Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“Does Jared’s dad’s wolf behave like Jared’s wolf?” Cicely asks.
“Given the testimony about the state of that pack under the leadership of Michael Stone, I believe Jared’s wolf behaves as it does because of trauma response. As I said, there’s an alpha offspring from the control group who does have a scentless and rather lethal wolf with physical similarities to Jared’s, but he’s got full dominion over it.”
He reaches for a bottle of water and takes a sip before continuing. “Imagine shifters being given something to make them more alpha. Crossing through DNA, offspring omegas might develop beta traits. Betas would have alpha traits. Alphas would have extra-alpha traits. If he’d been raised in a healthy environment, he could still have the wolf he does but he’d have a connection to it like that alpha I mentioned. Our wolves protect this form. We’re designed to leverage our wolves to optimize our chances of survival. Your wolf emerged to protect you from your tyrant alpha uncle, feeling the need to protect your family from him. All accounts point to the likelihood that a switch was flipped when you’d reached your limit for abuse as you reached maturity. Your first shift resulted in the alpha being killed. Then… the betas who harmed your mother and sister.”
“Wait,” I say, and ask, “What do you know about what happened to my mother and sister?”
“It’s likely that’s why your wolf came back a third night. To avenge their deaths,” Mitch says.
Does he know this for a fact or is it being assumed? I don’t ask. I’m assuming nobody told him what I’ve said about my wolf murdering my family.
Did my wolf murder them? Or did it avenge them?
I work hard to pay attention to the rest of what he’s saying, though it’s not easy.
“It’s highly likely your wolf emerged early as a result of the abuse you endured leading up to your maturity. It emerged to protect you. Extra-large, more teeth, more strength. With most alphas, a first shift presents an adolescent wolf. Sounds like your first shift emerged a fully-grown wolf. And it’s likely the trauma of loss surrounding those days around that first shift disconnected you from your wolf. Without connection to this side of you, your wolf continues on in that state it first emerged in – one of fighting for your life as well as for revenge.”
This is a lot to take in.
He adds, “This is why Catrina and I both believe the drug administered to the Silver Hills shifters could bridge the divide between you and your wolf. It might take time, but you could begin to fuse with and have dominion over it as well as the potential to capture all the memories your wolf holds so that you’ll know everything it’s done in that form. If you connect and work with it, you’ll know if you can trust it going forward. If you don’t think you can, there might be medical options that could help subdue it or tweak its brain chemistry.”
“What about our offspring?” Cicely asks. “How will the drug Jared’s father took affect our kids? And now you want to give him another experimental drug? I’m guessing you don’t know how that’ll affect our kids either, correct?”
“Correct. Raised in the right environment, there’s no reason to expect anything negative from the drug Jared’s father took. The surviving alpha who has full dominion over his wolf has three healthy children. Two are male and both present with the potential to be alphas. There are no suspected issues. Both have distinct scents.”
“But nobody will know if they’re affected until they mature?” Cicely asks.
“Correct,” he agrees.
“Did you have a scent before you matured?” she asks me.
“No,” I say. “Never had one. It pissed Uncle Mike off.”
My mate turns to Mitch. “So, the SCC treats shifters like guinea pigs or lab rats and then what? Shifters get fucked over, that’s what. Is Jared’s father actually unstable or does the SCC just want to keep him from telling anyone how they fucked him and his son up?”
Shit. My mate is losing her temper.
I grab her hand. “Let’s do the rest of this. We can talk it all through later.”
“I’m not on any of those research teams, lass,” Mitch tells her. “I’m not responsible for this.”
“But I bet you are on other ones, right? You’re a doctor for the SCC, for fuck’s sake. What other stains are on your soul?”
“I’m proud to say our council is a lot different now than it was thirty years ago,” he states, face going red.
My mate clearly doesn’t care who she pokes. Alpha or not.
“Oh, that same SCC that sentenced Erica and Riley to seven years of pain just … what… seven years ago?”
Mitch looks to me, as if expecting me to control her.
“Yeah,” she scoffs. “The same SCC that just recently had one of your witches try to siphon all the power from Erica Savage. And we’re supposed to trust you?”