Page 4 of Primal Dragon

Henrik was careful as he set the little damp kitten on the table. The furball let out a wail.

“Oh, poor thing.” She turned her focus completely on the cat, looking over her wounds. She had fur and skin missing. “It’s lucky you found her,” she muttered as she worked on her.

“I did a piss poor job not hurting her, trying to get her off the pavement,” he growled.

Quinn couldn’t help but sneak a peek at him. He was glowering, but his eyes were full of worry.

“You did the best you could. There would be no way to do that gently without her freezing to death while you tried. And I doubt you’re driving around with stuff to deactivate super-glue. You saved her life, Henrik. That’s all that matters.”

He harumphed but didn’t comment any further.

“Will you be able to tell if she belongs to anyone?” he asked.

Quinn nodded. “I’ll see if she’s chipped. She doesn’t have a collar. It’s possible she’s a stray. She might be sick, and the mother abandoned her. I’ll get her fully worked up and make sure she’s okay. She’s young enough, if she doesn’t have a home, I bet she’ll get scooped right up.”

Henrik didn’t respond; his glower just intensified.

“I’m going to take her in the back and fix her up. You’re free to go. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

Henrik shifted uncomfortably. “May I stay until you assure me that she’s okay?”

Quinn blinked at him. “Uh, yeah, of course. If you want to leave your number with the receptionist…”

“I’d rather just wait.”

“No problem. There’s some pretty bad coffee in the waiting room if you’d like some while you wait.” Quinn lifted the shaking kitten into her arms.

“Thanks, Dr. Thompson.”

The calico wailed again as Quinn took her into the back. By the time they were done patching up the kitten, drawing blood, and finishing her exam it was nearly five in the morning. No other emergencies came in that the tech couldn’t handle on her own for the most part. Quinn was exhausted when she headed out to the waiting room.

Henrik was resting his head back on the wall, filling out the little waiting room chair so much it looked like it should be groaning under his size. The man was built like a linebacker.

She approached him trying to make a little noise so she wouldn’t startle him. His eyes opened and his head dropped forward, his eyes finding hers immediately.

“How is she?”

“She’s okay. She’ll need a few days of observation to make sure she doesn’t get an infection, but I think she’ll make a full recovery. It looks like she’s got worms, but nothing life threatening. We’ll get her fixed right up.”

Henrik nodded. “Thanks, Doc.”

“No problem. Like I said, she’s lucky you found her. She wouldn’t have lasted long otherwise.”

Henrik’s lip curled in. “I don’t get you humans. Those stupid kids did this for fun.” He stood up.

Quinn froze at his verbiage. She’d heard James something similar. Now that she wasn’t focused on the emergency, she looked him over again. It wasn’t just his hulking size and bright green eyes that made her realize he wasn’t human. The way he held himself like he was above all the human bullshit. James had that same air of superiority.

Huh. Interesting. She didn’t think he was a vampire though. But then what? Fae? A shifter? A witch? There were all sorts of creatures James had told her about. And some she was sure he had kept to himself.

“Not all us humans are deviants.”

Henrik scoffed, “Maybe not, but there are enough of you it doesn’t matter.” His eyes narrowed like he’d just picked up on what she was saying. “It’s good that there are some good ones, or I’d find the whole lot of you a waste of space.”

“You’re cranky,” she teased.

“It’s been a bad day. I guess I shouldn’t take it out on the whole human race. I just…what’s going to happen to her?” His eyes didn’t stray from Quinn.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to make some calls to our no-kill shelters and see if someone can take her. I also know a few fosters around.”

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