Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Kennedy
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I feel like Quirin and I have leaped over a hurdle. Just the fact that he came to find me, to show me how much he wanted me, feels like a feat in and of itself.
‘And it didn’t even hurt this time,‘ Echo purrs. No, it didn’t, it just felt good.
‘We needed to adjust to him and now we have,’ she says, stretching in my mind like a damn cat.
Between her and the tingles that I’m still feeling in my body, I’m struggling to figure out this damn microscope. It was slow before Quirin came and distracted me in the best possible way, but now … I give up. There’s no way I can focus on this.
So, instead, I spend the rest of the afternoon putting the last of the supplies away and making sure that everything is organized in a way that I can get to it quickly if necessary.
“Wow, Luna, I’ve never seen so much stuff in here,” Deborah says, walking in.
“Well, I doubt we’ll need to replace most of it for a while, but it’s good to have it on hand if we need it,” I tell her.
“Do you know how to use all this stuff?” she asks, walking into the storage room and looking around.
“Yeah. I learned how to use it while I was taking classes and most of this I have practical knowledge of having been in my mother’s teaching hospital all my life.”
She turns and looks at me before looking at the items that I’ve put away.
“What classes taught you to use these things?” she asks.
“Well, I double majored in biology and chemistry. Both are key foundations for the medical and veterinarian degrees that I want to get.”
She turns and looks at me, frowning.
“What?” I ask.
“You double majored?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you just turn eighteen?”
“Yes, but I took the college courses while I was in high school. Well, some I took before. It would have been a lot to do that and my high school classes all at once.”
“You double majored in college courses before you graduated high school?” she asks me slowly as if making sure she understands what I’m saying.
“Well, yes. I mean, I know it sounds hard, but I grew up in my mother’s teaching hospital. I’ve been listening to the same. classes and lectures since I was six. I mean really, it isn’t a big deal that I passed my first college test at ten I’d heard the same. lectures, watched the same videos, and participated in the classes for four years by then. By the time I was thirteen, I could pretty much recite the classes and the passages from the book verbatim.”
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11:28 Fri, Feb 7 GOL
Chapter 133
“How old were you when you passed your first college course?” she asks me.
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“Fourteen. The math stuff was harder, and the chemistry too because what they teach in college builds on what you learn in high school, so those courses I didn’t pass until I fifteen and sixteen. But the biology ones were great, and I was able to start passing those classes early on.”
“Uh huh,” she says, still staring at me. It’s making me a bit uncomfortable, so I turn back to the supplies.
“All of that to say that I know how to use this equipment. I’ll know how to use the microscope once I figure out how to put it together.”
“It didn’t come assembled?” she asks.
“It was cheaper to buy it this way and since I was purchasing so many things, I thought I’d try to save the pack some money.”
“Uh huh,” she says again, still frowning.
“Sooooo, did you have any thoughts about how I’ve got things put away in here?” I ask, still not sure I understand why she’s staring at me.
She shakes her head and looks around. “No, it seems very organized.”
“Okay, good.”
“I’m going to head back to the packhouse. It’s getting close to dinner time.”
“Okay, see you later.”
She stops at the door. “You’re not at all what I expected Luna,” she says.
“Is that good?” I ask.
“Yeah, it is,” she says, smiling at me before heading out,
I’m not sure Deborah counts as a warrior, but I’m chalking that up to getting my second warrior on my side.
I look at the time and realize I’ve still got a couple of hours before Quirin is done with warrior training, so I go back to the microscope. Now that Echo has settled and my body has stopped humming with pleasure, it’s easier for me to focus and put the pieces together.
When it’s finally put together, I go get the samples I took from Tommy’s knee. I dab the swab with saline and then smear it on the slide before putting it under the microscope. I see the usual microorganisms that you’d expect to find on the skin, along with some bacteria that you’d expect, especially with a young pup who skinned his knee. There’s no infection, but… what is that?
When I can’t figure it out, I take one of the scraping samples that I got off of his skin. This time when I put it under the microscope, there’s more of the trace elements that I didn’t recognize.
What the hell? Why would there be traces of silver on that pup’s knee?
‘Kennedy, where are you?‘ Quirin’s voice floats into my mind.
I look at the time and realize that warrior training just ended.
I’m at the hospital. I’ll head over now.‘
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11:28 Fri, Feb 7 GOL
Chapter 133
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I look at the slide one more time before putting everything away I head over to the packhouse, distracted with my thoughts of how this could happen. Is it intentional? Is it some sort of contamination on the pack lands that we need to handle immediately? Is it only on the pup playground and if so, do other pups have similar injuries that aren’t healing?
When I walk into the packhouse, Quirin comes jogging over, a rare smile on his face. “Hey gorgeous. Everything okay?” he asks, leaning in to kiss me.
I take a moment to enjoy the kiss, relaxing against him and feeling my body already responding to him.
He growls softly as he pulls away. “Did you have a nice day?”
“Well, this Alpha came by and distracted me for a while, but I managed to get some work done,” I tease.
“Hopefully it was a good distraction,” he says, taking my hand and leading me back toward the dining hall.
“The best. Hey, listen, I want to talk to you about something. I…
My words cut off as the howls of alarm go up around the pack.
“Son of a fucking bitch!” Quirin snarls as the packhouse rushes into action.
“Get to a safe room, Kennedy,” he growls as he rushes toward the doors.
“Quirin, I can help…”
“NOW Kennedy! Get to a safe room!” he barks before shifting and racing out the door.
I stare after him until I feel someone tugging on my arm. “Come on, Luna. We need to get in a safe room.”
I turn and see Susie holding Samuel in her arms, pulling me toward a safe room. I look around and see the omegas and the young mothers getting their pups into safe rooms.
“GO! I’m right behind you!” I say. I don’t have the full pack link yet, so I’m not sure if anyone is taking the lead to make sure everyone is in a safe room.
I can hear the sounds of the fighting getting closer outside as I hear a safe room door slam and lock across the hall.
“Luna, please!” Susie
says
behind me.
“Is anyone else coming?” I shout above the chaos as I hear another safe room door slam shut and lock.
I step back, ready to close the door when I hear someone cry ou
“HOLD THE DOOR!”
a young mother says, her newborn clutched to her chest.
I wait until she’s inside before slamming the door shut and throwing the lock. I turn and look at the scared faces surrounding me. It’s been years since I was in a safe room. In my family’s pack, warriors cover the hospital if there’s an attack so the medical staff can treat the injured.
There I have a purpose. Here, the scent of fear feels like it’s about to choke me.
