I need everyone to report to the gate immediately. Stop whatever you’re doing and don’t ask any questions. I expect everyone here in ten minutes.
I heard Knox’s voice echo in my head and I immediately pulled over. What could possibly be happening? He hardly ever called a surprise meeting for the clan, and based on the weak connection I was sensing, he was reaching out to all of us.
I sighed and made my way to the gate, wondering all the while what news waited there.
When I arrived, it seemed that most of the clan was already there. I had been on the opposite end of the park, so it took me a good ten minutes to get to our meeting spot. The clan had formed a semi-circle around the gate and I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to get to the front so I could see what was going on. I spotted Knox first and he was trying to quiet the chatter of the crowd; everyone was staring, and I finally saw why.
Kathleen was standing in the middle of the semi-circle, trembling. She was wearing the same outfit she wore on our first date and my eyes widened as I watched her scan the crowd. Her gaze met mine and she immediately looked away; all I could see in her eyes was fear. I could almost hear her heart beating from where I stood and I wanted to reach out to her, but that seemed like the last thing she wanted.
What is she doing here? Why does she look so scared? My eyes never left her, and Knox finally got everyone to be silent.
“This woman is here on behalf of a certain faction of the government and says she has an urgent message to deliver from them. I’d like you to listen carefully.” Knox nodded toward the clan and then joined the semi-circle, turning his attention to Kathleen. It seemed even he didn’t know what the message was yet.
I watched her eyes flit around the crowd in panic and my heart twinged. All I wanted to do was hold her.
“I was sent by the National Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases. They are a sub department of the Centers for Disease Control and have asked me to deliver a message to you all.” She seemed to gain her bearings the more she spoke. “The NCPD-CID knows your secret. They know about…bear shifters. They’ve been watching you all since the Danielle Peterson incident via satellite and they witnessed you all change during the full moon.”
Gasps and whispers erupted in the crowd, and some of the men began to shout in anger.
Knox turned towards them to quiet them down. “Let her finish!” he yelled. Everyone quieted as his Alpha authority rang over us. I was in too much shock to say or do anything. I also wanted to hear what else Kathleen had to say.
“They have a proposition. They want you all to turn yourselves into the government where you will be housed in cells for testing and observation.”
“What the fuck?” Trent shouted. “Hell no! We’re not going to become anyone’s lab rats!”
The clan murmured in agreement and Knox held up one hand in an attempt to silence everyone once again. I could tell he was irritated and angry, but he was trying extremely hard to contain it. His lips were tightly pressed together, and his muscles were tense.
“What is our other option?” was all he asked.
“They said if you do not turn yourselves in, in one week, they will set Acadia ablaze and destroy your home. And all of you along with it.”
“WHAT?!” Trent exploded, heading toward a trembling Kathleen. Knox had to grab him, but I could see Knox’s grip was shaky as well. They were fighting their anger to prevent provoking a shift.
Kathleen looked like she was ready to bolt in the opposite direction. The crowd now resembled an angry mob and I just stood there, stunned.
She lied to me…She said she was here as a tourist, and all along, she knew. She was scoping out the area. I can’t believe this! Anger began to surge through my veins.
Knox raised his arm again to silence us, taking a few moments to formulate his thoughts.
“I speak on behalf of my entire clan and I am sure we are unanimous in this decision. We refuse to turn ourselves in for testing. If the government wishes to eradicate us, they will just have to try.”
Shouts of approval resounded through the crowd and I just stared at Kathleen. I wanted her to look at me and see the betrayal, hurt and anger I was feeling. But she didn’t; she seemed too preoccupied with the crowd of angry bear shifters glaring at her. I turned to Knox and caught him nodding to Trent, who started to head toward Kathleen. I instinctively moved to stop him, but Knox gave me a stern look. Kathleen’s eyes widened, and she stumbled backwards, but Trent caught her, placing her hands behind her back.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!” Kathleen struggled against Trent and I could see the panic on her face.
Despite all the negative feelings I felt towards her in that moment, my body seemed to want to move on its own volition. My gaze shifted to Knox again, and his eyes had moved to me. He had noticed my slight advances towards her and was glaring me down. I sighed and held myself in position, looking on with a mix of feelings.
“Don’t kill the messenger!” Kathleen yelled.
“On the contrary, we aren’t going to kill you. But if you think we’re just going to let you go back to them, you have it all wrong.” Knox’s tone was stern; he meant what he said. He would hold her hostage, but I didn’t understand what good it would do. Was he hoping that holding her captive would stall the fire?
The crowd didn’t seem to follow my mind’s path. They erupted into cheers as Kathleen was carried away by Trent to what I imagined would be the holding lodge. Was he just doing this to appease the clan’s bloodthirst? I’m sure if he had asked for her punishment, people would have wanted her killed, but Knox was a fair leader. All she had done was deliver a message from people who wanted to kill us. She had made no moves to harm us in any way and Knox wouldn’t just take someone out for no good reason.
“She is a traitor. Whatever feelings you had for her, bury them. We trusted her in our park and among our staff, and she was an enemy all along.” My eyes left Kathleen and Trent and turned to Knox, who was now standing before me.
“I’m not so sure she’s the enemy—”
“She’s working for a faction of the government that wants to kill us all. How does that not make her the enemy?”
“There could be more to the story. I just…I don’t know…” I sighed. I wanted so badly for this to all be just a bad dream.
“I need you to pull it together. They’re sending fire and I need you to set up the safety plan. I want Acadia fire proof by next Monday. You can have as many workers and other resources as you need, but you have to make it happen.”
By next Monday? That was going to be a stretch, even if I had the entire clan working with me and all the money in the world, but I knew better than to say that to Knox. He was obviously counting on me and I wasn’t about to let him down—I couldn’t. The whole clan and the entire park were on the line. I had so many lives in my hands and I had to try my hardest to get the park secure.
“I can get it done,” was all I said, and Knox nodded. His eyes lingered on me for a moment. “I’ll be fine. Seriously.”
“You don’t have much of a choice.” With that, Knox walked away. Most of the clan had already dispersed and Kathleen’s shouts for freedom were long gone. I stood there, alone, forcing down the feelings for someone I felt that I no longer knew. Who was Kathleen, really? How much of what she told me was actually true?
I had no answers for those questions, but there were more pressing issues to contend with. I had to figure out how to get fifty thousand acres of land fire-safe in one week.