Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Chapter 60 Weapons
BACK TO THIRD PERSON POV
The next day, Thursday, Mr. Garrity had a helper summon Thea to his apothecary shop when she got home from school.
Thea came immediately with the triplets and four
Delta guards in tow.
“Alphas, Luna,” Mr. Garrity said. “I have some mock-ups to show you.”
“Excellent.”
“Let’s go outside for demonstration,” he said.
“Of course.”
He pushed a cart outside behind his shop. His helper followed behind him with another cart. Thea could sense the interest in her Delta team guards. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
*There are a number of herbs and plants that are perfectly harmless when used alone. However, combine them, and they become quite irritating. Even the method of extracting the active compounds can make them poisonous or benign. I am toying around with that to tweak and find the most potent forms. This cart here, these all have antidotes. The warrior can take a simple capsule, giving protection for twenty-four hours. This liquid will temporarily blind if it comes in contact with the eyes.” He picked up a vial.
“How temporarily?” Thea said.
“Depends on the healing rate of the person, how much gets in the eyes, and potency, but anywhere from ten minutes to an hour.”
Thea nodded.
“I have it here in a solid ball, mixed with some other things. If you throw it against something, like the ground, it will explode, sending the dust into the air and likely into their eyes. I’ve done this with a few concoctions. One will make it difficult to breathe. The more they exert themselves, the more difficult breathing
becomes. If they keep struggling, they’ll pass out, but then their breathing will normalize. Another will be extremely itchy. This one temporarily paralyzes the muscles. Anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, again, depending on different factors.”
Thea and the triplets nodded and motioned for him to continue.
“These are preliminary. There will be more finesse later on,” Mr. Garrity said.
“Those exploding balls could be short to mid-range. For the long-range options. Bow and arrow. Arrow coated with a liquid form of the same things. As long as it nicks the skin, the toxins will get in the blood and take effect. I haven’t tested these on any subjects, so I can’t say the length of effect for sure. If a bow and arrow are too cumbersome, we could look into other long-range options. I’ve been toying around with the idea of paintball guns. Making the exploding balls paintball-sized. They are long-range and have good accuracy.”
“I say why not?” Thea said.
Mr. Garrity nodded, smiling. He moved to the other cart. “This cart has wolfsbane options. There aren’t antidotes, as you know. Maybe these are a last resort. Friendly fire is more dangerous with these. Similar applications are possible, bow and arrow, exploding powder.”
“I’m hesitant to use something that could hurt our own,” Thea said.
“We could do a dart gun where the dart automatically injects the wolfsbane when it hits. I’m playing around with different ways of extracting it, mixing it, different concentrations. Low doses won’t kill anyone, but it will keep them from shifting. That may be important in a crowd control situation.”
“Do you think you could make an antidote to wolfsbane? All the things that have antidotes didn’t originally. They were discovered. What would it take?” Thea said.
“Honestly, scientists,” Mr. Garrity said. “If they could analyze the molecular compound, they may be able to figure it out. I think it’s beyond me, though.”
Thea nodded. “How do the other herbs affect humans? Or the unshifted? Other species?”
“I’ll look into it,” Mr. Garrity said.
“I’d like the warriors and Delta team to practice with these. Feel the effects, so they know what they’ll do. Could we do that right now?”
“Absolutely,” Mr. Garrity said.
“Do you have enough of the antidotes made?”
Thea said.
“Yes.”
Thea turned to the triplets. “Can you mind link the warriors and Delta team, see who can come test these out?”
They nodded. Soon, half the warriors and all of Delta team joined them behind the Apothecary store.
“We should probably take these out to a rarely used part of the woods, huh?” Thea said.
“That would be best,” Mr. Garrity said.
“Will we need a clean-up afterward? Something to neutralize the poisons?” Thea said.
“The wind will carry it away in low concentrations. It shouldn’t be a problem,” Mr.Garrity said.
Thea nodded. “Mr. Garrity, would you do the honors of explaining what you’ve made?” Thea said.
He bowed to her, faced the group of warriors, and told them everything. “Any notes are greatly appreciated. I can only improve them if I know how you want them to function.”
“Who wants the antidotes today, and who wants to feel the effects, be the guinea pigs?” Thea said. “We won’t be testing the wolfsbane today, don’t worry.”
“Luna,” Mr. Garrity said. “It will probably be best if you don’t test them on yourself until we know how they affect humans.”
She nodded.
About half volunteered to be guinea pigs including the triplets. The other half took the
antidotes, and they went out into the woods.
Overall they were very impressed with the effects and the implications for their future battles. They gave notes on each thing They wanted more explosiveness to kick up the dust. Everyone was very interested in the paintball idea. That and the bow and arrows opened up the possibility of non warriors to aid in fights from a distance Maybe make one pill that had all the antidotes in it. Or a vial to drink
“I will play around with antidote deliveries, ” Mr. Garrity said. “I may be able to make a vaccine. Let me play around with it.”
“Everyone, please keep this between us for now,” Thea said. “We don’t want it leaking to other packs that we’re preparing for war. We don’t need anyone suspicious of us.”
**Yes, Luna,” they said
“Thank you all for testing these today. Please help your guinea pig brothers to the infirmary.”
They helped them over where they were seen by the pack doctor. They were all fine within the hour. Thea stayed in the infirmary, walking from bed to bed. When her mates started to rouse, she held their hands.
“I think I understand a little how you must have felt being paralyzed,” Conri said. “That was terrifying, and I knew I wasn’t going to be murdered.”
Thea squeezed his hand.
“Not being able to breathe,” Alaric said. “It’s effective.”
“Gotta tell you,” Kai said. “I like being able to see. Being blind is not fun. The itching was also very annoying.”
“Are you feeling better now?” Thea said.
“Starting to,” they said.
“I’m going to make one more round. Think you’ll be ready to go then?” Thea said.
The triplets nodded.
Thea walked around the infirmary, talking to each man. She touched each one in some way-a hand to the forehead, a squeeze of their hand or shoulder. The ones who couldn’t breathe, she rested her hand
on their chest. With each one, she felt a rush of emotion leave her. She wanted them to heal and feel perfectly healthy.
“Ready?” Thea said to the triplets when she finished the round.
The triplets nodded, and they left the infirmary.
Conri lifted Thea, pinned her against the wall with her legs wrapped around his waist, and kissed her hard until she was tilting her hips and rubbing against him.
“You know none of them touched me, right?” Thea thought to him. “This Alpha jealousy claiming thing isn’t necessary.”
“You touched all of them,” Conri said.
“Concessions, Con.”
“And you have to make concessions for my and
Caleb’s needs.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re right. Honestly, I like it when you get jealous and possessive. As long as you take it out on me,” she thought.
“Oh, I’ll take it out on you. I can’t stand to be away from you, and you’re right. They didn’t touch you. You touched them. You’re the one who needs it.” He bit a trail down her neck to his mark
“Mmm. Yeah. You know what? I do need it. Give it to me, Con.”
“Where’s a condom when you need one?” Conri said, frustrated
“In our room, babe,” Thea thought.
Conri adjusted his grip on her and ran to their room, Kai and Alaric right behind them.
Thea and the triplets checked in on Alessia at dinner. She looked good.
“Are you eating enough?” Thea said.
“I’m eating more in a day than I used to eat in a week,” Alessia said.
“Good.”
“And everything is so delicious. I used to only get table scraps.”
Thea squeezed her shoulder. It was already less boney.
“Are you settling in? Anything you need? I know you didn’t get to bring anything with you from your old pack.”
“No, Luna. I didn’t have anything to bring.
Everything is perfect here.”
Thea smiled at her. “You look good.”
“I feel good.”
“There’s no pressure,” Thea said. “I want you to explore all your options and choose what makes you happy, but I sense a warrior in you. You’re brave. You’re nimble. You’re smart. If you want to go that route, you can have all the training you want.”
“It was never an option before, but I’m enjoying training so far.”
“There’s no rush. All options are open to you. If you need someone to talk to, we have professional counselors here. It could just be about career options. It could be about dealing with trauma. Whatever you need.” Thea told her where their offices were. “I’ve seen them myself for PTSD.”
Alessia looked surprised.
“Oh, yes. I almost died about a month ago,” Thea said. She showed her the scar on her neck. “I was off pack lands. A witch paralyzed me, and a rogue cut my carotid. I couldn’t move, and I was bleeding out. I was sure I would die, but my mates and my guards found me in time. The rogue
injected me with wolfsbane. No wolves could donate their blood for me. It was touch and go for a while because I lost so much blood and couldn’t replenish it adequately. I’ve been so weak. There are times I don’t have the strength to move, and it feels like I’m paralyzed again, dying. I’m having fewer panic attacks since I’ve been talking with the counselor. She’s helped me a lot. Again, no pressure. Whatever you want to do.”