Page 17 of It’s Kind of a Bunny Story (Hey There, Hop Stuff #3)
I t was mid-afternoon by the time we’d made it home from the lake.
My wolves had grown progressively tired as we’d eaten our picnic, and I’d refused to let them carry me back to the house.
Instead, we’d taken our time and walked back on foot.
With each step, Linc and Copeland moved slower and their skin shone with a sweaty sheen.
Both men had assured me they were just tired from not sleeping well the past few days, and all they needed was a nap and they’d be fine.
But holding the cool, wet cloth to their foreheads, and watching their breathing grow more ragged with each passing minute, I couldn’t deny the truth any longer. My wolves were sick.
I snuck from the bedroom and found Fletcher sitting at the dining room table. He stood, motioning for me to take a seat.
“How are they?” he asked, grabbing a plate from the refrigerator with a sandwich that he sat in front of me. “I know you’re stressed, but you need to eat.”
“Their temperatures are dangerously high. They don’t want to go to the doctor or worry the alpha, but we can’t wait around doing nothing while they get worse.
” My eyes burned with unshed tears as I picked at the food.
“I still don’t understand how it’s possible for a shifter to get sick. Our immune systems work too fast.”
Fletcher, who’d been pale and withdrawn the last hour, sat down across from me. “Because they don’t have a virus or bacteria.”
“You’ve seen them! What else could it be?” I pressed my fingertips against my eyes, rubbing furiously.
“Toxin.”
That single word hit me like a physical blow.
“A… t-toxin?” I croaked. “If that were true, we’d be sick too!”
“Because that’s how Blackberry Burrow protects its borders from predators.
” Fletcher propped his elbows on the table and dropped his face into his hands.
“It’s why we aren’t really bothered. I’m a little tired, but nothing like what the wolves are dealing with.
They learned some rabbits are resistant, or able to tolerate a significant amount of certain toxic compounds like pyrrolizidine alkaloids and atropine.
Those can be found in some plants that are lethal in mammals, like cats and dogs… ”
“And wolf shifters,” I breathed in horror.
“Yes. They’ve found a way to enhance those compounds in the medical facility, making them far more dangerous for predators, as well as figuring out how to increase the odds that rabbit shifters can survive constant exposure.” Fletcher refused to meet my eyes as he spoke.
“Why did you only think to mention any of this now?” I hissed. “If we’d known, maybe we could have prevented this! Were you trying to protect those monsters? Even after everything they did to me?”
My chest heaved, and for the first time in my life, I found myself truly angry with Fletcher. We’d had disagreements and spats over the years, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forgive him if my wolf mates died.
“You know I’d never protect the burrow! My only loyalty is to you.
” Fletcher’s hands fell from his face and he peered up at me with a look of devastation in his red eyes.
“The burrow uses their toxin as a barrier to keep rogue wolves and coyotes from attacking us. Almost like a salt circle to keep a ghost away. I didn’t realize they would weaponize it outside of their border. ”
I stared at Fletcher, utterly speechless. “Why didn’t I know about this? I grew up in Blackberry Burrows. I think I’d have known if there was a toxic barrier.” Standing, I began to pace.
Fletcher shook his head. “They didn’t want anyone to find out. I don’t even know the details, and I’m the son of one of their leaders. The council fears what would happen to them if the wolf packs discover they’ve created a toxin that could be used against them.”
My knees buckled, and I sagged back down into a chair. “How did they do it?”
Fletcher gave a long sigh. “I don’t know the full details. I ran across some documents right before we left. I was looking for some kind of leverage in the hopes they’d be willing to barter my silence for your freedom.”
My heart gave a little tug at those words and some of my anger cooled. He had risked so much for me, while having no promise of having his sacrifice or devotion returned.
“A lot of the information on the documents was redacted. But from what I gathered, they created a formula using their toxin that they used to drench the ground around the burrows, allowing the plants to soak it up.”
“So, it’s like a systemic pesticide, but instead of for pests, it’s for our predators?” I asked, my voice rising in incredulity. How far was the council willing to go to keep their secrets? “But that would only work if they ate it, and I doubt most wolves are out munching on random shrubbery.”
Fletcher shook his head. “No, they don’t have to eat it.
They just have to break the branches as they run through in their wolf forms. It can be ingested, as well as absorbed through the skin.
If it gets into their mouths, skin, eyes, or covers their fur, which they later lick, it kills them.
It’s sophisticated and cunning and exactly what I would expect from our council.
They’ve even manipulated the plants to do their dirty work. ”
I wanted my freedom, but not if it required me to exchange my mates’ lives in order to gain it.
“That explains how they could poison any wolves that attacked the burrow, but it doesn’t explain how they got to Copeland and Linc.” Grinding my teeth, I fought the urge to scream in frustration.
“I don’t know the answer to that either.
” Fletcher cursed and banged his fist on the arm of the chair.
“From the document I read, it takes multiple treatments over many weeks to reach toxic levels in the test plants. There’s no way they could’ve snuck onto the lands enough times to raise those levels.
Besides, we haven’t even been here that long. ”
He was right, which meant they had found another way to use the toxin. We hadn’t even gone out where there were groups of people where someone could’ve bumped into them like a secret agent from a spy movie and injected them.
“Could they have tampered with the water supply?” I asked.
Fletcher stared at the floor, mulling over the suggestion. “No. The amount they would’ve needed to poison that much water would be impossible to sneak into pack lands without being caught.”
We fell into silence, both of us racking our brains and trying to figure out how the wolves could have been exposed. I thought back over the last few hours; the guys making me breakfast, swimming and making love in the lake, our slow walk back home where we crashed into bed.
Nothing stood out.
Not until I remembered the field.
It had been so beautiful. The wolves running through the towering flowers and grass while brilliant butterflies and tiny finches took flight. The petals had fallen around us, as pollen had clung to the wolves’ fur.
“It wasn’t pollen,” I whispered, my voice trembling.
“What?” Fletcher asked.
But even as he asked, I could see the realization dawning on him as well. They’d turned their toxin into a powder. How had they known we would go through the wildflower field?
They couldn’t have known.
Which means they'd probably spread it all around the cabin. There was no way of knowing how many acres of the woods and fields surrounding us had been dusted in the stuff.
“We can’t let any of the pack members come up here and risk being exposed to the toxin. How are we going to get the men to the hospital?” The few bites of sandwich I’d swallowed were doing their best to come back up.
“I found the keys to their Jeep. If necessary, we’ll force the wolves to let us take them to the hospital.” Seeing my distress, Fletcher moved around the table to wrap his arms around my shoulders.
“I don’t think it will take much force. They are barely responding right now,” I croaked, my voice breaking.
Fletcher kissed the top of my head. “Don’t stress too much, Charlee. Wolves are one of the most powerful shifters in the paranormal world. Their immune systems are probably just working to destroy the toxin. The pack doctors will give them fluids that will help flush the toxin out quicker.”
“But what if the hospital can’t? What if they fail? What if Copeland and Linc die?” Tears slid down my cheeks. “I’ve brought them nothing but trouble.”
Fletcher squatted beside me. “Stop that. The guys would probably flip you over their knees and spank you if they heard you talking like that.”
He picked up a chip from my plate and held it to my lips. “Open. You have to get some food in you before we leave.”
“You aren’t going to feed me like I’m a toddler?—”
“Hush.” Fletcher shoved the chip into my mouth. “I wanted you to myself, but I knew you’d need more than I’d be able to provide by myself to survive your heats. Watching those arrogant wolf-men make love to you the first time just about broke me.”
Shocked at the admission, I obediently opened my mouth for another bite, not wanting to interrupt him.
“Everything inside me was screaming that they were nothing but horny dogs seizing the opportunity to get some action. I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t have a choice if I wanted you to survive.
” He cut a bit off the sandwich, feeding it to me before continuing.
“But when I pushed past those feelings of jealousy, I realized I’d been wrong.
I recognized the look in their eyes because I’ve seen it in my face when I look in the mirror.
It was the same with the way they touch you; I knew they were just as drawn to you, just as in love with you, as I am. ”
Swallowing the bite, I started to speak, but Fletcher shoved another bite into my mouth.
“I’m telling you this so that you will stop feeling guilty.
You didn’t set fire to the woods, you didn’t hire coyotes to attack the cave, and you had nothing to do with the toxin.
Copeland and Linc are big boys who can make their own decisions, and they’ve made it clear”—Fletcher tapped a finger against the wolves’ marks on either side of my neck—“that you belong to them. To us. We are a family now, and we’ll face whatever comes together. ”
“Thank you,” I sobbed, throwing my arms around his neck, nearly toppling us onto the floor.
“You have nothing to thank me for.” Fletcher patted my back, then grabbed a clean napkin from the table. “Now dry those tears and let’s get your wolves to the Jeep.”