“I keep odd hours,” she explained. “Especially since I got infected with lycanthropy. It changed everything.”
Amen to that.
Chapter 5
Nick and Sean offered to take me out hiking tomorrow once the rain cleared up. Chaz was going to be busy dealing with some pack politics and helping their newest member cope with some of the pre-change weirdness his body was going through. Ethan had accidentally gotten caught up in a scuffle between two Weres that became too heated. One of them nicked him with its teeth when he tried to rush off, and he’d been too afraid to go to the hospital to get the vaccine.
This was not altogether surprising. Most of the big hospitals report lycanthropy infections to a database that’s only supposed to be accessed by government and law enforcement agencies. Theoretically, the database would help lead to the culprits of any unauthorized Other attacks, since a good ninety-five percent or so were by newly turned vampires and Weres who hadn’t mastered their hungers yet.
However, the number of Others who had disappeared over the last couple of years—even accounting for violence by groups like the White Hats and the Anti-Other Alliance—had caused enough comment and speculation that few Others were willing to risk going to hospitals. There was even some paranoia about going to private practitioners, since some of them reported their findings as well. The problem was that the major hospitals were the best source of the vaccine that could, if administered quickly enough, halt the spread of lycanthropy infection. It didn’t work every time, but if it meant the difference between staying human or becoming part of a Were pack, most people would damn the consequences and take the medicine.
Ethan had been infected and had waited too long to treat the virus. A couple days ago, one of the other pack members had found the poor guy freaking out in the parking lot outside a doctor’s office. Someone inside had just delivered the news that he was beyond treatment. The Sunstrikers had taken him in, made him part of the group, and would help him through his first change.
This was as much for their protection as his. Without a mentor, Ethan could have gone rogue and ended up injuring himself or, worse, some innocent human, in the process of the change. No Were or vampire likes to hear the news that innocent bystanders got hurt by one of their own. It was bad publicity, made it harder for them to bolster their ranks, so the majority of the time they’d take in the strays. Plus, the rash of panic and angry hunters that inevitably followed in the wake of a newly turned Other with no experienced mentor to guide them or rein them in made life hard on all the rest.
I’d heard stories about what some of the vamps did to their own after unsanctioned kills. It was the stuff of nightmares. The only time I’d ever witnessed it happen, it had turned into a bloodbath. Max Carlyle had negotiated his way out, but I’m reasonably certain the only reason he wasn’t toast was because Royce would not have been able to kill him without too much cost to himself.
Weres were more understanding, but no more tolerant. They were as likely as vampires to hunt and put down one of their own who made an unsanctioned kill, though perhaps they did it a little more cleanly.
Ethan was currently holed up in one of the cabins with a couple of other pack members. Chaz had promised to check in on him frequently and had cautioned me to stay away from him until after the height of the lunar cycle was over. They weren’t so concerned he would accidentally Were. The problem lay in his becoming attuned to my scent and trying to hunt me down the first time or two he was shifted. Curious as I was about him, that was deterrent enough to keep me away.
Through the rest of the day, I met a lot of Sunstrikers whose names I did my best to keep straight. As Chaz had mentioned, they were people, too. Every one of them came from a different background and walk of life. Some of them were as friendly and cordial as I’d been promised. Others did not seem so happy to meet me and, I was sure, only shook my hand because Chaz was standing next to me.
Later in the afternoon, just before dinner, we were hanging out in the game