Page 24 of A Wolf’s Wound

Hannah

“And they’re not attacks. 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?

It doesn’t make sense, and that’s what’s most frightening of all. What if there isn’t a why? What if whoever’s doing this is simply unhinged? They might try to bite all the humans in town just because they can.

“Ryder wants you to stay with me until he wraps things up.”

I try not to think about what “wrapping things up” entails when it comes to dealing with a dead body in the woods or how experienced Ryder might be with these kinds of things.

I also try not to dwell on how guilty he must feel over everything, but a traitorous lump in my throat forms anyway.

If he saw the shift go wrong, that means he was with the man while he died horrifically.

I can’t even imagine what he must be feeling right now.

Both Ryder and Gavin are taking these deaths extremely personally. He must be a wreck, and he has to deal with a dead body on his own.

“I’m fine,” I say automatically, even though I know he’s about to overrule me. “Neither of you have to look out for me. I can handle myself.”

Shadow, currently splayed on my lap, makes a sound that mimics a snort.

Unlike our mystery shifter, I am almost depressingly predictable. But I have to stake out my claim to independence. If Gavin or Ryder are watching over me, it’s because I’ve made a decision on my own to let them. Not because they’re ordering me around.

“Ryder wants you safe,” Gavin counters, right on cue. “He needs to know you’re not in harm’s way, or he won’t be able to focus. The bond between—”

And definitely not because of whatever Gavin’s implying.

Gavin keeps talking, but I turn up the radio. I don’t want to hear about Gavin’s theories as to any bonds between me and Ryder.

Gavin shakes his head. “Not talking about it doesn’t make it not true.”

“I have no idea what you’re even talking about.” I turn the radio up higher. An impromptu classic rock session wasn’t how I was planning on spending this car ride, but it beats facing harsh truths. “I just love this song. And I appreciate the protection. I’m just saying it’s not necessary.”

I’m not my mother. I’m not going to lose myself in a pack that isn’t even mine. I have value as a veterinarian and a healer, and I’m not going to throw away my entire identity just because some guy’s animal instincts think we’re fated to be together forever. Even if he is really hot.

Not to mention the creeping suspicion that all of these attacks might have a nasty underlying motive. None of this rogue shifter’s motives make sense—unless he’s after the Stone pack.

And if he’s after the Stones?

The girl that the beta is interested in would make one hell of a target.