Page 19 of A Wolf's Wound
Something starving.
And I have a feeling it’sstill hungry.
Chapter 10
Hannah
OnWednesday,Itellmyself I’m relieved Ryder finally discovered a hobby that isn’t visiting the vet clinic.On Thursday, I’m too busy to think about anything at all.I’ve never seen so many bite injuries in my life.But on Friday, after tending to a few more injured pets and a very cranky Paco the parrot, I’m beginning to wonder if that harried bouquet he left on Lori’s desk is the last one.
Then the weekend passes without a visit.I should be off, but Lori calls me in to assist April.Although some owners are heeding the town’s warnings to keep their pets indoors, most are understandably skeptical that there’s any mountain lion out there.
“I think I would have seen one by now.”Lori scoffs.“I don’t know what’s going on out there, but I think they don’t want us to know about it.”
And isn’t that a pleasant thought?
It’s one I wouldn’t mind bouncing off the pack beta.If anyone has answers to this, it’s Ryder, and I don’t think these bites are the work of any mountain lion.The mouth is far too small.Maybe a large fox?
Maybe a wolf…
Bells jingle as the front door opens, and I look up from my clipboard.My face must fall because April arches her perfectly drawn brows at me.
“Don’t look so happy to see me,” she says, handing me an iced coffee.“Here, I got you one too, Lori.You’ve been in the weeds as much as the rest of us.I’m sure this isn’t how you planned on spending your weekend off.”
“Hell no, I’m supposed to be on the lake.”
Lori accepts the drink gratefully and sucks her straw loudly.We’re technically closed for lunch, but I’ve already treated a house cat with a bite mark on her tail.
“I noticed our apartment is beginning to look slightly less like a botanical garden,” April muses, leaning against the front desk.“Did you finally scare that weirdo off?”
“Ryder’s just been busy with work,” Lori says.“And he isn’t weird at all.Every ex-girlfriend I’ve ever met only has nice things to say about him.”
She always defends him whenever April brings him up, which makes sense, since she’s hismother.
April isn’t swayed.“Everyex-girlfriend?How many girls are there in this town?”She snorts and shares a look with me.“So that’s why he’s sniffing around you so much.He’s after fresh meat.”
Lori isn’t there to overhear her, but I wish April would be a little more circumspect when she complains about him.
Of course, from April’s perspective, I get it.She went on a date with a handsome guy, and he turned out to have the personality of stale bread and abandoned her in a bar.Then to make matters even worse, she’d found him in our apartment.
Withme.
At best, to April’s mind, he’s an obsessive stalker.The constant gifts and visits certainly aren’t helping her overall impression of him.I shouldn’t be swayed either.This is obviously creep-level behavior, but whenever he’s here, he isn’t a creep in the slightest.He’s respectful, thoughtful, funny, unexpectedly sweet, and hot as hell.
Ugh, and where the hell did that come from?I am so totally screwed.We have more important matters to worry about than some shifty shifter with nice eyes.Maybe April’s right, and he hasn’t been around because he just found another new girl in town.I slurp iced coffee just as loudly as Lori, the condensation slick and cold against my palm.
“In your professional opinion,” Lori looks to me in particular.“What in the world is doing all this?”
My mind is still on Ryder, so she helpfully mimes a biting monster, snapping her teeth and gesturing around at the now-rare sight of an empty waiting room.
“The attacks?I don’t—”
“Oh, I’d say a wolf pack,” April interrupts.“Or at least a lone wolf.Could be coyotes, of course, but they aren’t as prevalent here.Whatever it is, I’m not buying it’s a mountain lion.The bite marks look canine to me whenever I get a clear look at them.What do you think, Hannah?”
April sounds sure of her assessment, and Lori looks as close to panicked as I’ve seen her.Of course she is.She’s a member of the Stonehaven pack, and she knows that April isn’t a member of any pack at all.If ordinary humans pick up on anything out of the ordinary…
Well.Let’s just say that the few times in history regular humans found out about werewolves and the like, things didn’t go well for the wolves.At Othercross University, one of the prereqs everyone needs to take is the History of Magical and Human Relations, and I’m not going to be forgetting any of those lessons anytime soon.
“Hard to tell.”I keep my voice even.“Honestly, I’m not convinced it isn’t someone’s dog going off on a tear.Maybe the dog is lost, or the owner is oblivious.A normal dog can do a lot of damage if they’re not supervised or well-trained.”
