Page 6 of Shifter Marked and Claimed

It wasn’t just Jesse’s bar that was staying busy, I’d had a significant influx of patients since Westin Force had disbanded a large Raglan encampment and rescued thousands of shifters being held captive there. Several hundred of them had nowhere to go and were temporarily taking residence at the Lodge just outside Pack territory. There was no way of knowing just how long they would be with us.

I finished my meal and said goodbye. I needed to swing by the house to pick up my stuff before heading over to Christine’s place.

“You’re late,”Christine declared as she opened the door and then looked around behind me to make certain no one saw me come in. “You’re never late.”

I sighed. “Sorry. I had to eat dinner and was talking to Jesse, and I just got tied up.”

“You were leaving the Crate when I headed over here,” Sally said.

I glared at her. “I had to stop by the house and pick stuff up for tonight.”

“Well it sure took you long enough.”

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Sorry.”

“What’s wrong, man?” Jeremiah asked.

“Nothing,” I snapped. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Maybe because you’re on edge and you’re normally one of the most even tempered people we know?” Christine offered.

I tried to pull it together. I didn’t mean to take my foul mood out on them. I knew I just needed to get lost in the story far away from this world.

I set out the maps and pulled out my notebook containing much of my storyboard and notes. By now everyone was bringing their own polyhedral dice to play with though I pulled out a set of my own to make available just in case. One could never have enough dice.

“Now, where did we leave off?”

“Glendore was about to battle the green orc,” Tarron said.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see how this turns out,” Sally added excitedly.

“Okay then, let’s get started.” I called the game into play. My heart wasn’t entirely in it, but I knew I would soon be lost to a world of magic and fantasy.

CHAPTER 3

LUCY

“It’s justa formality to appease the state,” Vanessa explained. “Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday to get everything sorted for you.”

“It’s fine. So she just needs a physical?”

“Afraid so. The state mandates it and since we are technically considered an early childhood education center and not just a daycare, it’s just easier to follow the human rules to the T. Trust me, I get it. She’s a shifter and her odds of being sick or having any ailments at all are pretty slim, but really what does it hurt? Doc’s used to this protocol and knows exactly what to do.”

She handed me a form and smiled.

“Just take that down to the clinic along with Vada, of course, and you’ll be in and out in no time. She can come right back to school when it’s over.” She gave me some quick directions to the clinic as I tried to memorize them. It didn’t seem too hard.

I sighed. “Okay. Thanks. Come on sweetie, let’s get this over with.”

I was a little irritated that no one had mentioned this, but if I were ever going to find a job around here then I needed Vada to be in a safe place I could count on to care for her.

I toted her back to the car, buckled her in, and climbed in for the short drive to the clinic following the directions Vanessa had given me.

Of course I got to the first intersection and couldn’t remember if I was supposed to go left or right. I didn’t know what to do and I was so exasperated that I just wanted to sit there and cry.

Why couldn’t anything be easy for once?

Some older women were approaching on the sidewalk. I rolled my window down and leaned over.

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