Page 53 of Highland Mate
He frowned.“The what?”
“Humans had the black plague.Shifters had the red.It kills your blood and your animal.I’ve gotta call Niall.”
Keegan backtracked, almost tripping over the doorway entrance.Everett grabbed Brinnah to pull her away, and she in turn grabbed Kadie.They all watched fearfully.
“What the hell is the red plague?”Jericho asked.“I’ve never heard of this.”
“Consider it a magical virus.Like I said, it literally separates the animal from the human.That red mist was her wolf dying, and since a shifter can’t live without its other half, it indirectly kills the human side as well.Even if you catch it in your wolf form.”Savannah placed one hand on the side of her head.“Jericho, it’s highly contagious.Everyone needs to be extremely cautious.”
“Is this what killed my old pack?”Brinnah asked, her voice thick with grief.
“From what your friend described, yes.”
Jericho ran a hand over his face.“Where the fuck did this come from?”
“This plague hasn’t been around for centuries,” Savannah replied.“I have no clue why or how it resurfaced.”
“Shifters are resilient,” Everett said.“So, what caused this?”
Savannah bit her bottom lip.“A long time ago, there was a war between the shifter world and the magical world.Warlocks released the red plague toxin in the shifters’ water supply, and it worked so well that they were on the brink of extinction.”
“How did we survive?”Keegan asked.
“There’s only one cure,” Savannah replied, fear leaking from her tone.“But unfortunately, it died out a long time ago.”
“What was it?”Jericho demanded.“I’ll send a call out to all the packs.Maybe someone has it.”
“They won’t,” Savannah said, shaking her head.“The only cure is the horn of a unicorn.And there are no more of them.”
Jericho blinked.“Come again?”
Epilogue
The crisp autumn air raised goose bumps along Mairi’s arms, and she folded them across her chest in order to rub them in an effort to warm up.A hint of snow scented the air.Colorado had gotten cold, but the Highlands were something entirely different.
This would be her first Christmas at Rundlaith Keep, and Tavish was due to return very soon.He had scaled back how much time he spent at the company headquarters in Edinburgh, and now most of his meetings were done via Zoom.After working with Keegan for three years, she discovered she really liked being a barista.So, she set up some greenhouses and decided to take a shot at growing coffee beans.It was just an experiment, but she was on all the blog sites and had talked to many home growers.Her cousin already asked for samples she could give to her customers and get their feedback.
It was the full moon that evening, her first in her new home, and she looked forward to running with Tavish.All the times she wished she could be by his side.All the wishing and hoping he’d fall in love with her.They might’ve taken the long way around, but they eventually found their destined path.
The helicopter descended and perfectly landed on the helipad.A few minutes later, Tavish emerged and once he was free and clear of the blades, it lifted back into the air to return to wherever helicopters for billionaires were kept.He opened his arms and she ran, wrapping her arms around him.He bent his head and kissed her with a passion that made her heart pound and her pussy slick with need.
When they came up for air, he ran his nose up her throat and murmured softly, “Someone is very eager to see me.”
She chuckled.“Always.Ready for the run tonight?”
He glanced at the sky.“We have a few hours.”
“Whatever should we do to occupy ourselves?”she asked coyly.
Suddenly, he threw his shoulder into her stomach and lifted her, fireman style.As she dangled upside down, she slapped his ass.
“Are you taking me away to ravish me?”
“Aye, mate.Always.”
The End
