Total pages in book: 202
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
She comforts me some more as I blurt how my brother made me do it and why I felt I had no choice.
Ten minutes later we’ve had a drink and are in lawn chairs under Jared’s awning. She’s put out some snacks for the group that are waiting and is asking me questions about my pack, about the people, what sorts of medical issues I think we could be looking at.
I explain that a few months back, after several weeks of almost everyone in the pack getting a stomach bug that caused all sorts of gastrointestinal issues, we figured out that another well had gone bad. We started boiling it before drinking it or cooking with it.
I grimly lay the medical facts I know out and tell her there have also been some issues that I think come from vitamin deficiencies as well. Most of the women of prime childbearing years are just not getting pregnant despite being very sexually active. There was a one hundred percent miscarriage rate for the past year with far fewer pregnancies period. We had multiple inexplicable stillborn births the year before and had a two-year zero live birth percentage for our pack. I also told her there often isn’t enough to eat, definitely not enough variety for nutritional needs, and that I don’t know if that got worse after I left.
She asks why that is and I tell her that not only is our soil nearly useless, nobody who’s left works outside the village because my brother has gotten increasingly controlling, so we’ve become a hundred per cent reliant on Wyatt to provide for us.
To say Cat looks alarmed is an understatement.
I also tell her we’ve lost at least another twenty-five per cent of our pack over the last few months as many have fled. They’ve fled hunger and infertility and dirty drinking water. They’ve fled Wyatt because he’s greedy and meaner than a honey badger.
Cat reassures with a squeeze of my shoulder, “I’ve got first aid supplies, medicines, and I’ve brought a dozen cases of water. Plus some food. Look.” She rises and I follow her to the van, which she opens to show me is full of supplies.
She explains, “We make sure to use up what’s in our emergency cache and refresh it every eighteen months or so to make sure we don’t have a bunch of inedible expired foods. It was just about time to rotate out again, so I brought a whack of things and have already sent a text message to Cicely to order replacement supplies. We’ve got some bags of rice, cases of soup, fruit, fish, and some freeze-dried meat, Some dry goods like pasta, granola, and nuts and jerky. I think I also brought tea, sugar, coffee, some meal replacement drinks, too. Plus a whack of paper goods and soap.”
“I’m gonna cry again,” I warn, fanning my face.
She waves her hand like it’s nothing when really, it’s going to mean everything to the people here.
“Once we see what’s what, I can send some of the boys out for more of whatever we need,” she adds.
I’m overwhelmed by the kindness.
“Can I ask a question?” I twine my fingers nervously.
“Absolutely,” she replies with an open, kind expression.
“Grey thinks I was in heat the other night. I’m… worried that if he got me pregnant, whatever has made it so the women have miscarried or had stillbirths … could it harm my ability to… grow our baby?” I hold my stomach. “I don’t know if I was in heat, if there’s a chance a baby is growing in me or not, but… I’m scared.”
“You’re eating well, feeling well?” she asks. “Shifting regularly?”
“Never better,” I tell her, and it’s true. “And yes. Wyatt doesn’t allow shifting without permission, which might also contribute to the level of illness around here, but I’ve been shifting often since being with Grey.”
I’ve been eating properly, drinking clean water, shifting and exercising. I feel stronger, better physically than maybe ever.
“Glad Greyson is taking good care of his mate. I had no doubts he would. But when we get home, let’s put you on some prenatal vitamins immediately just for extra peace of mind. If you have conceived, we’ll know pretty soon and I can do an ultrasound, blood tests, check everything out and make certain all is progressing the way it’s intended.”
“Thank you,” I breathe out.
She grabs my hand and squeezes it affectionately, showing she understands my concern, but I spot Gus shuffling from the corner of my eye and realize that though the non-alpha men waiting around are in conversation with one another, Gus heard. It’s written all over his body language. And this is why I won’t ask Cat Savage the other question I have right now.
34
Grey
On high alert, we trudge through overgrown grass assessing sights, sounds, scents. The closer we get to the main building and gates of this place the stronger the odors get. And Linc’s correct. It smells of death.