Is It You

Adira POV 10

Two weeks later

I stood next to Malachi in his office as he discussed with Alpha Dane from one of the other neighboring packs about the issue of recreational drugs. I didn’t have any solution to provide but Malachi assured me that he needed my presence all the same. We had gotten closer and closer each passing week and the beach trip was what kept coming back to mind. That night he told me he was mine and I desperately wanted to believe him but I found it hard.

“An estimate of thirty young wolves were detained this week when the pack doctor found traces of the drug in their system. Alpha Hendrix suggested that we do a full sweep of each pack to find out those who had supplies. What about here?” Alpha Dane spoke amicably.

Malachi shuffled through a few papers. “I have ten wolves, all between the ages of 16-18, males”

“Twenty-five out of my thirty are males, the rest females. It seems the boys are the major issue. Apparently their calling it DXM. Any idea what that means?”

Malachi remained quiet for a moment. I touched his shoulder gently and he looked up at me.

“DXM is short for Dextromethorphan,” I shared. “At 100 or 200 milligrams it can be a mild stimulant to calm an individual or help with sleep. Some cough medicines use it too which is why they recommend only a teaspoon dose”

Malachi quickly made note of this as Alpha Dane directed his attention to me. We had barely made eye contact and he brushed our greeting aside earlier. His Beta stood behind him with a stoic look on her face. Yes, her. She was a well built wolf with beautiful muscles and unkempt blonde hair.

“What happens if it's over 200 milligrams?” Alpha Dane asked.

“Well, if taken at 300-400 milligrams, the user may experience strong euphoria and hallucinations. At 600 milligrams it can result in distorted vision and loss of movement. Some persons describe an out of body experience at that dosage too,” I finished.

“s**t,” Alpha Dane cursed. “This is what we’ve been dealing with!? And we still have no trace of where the product is coming from. Most of my wolves say they leave the money outside and the pills show up the next morning. The drop off location changes for each customer so we can’t pinpoint where exactly to look.”

Malachi rubbed his thumb over my hand and gave me a smile. You're brilliant, he mind-linked.

“How do we get in contact with the dealer?” Malachi asked.

This time, Alpha Dane’s Beta spoke up. She pushed off the wall and stood up straight.

“You don’t contact him,” She stated, bored, “He contacts you. You’re placed on a recommendation list by previous buyers.”

I could see Malachi was racking his brain how to get himself involved.

“Well, we need to figure out a way to draw the dealers out into the open and get someone on that list” Malachi ordered. Alpha Dane seemed to agree with a nod of his head.

“How long does the DXM stay in their system?” The Beta wolf asked as both Alpha’s were finishing up and packing away their files.

“DXM suppresses brain function, particularly the sections that control breathing and heart function. The effects can last for 6 hours the most but if they up the dosage between an hour or two, it could be a whole day,” I advised.

She bobbed her head, weighing my information. Alpha Dane zipped his bag shut and stood to his feet.

“Thank you Alpha Carson and your assistant,” He smiled now.

Malachi drew me to his side and smiled up at me. “This is actually my mate, Adira Stone. It was our pleasure. I’ll send you any new info if I get it.”

The two nodded then headed out. Wildon was downstairs and he mind-linked us he’d escort them. I turned to Malachi, knowing that he’d ask questions now. I didn’t want to bring this up but It seemed to be of so much help to his work.

“Why do you know that drug, Adira?” He asked.

I sighed, rounding the desk and taking a seat in front of him.

“Whenever Adair was extremely depressed she’d take this strange pills. It used to make her giddy and almost non responsive. I forcibly took the bottle from her one day and read the prescription. I forbid her to take it again but she kept getting her supply somehow”

He seemed to understand and rested his hand on top of mine for comfort. Talking about Adair opened closing wounds for us both.

“If these young wolves are on DXM it could really hurt them. I hope we can think of a way to get the dealer’s attention,” I added.

“Wildon should be able to come up with a way around that. My Gamma is also keeping a close eye on the recently changed wolves. In which case, I need to see the five new additions he mentioned today,” Malachi grimaced.

I followed him out of the office and down the stairs but he stopped me at the door. Five male wolves stood outside on the front lawn and the Gamma was a foot away talking with Wildon.

“Are you sure you want to see this?” Malachi asked. “It won’t look pretty.”

I held his hand tightly in mine. “Yes, I’ve seen Adira at her worst, so I can handle this.

With renewed confidence we both stepped out onto the porch and my heart started breaking. The wolves in front of us had misted over their eyes and drool sliding down their chins. One of the four had his eyes rolled back into his head and he looked about to fall. Malachi stood in front of them and wiped his face roughly with the palm of his hand.

This wasn’t easy to see.

I walked over to one of the wolves also and shook his shoulders gently. His eyes seemed to focus on me for a moment but then it flew all over the place. I turned to Malachi.

“This is what I was talking about,” I frantically explained, “If they take extra doses in between, the side effects can last for a day. Not to mention if they lose the section of the brain that controls breathing, they can die”

Malachi didn’t say anything but he finally understood the depth of this plague on the surrounding packs. He motioned to Declan that they were done and the Gamma led the boys off into the woods and back to the villa. He beckoned to me and I ran into his arms.

“We’ll figure this out soon enough,” He encouraged and led me back inside.