“Lexxie mentioned your father’s claim when she spoke with Landon.” Devon answered her unspoken question.
Jake returned with a mug of coffee and sat beside Ian. Either Jake had eaten earlier or the conversation had killed his appetite along with Heather’s. “You told me you were defined. Didn’t you transform when you escaped?”
He didn’t sound angry, just confused. Heather looked at him for a moment then shifted her gaze back to Devon. “My definition was a nightmare. The man who was supposed to define me turned feral and… I transformed that night even though he hadn’t given me his blood yet. He was trying to kill me at the time, so I think it was a survival mechanism.”
“Is that what happened last night as well?” Devon’s tone was light, non-confrontational.
Heather struggled to explain something she didn’t fully understand. “Last night was different. It was as if a path had been opened when I first transformed. I knew I was in serious trouble if I didn’t escape, so I sort of willed myself to transform.”
“It sounds like what happened to Ava,” Ian said. “She thought the wolves had found her and she spontaneously teleported. She didn’t even know she was Therian at the time.”
“As long as you haven’t been defined, there might be another option. But it’s risky so you have to be sure you want to try it.” Devon had been nibbling at her food. Now she laid down her fork and picked up her mug.
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Jake looked at Heather for a long, concerned moment then shifted his gaze back to Devon.
Devon shrugged, a smile tugging on one corner of her mouth. “It’s not your choice to make.” She angled toward Heather and set down her mug. “How much do you know about Dhane’s condition?”
Heather glanced at Jake. How well did he know Devon? Could she trust what Devon told her or were they working together to…to what? What could they possibly gain by deceiving her? They were both at risk just being in the same room as her.
“I know he was found at a lab and whatever he was injected with left him desperate for energy.” She knew a lot more than that, but she wanted to see how closely what Devon was about to say matched what she already knew.
“Do you know about the backers?” Jake asked. He watched her closely, apparently knowing her well enough to doubt her complete lack of information.
She knew exactly what he meant but again she wanted to hear their version of the events. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Devon and Jake exchanged skeptical glances then Devon said, “I doubt your father has kept you completely in the dark, but we’ll play along. The backers are a group of scientist who have been studying and experimenting on Therians. We stumbled across them while we were searching for one of the Abolitionists. Are you going to pretend you don’t know what an Abolitionist is?”
“Every Therian female knows about the Abolitionists.” Their crusade to “rescue” female Therians had taught her to be leery of anyone not of her pack.
“The Abolitionists have finally been neutralized but the backers are more of a threat than ever,” Devon told her.
She’d heard rumors that the rebels had killed the Abolitionist leader. Apparently the rumors were true. “Then it was the backers who experimented on Dhane?”
Devon nodded and paused for another drink of coffee. “Dhane and I were given the same formula.”
“Are you all right? The delightful ‘formula’ nearly killed my brother.”
“I’m fine.” Devon looked at Ian and smiled. Her eyes took on an unmistakably sensuous warmth. “In fact I’m better than ever. The gen three formula didn’t have the same side effects for me that it did for Dhane.”
“Gen three? What does that mean?”
“Third generation. The formula has been reworked and refined numerous times. Each major overhaul was designated by a new generation.”
“Then the latest formula didn’t drain your energy or leave you unable to control your shifts?”
Devon chuckled, her gaze swinging back to Heather. “I thought you didn’t know anything about this.”
“I don’t know you.” She refused to apologize for her caution. These were cats. She had good reason to be wary. “I wanted to see if you’d stick to the truth. I needed to see if I could trust you.”
“Fair enough. The formula was engineered for undefined Therian females. That’s why Dhane’s body isn’t sure what to do with it.”
“I haven’t spoken to Landon in a couple of days. Is Dhane still shifting uncontrollably?” Devon’s information was probably more current than Landon’s anyway.