Eyes on the Pride (Awakening Pride Book 8) by Lacey Thorn Page B

good,” the professor muttered as he made notes on a clipboard. “Won’t be on par with your mate’s but much better than mine. Your recovery time if injured will decrease, also. Your body will become more resistant to run-of-the-mill illnesses. That bite of his, it’s better than a flu shot.”
    Calloway snorted a laugh.
    “Ah, here comes Gideon,” the professor said. He put the vials in the pockets of his lab coat, grabbed his clipboard then headed out with a wave of his hand.
    “He’s…interesting,” Darby said.
    Tah grinned. “He’s been like a father to Abby. When she and I mated, he took on the lot of us without question. He’s passionate about his work, works far more than he should and is one of my daughter’s favorite people in the world.”
    “His daughter is Jess Mueller, correct? The one mated to all four of the wolf alphas?”
    Tah nodded. “And also a close friend.”
    “You have ties to the bear shifter pack in Wyoming, as well?” she queried.
    Tah gave another nod.
    “Connections,” she said, answering the question in his gaze. “The wolves, bears and coyotes. Now, to the watchers. It’s going to take all of us if we plan to put a stop to this war. You’re the first alpha to bridge the gap with the leaders of the other shifter species. Staying separated makes it easier to control you. Banding together will make you formidable foes. Proactive instead of reactive. It has the potential to change everything.”
    “Something to delve more into this evening,” Tah replied. “I’ll leave Gideon to show you to your cabin and see you both at dinner. Call me immediately if you hear back from your contact.”
    “I will,” she promised as he turned and walked in the direction the professor had gone earlier. She was a bit confused by his abrupt departure. Wasn’t he excited at the thought of putting a stop to the hunters once and for all?
    “He’s mulling it all over. What you said back there,” Gideon conveyed as he led them outside. “You’ll learn that Tah doesn’t make rushed decisions. He contemplates every avenue and discusses it with the rest of the pride. The council makes final decisions on most things, but his opinion weighs heavily into it.”
    “Council? I didn’t realize shifters had a council.”
    “This pride does,” Gideon informed them.
    “Who sits on it?” This was something Darby hadn’t heard of before, but she found it didn’t really surprise her now that she’d met them all.
    “Tah and Abby. Reno. Logan. The professor. Gabriel. Murphy, whom you haven’t met yet. And my mate, Vic.” Gideon smiled as he said his mate’s name. He led them to a barn with ATVs in it. “The cabin is a bit of a hike so I thought we’d take these.”
    “You guys use these to get around?” There didn’t seem to be enough for all of the people in the pride.
    “Not usually. These are mostly for the human members of our group, which you are now a part of. Don’t be nervous if you see big cats roaming around,” he warned. “We have a tendency to shift and go for runs. Logan’s just had his animal come out of recession, so you’ll see a large snow leopard sniffing around a lot. He usually has a lioness or a smaller snow leopard with him.”
    “Wait! Logan Dobson is a shifter? When did that happen?” Darby asked. None of their intel said Logan was a shifter. His sister Laura was, but Logan was thought to be pure human.
    “His animal was recessed. We could have lost him when we tried to bring it out. I thought the answer lay in sharing his mate’s blood with him. Instead, I almost killed him. The professor saved his life. It wasn’t Clara’s blood he needed. It was his sister’s. Laura had an enzyme in hers blood that Logan’s wasn’t making. That was the key to unlocking his beast.”
    “And the professor figured that out?”
    “He’s tenacious when it comes to finding out how we tick. He works round the clock trying to find ways to help us,” Gideon said.