Page 93 of The Thief

“How long has she been out?” Milly asked.

Bear’s heart broke in two when he realized none of this noise had woken Mercy up. “We don’t know. Maybe an hour or two.”

She peered at Mercy’s face. “Deer?”

“Wolf.”

“Huh. She has the look of a deer.”

Lucian snorted. “I wasn’t aware Shifters looked like their animals.”

“It’s not the looks, boy. It’s their aura. She must be a docile wolf. I’ve even seen Shifters who identify as animals other than what they are. I once met a lion who swore up and down that he should have been born an ostrich.”

“She’s a wolf,” Bear said quietly. “Just shy.”

Mercy’s wolf was the opposite of Mercy’s personality, and that was fine. Meek? Yes. But an obedient wolf who did what was expected of her.

“We should call Tak,” Bear said to Lucian. “Maybe he can get her to shift.”

“Is this Tak an alpha?” Milly asked.

“He’s our Packmaster.”

She pushed the button to open the doors. “Don’t bother. Waste of time. If what I have doesn’t work, an alpha won’t make any difference.”

Bear looked around with wide eyes at what appeared to be a fully stocked medical facility. They passed a large CT scan or MRI machine—he didn’t know the difference. One open room on the left held a myriad of medicine on shelves, some in colorful bottles and others in clear vials. There were closed rooms, a few wheelchairs, and then an area at the end with metal tables.

“Put her down,” Milly said while opening a cabinet.

Bear gently placed Mercy on the table, cradling her head as he lowered it. Lucian stood across from him, his nose twitching. Though Bear kept his cool, his quiet terror must have been burning Lucian’s nose.

Milly approached while drawing medicine into a syringe. “Take that thing off her head.”

Bear obeyed her orders without question. After untying the shirt, he left the bloody garment hanging off the table. Dirt and blood droplets had stained Mercy’s pants, and she was missing a sneaker.

The Relic held the needle to Mercy’s arm.

“What’s that?” Bear asked without a clue who this woman was and whether she could be trusted.

“It’s magic. Some of us have special medicine that can do things that defy nature. In the wrong hands, it could be used for the wrong thing. Catch my drift? If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep this between us. Now, do you want her to live or not?”

“Do it.”

The Relic slid the needle in and pushed the plunger. “Tell her to shift!” she said, backing up.

Mercy’s eyes popped open as if she’d been electrified.

“Shift!” Bear commanded. “You need to heal!”

Mercy’s hand rose up to her head, but she seemed to comprehend the urgency and morphed into her black-and-grey wolf. Her ebony legs pawed as if she were running on her side, and she struggled to lift her head. Mercy’s pants were now tangled in her hind legs, her blouse still on.

Bear pulled her clothes out of the way. “Shift again,” he commanded. “Hurry!”

Though her wolf’s eyes fluttered as if she might pass out, the mighty little wolf changed form once again.

Lucian turned his gaze away from her nude body.

“Keep going,” Milly said harshly. “Until she passes out. As many times as you can make her.”

---