmares? The one I gave to you?” Elsie cut in with a grim smile. “Yeah, that one. It was supposed to help us fight back. Make humans stronger. Into super soldiers. But it didn’t just make us strong. It made us monsters. First batches of the serum? That’s what gave you the Nyktos. Surprise! Thanks for dealing with those, by the way. That was pretty convenient of you.”
The pit of my stomach went cold.
“Some of the more radical Watch members thought, screw it, let’s give the rage serum to every human female we’ve got. Let the wolves choke on their own breeding stock.” Her smile wentcold and humorless. “Crazy bastards. And they were serious about it.”
Mariah shook her head, horrified. “That’s—insane.”
“Oh, I know.” Elsie shrugged. “So I walked. Took a stash of the serum with me. Figured if I’m dying anyway, I’ll die tearing out some wolf throats.”
Her words were too casual, but her eyes gave her away. Hard and burning, revealing scars that never healed.
Mariah’s voice softened. “What happened to you?”
Elsie’s mouth twisted. “You really want that sob story?”
Mariah just waited.
Elsie’s grin faded. “Fine. When I turned nineteen, I was taken and bred by the wolves. Treated like livestock. Got pregnant. Baby didn’t make it. They blamed me for it. Said I was defective.” Her voice cracked a little. “So they threw me out like trash.” She tilted her chin high, hiding the tremor in her tone. “The Watch found me after that. Fed me, armed me, gave me a reason to keep breathing, but I never forgot what wolves did to me.”
Silence hung, heavy. Mariah swallowed, her hand curling into mine unconsciously.
“You’re not wrong to hate them,” I said finally.
Elsie’s rifle snapped back toward me. “Don’t patronize me, wolf.”
“I’m not.” I held her gaze steady. “But you’re aiming at the wrong fight. Infecting every human girl with that serum? There won’t be anyone left. How is that fundamentally different from what the wolves are doing? You’d be killing your own women!”
She hesitated, lips pressed tight.
Mariah stepped forward, her voice firm. “What if we could find another way? Free the humans without slaughtering everyone?”
Elsie laughed, her tone harshly bitter. “What, you mean the Resistance? Don’t make me laugh. I’ve seen them. They’re pussies. Hiding in their mountains, waiting for miracles. They’re not going to stop the Council.”
Mariah’s chin lifted. “Then maybe we join them. We storm the gates together, humans, wolves, everyone who doesn’t want to live under the Council’s thumb anymore.”
Elsie tilted her head, suspicious. “Storm the gates. Explain.”
I nodded. “Open them from the inside. Get your Watch contacts, whoever’s left. My squad’s loyal to me. We coordinate. The Resistance pushes in while the Council’s still reeling. They won’t know what hit them.”
Elsie’s gaze flicked between us, calculating. She chewed the inside of her cheek, tapping the rifle against her thigh.
“You really think wolves would stand with humans?” she asked, her voice thoughtful.
I held her eyes. “Some will. I’ve seen it.”
Elsie’s fingers tightened on the rifle, her face unreadable. Then she huffed out a laugh, short and harsh.
