Resilience

by Bailey Bradford

  “I was just going in here to kick Dr Spiegel’s ass. Now I’m not sure who did what.”

  Marcus caught Gabe’s chin and pulled his head around to look at him. Gabe snarled

  and slapped Marcus’ hand. “Stop being an ass!”

  Marcus huffed and shook his hand. Big wuss, like Gabe had really hurt him. “I just wanted to ask you something.” Gabe arched a brow and fisted his hands on his hips. “Is it possible that Adam had one of the shifters—”

  As much as Gabe loved Marcus—not that he’d tell the arrogant jerk that—he wasn’t

  going to tolerate that shit. One fist left his hip to land with a nice thud on Marcus’ thickly muscled arm.

  “Ouch,” Gabe whimpered, because it’d been like slamming his fist into a concrete wall.

  Marcus rubbed at his arm and frowned. “I had to ask, Gabe. I don’t know Adam or

  Todd, except through you. And that hurt, the hit and the snit.”

  Gabe snorted so hard his nose burned. “Fine, I’m sorry, sorta. But no, Adam cheating on Todd would be like…like you cheating on Nathan.”

  “He wouldn’t,” Nathan said when Marcus said, “Not possible. Mates aren’t capable of

  cheating.”

  Gabe arched both brows. Marcus would get it eventually.

  Marcus sighed and nodded. “Okay, you know them, I don’t. That leaves force, then. But surely Adam would have, er, been sore if he’d been bitten, and he’d have confided in Todd, right?”

  “Well, at least you’re asking me now and not making judgements,” Gabe muttered.

  “I wasn’t—”

  “Hush.” Gabe grinned when Marcus did just that. He thought it was cute the way the

  big bad Alpha Anax could behave so well. “I’ve thought of that. I can’t figure out what happened. Recessive shifter genes…uh. Well, that and rape were the only two things I could come up with. I was ready to come beat Spiegel but I just, I think Adam would have said something, and Spiegel wasn’t alone with him that I know of. Oh fuck, I don’t know.” Gabe deflated a little. He was still pissed off, but wasn’t sure who he could justly be pissed off at.

  Marcus cocked his head and frowned at the door. “Well, right now, someone who isn’t Aidan is tearing into a doctor for being a fucking idiot.”

  Gabe listened for a second. “That would be Maarten.”

  A loud thud shook the door. Marcus and Nathan nodded at it. “If they kill the doctor, and he’s the one that changed Adam, we might never find out how.”

  “Why are we out here?” Gabe snarked.

  Marcus banged on the door, and when no one answered immediately he tried the knob.

  “Locked.” Marcus drew a deep breath and Gabe thought he was going to do some cool karate chop to take the door out, but all Marcus did was shout, “Aidan! Alex!” and in two seconds flat the door was being opened.

  “Alpha Anax, you shouldn’t be here,” Alex said, shock pinching his handsome features.

  Aidan nudged Alex aside. “Seriously, bro. What gives?”

  But Marcus was looking at Maarten, who had Spiegel pinned to the wall with one big

  hand around the doctor’s neck.

  “Let him go.” There was no mistaking the command in Marcus’ voice, and even Gabe,

  who knew he had authority issues, wanted to whimper and roll onto his back. Everyone in the room with the exception of Aidan, Maarten and Dr Spiegel, dropped to their knees in a show of respect for the powerful AA.

  Maarten gulped and slowly released Spiegel. “I’m sorry, Alpha Anax Criswell. My God, it’s been too long since I’ve been in the presence of a true leader.” Maarten tipped his head down and knelt.

  Dr Spiegel slid down the wall and landed on his butt. The man didn’t look as battered as Gabe had expected, considering all the yelling and thudding. He had a split lip and a black eye—did that make him guilty?

  “Get up, and everyone but Aidan, Alex, Maarten, Spiegel, Gabe and Nathan, leave.”

  The exodus was over in seconds as everyone hurried to obey the powerful alpha.

  Marcus and Nathan walked up to Dr Spiegel who was still sitting on the floor.

  “Tell me what happened,” Marcus commanded, and, just like that, Spiegel began to

  talk. Not that Gabe understood a goddamned word he said, since Spiegel spoke in German or some other language Gabe didn’t know. He could speak some Spanish, knew how to say

  ‘fuck me’ in it as well as in French, Russian, Arabic, and Farsi…that was about it. The things he learned when he was bored and online.

  But, whatever Spiegel was saying, waving his hands in the air and whining every few

  words, was beyond Gabe. He just knew Marcus didn’t look like he wanted to kill Spiegel.

  Then again, Marcus was this badass leader who probably couldn’t run around ripping off heads. Or shouldn’t, anyways.

  Nathan looked at Gabe then and frowned, worry creasing his brow. He didn’t look

  mad, either, just very concerned. Gabe’s stomach plummeted. What new awful thing or

  things were they finding out? Nathan jerked at something Spiegel said, or maybe some thought Marcus shared with him, then he moved over and slid his arm through Gabe’s. He tugged and Gabe leant down, because, well, Nathan was short—but he packed more of a

  punch than any bigger guy except Marcus and Mika.

  “He didn’t touch Adam like that,” Nathan said on a whisper so light even Gabe’s

  enhanced hearing barely caught the words. “It was a family medicine that has been passed down for generations.”

  Oh, Gabe had so many questions. Nathan shook his head slightly and Gabe thought he

  was going to fucking explode if he didn’t get some answers.

  Marcus, still listening to Spiegel, spoke to Adam, telling him to get Shania. Gabe stood beside Nathan until Shania returned with Mika.

  “Adam is sitting with Todd for a few minutes,” Mika murmured. “Nathan, thanks for comforting Gabe.”

  Nathan nodded and moved back over to Marcus, touching his hip. Marcus waved Shania over. “Go with Spiegel to his office, and get the vials from him, please. I want you to examine the contents of them, or at least one of them if you’re certain they contain the same substance. And use only what you must, because, if it’s what Spiegel believes it to be, the stuff is to be guarded and used sparingly.”

  “And what is the stuff supposed to be?” Gabe asked when Shania and Spiegel had left.

  He’d had enough of being talked around or whatever.

  Marcus glanced at Maarten. “Did you know of this?”

  Maarten shook his head. “No, Alpha Anax, I did not. I’m not the Alpha Anax here, and would never want to be. I just trusted Spiegel to do his job.”

  “Marcus…” Gabe growled and Marcus shot him a look that actually almost made him whimper. But not quite. He did, however, shut up.

  Marcus waved Maarten over to stand by Gabe and Mika. “I don’t want to be trying to look at the three of you on opposite sides of me.” Marcus sighed and Gabe thought he looked suddenly tired, until he saw the spark of excitement in Marcus’ dark eyes. “So, here’s the thing. We know shifters originated in Europe thousands of years ago. It’s possible that at one time man and shifter coexisted knowingly, but something happened and we hid ourselves from humans. Anyway, there’s always been this legend, about a shifter named—”

  “Matamesius,” Mika interrupted, blushing when everyone looked at him. “What? I paid attention to the pack story time. That was the best part about gatherings.”

  Marcus grinned for a second then continued. “Yes. And Spiegel’s family have been healers of one sort or another since as far back as they can trace their lineage. Granted, that’s nowhere near the beginning of our existence, but still. One of his great-great-great-great-great grandfathers was very close to someone who was supposedly a direct descendant of Matamesius. He was, according to the family legend, hundreds of years old, still very young in appearance, very
healthy. He told Spiegel’s ancestor it was because he was a descendant of Matamesius, that his body, his blood was age-proof because of it.”

  “But he died, right?” Gabe asked. Seemed like the dude would have had to if this story was going where Gabe thought it was.

  Marcus nodded. “When this shifter died an unnatural death, beheaded by his lover,

  Spiegel’s ancestor slayed the woman and took the man’s body. He… Well, this part is really gross, especially for Adam. But Spiegel said his ancestor stripped the meat and muscles from the body, drained the blood, took the marrow from the bones. He dried it and pulverised it.

  Made it into a powder, I guess.”

  Gabe was gonna hurl. “Are you…urk.” He slapped a hand over his mouth.

  Marcus rubbed at the corner of his lips, as if chasing away a smile as Gabe tried not to upchuck. “Yeah, so Spiegel’s family kept this medicine, if you will, made from a dead guy.

  They used it only in emergencies, pouring a bit of powder in a cup of tea or adding liquid to it and pouring it straight into a patient’s mouth. But they used it sparingly. So sparingly, in fact, that the original tale was lost. Spiegel was cleaning out his great grandfather’s shed when he found the box of it along with the notes about it. He hadn’t used it, but then Maarten,” Marcus tipped his chin at him, “ordered him to find a way to fix Adam sooner, if that were possible. Spiegel was simply trying to do his job and please his alpha.”

  “Shit like this is why I make a lousy alpha,” Maarten said. “I didn’t ask him what he was going to do, just figured he would do something. And here I spent all morning yelling at him, accusing him of reprehensible things.”

  “He could have told you,” Gabe pointed out. “He could have said, ‘Hey Maarten, I might have fucked Adam up.’”

  “He could have,” Maarten acknowledged. “But I am not a true alpha, and so I think he refused to tell me anything because of that. He didn’t stop talking to Marcus until he’d given his entire life story from birth to now.”

  Gabe felt a bit gobsmacked. “So Adam took a pill or drank some tea and it had dead

  guy in it, dead shifter, and it changed him? How the hell—”

  “Because the dead guy was a direct descendant from Matamesius, although Spiegel postulated, and I have to wonder if he isn’t right, that the man was actually Matamesius himself and Spiegel’s relative was his mate. A jealous would-be lover killed Matamesius, perhaps. We don’t know. But if Spiegel truly has a centuries-old corpse ground up, and it has the ability to heal or change a human into a shifter, it’s dangerous shit. Very dangerous shit.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Todd could hear Adam in his head, calling for him, crying out Todd’s name. It drove

  Todd up from unconsciousness, his pulse racing as Adam’s fear and need flooded his veins and filled his head.

  “Adam,” Todd rasped, his voice breaking and fading over the short name. He’d been

  terrified, and, as images of Adam shifting into a horrific mix of man and beast flitted through Todd’s mind, he shoved away the fear. This was Adam, whom he loved. Adam, who loved

  him in return, who even now ached with a physical pain because he wasn’t allowed near Todd. How he knew that, Todd couldn’t explain, although Gabe and Mika had a weird

  psychic bond thing going as mates. Was he Adam’s mate now? Todd couldn’t think about that—he just needed Adam, needed Adam to stop panicking and worrying. The guilt Adam was feeling was almost suffocating, as well.

  “Adam,” Todd managed more clearly. He blinked his eyes open and found a stranger

  peering down at him. She smiled and tucked a lank of hair behind her ear.

  “Hi, Todd. I’m Shania, Marcus Criswell’s personal physician.” She paused and Todd

  figured he was supposed to be impressed but he didn’t really care. He just wanted Adam. “I know, you want your mate. Do you remember what happened?” She sat in the chair beside the bed and took his wrist in her hands. Todd assumed she was checking his pulse.

  “Yes,” he rasped, then he touched his throat. It hurt, inside and out, very badly.

  “That’s the mating mark he left on you. It’s very deep.” She held his wrist in one hand while reaching for a glass of water on the nightstand. “Drink,” Shania told him.

  Todd did, almost crying with relief as the liquid trickled into his mouth. It wasn’t cold by any means, but the water soothed his parched tissues. Swallowing hurt like a mother, though, and Todd didn’t drink more than he needed to in order to speak.

  “I need Adam.” And Adam needed him, fiercely. Todd had to touch Adam, make sure

  he wasn’t in the agony he’d been in when Todd had reached to try to help him. Todd knew it was his own fault he’d got hurt. He knew better than to step close to a hurting animal, be it man or beast, who was in such obvious pain that he or she was out of their mind with it. All Adam had done was flail, which he’d been doing before, screaming and howling.

  “You do know he’s been changed?”

  Todd rolled his eyes towards Shania. Even that hurt. “Yes. How?”

  Shania shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s what Marcus is here to find out. There

  was screaming and thumping coming from an office I walked by. I didn’t hang around to listen.”

  Right now, Todd didn’t care about the why, but he firmly believed Adam hadn’t known

  or wanted to be turned into a shifter. They would deal with that aspect later. Right now, they just needed each other.

  “Please,” Todd begged. He hurt so badly, and Adam was hurting too, and he could feel it, the combination of their physical pain and emotional pain. It was too much. He needed Adam, now.

  “I want to check Adam over then I will insist he be brought to you.” Shania stood and walked over to a bag where she took out some things. “Let me re-dress your wounds first and give you another shot of antibiotics. It will do neither of you any good if you get an infection.” She came back and without warning pulled his blankets off, exposing his naked body. “I’ve seen it all before. I inspected your wounds earlier. You slept right through me pulling the bandages off. Now, on your side so I can give you this shot in the hip.”

  Rolling over was impossible with the way he hurt, but Todd managed to turn his hip

  slightly. The sting of the needle was of no consequence. Shania was a quick and effective doctor, her hands gentle and her bedside manner easy. In short order Todd was bandaged and Shania patted his hand. “Now, let me make sure Adam isn’t in need of my skills, then I will bring him to you personally. It is cruel to keep mates separated when they are in such need of one another.”

  Todd trusted her. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but Adam’s anxiety was too strong. Then something occurred to Todd, and he tried sharing every loving thought he had for Adam, every bit of compassion and understanding and sorrow for Adam’s pain and fear.

  Todd didn’t know how it would work, but, if he was hearing Adam, then surely Adam could hear him back?

  A warm rush of love enveloped Todd. There was so much relief, so much need, that

  Todd believed his attempt had worked. And, when Shania returned with Zane, Adam

  supported between them, clearly wobbly and doped-up if the look in his eyes was anything to go by, Todd knew they’d be okay. There would be many things to work through, but, for now, all he needed was Adam.

  Adam’s eyes lit up and he shook with eager anticipation as he was brought closer.

  Todd, though it hurt him horribly, raised his arms in welcome.

  “Not on the bed, Todd, Adam,” Shania said. “But Adam, you can sit here beside Todd

  and hold his hand, and remember what Zane and I have told you about shifting. Don’t fight it, don’t panic. Accept that it has happened, and concentrate on loving your mate.”

  And as Adam took his hand, tears streaming down Adam’s cheeks, Todd vowed he’d do the very same thing. He’d make sure loving Adam was always his
priority.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  He was done with this. Though it felt like betraying Jameson somehow, Adam couldn’t keep Todd here. Todd needed to be home, and needed to heal—there were too many dangers in this place, too many people he couldn’t trust. Granted, they wouldn’t be going back to Shasta right away. Marcus was insisting they return to his home in Santa Fe so Shania could continue to treat Todd. Adam wasn’t going to argue. They couldn’t very well take Todd to a hospital and explain what had happened.

  Added to his help with Todd’s medical care, Marcus had promised to assist with the

  search for Jameson and Luuk, and at this point, Adam was going to have to trust him and hope Marcus would have more success than Maarten. If nothing else, perhaps Marcus’

  people, his guards, wouldn’t be persecuted by Luther. That would almost certainly cause an all-out shifter war between the North American pack and the fragmented one Luther led.

  Once Todd was fully recovered, and when they could take off from their jobs again,

  they could return here if necessary, to help look for Jameson and Luuk. Adam was hoping his friend and Luuk would be found before then, not because he didn’t want to help or come back, but because it hurt to think of Jameson running, scared for his and his mate’s lives.

  Adam wanted them both safe.

  And Adam had so much to work out in his head. He’d been turned into something he’d never in his life thought of being. Didn’t think he wanted to be a shifter, but he hadn’t had a choice. He understood Spiegel hadn’t known what would happen to him, and that was

  precisely the number one reason the doctor shouldn’t have given him—Adam shuddered and bile burbled up to his throat—ground-up shifter.

  “He just wanted to help,” Todd said, his voice little more than a whisper. Adam cocked his head at him. “The link.” Todd rolled his eyes up as if trying to see the top of his head.

  “Oh. Right.” Something else to adjust to, being able to communicate mentally. It was…weird, but not unpleasant. It was actually a form of intimacy Adam appreciated. He’d thought he’d drown in guilt, but feeling Todd’s love, his lack of blame, his desire for Adam to not let guilt tear him to pieces, well, Todd was an amazing person. Adam knew now he was even more beautiful on the inside than Adam had ever known.