Page 19 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Exhaustion and frustration had become Sabrina’s constant companions.

She wanted nothing more than to help Jason.

To take away his fear and insecurity about his future and what was happening to his animal or lack thereof.

She hadn’t been home in a couple days, splitting time between the hospital and the lab trying to come up with some solution.

She had just wrapped up with her last patient at the hospital and had to review charts before she called it a night.

The earlier blood work she’d run on Jason at the hospital had come back. She wasn’t sure what to look for exactly. The DNA results were listed as inconclusive with a note that something must have tainted the sample. Which was impossible. Sabrina had taken the blood herself.

She read the details attached. Jason had twenty-five pairs of chromosomes, which she had been expecting since shifters carried two extra pairs in addition to the twenty-three carried by humans. But one of the extra shifter chromosomes had been flagged as inconclusive, as had some blood work.

She reviewed the findings and blinked at her computer.

What did this mean? Was it a mutation, and if so, was that why Jason couldn’t shift or control his animal?

She wheeled over to her laptop that she had brought from the lab and looked at the blood panel she’d run on the new blood she’d taken from Jason after his last incident.

It concerned her that his cell counts had changed in a matter of days.

Like it was building up in his body to fight off an infection, but nothing else showed in his blood work, which made her think the reaction was in response to whatever his body was going through.

She feared that if his cell counts changed even more, he might start getting sick.

She wheeled back to her hospital computer and double-checked, then triple-checked the results.

Now what? She’d promised Jason she would help him and wouldn’t let him down.

But she was at a loss. She was a damn fine doctor, but she wasn’t a geneticist. However, she did know someone who might be able to help, and didn’t she owe it to Jason to reach out and try?

Especially Jason. Even if there were repercussions.

She blew out a breath and reached for her phone. She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer. An automated voice told her to leave a message.

Her heart pumped so hard she could feel it in her throat as she waited for the beep.

“We need to talk.”

Jason sat at the office table helping Misha look through the database for known associates of Dean Baxter. “How did this guy just disappear?”

Misha frowned. “We’ll figure it out.”

Jean Luc and Kyle had just come back from another case regarding a vampire possibly flashing his fangs in a movie theatre, but luckily the attendant thought it was a hoax and Kyle didn’t have to manipulate anyone’s memories.

The door from the front reception area opened, and everyone stopped talking when Sabrina walked in. Even though she was part of the team, she never came to the office. She spent her days at the hospital or at the warehouse. Seeing her meant something bad. Jason could feel it in bones.

“What’s wrong, Sabrina?” Kyle asked.

“I need to speak with Jason for a moment.”

Everyone looked at him, and he started to sweat. “Whatever you have to say, they can hear too.”

Sabrina nodded and sat at the table. Kyle and Jean Luc sat as well.

“I got your blood work back.”

Was he dying or something? “And?”

“And some of the results came back as inconclusive. There is something different about your shifter DNA.”

He tried to calm his breathing. “So what does that mean?”

“I don’t know if there is a mutation that could be stopping the change, or what else it could mean.”

“What are you concerned about?” Jean Luc asked.

“The new blood work I took after your last incident is different than the blood work I took at the hospital. Your blood counts are changing, which normally could be signs of an infection, but I don’t think that’s what it is. I will want to continue taking more blood work and rerun some tests. And…”

She hesitated, which was not a good sign. “And what? You can spit it out, Doc.”

“I don’t think you can hold off talking to your parents any longer. There may be something in your background that can help us figure out what this is and what’s going on with your animal.”

He’d already been putting the conversation off for too long. “I can’t do it over the phone. I have to talk to them in person.”

“Could they come here?” Misha said.

Jason rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs. “They’re dairy farmers. They work seven days a week and don’t leave the farm.”

“Then you go to them,” Sabrina said.

He stood and started to pace. “And how is that going to work? It’s a nine-hour drive to my parents’ farm. What if I hulk out again in the car? And a commercial flight would be out of the question.”

“I’ll talk to my father. I’m sure he’ll let us use his jet,” Misha said.

Jason wasn’t as confident. Misha might have forgiven him for shooting and almost killing him, but Boris, his father and head of the Shamat clan, was another matter.

“Misha, you can’t leave Callie right now. And Talia is still in Vegas, which just leaves Kyle and Jean Luc to cover things.”

“Which is why I’m going with you,” Sabrina said.

He jerked to a stop. “You can leave the hospital?”

“I have been reminded on numerous occasions that I have a fully trained staff that can take care of things. So yes, I can go with you to make sure you don’t hulk out on the plane or once we reach Wisconsin.

” Sabrina looked around the room. “I need to let you all know what happened during Jason’s most recent unsuccessful transition.

” As she described what had occurred, Jean Luc, Kyle, and Misha didn’t interrupt her.

Jason knew telling them about her powers was a big deal, and sympathized.

When she finished, Misha spoke first. “Thank you for telling us, Sabrina. I know what it’s like to have a reason to keep quiet about powers.”

Misha had hidden his telekinetic powers for centuries due to outdated clan right-of-succession rules.

She nodded. “Our clan does not discuss or show others our powers. But I wanted to let you know. I have asked Bea, Griffin, and Lela to keep it quiet for now. I know I don’t need to ask, but—”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Kyle interrupted her.

“You can tell Dalton.” She turned to Jean Luc. “And Talia.”

Jean Luc nodded. “Of course.”

The discussion migrated back to planning for the trip to see his parents.

After that, things happened way too fast, making Jason’s head spin.

Misha spoke to Boris, and Jason and Sabrina were leaving tomorrow for Wisconsin.

He wasn’t sure if having things slot into place so fast was a good or bad thing.

Might as well rip the Band-Aid off. But he needed to think about how exactly he was going to talk to his parents.

Starting with “why have you lied to me my entire life” was not the best greeting after staying away from the farm for the last two years.

It had been much easier to talk to them over the phone and stick to questions about the farm and the neighbors without letting them see his face. Both of his parents could tell when he was upset or lying. Which was ironic if he went down that slippery slope.

Stressful enough, right? Add in that Sabrina was coming with him and his nerves danced. It hadn’t been that long ago when she had shot him down. Looking back on it, he was glad she did. He was a walking disaster. What did mutated DNA and wacky blood work mean for him and his future?