Page 22 of A Wolf’s Wound

Hannah

“Hannah!” Melinda calls. “We need you up here!”

“Excuse me,” I say to the owner of the cat I’m examining. “I’ll be right back.” I rush to the front and get there in time to see two women bracing a wild deer.

“We found her in our backyard,” one of the women says, tears in her eyes. “She just staggered in, bleeding.”

“We hope we’re not too late,” the other says, her voice high and panicked.

“You did the right thing,” I reassure them, kneeling down to examine the animal. “Melinda, help me bring him to Exam Room 3.”

In our largest exam room, we carefully lay the deer down on the table. “What can I do?” Melinda asks, her eyes wide.

“Tell the owner of the cat in Exam Room 1 that they’re good to go,” I tell her, making sure to keep my voice calm.

“It was just an annual exam, and I was almost done. Let the women who brought this guy in know that I’m going to be a while.

If they don’t want to wait, they can leave their contact info and I’ll call them later with an update. ”

“Okay,” she says. “No problem, Dr. Kelly.”

Once Melinda has gone, I put my hand on the deer’s neck. I can feel its heart racing. “I’m sorry, poor guy,” I murmur, picking up some iodine and turning to the large gash on its side. “This is going to hurt.”

But the deer hardly flinches as I clean its wounds. At first I thought the deer had snagged its side on a branch or maybe a fence, but now I can clearly see these are all teeth and claw marks. This animal was attacked.

When I’m done cleaning, I begin stitching up the cuts.

As I do, I think about the other animals that were brought in from the forest. We’d been afraid that they were attacked, but their wounds could have been from other causes.

Some looked like they’d come from territorial pissing matches, and others might have been caused by cars hitting the animals.

But there’s no question this deer was maimed by a creature. And faced with such conclusive evidence, I have to admit that maybe the other animals were too.

Melinda comes back as I’m finishing up the stitches. “Whoa,” she breathes softly. “Poor guy. Is he going to make it?”

“I hope so,” I say, snipping off the end of the surgical thread. “I’m going to bandage and sedate him, and start him on antibiotics. Then we just have to wait and see.”

Melinda stares at the jagged marks. “Those look like wolf claws,” she says. “Did a wolf attack him?”

I look at the marks too. Now that she’s said it, I can clearly see that this was the work of a wolf. Not just claws, but teeth too. “I think so,” I tell her.

I want to call Ryder and tell him what’s happened, but I need to finish up here first. I work as quickly as I dare, seized by a fierce urgency to let him know what happened. If a wolf is prowling and attacking in Stonehaven, the pack will need to stop him as soon as possible.

But when I finally finish and call Ryder, his phone is turned off. I leave a message. He’s probably still asleep. And while I’m glad he’s getting rest, I’m frustrated that I can’t talk to him.

An hour later, there’s still no word from Ryder, and his phone is still off. So I call Gavin.

“What’s wrong?” he asks as soon as he answers.

“Gavin, it’s Hannah Kelly. A deer was brought into the clinic earlier. It was attacked by a wolf.”

After a beat of silence, Gavin responds. “Do you know where?”

“I’m pretty sure it was in the woods. Two women brought it in.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll get an extra team of enforcers over to the woods. And I’ll be by the clinic after you close this evening. Wait for me.”

Before I can say anything, he hangs up.

The hours seem to drag by. I try Ryder a few more times but don’t get an answer. I check on the deer, but there’s no change in his condition. At least he’s no worse , I tell myself, but that’s cold comfort.

Finally Melinda goes home. She’s only been gone a few minutes when Gavin comes in. “Let me see the animal,” he says.

“Hello to you too,” I reply sarcastically.

He stops and looks at me. I raise my eyebrows and he shrugs.

“I’m not trying to be rude,” he says.

“Yet you are.”

“I’m sorry. Hello, Dr. Kelly. I hope you’re having a lovely day,” he says with exaggerated politeness. “If it wouldn’t trouble you too much, could I please see the patient you called me about?”

“Certainly,” I reply.

He smirks, but once he sees the deer, his face becomes serious.

“You’re sure he was attacked by a wolf?”

“Yes. The marks are consistent with damage done by wolf claws and teeth.”

“What’s the prognosis?”

“He’s resting, which is good, but I’ll know more over the next twenty-four hours.”

“Okay. Keep me posted.”

“Of course. And one other thing. Those other animals, the ones that were also injured in the forest. They were also injured by wolves. Right?”

Gavin looks surprised. “Where did you hear that?”

“Nowhere. I didn’t need to. I saw the animals.

Remember? I know we thought there might be other causes, but after seeing the injuries on this deer, I’m convinced there weren’t.

Also,” I add, “Ryder’s out there looking for whoever’s behind these attacks.

He thinks there’s a connection to the two times I was targeted. ”

“He told me about what happened last night,” Gavin says. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too. I was lucky Ryder was there,” I say, feeling the truth of the words.

“We think that—well, we thought that humans were committing these crimes while they were shifting,” Gavin tells me. “But looking at this deer, I’m not so sure anymore.”

“You think this was done by a wolf too,” I say,

He nods. “Perhaps. A rogue wolf, though,” Gavin adds. “Not one of the Stone pack. None of us would harm innocent creatures.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“I would swear to that on my son’s life,” he says.

“I didn’t know you had a son.”

“I do. Cody is thirteen.” Gavin turns his attention back to the deer. “If this isn’t a rogue wolf, this could be the result of a shift gone wrong.”

“Could that explain the other attacks too?”

“It could. It’s not super-common, but it could happen.” Gavin sighs. “Every time we get a new piece of information, new evidence of an injury or damage, that just raises more questions. It’s damn frustrating.”

“I’m sure.” I think back to our conversation earlier. “Did your enforcers find anything in the forest that could provide answers?”

“Not yet,” he says. “I don’t hold out much hope that they will either. We’ve been over every inch of that space countless times over the last few days. Whatever’s doing this is covering its tracks very well.”

I nod, not sure what else to say. Gavin gets a strange look on his face just then. He looks around, loudly sniffing the air. Before I can ask what he smells, he lowers his head toward the deer, closes his eyes, and inhales deeply.

“The blood on the deer,” Gavin says, his eyes still closed.

“What about it?”

Gavin straightens up and opens his eyes. The look on his face sends an icy splinter of fear down my spine. “Some of it smells human.”

“Which means…” I think I know what it means, but I don’t want to say it out loud.

“Which means a human might have done this.”