“I don’t know. Last time we spoke with Varian, we didn’t know for sure that the clan would help us.”
“We can’t have a healer who’s not a wolf.”
“Technically, we can.” Danielo removed Zio’s hand from his arm and pulled him into a half hug. “Look, I know it’s tough to see Emma replaced, but we’ve got to think of the pack. We can’t defend ourselves without means to recover from battle wounds. How many times did Emma save each and every one of us? Without her, the southern packs would be halfway across Europe by now, which is probably why the clan has stepped up.”
“True that,” Bomber said. “As long as we’re fit to fight, the southern packs are our problem.”
“I think it’s more than that.” Michael spoke for the first time. “Shadow Clan of old could destroy the southern packs in one battle. Perhaps they’re not as powerful as we think they are anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter how powerful they are,” Danielo said. “If they attack the southern packs, their peace with every pack, coven, and clan around the world will crumble. You want to go back to fighting werewolvesandvampires? Cos that’s what will happen.”
Most of them were too young to remember a time when the entire supernatural world had been at war with each other. The alliance between Shadow Clan and the wolf packs of northern Europe had formed to bring peace and to hold it as long as certain conditions were upheld. Danielo was right: military assistance from a non-wolf clan was never going to happen, which meant... there was only one explanation for the unknown shifter he’d encountered in the club.
Encountered. That’s what you’re calling it?
Zio bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. It didn’t matter what he called it, the fact remained that the man he’d been drawn to so intensely, that he’d shared come with, all the while so blinded by his scent that he’d been seconds from sinking his teeth in, from claiming him, was almost certainly the incoming healer.
Fuck my life.
Chapter Five
Varian welcomed Zio into his home, a house set deep within the military compound, and directed him to wait in the office. The scent of his mate, Tomas, was close by, and Gale was there too. His unit hadn’t been at the meeting. In Zio’s latest act as the worst pack beta in the history of pack betas, he’d neglected to wonder why.
Gale drew him into a hug.
Zio returned his embrace, but as Gale’s scent hit him, he stiffened. “You’ve been with the healer.”
Gale pulled back. “Sharp as ever. Yeah. I picked him up earlier. Smells weird, huh?”
Zio couldn’t speak. The healer’s scent on Gale’s skin was faint, barely detectable, but it permeated every facet of Zio’s being. Varian’s office disappeared, and the darkness of the club consumed him.
“I want to fuck you.”
The man chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll make it that far.”
“Zio.” Gale shook Zio gently. “It’s okay, honestly.”
“How can it be okay? He’s not a wolf.”
Gale sighed. “The others were freaked out too, but what are we supposed to do? Fight on with no way of putting ourselves back together? Why do you think Emma was targeted in the first place? Every wolf alive knew she was the only—”
Zio’s hackles rose. His teeth sharpened and his claws broke free, drawing blood. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Why? We can’t avoid facts.”
Zio had made a point of avoiding facts from the moment Emma had died in his arms, but he couldn’t deny what Gale was saying. The bomb had been planted in the area Emma had set up as a makeshift field hospital,afterthe skirmish had died down and the wounded had been evacuated. Killing her had been the only tactical advantage to destroying it.
He wiped his hands on his jeans, forcing his wolf down. “I know all that. But how can we trust an outsider?”
You trusted him enough to get your dick out for him.
Valid.
Zio knocked his fist on the side of his head.
Gale caught it and pushed Zio’s hand away. “Look, I get it. But we have to face the reality that we can’t fight a war without a healer in our ranks. We’d be dead in days, and then what? I’ll bloody tell you what, the southern packs will overwhelm the north and kill anyone who gets in their way. You think Emma would be able to live with that? You think she wouldn’t have welcomed a thousand Shadow Clan into our midst if it would save a thousand northern wolves and their families?”
Varian entered the room before Zio could respond. He glanced between them, eyebrows raised, though he’d have heard every word as he’d approached, his alpha senses stronger than the soundproofed walls of his office. “Have a seat,” he said. “Everything okay?”