Page 17 of Lightning Strikes

Chapter 6

Angela

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I sit down at my desk in the clinic and breathe a sigh of relief after everyone leaves for the night. Now I can work on my patient notes, clean up the rooms, and take a damn nap… Or just go to sleep early. I’ve been too busy to call up anyone to check on Laura, and I haven’t heard from Mac… So now I’m freaked the hell out that I did something wrong and it didn’t work. I can always have Melissa check everything out for me, but I would rather not have her catch onto anything.

I chew on my inner cheek as I focus on my notes and scoot back every so often to check on the fuzzy black kitten. I need to figure out a name for her… Maybe something cheeky like Scout. I shrug and pull up her file and add that as her name and chuckle to myself as I pull up the number for Fran’s so that I can check up on Scout’s siblings.

I’m hanging up the phone when I hear banging coming from the lobby. I frown as I walk out of my office and down the hall to see what the hell is going on. Mac is red-faced and breathing hard when I unlock the door and step back with a frown on my face. “What’s going on?” He’s still in his work uniform, so obviously this is about something that happened at work… Or Laura. I hold back my chuckle and press my lips together.

He laughs sarcastically and stomps down the hall toward my office. I cross my arms over my chest as I wait for him to quit pacing the length of the room and finally look at me. Or talk. “What happened when you saw Laura last night? Don’t lie to me, Angela.” He points a finger at me as he throws his hat across the room and leans back against the wall.

I tighten my lips together and glance away from him. “Why? What’s going on?” I ask with a high voice and try to act innocent. Blinking my wide eyes at him.

“Angela… I know you’re… different. Talk to me, tell me what you did.” He hisses at me and I step back as I feel my face leech of all of my blood.

I open and close my mouth several times before clearing my throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe the crazy bitch had a psychotic break?” I shrug my shoulders, tensing when hear Scout whimper in her box. I hold up a finger at Mac to shut down his nonsense so that I can step over to her and rub her fuzzy head. “I need to feed her, can you stay calm?” I don’t look back at him, but I’m assuming from the lack of answer that he’s going to keep his mouth shut for at least five minutes. I pluck the kitten up and curl her into my neck as I pull out the formula from my mini fridge and heat it up in the bottle warmer.

I sit down in my chair and wipe her down with some baby wipes, still refusing to look up at my best friend. I start feeding her and close my eyes before I look up at Mac and sigh. “What’s really going on?”

He sends me a deadpan glare and stares up at the ceiling. Blinking… I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs as he does a hard swallow and shakes his head. “I don’t even know how to explain it, Ang. She didn’t show up at work today so Morrow sent one of his captains to drag her in. She was confused, wearing pajamas, and talking about her fiancé and how she’s not a cop… She apparently also talks to spirits and legitimately had no idea what was going on.”

I hold back my triumphant smile, averting my eyes as I look back down to Scout. “Wow, interesting.” I grunt out and he just sighs.

“I know that you were protecting me, A. Just… I feel like I’m going crazy. You can’t do… that.”

“You’re right. So why are you here yelling at me?” I raise a brow at him as his light green eyes laser into mine and I shift in my chair. He’s not leaving here until I tell himsomething.And I can’t. It’s bad enough that Adam knows that I have something… extra. But he only knows that I can heal the sick, mend broken bones, and take away pain. Could Adam have told Mac… and will he open his damn mouth to tell others?

I set Scout back into her box and spin back to Mac and frown at him. “Seriously, Mac. What do you think I could have done?”

He throws his hands in the air and groans. “I don’t fucking know! How is it I tell you her name, you disappear, and then the next day she’s fucking out her of her mind? Explain that to me!”

Fuck. Fuck… “Mac… Sit down.”

He blinks at me and immediately sits down in my office chair as I sit on the desk in front of him. I place my hands on his shoulders. “Tell me what you know.”

He licks his lips and breaths out a harsh breath. “I… It was years ago, Ang. And I never told anyone. Never brought it up and kept it to myself, I fucking swear. I didn’t even tell my parents… I heard you and your parents talking about it one night at your cabin when I was on my way over to eat dinner with you all… You were talking about a shifter you healed after they cut off one of their fingers… You were explaining the color your hands glowed and what you were feeling.”

My face crumples and I shake my head over and over. “You… You never said anything to me.”

He nods, placing his warm hands on my cheeks and I breathe him in, leaning into the touch. I keep my eyes closed as he leans his forehead against mine. “Ang… It seemed to be a secret… I’ve never heard of a shifter having healing magic. So I wanted to protect you. Like I always have, and I always will… But I need to know, for me, what you did to Laura? The chief is out of his mind and had a psychiatrist come see her in his office then they look her to the hospital.”

I turn away and imagine what my parents would say. ‘Deny it, Angela. Never tell anyone about what you can do. They will sell you out, use and abuse you. You’re too special for that kind of life. You’re different and even we don’t know what you can do.’

But this is Mac. My Mac. My best friend, my protector. I take in a deep breath and wipe my sweaty hands down my scrubs, run my fingers through my sweaty hair. I’m sweating. I never sweat.

Fuck.

“I was born with these… powers. I glowed a brilliant gold after I was born and didn’t cry. When my mother held me, she said I continued to glow in her arms and healed her body. They hid me in the Idaho pack and never told anyone. I didn’t even go to public school until high school.

“Anyway, I started training in the Boise Pack to become a pack doctor and the alpha was getting suspicious. So my dad packed us up and moved us here. The first time I entered someone’s mind was an accident. This bitch at school, a human, was just fucking evil. Always tormenting me and throwing papers, food, and trash at me when no one was looking.

“One day I had enough and when I touched her face, I imagined her getting her karma… Telling the truth about how awful she is and as the days went by… she did. When she was brought into the principal’s office for an issue another student had with her, shesang.Went around apologizing to anyone she’s ever been cruel to and told everyone everything she’s really done. The bullying, lighting people’s assignments on fire, pulling the fire alarm and pinning it on another kid…”

I still remember that girl, and I was pissed off that I had to fix her. She was the perfect little Queen B. Curly strawberry blonde hair, bright blue eyes, slim yet curvy, captain of the junior varsity cheerleading team, did and wore whatever she wanted.

She hated me because she was worried I would steal her thunder. I was quiet, antisocial, and just wanted to get school over with. I knew I never wanted to just be a pack doctor in my old boring pack, but I sure as hell knew I never really wanted to work with or be around humans. Unfortunately I have to, to be a vet.

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