Page 10

SAbrINA

The lights overhead cast a harsh glow that made my eyes ache after hours of squinting at samples.

Twelve vials lined up like silent witnesses to a crime.

My lab coat clung to my shoulders, damp with nervous sweat as I adjusted the microscope’s lens for the hundredth time.

After our trip to the mountains to gather samples of the mine runoff, I rearranged my office at the clinic into a makeshift laboratory.

My fingers trembled slightly. I took a deep breath to steady them.

This can’t be what I think it is. Please, let me be wrong just this once.

The screen flickered into focus, and my heart sank as the evidence appeared before me in horrifying clarity.

Helplessly, I watched the chemicals attack the shifter blood cells from the samples I’d taken from Marshall and Logan.

From my analysis, they were silver and arsenic compounds along with something engineered that I couldn’t immediately identify.

“No, no, no,” I whispered, my throat tight as I switched to my own human blood sample and watched it remain completely unaffected. The contrast was damning.

The room seemed to close in around me, the brightness of the lights suddenly suffocating. I pressed my palms against the cool metal of the lab table to ground myself, feeling my pulse hammering through my fingertips. Every heartbeat pushed the terrible truth deeper into my consciousness.

I pulled up the image again on the computer screen, staring at the magnified blood cells as they reacted to the contaminants.

The shifter cells didn’t just deteriorate.

They writhed in agony, their membranes bubbling and bursting like they were being burned from the inside out.

My own cells remained placid, unbothered by the same poisons.

“God,” I whispered. The taste of bile rose in my throat as I swallowed hard against the nausea.

“It’s deliberate,” I murmured, my voice cracking. “Someone’s trying to kill them.”

I scribbled down my findings, my handwriting hurried but precise. My mind raced, piecing together the puzzle. The Roberts Mine, the sickness spreading through town. All of it was connected.

The hinges creaked out their protest as the door swung open. “You’ve been here all night,” Logan said. His voice was a rumble in the quiet room. There was no accusation in his tone, just quiet observation.

I looked up, suddenly aware of my disheveled appearance. My ponytail had loosened hours ago, and strands of hair stuck to my neck. Exhaustion pulled at every muscle, making my lab coat feel like chain mail.

“I had to be sure,” I said, pushing my glasses up with the back of my wrist. “And now I am.”

I gathered my notes and handed them to him. “The contamination kills shifters. Only shifters.”

Logan’s face transformed as he read my notes, his expression morphing from concentration to dawning horror and finally settling into something darker. Raw, primal rage. The paper crumpled in his fist.

“You’re saying this is…” His voice trailed off, dangerously quiet.

I swallowed hard, then reached for another file folder, the one I’d been dreading to show him.

“There’s more,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I compared the water samples with the fluid I extracted from your wound.”

His head snapped up, eyes flashing amber. His wolf was barely contained below the surface. I forced myself to continue despite the predator’s gaze now fixed on me.

“The chemical signatures match, Logan. Identical compounds. Whatever’s in the runoff is the same poison that’s been keeping your wound from healing.

” My hands trembled as I laid out the test results side by side.

“This isn’t a coincidence. Someone engineered this poison specifically to target shifter physiology, and you’ve been the original test subject for years. ”

The muscle in Logan’s jaw pulsed as he stared at the matching chemical signatures. His breathing grew shallow, controlled. It was the kind of deliberate calm that masked lethal intent.

“Victoria,” he growled, the name like venom on his tongue. “This has my aunt’s fingerprints all over it.”

I froze, pieces clicking together. “Your family’s behind this?”

“Not family,” he corrected, his voice hardening.

“The Songs stopped being my family the day they tried to kill me. She’s been trying to form an alliance with the Roberts pack for years.

” His eyes darkened with realization. “The wound that never healed was just her first experiment. Now she’s poisoning an entire town. ”

His fist slammed down on the counter, sending vials rattling. “I should have known. I should have fucking known she’d follow me here.”

The raw guilt and fury emanating from him were almost tangible. I reached out before I could stop myself, my fingers brushing his forearm. The contact seemed to take the wind out of his rage. His breathing slowed as his eyes met mine.

“This isn’t your fault,” I said firmly. “But it is something we can stop.” Despite my nerves, I kept my voice steady. “We need to act fast. If this gets out, the town will panic. But if we don’t do something, more people will die.”

Logan’s gaze met mine, his usual scowl softened by something I couldn’t quite place. “What do you need?”

The question caught me off guard. For the first time, Logan wasn’t resisting me.

Instead, he was offering help. “We need proof,” I said, my mind racing.

“Something concrete that proves the contamination comes from the mine and that it isn’t an accident.

And we need to warn the town without causing a panic. ”

Logan nodded, his expression grim. “I’ll handle the town. You focus on the evidence.”

I nodded, resolve hardening. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Logan pulled out his phone. His tone was brisk as he typed on the screen. “I’ll fund a private lab to test the samples. We’ll bypass the red tape and get results faster.”

I blinked, surprised. “A private lab? That’s expensive.”

He shrugged, his expression unreadable. “Money’s not an issue. Time is.”

I felt a flicker of unease at how easily he could throw money at the problem, but pushed it aside. “Thank you,” I said sincerely.

Logan’s gaze softened. “Just get me the proof.”

Later that day, I visited Marshall at the clinic’s impromptu inpatient ward.

He had refused a transfer to a bigger hospital, stating he was going to die in Angel Spring with or without medicine.

Stubborn wolves. Marshall’s usually robust frame looked shrunken against the white sheets, his skin ashen except for the fever flush across his cheekbones.

My chest tightened. This was a man who could wrestle a bull moose last month, but now he was barely able to lift his head.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

His lips cracked as he attempted a smile. “Been better, Doc. Been worse too, I suppose.”

I checked his vitals with practiced movements, but my mind raced beyond the numbers. His pulse was stronger than yesterday, and his temperature was down a full degree. Small victories that felt monumental after my discovery.

“You’re improving,” I said, unable to hide my small smile. “But you’re not out of the woods yet.”

Marshall’s gaze sharpened as he studied me, reminding me that even weakened, he was still a predator who saw through pretense. “You look like hell, Doc. When’s the last time you slept? Or ate something that wasn’t from a plastic bag?”

I forced a laugh, tucking my stethoscope into my pocket. “Sleep’s overrated. And I’ll have you know I had an entire apple at some point yesterday. Or maybe the day before.”

“You’re as stubborn as Logan,” he said, voice softening. “God help us all when you two finally figure yourselves out.”

My smile faltered, a flush creeping up my neck. “Someone has to be stubborn around here. Otherwise, you’d all just growl your problems away.”

As I left the clinic, I found Logan waiting outside. “We need to talk,” he said.

“What’s wrong?”

He hesitated, then gestured toward his truck. “Not here. Too many ears.”

We drove in silence, the moment percolating between us. When we were safely away from town, Logan stopped at a trailhead parking lot. “Victoria’s making her move. Reeve called. His sources say she’s pressuring the Roberts pack to sell the mine.”

“We’re running out of time,” I concluded.

Logan nodded grimly. “We need to act fast. But it’s going to be dangerous.”

I placed a hand on his arm. “We don’t have a choice. People are dying, Logan. We can’t let them get away with this.”

He studied me, amber eyes searching mine. “You’re not scared?”

I met his gaze steadily. “Terrified. But that doesn’t mean I’ll back down.”

Logan’s lips twitched in a faint smile. “Good. Because neither will I. We need to get these samples somewhere safe.”

Back at the clinic, I organized my evidence, packing away the test results and water samples into a carrier. My hands shook slightly, but my determination never wavered. I labeled each sample carefully, building our case piece by piece.

A knock startled me. It was Juniper. Her white hair was woven into a thick braid, and the scent of herbal medicine clung to her faded shawl.

“I heard about the water samples,” she said, her voice crackling like dried leaves. “The trees whisper your secrets, child. You’ve found something, haven’t you?”

I hesitated, then nodded, suddenly feeling the weight of my discovery anew. “Heavy metals. Silver compounds. Arsenic. As well as something that’s not all natural.” My voice dropped lower. “Someone’s been poisoning the water deliberately. Targeting shifters specifically.”

Juniper’s weathered face seemed to age another decade before my eyes. She crossed to where I stood and took my hands in hers. Her cool and paper-thin skin revealed a map of blue veins beneath.

“I’ve seen this before, child,” she whispered, her eyes distant with memory. “Thirty years ago, when the mine first opened and the Song pack still ran with the Roberts wolves.”

Her grip tightened, surprisingly strong.

“Last time they poisoned this valley, the Roberts men came at night with checks and threats.” Her thumbnail brushed aside my bangle and traced a circle on my wrist. It was an old protection symbol I recognized from my grandmother’s teachings.

“The ones who refused to sign disappeared into mine shafts. The rest drank themselves to death within a decade, as the guilt ate at them from inside like the poison ate their packs.”

My blood turned to ice. “Why doesn’t anyone talk about this? How could everyone forget?”

Juniper’s eyes flashed with fire that belied her age.

“Time may have forgotten, child, but I remember. The earth remembers. And now you know too.” She pressed something into my palm.

It was a small leather pouch that smelled of protective herbs.

“You’ll need this. The mine has eyes everywhere, and they don’t like people asking questions. ”

Night had fallen by the time Logan returned, moving through shadows like he belonged to them. “The private lab’s ready,” he said, voice pitched low enough that only shifter hearing could catch it. “We’re moving the evidence tonight.”

His eyes scanned the clinic walls, nostrils flaring slightly. “The mine has people sniffing around. Started this afternoon after you visited the creek again.” His gaze locked with mine. “It’s not safe here anymore, Sabrina.”

The use of my first name sent a jolt through me. He rarely called me anything but “Wu” or “Doc.” The change signaled our situation’s gravity more clearly than words could.

I nodded, already gathering the case of samples and securing the latches. “Where?”

Logan stepped closer, his warmth radiating in the cool night air of the clinic. “Somewhere they won’t think to look,” he said. “Do you trust me?”

The question hung between us, weighted with more than just our current predicament. “Yes,” I said aloud, meeting his gaze steadily. “I trust you.”

Something shifted in his expression. It was a softening around his eyes, a brief vulnerability that vanished so quickly I might have imagined it. He reached for the case containing the samples.

“Then let’s go,” he said. “And don’t look back.”