Every Were Gets A Mate

Chapter 13

Cade sounded tortured. "Jess. I hate that you had to see that."

"Have you seen it?"

"Once. In a battle."

"Those were the deaths I happened to be around to see myself, but there were many more. And others disappeared without a trace. It's difficult to make a human disappear. They have birth certificates, social security numbers, driver's licenses. But most of the born weres in the pack have no record in the human world."

"Do you have a driver's license?"

"Yes, both Tanner and I do. Our parents drove to the county seat to get us documented when we were born. When Tanner came of age, they took him to the nearest DMV. Tanner took me when it was my turn. But that was unusual in Fury. Do most weres get documented in Black Hills?"

"Yes, most if not all. And our school does state testing and record-keeping. How did your school work?"

I frowned as I thought about it. "I don't know. I'm vaguely familiar with what you're talking about from movies and TV, but I never took tests with circles to fill in. There is a graduation each year, but I doubt the diplomas would be any good outside of the settlement since records of them don't exist in computers. I didn't graduate anyway. I was still going, a senior, just last week. Will I need a high school diploma?"

"You might. It depends on what you want to do, like if you want a job that requires it."

"Damn."

Cade smiled. "It's okay. You can take the GED test."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. That's good."

"Go on. Tell me more."

I liked thinking about other things, but I did as requested. "My parents helped many weres with their problems with Fisher. They used the instinctual rules to justify not complying with orders. It's not that you won't do something but that you physically and mentally can't. You can't harm or kill a blood relative unless in self-defense. You can't ingest or force another were to ingest a medication that smells poisonous or unnatural."

Cade looked confused. "What would Fisher want weres to take?"

"Steroids and other performance enhancement drugs for fighters, hormones to make young women mateable earlier than eighteen, experimental drugs to force developing babies to be born female instead of male."

"Because of the sanctions?"

"Yes. Most of the humans he turns are male, so the pack is heavily unbalanced. He's been searching for a solution to this. It seems like Fisher has no instincts stopping him from doing anything. The turned weres who aren't mentally healthy have less instincts too. I'm sure it's a symptom of insanity."

"I think the word is psychopath, someone who doesn't feel empathy, who can't tell right from wrong."

"Yes, that's definitely Fisher. He would alpha command everyone to overcome their instincts too if it wouldn't turn them into zombies."

Cade gripped me tightly. "Is that what happened to you?" He spoke very fast, giving me no chance to answer him. "It is! Zombie baby factory. That's what you said. Zombie baby factory. Fisher was going to alpha command you to mate with someone who wasn't your mate. So you ran away. That son of a bitch!"

I felt my muscles jump to balance my weight on my feet before my mind took in Cade's abrupt rise and full shift. All of him was bigger, facial features bolder, muscles straining his clothing. His canines glistened in the low light of the hotel room. I wanted to lick them. His clawed hands remained at my waist, preventing me from falling backwards. I stared at him as he seethed, clearly wanting to find and kill Fisher. Thought and visual focus twisted like a double-helix in my mind.