Chapter Twenty-Five
Hunter trailed Cade back toward the village. He had questions but the omega seemed distracted. Hunter found himself distracted too, by an increasingly persistent ache in his shoulder. He rubbed it.
“It’s hurting you,” Cade said, without turning.
“Yeah, like I said, I’m a slow healer.”
Cade paused ahead of him but didn’t look back.
“I don’t normally go backward though,” Hunter added to himself, wondering at that.
“We should go see Doctor Jensen.”
Ordinarily, Hunter wasn’t a fan of people claiming to be doctors. But it seemed like it made sense for him to meet the other alpha here. Maybe Jensen would talk more plainly than Eamon.
There were two kids waiting outside the cottage that housed the clinic.
“What happened?” Cade asked them.
“Chloe fell from a tree.”
“I did not,” came an indignant voice from inside and a moment later, a little girl stomped out, her arm in a sling. Behind her was a man Hunter presumed was Doctor Jensen. He was younger than Hunter had been expecting.
“Nathan,” the alpha said, his voice calm, “would you like to tell us what happened?”
“She fell,” a little boy with dark hair insisted.
Jensen raised an eyebrow. The boy’s shoulders slumped. “We were chasing. I forgot myself. Sorry, Chloe.”
“Your arm will be fully healed in two days. Until then, no flying. Nathan, you can come help me after school and we’ll have a talk.”
To Hunter’s surprise, Nathan actually brightened at that. “Thanks, Doctor Jensen.”
The three kids ran off, shoving playfully at each other.
“Is Chloe okay?” Cade asked.
“A few pulled feathers and a sprained shoulder. She’ll be good as new in a day or two.”
“Feathers?” Hunter asked. “What is she?”
Jensen seemed surprised by his question. “You can’t tell? Hmm. That’s interesting.” He stepped back inside and left Hunter’s question unanswered.
“Come on in,” he called a moment later when Hunter hadn’t moved from the porch. He stepped inside, Cade right behind him. They found Jensen in a room decked out like a typical doctor’s surgery, with an exam bed, desk, and a variety of tools and instruments, including a computer.
“How’s that shoulder healing up? It giving you some trouble?” Jensen was searching through a drawer for something, his back to them. Another twinge of pain encouraged Hunter to be honest.
“Yeah, actually. It seemed to be healing but the pain is getting worse now.”
“Alright, shirt off and let’s take a look.”
Hunter shared a quick glance with Cade before one-handedly tugged his shirt off awkwardly over his head.
When he got it off, he found Jensen frowning at him, his arms folded.
“You’re not using your right arm.”
“Yeah. There’s like a burning pain when I try to move it,” Hunter replied, hearing Cade’s sharp intake of breath behind him. He turned back, aware that the omega’s heartbeat had upped its pace. It would be nice to think that seeing him shirtless was having that effect but he knew better.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Hunter?” Jensen drew his attention forward. “Take a look at your shoulder.”
Hunter glanced down, expecting to see a semi-healed wound. “Shit.”
It wasn’t healed, not even a little. There were angry red lines trailing from the wound and snaking down across his chest.
“What is that?”
“The poison Red Fang doused you with.”
“I thought… I thought I was healing, getting better.”
Jensen glanced over his shoulder at Cade before looking back to Hunter. “We did what we could to stabilize you. It seems it worked, for a time, but…”
“It hasn’t lasted? Yeah, I can see that. So what next? Is there an antidote? Can we flush the poison out?”
Jensen met his eyes, compassion in his gaze. Hunter felt the first stirrings of panic.
“If you were an active alpha, I’d tell you to shift. In your animal form, you’re stronger, you’d work the poison from your system.”
“But I can’t shift.”
“No. And if you were any other dormant shifter, you’d be dead by now. You’re stronger than most.”
“Why do I get the sense that isn’t enough to save me?”
“Because it isn’t,” Cade replied.
“So it’s a hopeless case then? I’m dead and there’s nothing I can do about it?”
“Nothing you can do, no,” Jensen said pointedly, looking over his shoulder again. Hunter turned slowly until he was facing Cade.
“What is he talking about?”
“I was hoping you’d surprise us, be able to heal like you did your ribs. And if not, I thought I’d get to explain before it got this bad.”
“Explain what?”
“There may be a way to save you. But there will be consequences, for both of us.”
“I don’t understand.” He turned back to Jensen. “Can you explain? Because I am getting very tired of people talking to me in riddles.”
“I can only tell you from the medical side of things that your wound won’t heal with you in human form. It just can’t happen. There is a possibility you could regain your ability to shift. Cade thinks the chances are good. But you need to hear him out, the whole way through, before you make that choice.”
Hunter didn’t want to die, and certainly not from some stupid poison. And he wanted to be able to shift. The idea of it was tantalizing. If he could shift, then Angus and the Cove would want him to stay, mate or not. He could protect their borders like they were supposed to be protected. And if it worked on him, maybe the same method would work on Seth and Angus. Maybe they’d have a real pack again, with proper shifters, and they wouldn’t feel like impostors in their own world.
He turned to the omega. “Tell me everything. Give me the chance to decide.”
Cade, pale and worried, nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”
“You’ll need some distance from the village,” Jensen said. “Head to the north meadow and the cabin there. I’ll spread the word, keep the place off limits. Take a radio in case you need anything.”
He tossed over a small handheld radio which Cade attached to his belt.
“You should get going. With Hunter’s shoulder that bad, you don’t have a lot of time. Good luck,” Jensen said as he walked them to the door. “And remember, Hunter. We all came to the den by different paths. This is your path to walk.”
“Why River Den?” Hunter groused as Jensen went back inside. “Why not Den of the cryptic, supposedly profound messages.”
“That’s not very catchy, is it?” Cade retorted. “Plus, we’re surrounded by rivers. Literally.”
In fact, they had to cross one by a small footbridge to reach the north meadow.
“Are we on another island?” Hunter asked as they reached the other side.
“No. The river springs up a mile that way and runs east. It doesn’t bisect the den completely.”
Hunter’s shoulder was really smarting again and he did his best to keep his arm still.
“If this is going to be a long story, maybe you should start it now?”
“Not long. Just hard.”
“Like cryptic level hard, because maybe we should go back and seek out a translator.” He half turned and Cade stopped him.
“Hard for you to hear, Hunter. I think I can save your life but I’m also pretty sure I’m going to shatter it into little pieces.”
Cade was serious, no trace of humor on his face, just strained eyes and pale skin.
“That bad, huh?” Hunter wondered.
“That bad,” Cade replied, turning to continue down the path.