Dekker snorted. “Thanks.”
Standing next to the wall, the beta with dark skin grunted and pushed off. Before, the sudden movement would have set Nox on edge, but there was only the hum of calm.
“I’m going to go throw some steaks on the grill.” The beta headed to the back of the house.
Seung watched the man leave with a frown on her face. “Please, forgive James. He’s conflicted.”
“About what?” Nox said.
“Reclaiming his wolf.”
“He doesn’t want it back?”
She laughed a little. “Oh, no. He wants it back. Bad enough to defy Clan and Pack.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“He’s never seen a Cana run. Today he did, and if it wasn’t for the fact he was separated from the Fenrir and bonded to me—”
“He would have chased him.” Nox was sure of it.
“No, there was only one beta your Cana wanted. And Cana control who hunts them.” She smiled then shifted her gaze to a closed door at the far corner of the room. “But Dr. Dante reacted when you ran Luca.”
“Reacted? How?” Luca said.
“He’s an Urja. They’re raw nerves when it comes to the mental state of those around them. Especially if they have a connection to them.”
And Dr. Dante was Luca’s friend as well as Nox’s. Unlike the other scientists at the Utah Facility, he’d treated the betas like people, not property. He’d been affected by what happened to them.
Dr. Dante had claimed he fled because he was a coward, and even if that was true, Nox understood. Knowing Dr. Dante might have actually felt their agony made any other possible reason irrelevant.
“Dr. Dante felt Luca,” Seung said. “I’m sure of it, and maybe even you.” She nodded at Nox. “Caught in the rush of the hunt.”
“You chased him.” Nox glared at Dekker.
“They didn’t get a chance,” Seung said. “I kept Dr. Dante from running long enough for Dekker to take his men elsewhere until they cooled down.”
Obviously, they’d done more than cool down.
“What would have happened if you had?” Nox said it to Dekker.
“It doesn’t matter because no one will.” Tension cut lines around his eyes.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Dekker huffed a breath. “Urja make the pack stronger because they’re basically a powerplant,” Dekker said. “And I’m sure you’ve experienced the Anubis’s craving for power.”
In Canada, the Anubis had proved its drive to reach the strength it needed to save Luca when it went beyond any known level of Phase and dragged back more of itself so it could break through the smoked glass.
A feat achieved by sheer will and one that should have been impossible.
If Dr. Dante were a way to reach something similar, he wouldn’t be safe from Fenrir or Sarvari.
“Will it happen again?” The look the others gave Nox answered his question. “Is there a way to prevent it?” He didn’t want to kill anyone, but he would to protect Dr. Dante.
“I’m going to arrange for him to be kept somewhere away from us,” Dekker said.
Seung shook her head.