Fated Healing [Kindred of Arcadia 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (16 page)

The woman’s eyes grew moist. She looked right at Felix and gave him a gentle, knowing smile.

“I would if I could, young hybrid, for if there was anyone who needed a mother’s love right now, it’s

you. The sacrifice you have made to get this far is astounding.” Felix dashed his tears and snuggled in

closer to his mate.

“Not to be rude, but wasn’t Celeste the name of the witch who created the perimeter?” Liam asked.

Celeste nodded. “When a priestess is revealed to be the next ruler, she takes the name Celeste when she

assumes the role of High Priestess. We have honored her memory every generation since the beginning,”

she explained. “Now then, the sample?”

Liam nodded and took the long pole from Riley, who had been standing to the side watching. Slowly

Liam pushed the cooler through the perimeter and to the priestess.

“Holy hell, dark magic much!” A voice from behind Lachlan exclaimed.

Felix watched as two men joined Lachlan and Celeste.

“Liam, Maddox, Felix. These two gentleman are Nathaniel Hamilton and Ronan Evans. Nathanial is a

medic and has healing gifts, and Ronan is a true Omega, or heart of his pack. Coming up behind them are

Conall York, their Beta, and of course Eirik Lyall, the Alpha of the Lyall pack. I called them in to assist

before I knew the perimeter was locked down. They have stayed to assist in any way they can,” Lachlan

explained.

“As if we could leave. Do you know how much work I put into keeping little Ashby alive when he first

arrived at Purgatory? We all kinda took to the little guy. If there’s anything we can do to help him, we will,”

Nathaniel said.

“You’re a ginger, so you have to be amazing,” Felix said weakly from Claybourne’s arms.

“Gingers are amazing.” Nathaniel grinned before his face turned serious.

“I wish I could help you. This damn perimeter won’t let us even get a toe across,” Nathaniel said,

sounding frustrated.

“You boys are right, there is dark magic at work.” Celeste knelt beside the cooler, running her hand

lightly over the lid.

“But how would they know? They are wolves, not witches,” Claybourne asked.

“Our pack is unique. I got healing abilities from my mother’s side of the family. Ronan was just born

weird,” Nathaniel said before Ronan punched his arm.

“They have witches in their familial line, as Nathaniel explained more than likely through their mothers.

They are just more shifter than they are witch, so they ended up as wolves with a few special traits. It’s not

unheard of,” Celeste said absently, her attention focused solely on the cooler.

“What she said.” Ronan shrugged. Felix watched as the priestess opened the cooler and all blood

drained from her face. She swayed slightly and Lachlan stepped forward to steady her.

“So much hate. So much hate and evil went into this spell. His blood, his intent. But her will and power.

There are only a few in this world that could perform such a spell. I consider all of them my closest of

friends, like sisters. To think that one of them could do such a thing.” Celeste reached into the cooler and

picked up the piece of chocolate. Before anyone could stop her, she popped it in her mouth. Felix stared in

disbelief.

“Celeste!” Lachlan yelled and started thumping her on the back. Celeste stepped away from him,

chewing, an annoyed look on her face.

“I am not a choking toddler, Lachlan, honestly. Now, yes. Where was I?” She tilted her head back

closing her eyes and continued to chew.

“I was right. The one who requested the spell donated his blood, and with it gave his hate, malice, and

desire for death. I can see his intent that is guiding the virus. It was born to kill, specifically shifters. It

would not have any effect on anyone else, because his intent did not cover those groups. This virus was

created to weaken its victim, preventing them from shifting, and thus destroying the virus. There is a stasis

spell here that would keep the virus dormant until it reached a certain temperature. It was engineered to

come alive in a living body. Oh Goddess! It was designed to resist any known cures and medicines.” She

stopped abruptly before opening her eyes. Two steady streams of tears made their way down her cheeks.

“There is no cure. He made sure that no medicine would be effective. I’m so sorry!” She buried her face

in her hands. Felix felt his mate begin to shake.

“No! You can’t tell me there is no cure. I cannot stand by and watch my mate die. The townspeople are

counting on me!” Claybourne screamed.

“My mate is pregnant! We cannot lose him, or our child,” Liam whispered right before his knees gave

out and he collapsed to the ground. Riley and the wolves surrounded Liam and Claybourne reaching out

and touched them for comfort and support.

On the other side of the perimeter, Celeste turned and leaned into Lachlan for comfort and support.

“Magic created this virus, so let magic create a cure! There has to be something you can do!”

Claybourne yelled at the older woman. She shook her head.

“It’s impossible to uncreate something another witch has created. This witch, whoever she is, took the

sacred act of creation and turned it into something dark and twisted. I’m sorry, Doctor, there is nothing that

I can do,” she explained, tears in her eyes.

Felix looked at Lyall’s wolves standing a bit apart from Lachlan and Celeste. Felix met Eirik’s gaze. The

man tilted his head back and a heartbreaking howl lifted from his throat. Ronan, Nathaniel, and Conall

joined their Alpha as the timeless soul-wrenching melody floated through the air up to the sky.

Riley and the Arkadian wolves dropped their heads back and joined in a wordless song of loss and

sorrow. They were mourning for their Alpha, who back in town lay sick and dying. Felix looked to

Claybourne. His mate looked beaten, broken. Liam was no better, sitting on the ground with his arms

wrapped around his knees. If there was one thing he learned trapped in a cage too small for his body, it was

to never give up. If he had given up, he wouldn’t have been around to escape or meet Claybourne. He

refused to believe that Fate had brought him all of this way simply to die. Angrier than he had been in a

long time, he began to thrash around. Confused, Claybourne set him down. Leaning back, he balled up his

fist and punched his mate as hard as he could in the stomach. Shocked, Claybourne grunted and grabbed

his midsection.

“Felix! What in the hell was that for?” Claybourne demanded.

“Eww. You mean I ate that old fucker’s blood? Ewwww.” Felix, using his hands, wiped his tongue

repeatedly before looking at his mate, giving him the evil eye.

“I hit you for giving up. We’re not dead yet. There is always hope as long as you’re alive.” Felix looked

to Claybourne.

“If we are truly meant to die now, I’m going to die with every medicine and treatment we can think of

running through my veins, and my mate’s cock in my ass!” Felix yelled.

Claybourne grinned. “My amazing nurse mate with no brain-to-mouth filter. As always you’re right. I

won’t give up as long as you draw breath,” Claybourne promised and looked to Liam.

“We’re not giving up. I don’t know about witches, but I know history. As long as good men were

willing to fight, they were able to overcome the darkness of men’s hearts and the evil it can bring. I say we

listen to my mate and head back to Arkadia to fight this thing with everything we have,” Claybourne said.

“Well said! Liam, son, hold on. Don’t give up hope yet. You have a baby on the way, keep fighting for

that little one.” Lachlan turned to Claybourne.

“What medicines will you need?” he asked.

“Epinephrine and steroids. All you have. The High Priestess said it herself. The virus was designed in

such a way that if the patient shifted, the virus would be burned off in the process. We just have to figure

out the right dosage to induce a shift,” Claybourne explained.

“You tried that with me already. It didn’t work.”

“I only had small amounts to work with, and no steroids. I’m going to give you enough to send an

elephant into cardiac arrest.” Claybourne kissed the top of Felix’s head.

“Here you go! Good luck!” Nathaniel said, pushing the box through. Liam picked up the box and turned

to Riley.

“Round up your men and head to town. We’ll know in the next couple hours what will happen. If it

doesn’t go well, your Alphas will need you,” Liam said. Riley nodded and began shouting orders to the

men to pack up.

Felix watched as Liam turned to his grandfather, his jaw clenched in an effort not to cry.

“Call you in the morning,” he said. The older man just nodded. Celeste looked at Liam.

“I swear to you I will find the one who cast this spell. They will pay for what they have done,” she

promised. Liam nodded and turned to face Claybourne.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 10

“How do you feel?” Claybourne asked as he gently started injecting the liquid into his IV. Felix

scrunched up his nose. He felt a warm wave travel up his arm and through his body. For a split second he

felt his animal before it lay back down again, asleep. He leaned back in the leather chair in the principal’s

office.

“I felt my animal for a split second. I’m warm all over and my head is less foggy. I feel almost normal.”

Felix sounded excited.

“That’s good. We’ll wait five minutes and try another dose,” Claybourne said, carefully documenting

their attempts.

“Doc, you used nearly a quarter of our supplies in that attempt,” Liam said, sounding worried.

“We got a reaction, which is good. Get your grandfather to start scouring for more epinephrine and

steroids. If we have to increase the dosage in order to trigger a shift we’re going to need a hell of a lot

more,” Claybourne informed the lion Alpha.

“I’ll send him a text with an update. Felix, how do you feel now?” Liam asked.

“It’s wearing off. I’m starting to feel sleepy again.”

“I’m going to double the last dosage. Felix, reach for your animal,” Claybourne said before starting the

second injection. Once again a warmth ran through him. He called to his animal, begged it to come forward,

telling it they were in danger. His animal looked at him, yawned and lay back down. Felix opened his eyes.

“It’s no good. He’s not budging.” Felix took a deep breath.

“You should give the rest to Ma.” Felix panted.

“This would kill her right now, only a full shift could save her. Anything short of that would stop her

heart,” Maddox whispered.

“There’s no cure, is there?” Liam asked softly. Claybourne shook his head.

“I could quadruple the dosage, Felix would run the risk of heart failure and he would only succeed in

getting his animal’s attention. If at the first attempt he had said that his animal began to pace or get restless, I

would keep trying, but all we’re doing is waking it up,” Claybourne explained.

“I’ll call the others,” Liam said.

“There has to be something,” Felix whispered. Claybourne pulled him into his lap and wrapped his

arms around him.

One by one the town’s leaders filed in. Felix saw that the past six days had taken a toll on these men.

They weren’t eating or sleeping properly. They were shadows of their former selves. Claybourne stood and

settled Felix in the chair before standing at the head of the long table.

“You have news?” Bran asked, sitting next to Caleb. Beside them Aleks sat with Benedict. On Liam’s

other side was Kent, then Gabriel and Baptista. Claybourne took a deep breath.

“The High Priestess confirmed that there was magic guiding the virus. It was designed specifically to

target shifters, render their animals helpless to prevent shifting and kill us. Into this virus Gilberton poured

all of his hate and desires to kill you. He made the virus immune to every known cure and medicine.”

“Dear god, are you telling us there is no cure?” Caleb asked.

Slowly Claybourne nodded. “We have tried high doses of epinephrine and steroid to trigger a shift so

that the virus would be burned off in the process, but the virus breaks down the reaction too quickly.”

Claybourne pointed to Felix’s IV.

“What about magic? More steroids. Something!” Bran shouted.

“If there were anything else, do you think we would have called you in here?” Liam asked sounding

bitter. Bran sat back in his chair, dazed.

“Does Celeste know who the witch was that created the spell?” Gabriel asked, his voice as cold as the

artic. Felix shivered.

“No, she said that she would search them out,” Claybourne advised. Gabriel’s eyes had shifted from the

black they had been for the past couple days to a deep red, his fangs lengthening.

“Baptista. Call Mikhail. He needs to be waiting at the perimeter to come and kill me. I will not be the

man you know when Ashby dies. You will have to restrain me before he takes his last breath and keep me