Page 3 of Sear
The Director of Nursing, snow leopard shifter Raymond Chang, stuck his head into the waiting room at intervals to report on Rob’s condition and the progress of the surgery.
It was after two a.m. when Dr. Nika and Grandpa Derek finally appeared in the waiting room. Everyone snapped to attention.
“I’m happy to report that Rob is out of surgery and resting comfortably,” reported a weary-looking Dr. Nika. “But he’s going to have a longer recovery period than usual for a shifter.”
“What happened?” Dad demanded. “Who shot him?”
Dr. Nika shook her head. “He didn’t say much before we took him into surgery. He did give me permission to update you on his condition. The bullet passed through his left upper arm, breaking his humerus before entering his torso. The bullet then lodged in his ribs, fracturing two of them, but didn’t reach his internal organs, thank God.”
Mom and Dad released visible breaths at the news.
Malia blinked away tears of relief and reached for her notebook.
Rob’s injuries were nothing to sneeze at, but at least they hadn’t been fatal. Time to jot down some notes for the investigation that would shortly swing into operation.
“Took us a while to properly debride his wound of debris and dirt, and to clean up a whole lot of other cuts and abrasions,” Grandpa Derek reported. He looked just as tired as Dr. Nika. “Then we inserted a bunch of pins to hold his humerus in place until it can heal.”
“Were you able to recover the bullet?” Malia asked.
Grandpa Derek nodded and held out a tiny plastic bag containing a grayish lump. “Looks like a 338 Winchester Magnum cartridge to me,” he said, his lined features taut with emotion.
“That’s bear hunting ammunition,” Malia said angrily as she accepted the bag. “Whoever shot my brother wanted to kill him!”
“I can’t argue with that,” Grandpa Derek said. “That boy lost quite a bit of blood before he got here. He was naked as a jaybird when he arrived, and his skin is a lacerated mess.”
Nakedmeant that Rob had probably been in his bear shape when he’d been shot. That put a different spin on the situation.
“Did the people who dropped him off say anything about what happened?” Mom asked.
“They said they found him at a trailhead parking lot just off Diamond Creek Road,” said Dr. Nika.
“Can we see him now?” Dad asked.
“Not yet. But I promise I’ll let you know the moment he’s awake.”
By this point, Malia was ready to jump out of her own skin with anxiety and the need to see her twin.
Instead, she and everyone else had to sit and wait some more.
Desperate for something to do to keep herself from going crazy with stress and uncertainty, she busied herself sending out updates to the entire pack, plus Elle Swanson, who was the matriarch and head of Dad’s bear shifter clan.
In previous generations, the different shifter lineages residing in Bearpaw Ridge—bears, wolves, big cats, and others—had kept to themselves.
Nowadays, though, cross-shifter matings were growing more common, though some of the older folks still frowned on them. With these matings, shifter clans were slowly becoming more inclusive.
The Swanson clan now included a wolf shifter—Mom—and three sabertooth shifters. And Malia’s bear shifter dad had become the first non-wolf member of the Bearpaw Ridge Pack years ago, after he mated Mom.
Thanks to Dad, Malia and Rob belonged to both the Swanson clan and the Bearpaw Ridge Pack. That had been good for Rob while they were growing up, since he’d inherited Dad’s bear shifter side.
Malia liked her Swanson relatives a lot, but as a wolf shifter, she’d always felt closer to the Jacobsen side of her family.
Finally, Raymond appeared at the waiting room door.
Malia instantly put down her phone. “Is he awake?” she demanded.
Raymond nodded. “He’s asking for you guys,” he said, his compassionate dark-brown gaze resting on Mom and Dad.
Malia sprang out of her chair. So did Mom and Dad.
