Page 42 of A Wolf's Wound
Chapter 24
Hannah
“Andthey’renotattacks.Not exactly,” Gavin says, his voice grim.He speaks so low that I have to lean in to hear him even though we’re the last two people left in the vet clinic.Shadow leans in, too, hanging on the alpha’s every word.“They’re failed shifts.”
“All of them?”I’m much louder, and he shoots me a warning look.I lower my voice and busy my hands with double-checking the latches on the boarding kennels.A puppy in for a neutering procedure in the morning gives my hand a cheerful little lick.“That seems unlikely.”
In our pack back home, it was rare for humans to be turned into shifters.When I was a teenager, I briefly dreamed about being a wolf too.It’s not easy being left out all the time, and I was the only human I knew.But my stepfather explained how dangerous it was for a human to turn, even with a mate.
A brief explanation of how my bones would pop out of my deformed skin and my organs would explode quickly disabused me of any desire to become a shifter.
But now that I think about it, the aftermath of a failed shift and the similarities to the “animal attacks” are strikingly similar.Back in school, we’d had to identify a few slides.
“I’m sure of it,” he says.
I’ve never heard anyone sound more certain in my life.He carries himself with all the gravitas of an alpha, and even though I’m not a shifter, I find myself wanting to agree with him.
Still, it doesn’t make any sense, and I say as much.“Why would anyone do this, though?What are they getting out of it?A small snack on someone’s arm?”
“That’s why I kept thinking it must be a rogue wolf, someone who didn’t have any guidance when they shifted.Maybe a kid.But all of our young are accounted for.We’ve had them watched since the attacks began.If it’s a rogue wolf, they aren’t from here.”He sighs heavily.“And if it’s a rogue wolf, frankly there wouldn’t be much left of the victims aside from their bones.”
There’s a pleasant thought.
He rubs his hands across his face, a rare sign of vulnerability from him that makes me almost want to look away.His exhausted face makes me think about Ryder this morning, how he’d nearly fallen into bed after guarding me all night.
How good he’d looked in between my sheets.
“To know all these people have died because of a shifter in our town… It’s my responsibility.I have to find out who’s doing this before they kill someone else.”
“You will,” I say, but I don’t know how true that is.He detects the lie in my voice immediately, so I try again.“You’re working hard, and it’s all Ryder seems to be focused on lately.I’m sure whoever’s doing this is going to make a mistake sooner or later, and you’ll be able to catch him.”
That much I am sure of.Gavin and Ryder are two of the most determined men I’ve ever met.If they’ve decided to catch whoever’s doing this, it’s only a matter of time before the shifter’s stopped.
But how many people might die in the meantime?
Gavin and I exchange a weary look, and then he steps away to take a phone call.
With the kennels and the back of the clinic cleaned up for the night, I turn my attention to my least favorite place—the office.Paperwork is scattered all about, which is my fault.The front desk keeps everything in order, but I’m in charge of inventorying medicines and supplies, and with the influx of injured animals, I haven’t had much time to do so neatly.
Even from the hall, I can tell the phone call isn’t good news.Gavin’s voice is clipped and terse, and I can tell he’s talking to Ryder.
“We need to go.”
I haven’t even started clearing up the paperwork, but I know better than to argue with Gavin when he looks like this.His eyes are predatory, scanning the clinic and then the streets as I lock up for the night.
Shadow crawls up my pants leg and tucks his head beneath my chin, the coward.
Gavin guides me to his car, checking beneath, around, and inside the vehicle before he lets me inside.His chin is tilted up, sniffing the air for danger.Even when we’re safely seated in his car, he doesn’t relax.His muscles are tightly coiled, like he’s about to leap into an attack at any moment.
And he still uses his turn signal.He waits until we’ve pulled off the main road before he finally speaks.
“Ryder found another body, this time with a human bite mark.”He makes a face.“He saw the shift go wrong.”
He saw the shift go wrong.
“I guess that rules out the rabid wolf theory.”My adrenaline is kicking into overdrive.Someone is doing this on purpose.
Why?
