Chapter 19 - Kenzie

"It smells like death in here. How do you deal with this all the time?"

Willow just chuckled to herself, moving more of the sickly-smelling chemical into the distilling tubes with her pipette. The color wasn't particularly appetizing either, that lime green with too much yellow, and even though I knew that Kaiden had been given the stuff and we'd pumped it through the ventilators, I was having a hard time believing it was actually valuable.

It's just so gross-looking. Ugh.

"I think we've got a bit used to it now. I mean, we always have a little bit of it going just in case, and the lab has kind of just absorbed some of the smell."

Forrest shrugged as he took a spot next to me at the table. We took the distilled chemical and mixed it with the stabilizing compound in small batches so that the Alphas could ingest it more easily.

"Well, I think I'm glad I didn't hang out in there for long. Because this," I gestured to the stuff on the table, "wreaks."

Willow left the antidote to do its thing at the distilling station and joined Forrest and me at the table.

"Your sense of smell is likely heightened right now as well. You're pregnant, and a lot of pregnant wolves experience a greater level of sensitivity to light, smells, sounds, and even temperatures."

I was aware that would likely be the case, but being reminded of my condition wasn't the stress-easer Willow was going for.

"Yeah, it's been a joy."

"Well, then. How about we take your mind off it a bit?" Forrest smiled at me when I glanced up at him. "We've learned a few more interesting things about wolven fertility and species-borne illnesses thanks to your samples."

Humoring him, I offered my own gentle grin, sighing as I stretched my back, which ached from sitting stooped over the table.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Willow stepped up at that, shuffling through the papers that had been stacked up at the end of the table just past the microscope that she'd somehow managed to bring with her. That was still a mystery to me, but I knew that she'd lucked out when it came to ingredients because a lot of this lab—Eli's lab—was filled with the stuff he'd used to make the drugs in the first place.

"Well, as we mentioned, the markers are different on shifters, humans, and V?lva." Willow handed me one of the printouts she'd brought with her, always the worker bee. "They have appeared to be leaning toward better chances of fertility and survivability. Well, I can all but guarantee that now. The markers that I found in Senna's blood, as well as yours and Kaiden's child, are also reflected in Kaiden's DNA and…my own."

I furrowed my brow at her, trading glances between Willow and Forrest. "Umm, I'm sorry. I've seen you shift. Are you saying that…What are you saying?"

She ducked her head for a moment, clearing her through as she straightened the stack of papers. "I'm half human, Kenzie."

"What?! Does Kaiden know this? Who are—"

Willow held up a hand, halting my words. "The Alpha has been informed, yes. I hadn't told Eli for…obvious reasons. But I trusted Kaiden to be understanding, especially considering who his own mate was."

My mouth hung open, and I had to forcibly tell myself to clamp it shut again. I nodded slowly, gesturing with my hand so that Willow would continue.

"When I arrived at the Williams' compound as a child, I'd just lost my parents. My father was a…hunter."

Eyes flaring, I flicked my eyes to Forrest—who nodded solemnly—before returning my attention to Willow.

"He'd nearly killed my mother, but when he'd seen her there, injured in the snow, he couldn't bring himself to shoot her. I'd been told the story of how they met several times. He'd been chasing an all-white wolf who miraculously turned into a beautiful woman. They fell in love and then had me.

"I spent a blissful fifteen years with them before the gang of hunters that my father used to be a part of caught up to us. They murdered my family and left me an orphan. The Williams' territory was the first I'd found. I had no idea how wolf packs were supposed to operate, so I had to assume that his cruelty was the norm."

"And Eli never knew? He never questioned?"

Willow scoffed. "Oh, he questioned. I just gave him the answer he wanted. I told him my rogue wolf parents had been killed, and I was on my own. I was also very skilled in medicine and science, my father being a chemist in his previous life. So, Eli had use for me."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Willow, I'm so sorry. Losing your parents…I understand. Explicitly."

She eyed me, and in a silent connection, she knew what I was getting at. Kaiden and I had lost our parents to hunters and were raised by Jet, after all.

"Thank you." She nodded. "Well, anyway. Even as a half-wolf, I have heightened fertility and resilience markers. Though I imagine that the only reason most wolf markers are so low is that they're essentially purebloods. Not spreading the genetics around is never a good idea."

The wheels in my head churned. "So, it's not that our markers are higher. They're where they're supposed to be. The other wolves are…"

"Genetically inferior because of isolation. Yes." Willow pulled up the DNA results again. "There's also a higher susceptibility to disease and mental health issues."

"Well, fuck." A hard burst of mirthless laughter left me. "That explains a lot."

Forrest took the paper from Willow, pointing at the row of data that sat beneath my name.

"But we've also found more. These markers, yours and what we were able to gather from the early stages of pregnancy, suggest that you're incredibly fertile and likely to carry successfully. Your hormone levels have gone up quickly and stabilized right away. You have dormant V?lva blood, thanks to your grandmother, and that could mean that your child will become a wolf or a V?lva like her. But in any case, they're likely to be strong and hearty."

"Strong and hearty, Forrest? She's not growing a vegetable. Gods." Willow rolled her eyes, and then we were all laughing.

But the moment didn't last; it was quickly interrupted by the chiming of Willow's alarm to check on the antidote. We almost had enough for all the Alphas, with a little extra to spare, hopefully.

"Oh, shit. Okay, let's get this last bit mixed with the stabilizer. We don't have time to create the aerosol canisters, so we're going to have to go with good, old-fashioned injections. The syringes should be sterilized now, and there are some dart guns we can use for distanced delivery."

I paused, peering back over at Willow with my brow down over my eyes. "I'm sorry. Did you say guns?"

She nodded. "Yeah, like they use on animals to give tranquilizers."

Forrest and I both eyed Willow all the harder before I said, "Where the fuck did those come from?"

"They were in Eli's lab. I…I didn't want to consider why he'd have them."

"I don't blame you," Forrest replied, and I nodded along in agreement.

A shiver crept along my spine as I turned back to the table, trying to focus on getting the antidote ready for the Alphas. As I sat there, though, the little voice whispered in the back of my head again. This time, it felt urgent and strong, like a gut instinct that you couldn't ignore, and my hand froze in place as I worked to drip the distilled chemicals into the stabilizing compound.

You need to move. He's too broken, and the others need to be rid of the drug. Hurry. Something is coming. Hurry!

The crack of glass shattering pulled me out of my head, and I realized that I'd crushed the pipette in my grip. Forrest and Willow were at my side in a flash, and I snapped my attention to them.

"We need to go. Something…something's wrong." They both looked at me like I'd lost my damn mind. " Please . Trust me. We need to hurry."

There was only a beat of hesitation, and then Forrest and Willow were jumping into action to get the antidote ready for the Alphas. The urgency hadn't left me, and I silently prayed to whatever the fuck was causing all this that we weren't too late.