Page 22 of Alpha’s One-Night Stand (Shifters of Clarion #3)

M eet me in the infirmary. —Mother

I’m looking at the note on my door, and I’m half inclined to ignore it. I need to talk to Yarra.

I could have gone about the conversation better, I think. But the moment I realized that Saffron’s pause meant something, I had to jump on it. She knows something about the man in the forest.

I realize something, too. If I’m not mistaken, he’s the same person that Yarra was meeting up with. I knew there was something off about that entire thing.

But now I know there’s a bigger plot forming, and not only is Yarra in danger, but we all might be. I need to put the pieces together and quickly.

I turn the note around in my hand for a moment. The infirmary is on the way to Yarra’s dorm. Whatever Mother has to say, I imagine that it won’t wait. I should go see what she wants first.

I get dressed quickly and start making my way across campus. It’s a ghost town out here. With everything that’s happened, I’m sure classes are canceled until further notice.

My wolf starts to pace again. I’m yearning to be in Yarra’s presence. Whatever happens today, I’ll need to make amends with her. I can’t be without her.

I get to the infirmary, and I immediately see Mother talking to one of the nurses behind the front desk. She sees me and excuses herself, walking over to me.

“Thank you for coming,” she says.

“What’s all this about?”

She’s got a long expression, and her skin has a sallow tone to it. She looks like she hasn’t slept all night.

“Come on,” she says, leading me into the next hallway. “There’s something you need to see.”

We walk into the main room of the infirmary. Rows and rows of hospital beds line the plain white walls and pale linoleum tile. A couple of nurses are examining the occupants of the beds, the runners from the Games.

They all look terrible. Gray-pale skin with lips tinted blue. Most of them are unconscious, and the couple that aren’t look like they’re in a great deal of pain.

“How are they?” I ask Mother.

“Not good. Not good at all.” She turns to me and says, “They can’t seem to access their lycans or any of their powers. They’ve been drained.”

“Drained? How is that possible?”

She pauses, looking back at them sadly. “It’s high magic. Something that even eludes many of the most powerful magic users. And yet, it comes naturally to one particular type of wolf.”

I frown at her, trying to understand her meaning. My mind goes immediately to Yarra. With her being a hybrid, she must be thinking of her. “If you think Yarra did this somehow—”

“No,” she says, nodding her head. “I don’t believe she did this . . . Her friend, on the other hand.”

My frown has turned into a scowl. “Saffron? You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” she says.

“Saffron might be a Scarlet, but she’s still just a wolf. They aren’t magic users.”

She looks over her shoulder at the nurses, then takes me by the arm and pulls me aside. “There is much that you don’t know about the Scarlets, Chad. There are things about them that are privy only to certain people—”

“Like the Table?” I ask. “Is this something that your secret organization came up with?” I’m starting to fume, my wolf growling like a hum in my chest.

“Yes!” Mother hisses. “Chad, there have been stories over the centuries. Stories of Scarlets eliminating their enemies by draining them of their powers . . . and using that energy to fuel their own powers. Whoever did this . . . we believe they are a Scarlet Wolf.”

A cold realization comes over me as the pieces start putting themselves together in my mind. Saffron’s hesitation with the dean . . . Shit. I knew they didn’t buy it any more than I did. And now . . .

“Mother, Saffron didn’t do this,” I say to her. “We told you that we were attacked by someone else. That’s the truth.”

“Honey, you were knocked out in the battle. There’s no way to be certain of what you saw.”

“I saw who knocked me out,” I say, raising my voice. She reaches out to me, and I pull away. “No, this is bullshit. You—”

Oh, God. I almost missed it. Her words come around to me like a slap on the back of the head. “ We believe?”

“What?”

“You said ‘we’ believe the kidnapper was a Scarlet. Who’s we?”

She swallows and takes my hand between hers, radiating warmth and comfort in the face of my growing anger. “We’re just going to ask her some questions about what happened. That’s all.”

I pull away from her, my anger giving way to fear. It all makes sense suddenly. How could Mother know about the Table when no one else does? She knew where to find their archive, knew their history . . .

She’s one of them. She’s a member of the Table. How could I have been so blind?

I run out of the infirmary, bound for Yarra’s dorm. Saffron . . . Yarra . . . They’re both in danger. I have to warn them.