“And it’ll be pink to match my dress,” Vera said dreamily.
Around an enormous bite of waffle, Tobias said, “We’ll all have the glitter-shits for a week.”
“It’ll be wonderful,” Vera whispered through a faraway smile. Blinking hard, she said, “After Link is all better, of course. You have one day off the meds, and then you need to stop by here after the hunt.”
“Can he give the injections to himself?” Nicole asked, taking a seat on the stool next to Link.
“He can, but each one is different, so he has to get them from me.”
“How does it work?”
“Oh God, run,” Tobias said with a wink.
Vera offered her mate a glare and then canted her head. “I’ll give you the simple explanation.”
“I’d appreciate it. Chemistry wasn’t my favorite subject in school.”
“It’s more like molecular biology and genetics. I’m basically giving Link some pretty brutal viruses that repair his damaged McCall DNA. The viruses are why he gets so sick. No human would survive this process, but Link has werewolf healing, which gives him a chance. I just need time. Each virus he survives gets him that much closer to keeping his sanity.”
That sounded horrible. Swallowing a bite of fruity waffle that had suddenly turned to cement in her mouth, Nicole asked, “Will he be on the medicine forever?”
“No. The idea is to get the right combination of viruses in the right order that his body can handle, and when he is okay enough to stay even, I’ll wean him off. If I can get the right combination of viruses for Link, I can improve the serums and eventually cure the McCall curse for all his living lineage. If the douche-buckets don’t go on killing sprees first.” She swung her attention to Link. “I mean, frankly, I don’t even want to cure your family because most of them went after Elyse. And they’re thieves and users, the lot of them. No offense.”
Link set his fork on his empty plate with a tink, then leaned back and slid his hand over Nicole’s thigh. “None taken. I was there when the McCalls stole from countless people who were just trying to survive. I heard them brag about brutalizing women and cheer each other on when they went on a manhunt.” His voice dipped lower. “I was there when they hunted Elyse. I don’t harbor any affection for the McCalls. Most of them turn terrible before the insanity even hits.”
“Because the pack went rotten,” Tobias murmured, leaning over his half-eaten breakfast. “You did yourself a huge favor the day you broke away from them. You’d be in the ground long before now if you’d stayed.”
“So, Clayton…” Nicole murmured, watching her mate’s face to gauge his reaction.
“Yeah, that kind of blew my mind.”
“I’ve hated him for so long,” Tobias admitted, “and now I feel like I’m on unstable ground. I mean, he was still a shit dad, and I still want to rip his intestines out through his mouth hole for what he did to Vera, but in some sick way, I kind of get it. He had to put his best friend down after his mate left him.” Tobias lifted his gaze to Link. “I can’t even imagine if Vera left me and then I had to put you down. Maybe I’d do the same messed up stuff to keep a promise to you.”
“Aw, bromance,” Vera said, looking mushy. “You two should bro-hug.”
Tobias growled out a very human-sounding noise, and Vera laughed. “Can’t growl at me, McBeefcake. Your bear is sound asleep.”
Link huffed a laugh and shook his head, then cleared the empty dishes to the sink. And while he rinsed them, Nicole helped Vera put everything away as Tobias pulled out a map and spread it out over the kitchen table.
After Tobias and Link had decided the best way to caribou territory and they’d packed enough supplies for a two-day hunt into the back of the sled behind Link’s snow machine, Nicole said her goodbyes and thank-yous to the two people who already felt like dear friends.