“You haven’t been back in seven years. It was time.”
“When, and if, the news of my shift gets out, it’s going to be hard to convince them I’m not their enemy after all the years of the Cain Myth infecting their minds. They’re finally going to have the hard evidence they’ve been waiting for to accuse me of bringing down the Pack.”
“Your presence here right after the beacon went out is not ideal.” My father walked across the room. “Any extra time we obtain will allow me to ready the Pack to better handle the news. Some of the wolves have cooled their position on you over the last few years, but finding out your new status as a full-blooded wolf is going to shake their beliefs once again.” He turned at the stairway. “I’m heading back out to talk to them now. After your breakfast, and Doc has finished his testing, we meet in the main lodge to discuss the next step.”
Tyler patted his hand on my knee as he stood. “Don’t worry, Jess. We’ll figure this out. And for the record, I don’t think you’re a freak at all.”
Um, thanks?
3
After scarfing down the most food I’d ever eaten in one sitting, I went through a battery of tests involving every spare tissue sample I could part with. “I told you, I’m fine. I don’t need these.” I was perched on the edge of the bed, wiggling a needless pair of crutches in my hands. “My leg feels great.”
Dr. Jace stood next to me, scrutinizing my every move.
“Watch.” I bent my leg and extended it. “See, it works just fine. No pain.” I’d changed into an old pair of pajama pants and an ancient Radiohead T-shirt of mine someone had scrounged from my old bedroom at the main lodge. As my pajama leg eased up, I caught a glimpse of the thick dark hair coating my once cleanly shaven leg and stifled a gag. “And, um, other than all this gross hair, I’m totally good.” No amount of money could make me look under my arms. My eyes had remained firmly closed. Apparently after a full change, your hair came back. All of it.
“You will use these for now.” Doc nodded toward the crutches. “If you prove to be better later, well then, we will reevaluate at that time.”
A head of lettuce would’ve been easier to convince, so I took the damn things and stuffed them under my arms as I stood.
The walk from the infirmary to the house I’d grown up in was a short distance across a nicely manicured lawn. No one else was out, likely on my father’s orders. This spring had been unusually rainy and the grass was a bright, startling green.
The Lodge, as it was affectionately known, had been built in the late ’30s and had served as the Northern Territories home base ever since. The worn red cedar plank floors were a welcome sight as I entered. Doc stepped in ahead of me. “Jessica, would you care for another cup of coffee or perhaps some tea?”
“Coffee would be great. Thank you.” He veered toward the kitchen and I continued into the enormous two-story living area. The fireplace, set with stones quarried directly from the lake, covered the entire eastern wall.
It was beautiful, but it wasn’t as good as what was awaiting me.
“Nick!” I dropped the crutches without a thought and jumped immediately into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Easy there, Jess.” Nick enveloped me in a big hug, and then stepped back to give me a careful perusal. “Hmm, you do look pretty good. No lingering fur or fluffy ears to speak of, but how’s the leg?”
“All healed.” To prove my point, I slid down the side of my pajama waistband to reveal the top of my hip. The only thing still visible was a slight red discoloration. “See? Pretty cool, huh?”
“That is impressive.”
I pulled him down on the couch beside me. Along with being my best friend, Nick was a werefox, not a wolf. In the world of shifters, your strength and size matched your animal, so he wasn’t a huge guy, topping out at around six feet. His father had been First Nation Canadian, his mother white. He had light copper skin and shaggy dark hair. He was a welcome sight after all the craziness.
“I’m really glad to see you,” I told him. Nick calmed me in a way no one else could, and he had since we were children. “This whole thing has been slightly insane. I’m having trouble believing it actually happened.”
“Well, I’m just happy you made it through the transition in one piece.” Nick’s eyes were an amazing dark golden color naturally and they lit for a moment with a hint of emotion, making them appear even more brilliant. “You could’ve been killed.”