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“I’ve got what I needed,” the human female replied.

“Are you hurt? I don’t remember seeing you before when I was doing the routine exams of the other humans. I’m Brennan Shortclaw, by the way. I’m the new PA. I work with Doctor Lyon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah. I was just grabbing a band aid. I’ve got what I needed, so I’ll be leaving.”

“Why don’t you let me take a look at your wound? If it will make you more comfortable, I can ask Tracy to come in. She’s Ty’s?—”

“I know who Tracy is. I don’t need her or you,” the female interrupted in an impatient tone.

Bishop caught Brennan Shortclaw’s startled expression. It was apparent that the female’s animosity had taken the new PA by surprise. He waited with bated breath to see what happened next when Brennan’s easygoing expression changed to one of clinical determination.

“It’s regulation that all humans be evaluated for any medical issues and be given vaccines to prevent the spread of any communicable diseases before being moved to new the compound. I’ll need to make sure that you have all your shots.”

The female scoffed. “Lucky for you, I’m not going to any compound. You can keep your medical evaluation and vaccines for someone else.”

Brennan stepped in front of the female when she tried to move past him. Bishop didn’t have a clear view of what happened next, but the low moan of pain and the heavy thud of knees hitting the wood made him wince.

He fought against a sneeze when fine dust rained down. Another thud, this one a little more controlled, blocked his view. He realized he was staring at the thick, coarse hair of the new PA.

“Son-of-a—Damn, but that hurts. No one told me that humans were dangerous,” Brennan moaned.

Bishop backed out from under the building in time to see the human female running across the complex. A thoughtful expression darkened his eyes as he studied her gazelle-like flight. He would be running like hell too if he had just put a damn lion-shifter on the floor.

The sound of muttered curses and heavy feet on the wooden platform warned him that Brennan had pulled himself off the floor. He darted behind a crate when the door of the tent slammed back against the canvas. Brennan was holding onto the frame with one hand and his balls with the other. Amusement swept through Bishop when Brennan drew in a long, painful breath before he shuddered and released it.

“Damn humans,” Brennan muttered before he looked in Tracy’s direction with a determined glare.

A sardonic amusement swept through him when the PA staggered down the steps. The fox slipped behind the buildings, retracing his earlier path. He would let Wyland know about the upcoming move, but not about the woman. No, this one had captured his curiosity. He still needed to find out where the location of the new compound was, but he could do that when he took the woman. She would know.

He silently wove his way back to the delivery truck. Carter was sitting on a stack of crates, drinking a soda instead of unloading the boxes. He shifted back into his two-legged form, retrieved his clothes, and dressed before joining the warthog again.

Carter belched and wiped his dirty hand across his mouth before he spoke. “Find out anything?”

“No. I see you did what you were supposed to do,” he replied in a sarcastic voice, noticing the box truck was still half-full.

Carter shrugged. “It’s hot. Nobody cares what I’m doing.”

Bishop shook his head. “I do. I want to get back to town.”

Carter muttered a smothered expletive and rose. A half-hour later, they were stopped at the gate where security agents for the complex scanned their truck before allowing them to leave. A movement in the side mirror caught his attention. The human female from earlier was glancing furtively around before she disappeared into the kitchen storage unit they had just left. He studied her with a thoughtful expression before she disappeared from sight as they pulled away.

“So, whatcha gonna tell the boss?” Carter asked as they drove down the long, winding dirt road.

“That next time I would like to pick my partner,” he retorted.

Carter, completely unaware of the underlying insult, responded with a simple, “That’s good.”

Jayden’s heart thundered in her chest. She had reacted on instinct when the Shifter PA had reached for her. Her fear came two-fold. She had been afraid he would find out that she had taken a lot more than just band aids from the cabinet. Her second fear came at the idea of him injecting her with stuff she didn’t understand.

Yes, her parents and the others had received these so-called vaccines. They were supposed to help keep them from catching some disease from the shifters… or giving some to them. She had overheard a few of the shifter guards saying something about tracking devices just in case a human was kidnapped or took off.

The humorous laughter between the men had fueled the flames of her distrust and anger. When the big guy with the brownish-black hair had reached for her, she had kicked him between the legs as hard as she could.

The shock in his eyes told her that he had not been expecting her to react the way she did. His lips had parted on a low hiss before his eyes had watered and he fell to his knees hard enough to shake the structure. She barely had time to jump out of the way before he fell over onto his side and curled into a ball.

She hadn’t stuck around to find out how long it would take him to recover. Clutching her bag, she had grabbed her lance that she had left by the door and bolted as if the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.

The little breath she had whooshed out of her when she rounded the corner of the kitchen area and ran smack into a hard chest. She would have fallen if not for the muscular arms that caught her around the waist and steadied her. She dropped her bag and lance and splayed her hands across a broad chest.