Page 32 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

“Why are we heading back to Griffin’s?” Jason asked. They had gone to the office for a bit, and a couple hours later, Kyle herded Misha, Jean Luc, and him back to the van.

“I got a cryptic text from Bea. She said we might want to head over there and check out the new arrivals.”

“Okay. Did she say anything else?” Misha asked.

“Just that Sabrina was there too.”

Now Jason’s curiosity was piqued. Did it have to do with his animal?

Thirty minutes later they pulled through the gate to Griffin’s property.

Besides the huge house and multiple acres for the pack to roam, the shifter hospital was also located there.

Not as big as the Shamat clan hospital but still impressive.

Jean Luc pulled toward it. A truck was parked at the facility.

Men unloaded crates and carried them into the side entrance.

Sabrina stood next to a male Jason didn’t recognize. They both turned toward the van as the team piled out. The male looked like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ.

“What’s going on, Sabrina?” Misha asked.

“I called someone to help with Jason’s shifting issue, and he’s agreed to help.”

Jason turned to Mr. Perfect. “You’re the geneticist?”

He chuckled. “Oh no. That would be Lucas. He’s inside directing the masses on where the equipment needs to be placed. I’m Alexander.” He took in the group before taking a step toward Kyle. “Your energy is quite wonderful.”

Kyle’s eyes widened. “You’re walking sex on a stick. Are you from Sabrina’s clan?”

Alexander flashed a sultry smile. “I am.”

Kyle made a cross with her fingers. “You can turn down the wattage. I’m taken. Or Dalton’s taken…or we’re both taken. Anyway. No sexy times with me.”

Alexander’s gaze moved over the team. “What about the rest of you?”

“Xan, behave,” Sabrina admonished but with a note of affection.

“What’s the fun in that?” he said with an aw-shucks gesture.

Who was this guy to Sabrina? They could have had a centuries-long love affair for all he knew. And that turned Jason’s stomach. He pushed his irrational reaction aside as Sabrina made introductions while the last of the boxes were carried into the building.

“Isn’t this a fully stocked hospital? What’s with all the boxes?” Kyle asked.

“Lucas brought some of his special toys to run tests.” Alexander faced Jason. “On you, I guess.”

Jason tensed. Sabrina placed a hand on his shoulder. “It will be fine.”

Alexander watched their interplay before responding. “Lucas’s bark is much worse than his bite. No offense, vampire.”

Jean Luc nodded. “None taken.”

“Are we going to meet this Lucas?” Kyle asked with a look of challenge.

Sabrina must have seen it as well since she shook her head. “Not today. He needs to get his equipment set up.”

“Yes, he’s a bit of a grump if you interrupt him when he’s arranging things,” Alexander added.

This guy sounded like a piece of work. And apparently the piece of work decided to come outside and walk toward them. He was decked out in a very expensive suit with dark blond hair.

“This is your team.” A statement, not a question. And why did he say team like it was something dirty you would scrape off the bottom of your shoe?

Before Sabrina could introduce anyone, he gave Jason a once-over. “You must be the patient.”

Jason looked into his emotionless blue eyes. Eyes the color of the Mediterranean, and knew he was related to Sabrina. A brother perhaps?

“Yes.”

“Come with me. I can conduct a cursory exam.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Kyle grumbled.

Lucas turned to her. “I have a job to do. I’m not here to make friends.”

Kyle gave him an exaggerated smile. “I’m thinking that’s a good thing.”

Lucas faced Jason again without responding to her. Jean Luc and Misha corralled Kyle toward Griffin’s house before she could really let him have it. “Let’s go,” the jerk demanded.

Sabrina took a step forward. “Lucas!”

“What?” he asked as blandly as possible.

“You need to work on your bedside manner, Lucas,” Alexander said.

“Try not to piss off everyone you meet here, okay? Now. I’ll leave you to things.

I’m feeling a bit peckish. Bea mentioned she was working on some afternoon snacks.

” Alexander strolled toward the house as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Lucas watched Alexander walk away for a moment before facing Jason again. “I am Dr. Lucas Kinkaid. I will be working on your case. I need some baseline information on you. Come with me.” He paused before finishing with, “Please.”

Jason didn’t care if this guy was an ass. He’d met more than one doctor with an ego problem. The orthopedic surgeon who helped with his knee repair years ago was a prime A asshole. But he was also a great surgeon. Jason only cared about Lucas’s ability to help him and his animal communicate.

Sabrina and Jason followed Lucas into the hospital and down the hall until they reached a large room where the boxes had been placed. Attached to that space was a small exam room where Lucas gestured for them to enter. Jason sat on the exam table.

Lucus stared at him for a moment as if studying a puzzle. “You are human and shifter.”

“I am. I didn’t know I was a shifter until recently. I was adopted and raised by humans.”

“So you weren’t raised by a pack or taught about shifter powers,” he said almost to himself. “Have you exhibited any powers in the past?”

“I would have said no, but I think I unknowingly use my sense of smell to read emotions.”

He nodded. “Do you have any idea who your biological parents are?”

“According to my adoptive mother, my biological mother was a shifter and my father was human. My mother is dead, and I don’t know about my father.”

“Do we know if your mother could shift?”

Jason nodded. “Yes. My mom saw her shift into a mountain lion as a teen.”

“And when did your partial shifts start?”

“In the past month.”

Lucas looked to Sabrina. “Do you have a theory of what precipitated this?”

“He almost died. He was shot in the stomach and had emergency surgery. Afterward he healed much faster than a human would.”

“Let me see your stomach.”

More of a demand than a request, but Jason would let it slide. He held up his shirt, and Lucas grabbed a pair of gloves and put them on before examining his side. “Maybe you almost dying triggered something in your body.”

“Except this is the third time I’ve almost died in the last few years.” Yeah, he really needed to think about a new occupation.

Lucas held his hands over Jason’s head, reading his energy. “What was different this time?”

“We think it might be linked to the blood transfusion he received,” Sabrina said.

Lucas’s eyes lit up. “You gave him shifter blood.”

“Yes. We didn’t have enough of his blood type, so we called some shifter donors.”

“Powerful shifters, I assume?”

“Griffin and his sister, Bea.”

Lucas let out a rough laugh that made Jason think he didn’t do it often. “Sabrina, you didn’t just give him shifter blood, you gave him the most powerful shifter’s blood, along with his sister’s for an added boost.”

Sabrina frowned. “I did. If I had known this would happen—”

Jason rested his hand on Sabrina’s arm before she could continue. “This is not your fault. You saved my life.”

Lucas’s humor slipped away just as quickly as it had appeared. “Except she should have thought through the ramifications before giving you the blood,” he said in a condescending tone.

Jason tensed. “Hey! You can be an asshat to me all you want, but don’t talk to her that way.”

“She’s my sister.”

“All the more reason you shouldn’t be talking to her like that.”

Lucas ignored Jason and addressed Sabrina. “I need blood samples from Griffin and Bea. Are there any extended family of his biological mother that we could get a blood sample and some medical history from?”

“We’re working on trying to find his extended family.”

Lucas nodded. “Good. Let me know what you find out. I’m going to set up the equipment I brought and get to work.” He turned and left the room.

Jason didn’t know what to say. He reached for her, and she took a step back, making his stomach cramp. He was not letting her back away. Not now. “Let’s get out of here.”

Sabrina walked with Jason down the hall, through the door, and across the yard. When she started toward Griffin’s house, Jason put up a staying hand.

“We need to talk.”

Her emotions seesawed between joy and sorrow, hope and despair. She was overloaded and wanted to retreat, but she wouldn’t walk away from Jason. He had to be overwhelmed at this point, and she couldn’t blame him.

She followed him to a small garden that she hadn’t realized existed along the back of the hospital.

Buds were just starting to form on the bushes and also peek up through the grass.

It was a warmer day today, and the winter doldrums were hopefully on the way out.

And why she had latched on to the early spring weather instead of what Jason wanted to talk about was its own question in avoidance.

He turned to face her. “So that was your brother.”

The intonation in his voice, a cross between indignation and incredulousness, struck her as funny.

A chuckle grew into a laugh, which changed to a guffaw that she couldn’t stop.

Tears trickled down her face from her laughing—or at least that’s what she told herself.

She wiped her eyes. “Sorry. It’s just been a day full of surprises. ”

He raised his hands slowly as if gauging if she would protest before finally resting them on her shoulders. “If Lucas is going to be a problem, we can pack up his boxes and send him on his way.”

“I think he can help you.”

“Well, I won’t let you become a punching bag in the meantime.”

“I can stick up for myself. If he wants to be passive-aggressive right now, then so be it. He has spent every waking hour over the last century learning about genetics, and I want his expertise on your case.”

“Why the obsession?” Jason asked.