Page 41 of Doctor Wolf's Human Nurse

Sawyer focused on the area that Sean pointed at with his paw. There was a heavy haze in the air as though some type of mist had recently been sprayed.

We need to get back to the office and get some protective gear. I want to see if we can get samples. It’s damp up here and a lot colder so it might not evaporate as fast,Sawyer said.

The two wolves ran down the mountain as fast as they could, screeching to a halt at the shifting tree. They bolted down the trail to Sean’s truck. He broke every speed limit on the way to the clinic, where Sawyer grabbed plastic gowns, masks, caps, gloves, bags, and vials.

Sean sped back to the mountain. Sawyer grabbed the oh shit handle on one particular hard turn.

Sawyer looked at Sean wryly. “If you ever get tired of bartending, you could try your hand at NASCAR.”

“Nah, that’s a sport for younger folks.”

Rolling his eyes, Sawyer said, “You talk like you’re in your seventies. You’ve barely topped thirty.”

They arrived back at the mountain in record time. This time, they packed their clothes and supplies in packs and carried everything with them when they ran back to the spot where they saw the mist.

Sean stopped suddenly when a loud moan echoed in the air. They cautiously approached the area where the sound came from. Sawyer’s heart stopped when he saw a naked man lying in the cold snow, curled up in a ball.

Sawyer and Sean quickly shifted, dressed, and pulled on the protective gear before approaching him.

“That’s Sam Gifford,” Sean said. “He’s a bear shifter.”

Sam’s teeth were chattering and his lips were turning blue.

“Take him down to your truck and get him warmed up. I’m going to take some samples and I’ll be right behind you,” Sawyer ordered.

Sean scooped up the man and tossed him over his shoulders in the traditional fireman’s carry, hurrying back down the mountain as fast as he could safely go.

Sawyer studied the pine needles and saw that some of them had a congealed substance sticking to them. He carefully pulled off the branches and put them in his bag. Spying a discoloration in the snow, Sawyer scooped up as much of it as he could and carefully placed the sample in a bag, hoping that the water from melted snow wouldn’t alter the substance too much.

He looked around the area but didn’t see a canister or other delivery system.

“That would be too easy,” he muttered to himself. “How in the world did we see the mist without someone spraying it directly at us? Is the cold affecting it somehow?”

Although he wanted to stay and investigate the area, he was worried about his new patient so he hurried down the mountain after Sean. He stopped at the shifting tree and felt around theknot hole, hoping the man’s clothes were stashed inside. They were.

Sean had just loaded Sam into the back seat of his truck and covered him with a blanket when Sawyer ran up to them.

Luckily, the engine was already warm, so it didn’t take long for the cab to heat up.

Sawyer called Beth on the way back to his clinic. “Two things. First, I think I might have collected some samples of the mist. It seems to react differently in the cold, but hopefully, it will give us some good clues. Second, I have a shifter who might need your healing touch.”

“On my way,” she promised. “I’ll meet you there.”

Beth and Taryn pulled up in their car just as Sean careened into the parking spot.

Taryn looked at Sean and just said, “Sheesh.”

Sawyer opened his eyes wide in mock terror. “Tell me about it. He’s been driving like that from the mountain to here, back to the mountain, and back again.”

“NASCAR much?” she asked.

“What’s with you guys and NASCAR? I thought that was a hillbilly, redneck, country thing.”

“Dad does the rodeo. He fits that definition,” Taryn retorted.

She touched the man in the back seat. Instantly, he stopped shivering and moaning. After a few minutes, Sam sat up and looked at her.

“How did you do that?”

---