Page 62 of Wanted

“How long has it been since you’ve taken your … iron pills did you say they were?”

Emery’s had jerks back but then she nods, glancing between Dr. Drake and me.

“Yes. I’ve taken them ever since I can remember… well, since I came to live with my adoptive parents.”

“How did you come to be diagnosed with low iron?”

“I, uh, it was about a year after we went to live in New York. I was about eleven and a half, or so. I was feeling extremely tired, sleeping almost half of the day away. And really hungry. And thirsty all of the time. My parents took me to the doctor and they told me he diagnosed me with low iron. I started the pills soon after and the symptoms disappeared.”

Dr. Drake and I exchange a look.

Emery senses the tension because she looks me directly in the eye. “What? What is it?”

The desperation in her eyes almost makes my wolf howl.

I take her hand in mine because I need to touch her. “It’s common for wolves on the verge of their first shift to sleep long hours and for their appetites to increase. You were eleven, you said?”

Her mouth opens and closes a few times. She looks anxiously between Dr. Drake and me.

“Yes.” She sits on the edge of her chair. “What are you saying?”

I swallow the anger rising inside of me. Someone’s lied to Emery for a very long time.

“Why are your eyes squinting like that? And are you… growling?”

I blink and shake my head.

Calm the fuck down. I tell my wolf. He’s restless upon learning how Emery’s been deceived. He, like me, wants to find the culprit and rip their heads off.

Whoever the hell they are.

“It’s nothing,” I say tightly, turning back to Dr. Drake. “What does all of this mean?” I ask even though I know the answer.

He hesitates before looking at Emery and slowly telling her, “I can’t be certain but these results seem to indicate that you’re one of us.”

Emery’s hand yanks from mine as she stands. She’s saying something to Dr. Drake, but I can’t make it out since her back is to me.

Neither my wolf or myself can stand for that. I rise from my chair to round her so I can see everything.

“Impossible. A-are you implying that I’m a wolf shifter?” She shakes her head and then laughs, but I would bet anything that the sound is brittle at best. “Like I told Chance when he first said such a thing, I would know if I were a wolf shifter.” She shakes her head adamantly. “I mean…” She looks at me.

Her eyes meet mine and my wolf instantly yips. I move to her and pull her in my arms. The need to take care of her, to calm her fears and concerns overwhelm me. Just like last night.

Emery shifts her gaze toward Dr. Drake. Reluctantly, I turn to him to see that he’s speaking.

“Your initial blood tests aren’t what took me so long to get the results,” he says. “The abnormalities of heart rate and temperature are one thing, but there’s something else.”

I have the urge to tell him to hurry up and spit it out, but the respect we wolves have for our elders that’s been drilled into me for decades stops me.

“There are trace elements I found in your blood as well. Elements that aren’t normal in wolf or human blood.”

“Wh-what are you saying?” Emery asks.

“I haven’t been able to trace them just yet. Some of the tests have caused me to have to dust off my ancient shaman books.”

Dr. Drake turns concerned eyes on me. On instinct, I pull Emery into me, hugging her close.

A shiver courses through her body and my wolf stills.