Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)(129)

Alexei tapped their clasped hands on his thigh. “You’re saying all rogues share certain traits?”

“Every single one I’ve studied, and I threw a wide net.” The doctor picked up a pad of paper and a pen. “Consider this a representation of every changeling in the world.” She drew a large circle. “Now these are the people with the indicators.” A much smaller circle within. “And these are the rogues.” A dot within the smaller circle.

Memory knew why the doctor was belaboring this point—she wanted Alexei to know that even if he had the markers, that didn’t mean he would ever go rogue. Memory also knew Alexei wouldn’t see it that way. But while she might be an atypical E, she was an E, and she sensed no hint of instability in Alexei. She wouldn’t have brought him here if she hadn’t already been certain of the answers.

“I want to know, whatever the answer.” Primal energy along their bond, Alexei’s wolf brushing up against her. “Let’s do it.”

The interview took two hours. Afterward, Keelie Schaeffer asked Alexei if he’d be willing to talk about his brother. Alexei’s skin pulled tight over his cheekbones, but he gave a curt nod. Though Memory listened with care, she couldn’t see what it was Keelie Schaeffer was looking for in the brothers’ profiles.

The doctor included a number of questions about their father, too, but Alexei had limited information on the man who’d died while he was only seven years of age.

At some point, Memory rose to make sandwiches and coffee.

Midnight supervised.

Darkness had fallen outside, the trees whispering under moonlight. Dr. Schaeffer’s mate was working late leading a training session on strategy for senior soldiers, so it was only the three of them—and Midnight—in the house. Memory was glad of that; she knew in her gut that Alexei wouldn’t have been as open with another male in the area, especially when that male was a DarkRiver soldier.

He hadn’t remained seated for long, prowling the room while answering the doctor’s questions. Midnight had paced with him for a while before curling up on the sofa to nap again.

“Thank you for that.” Keelie Schaeffer put down the datapad on which she’d been taking notes, though she’d also asked Alexei’s permission to record the interview. Rubbing the back of her neck, she stretched out her spine, then asked Alexei if he’d like to walk outside while they talked about the results.

Alexei’s response was immediate. “I just need to know.” He gripped the back of the sofa behind Memory.

“You don’t have the markers.”

The air hung in silence, but inside Memory, the mating bond surged. Throat thick, she jumped up and ran to throw her arms around her golden wolf. His own clamped around her, his scent in her every breath and his claws so careful against her body.

“I told you so,” she whispered, rising on tiptoe to kiss him.

“No one likes a know-it-all,” he grumbled, but he was kissing her back.

Dr. Schaeffer’s smile was wide when the two of them looked back at her at last. “I’m glad to be able to give you good news.”

“My brother?” Alexei asked, a roughness to his voice that was crushed gravel.

The other woman’s smile faded. “I’m sorry, Alexei. Brodie did have the markers.” She rose then, and the three of them, plus Midnight, walked outside into the moonlit forest while Dr. Schaeffer talked them through her conclusions.

She explained that the signs of possible rogue status were many and subtle, but a major one was a lack of impulse control, or other thrill-seeking behavior. “It’s a blunt hammer indicator.” The researcher put her hands into the pockets of her long cardigan. “On its own it means nothing—especially in a pack of predators. It must be accompanied by myriad other factors, and even that isn’t a guarantee a person will go rogue.”

Stopping beside a stream, she watched the ribbon of water for a long moment before saying, “That’s partly why I haven’t published my paper. It could do a lot of damage, mark people as being in danger of going rogue—and maybe turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Alexei shoved a hand through his hair. “Brodie would’ve probably killed himself if he knew ahead of time.” Stark words. “My big brother, the brother I grew up with, would’ve never taken the risk. Not after seeing what happened to our father.”

Memory could see him struggling with his love for Brodie against all that had happened, because Brodie hadn’t known. Hugging him from the side, she drenched him in love. He crushed her close as he said, “What will you do?” to Dr. Schaeffer.

“I plan to make my research known to a small, tight circle, people I trust to follow the rules—the main one being that we only profile adults who come to us. I’ll keep on trying to work on the question of why a minority of people with the markers go rogue, while others live a full life. I’m missing something, and until I know it, it would be negligent of me to spread the information.”

Dr. Schaeffer shifted on her heel to face them. “Creating a usable profile has only ever been my initial goal. My true objective is to find a way to stop the process before a changeling goes rogue—or to at least be able to reverse it.” Echoes of old pain in her gaze. “Our pack’s lost people, too, and the scars of such a loss, they linger.”