\[Maverick’s POV\]
I stare down at Rosco as his face goes redder and redder with rage. Although I knew even giving my age would piss him off due to my relationship with his daughter, I didn’t want to hide anything either. Hiding things was what caused him to dislike me so much, so it was time to turn over a new leaf.
“And since that is clear, should we should work on coming up with a plan to defeat Ezekial, don’t you think?”
Growing quiet, I wait as everyone stares at me like I’ve grown a second head, but when Ellie’s lips twitch into a small smile and she nods, I know that she is on the same wave length as me.
“I think that would be best, Samuel.”
“Samuel?” Jose repeats, frowning. “Who is Samuel?”
“Me,” I respond. “My name before waking up in Emerald Moon was Samuel. However, I would prefer for everyone to continue calling me Maverick, as Samuel died long ago.”
As I speak, Serenity reaches out and wraps her hand around mine, causing her father to grow angrier, but she doesn’t back down.
“Dad,” she says softly. “You should really try to calm down. No one here is your enemy, and if we are going to stop Ezekial before he turns wolves into humans, we need to move quickly.”
Finished speaking, she waits as Rosco considers what is being said, and when the anger in his features lightens slightly, he shakes William and Jose off of him before nodding.
“Fine,” he growls, though it is clear that he isn’t happy about it. “I’ll let you off... for now.”
“Dad,” Serenity sighs, rolling her eyes. “Why can’t you...”
“Let’s head to the meeting room,” Jose announces before Rosco can respond. “That way Maverick and Ellie can tell us everything they’ve remembered.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Serenity chirps, clearly happy to have a way out. “Come on.”
Not waiting for a response, she begins to move, tugging me along behind her.
When we reach our destination, we take our seats and wait for the others to join us. Once they’re in place, I let myself venture back to everything that happened before I was rogue. But when the death of my parents appears again, I feel myself faltering. However, the feel of Serenity’s warmth beside me keeps me moving.
“Alright, we are all here; can we get this meeting going?” Rosco asks, sitting across from me so that he can continue to glare at Maverick.
Honestly, he was acting like a child, and under any other circumstances, I would have found it funny. But all this anger and hatred was directed at my relationship with Serenity, and that alone left me uneasy.
“I think our first move is figuring out exactly where Ezekial is hiding.” Jose announces, turning his gaze to Forrest, who sits quietly. “Do you know the exact location, boy?”
“I do,” Forrest responds, his voice and eyes keeping the look of a haunted man. “It was just on the northern borders where the original Emerald Moon sat.”
At his words, I feel my eyes widen as I remember that place when it was in its glory, from the sprawling walls that protected us from intruders to the town square that most of us lived around. Then the large, almost castle-like pack house that overlooked the whole thing.
“He actually chose that spot?” William murmurs, his voice filled with shock. “Then how did we not notice at all?”
“Because his hideout is nowhere near as big as the original area.” Forrest continues. “It is just big enough to house him and those rogues.”
“Are there no humans?” Jose pushes.
“There is,” William, Serenity, and I respond together.
“It was humans who attacked the school.” I continue. “But they weren’t wolves from what I could tell.”
“Interesting.”
Remaining silent, Jose seems to fall deep into thought while the rest of us wait.
“Serenity,” he says now, turning his attention to his niece. “Your blood can’t turn humans into wolves, right?”
Eyes widening, I watch as Serenity opens her mouth to respond, but then stops as a look of confusion and then fear flashes in her eyes.
“We never experimented with that.” She whispers. “But could it be a possibility?”
“It could.” Jose confirms. “Why couldn’t it work like that depending on what you are?”
“If it can do that, then we are in trouble.” William says. “Who is to say that he won’t try to create his own pack of humans while destroying all the original packs?”
Fuck. Why didn’t we think about something like this? Were we that content with the fact that things were calm up until now?
“How do we test to see if her blood can turn humans into wolves?” Rosco asks, his expression serious. “I think this is something we should know.”
“Do you know of any humans to test on?” William counters. “And who is to say that one would even be willing...”
“Try it on me.” I announce. “I’m human, so it should work, right?”
“Possibly,” Jose says, considering. “But you were a wolf to begin with.”
“Then do you suggest we go and kidnap a human to experiment on?” Rosco asks in disgust. “That makes us no better than that bastard Ezekial.”
“Well, we don’t really have any other options, now do we?” Jose asks. “It is best that we know everything about Serenity’s blood.”
“What if we just got a bit of human blood?” Serenity asks slowly, drawing all gazes toward her. “When we first learned of my blood, I had a friend that experimented on wolf blood to show what my blood was capable of; it should be the same with human blood too, right?”
“It should,” Jose grins. “But who is this friend you speak of? And how do we get ahold of him?”
“It’ll just take a call.” Rosco huffs in annoyance. “The friend is a member of Emerald Moon.”
“Then get to it,” Jose annoyances. “Chop, chop.”
“Sorry, Tristan,” I hear Serenity whisper. “For bringing you into this mess again.”
“He won’t mind.” I assure her with a smile. “That guy livers for experimentation.”
“Yeah,” she sighs, though she doesn’t seem very convinced. “I guess you’re right.”
“Since we have that under control, how do you suggest we get our hands on human blood?” Jose asks. “Of course, we will experiment with Maverick’s as well, but just to be sure, we should have true human blood as well.”
“So should we go out and jab a needle into a human?” William asks.
“No,” Jose chuckles. “We can steal blood without harming any humans.”
“And how do we do that?”
“Sneak into a blood bank, of course.”