Read Online A Mate Beyond Their Reach by Scarlet Hyacinth - Free Book Online Page A

wiped away the memory of the moment when they’d seen the spirit wolves. The lucky ones did get away with just that. But Drew had come into contact with ferals, as well. Eventually, the beasts would come to find him, if only because he’d helped Trent.
    For the spirit wolves, this needed to be avoided at all costs.
    Supposedly, the whole process was for the humans’ protection. In truth, Valerius sometimes wondered which was the greater evil, death or this uprooting, this displacement of identity. In the past, he’d even tried to limit the times he used this method, instead choosing to convince the humans they were on the run from the mafia or something along that line. But in the end, the humans always broke down. He couldn’t help them, and his opinion didn’t count. In the scales of hierarchy, the law of tradition ruled all.
    The idea that he might have to do this to his mate made him sick to his stomach. “But I won’t do it to you,” he told Drew. “I refuse.
    We’ll just have to pretend I did and keep the secret. It’s the only way.”
    To Valerius’s surprise, Drew got off the bed and padded to his side. Pressing a brief kiss to Valerius’s lips, he whispered, “It’s not the only way, not if I can help it.”
    “What do you mean?” Trent asked.
    Drew arched a brow. “I’m a doctor. For once, I’ll use what I learned for myself. There has to be a way to make this work. There always is.”
    “You mean to find a cure for the feral virus? Drew, that’s impossible.”
    “Why?” Drew shot back. “How do you know? Have you ever tried?”
    Valerius heard fire and decision in Drew’s voice, and he hated to cut into his mate’s enthusiasm. Even so, Drew needed to acknowledge the difficulty of the task he meant to take on. “I haven’t tried it myself, no, but we have medics as well. We’ve been fighting the ferals forever. If there had been a way to cure the virus, we’d have known it by now.”
    Drew shrugged. “Well, you know what they say. Always get a second opinion.”
    The idea that a human scientist could succeed where they’d all failed before boggled the mind, but Valerius was willing to try. Hope emerged in his heart. If anyone could do this, it was his mate. Even from their brief exchange, Valerius understood Drew’s medical talents went way beyond that of normal human doctors. Clearly, Trent’s injuries had been quite severe, and yet Drew managed to help him. Besides, no matter what, they couldn’t just give up. They needed to try to find another solution before they resorted to a separation.
    “I can cover your tracks and claim you’ve received a new life,” he said, “but you wouldn’t be able to research this in any normal lab. It would be too risky.”
    “I meant to take him and the others to my family home,” Trent piped in. “They’d be safe there. Our borders are well protected, and not even Judiciaries would encroach on our territory without just cause.”
    Valerius distantly recalled that, indeed, the Harts were well-connected with the upper echelons of their kin. The oldest Hart boys had become experienced and successful hunters, and the eldest, Ash, was even expected to one day take the role of a Judiciary. Valerius once met the senior Harts—Grant and Marion—when he’d been younger, before his Judiciary days and, he believed, before Trent had even been born. Today, the Hart couple tended to be reclusive, and Valerius himself preferred solitude. Their influence would certainly protect Drew.
    “Excellent idea,” he told Trent. “You must go then, as soon as possible. Paul and Daniel will go with you, of course. I will do my best to stall and give you time to get to Maine.”
    “Maine?” Drew repeated.
    “My folks own a large part of the forest there, through various individuals and corporations,” Trent explained. “Don’t worry about it.
    We’ll be safe there.”
    Drew looked thoughtful. “My son, too?”
    Trent nodded. “We can have a private