Page 9 of The Rabbit's Foot
“Maybe it’s best if I come back later. I don’t want to—”
She tilted her head and glared at him. “Are you arguing with me? I’m the mother of a teenage girl. Don’t even think you’ll win. Now, do as you’re told and everything will be fine.” She smirked. “Seriously, the whole thing with the bunny clinched it for me. It makes me trust the kind of man you are.”
Not a man. At least notjusta man. “You don’t know me.”
“Again, saved a bunny. Am I putting a lot of faith in you? Yeah, I am, and I admit it. But animals are my life, and they have no guile. Well, cats do, because they’re assholes, but they’re honest assholes.” She stood. “Come with me.” She turned and strode off toward another room.
Mal’s head was done in by this woman. He was surprised to find himself trailing behind her. She entered the kennel room that Mal had noted earlier, with Mal hot on her heels. He wasn’t sure about this. Animals were generally afraid of werewolves, because they saw animals as fluffy snacks. When they stepped into the enclosure room, every dog sat and stared up at Mal. They didn’t bark, didn’t whine. Just… stared.
“Seems to me they trust you. Dogs don’t give trust easily.”
That was so not true. They trusted everyone. Mal lifted his eyebrows. “Really?”
She laughed. “Okay, they’re stupid friendly, but when they’re in stressful situations, they look for comfort. That’s what they’re doing now.”
Again, Mal had that whole First vibe, and the animals were reacting to it.
“Now,” Dr. Hamilton said, her voice filled with pride. “Let’s talk about you sticking around a while.”
Chapter 4
Alp woke, his throat hoarse and parched. He needed water in the worst way. He opened his eyes, and panic set in as he realized he was once again in a cage. Once again a prisoner. Where was the wolf? He’d promised to—
“You’re awake” came that voice that vibrated through Alp. A moment later, a face appeared in front of the bars, and Alp blew out a breath. “I know you’re hurting. I can smell it. They did a lot of work to save you. Seems you were a sick little bunny.”
Mal smiled and reached a finger inside the cage. Alp wanted to bite the smarmy bastard, but instead tilted his head closer. Mal stroked the digit over Alp’s ears, just the way Alp liked it.
“You were so sick, and you weren’t waking up. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I brought you here. The doctor? She worked all night to get you healthier again. You’re going to be weak, and it’s best if you sleep, but I didn’t want you to wake up in a scary place without a familiar face.”
Alp noted that the room was dark. He pushed his head against Mal’s hand, pleased when he took the hint and rubbed harder.
“The doctor let me stay, because I insisted you shouldn’t be alone. It’s about two in the morning. She was dead on her feet, so she went home.”
Mal pulled a chair from the corner of the room and set it in front of the cage. He opened the door, reached in, and gently lifted Alp from the bed and cuddled him to his leather-clad chest.
“Y’know, I’m glad you’re okay. I was… nervous. Think you can shift for me?”
Alp again reached for the energy that would allow it, but there was nothing there.
“Yeah, I didn’t figure you’d be able, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” He continued to rub Alp’s neck, and it soothed him. “You know when you shift back, you’re going to be missing a hand, right?”
Oh, Alp knew. When he was in the lab, he was constantly being forced to shift from human to rabbit and back again. They wanted to know how much damage he could heal and how quickly. Then, a few days after his eighteenth birthday, they decided that the best test of his healing ability would be if they removed a hand. Alp screamed at them and told them he couldn’t lose a limb and have it grow back, but they were certain he wasn’t being honest.
They’d locked manacles around his wrists, pinning them to the chair, and then brought out their tool kit.
“What are you doing?” Alp had cried.
“It won’t hurt,” they told him, as though he was stupid. “The area has been numbed.”
Fuck that! He struggled, but the clamp was too tight. He tried screaming, pleading with them not to do this, but it was as though they were deaf. When the saw touched his wrist, Alp lost it. He kicked one guy in the knee, dropping him to the floor. He thrashed so much, they added further restraints.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” Hyde had said.
“Fuck you!” Alp spat. Then anger turned to desperation. “I can’t lose a fucking hand! I need them.”
“We’ll see. I still believe you can regrow it.”
“I said I couldn’t,” Alp whimpered, clenching his hands tight.
