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mysteries of the feral virus.
    When his eyes first fell on Trent Hart and Andrew Blunt standing next to each other, he felt like he’d been hit by a sledgehammer. Trent gave him a penetrating look, while Andrew seemed to be breathing hard and even looked slightly sick. Valerius himself felt overwhelmed. This couldn’t be happening to him. He couldn’t have a human mate, especially not in addition to a werewolf one. No, no, no, no.
    But his denial didn’t make it any less true. He could feel it in his heart, in the way his body demanded physical contact with the men in front of him. Arousal swelled inside him, bright hot, and he forced himself to remember how much this complicated things, and how much pain a human mate brought in the past. The fates truly chose to play tricks on him today.
    Still, he knew standing there, frozen, would solve nothing. He made his way toward the two men and shared the customary warrior wolf salute with Trent. As they gripped each other’s arms, heat flooded Valerius’s body, and the beast inside him howled in triumph, demanding that he claim his mates this instant. Valerius gritted his teeth and leashed his wolf. It hurt, but Valerius had experience in keeping his instincts in check.
    With as much calm as he could muster, he introduced himself. “I am Valerius D’Averam,” he said in the human tongue.
    “I am Trent Hart, and this is Dr. Andrew Blunt,” Trent replied in turn.
    Valerius bowed courteously. “It is a pleasure to meet you both.”
    He then turned to Trent and, in the language of the spirit wolves, asked, “How much does he know? Has he seen you turn?”
    Trent hesitated, and Valerius knew the answer even before the man spoke. “He has, Judiciary. We were attacked by ferals, and I had no choice but to shift. It’s not his fault, for any of this.”
    “It never is,” Valerius replied with a sigh, “but you know as I do humans must not know about our kind.”
    “Surely something can be done,” Trent protested. “He saved my life.”
    Trent’s words startled Valerius. Trent didn’t look injured in any particular way, and it hadn’t occurred to Valerius that Trent’s wounds might have been life-threatening before the doctor found him. “How so? What did he do?”
    Trent opened his mouth to reply, but Andrew intervened. “Excuse me, but I’m right here,” he said. “Why are you speaking as if I weren’t present?”
    Valerius gaped at the human. This time, he truly couldn’t contain his surprise. “You can understand us?”
    Andrew just gave him a puzzled look, and for a few seconds, Valerius lost himself in the man’s deep blue eyes. If he’d had any doubt the human was his mate, this settled it. There could be no other explanation as to how Andrew could understand their discussion in their mother tongue.
    “Of course I can,” Andrew drawled. “You’re talking in plain English. And as to what I did to save Trent…The injuries were too severe for antivirals to have much effect, but in combination with a proper care for the wolf, they helped. I wouldn’t have thought my aid would be enough, but his immune system must have done the rest.”
    Even as the other man spoke, Valerius realized the situation was more complicated than he’d originally thought. Andrew’s credentials showed his experience and brilliance in the field of pathology, but Valerius only now began to understand it.
    “That aside,” Andrew continued, “what do you intend to do with me? And can anyone explain to me what the fuck is going on?”
    When Andrew shouted, the door to the car opened and a young blond human stepped out. Valerius blinked, shocked at his own lapse.
    How could he have missed the presence of another? When another man followed the first, Valerius knew he was losing it.
    “Dad?” the young blond asked. “What’s wrong? Who are these people?”
    Dad? Oh, shit. Just when Valerius thought things couldn’t get more complicated, his mate’s son popped up. He