by Cara Adams
“And you don’t want to go back to your pack and have to be with Walter and Joseph. I agree that it might be somewhat uncomfortable for you.”
“We aren’t allowed back. Our new Alpha warned us not to come back. He said he’d have our things boxed up for us and to tell him where to send them,” said Tybalt.
“So you are both being blamed for the entire shenanigans?”
“The old Alpha said we should have agreed to stay in the cabin and say nothing to anyone and there would have been no problem. He said it was all our fault for not assisting his sons to achieve their mate and all the trouble was of our causing. I suppose he’s right. I guess we were just being selfish, wanting to find a wife ourselves instead of putting the other men first,” said Zane.
Dammit, I wanted to find my mate! I passed the tests on my own merits. Why shouldn’t I have a mate? Except, that now I have to find a new home and I still don’t have a mate. Fuck.
“I can see now that maybe we acted selfishly and childishly, not freely giving the others our passes, but at the time it was very hard to do. To give up everything we’d worked so hard for and break the rules of the party for men who’d had their chance to pass the registration exam and had failed it,” said Tybalt.
“I don’t think you were selfish at all. The rules were there for a reason. The women who came had to know that every man there was a genuine person who would treat them well. Now, maybe Walter and Joseph would make perfect husbands. Certainly they never did anything I didn’t give them permission to do. But the tests were deliberately made very difficult to pass to protect the women and that’s important. You did the right thing and don’t let that asshole Alpha make you believe any different,” said Dorothea.
Wow. He hadn’t expected her to support them so fiercely. He’d begun to think maybe he was the selfish asshole here. Of course, they were both still homeless and unemployed, sitting in the cab of a rented truck depending on the kind words and actions of a human woman.
* * * *
Tybalt found himself looking at Dorothea out of the corners of his eyes. She was concentrating on driving the truck, which was only to be expected. But his body was only the merest inch from hers and he couldn’t help but notice her deliciously rounded hips and breasts as she expertly maneuvered the large vehicle through the traffic. She was wearing athletic shoes, navy blue skinny jeans, and a form-fitting collared black T-shirt.
Women often seemed to wear black. He noticed that every time he had to go into the city on pack business. The men would be wearing beige pants, or khakis, or navy, black, or brown business pants, but so many of the women would be in black pants or a black skirt it was almost like uniform.
The very first night of the convention Dorothea had appeared on the stage at the opening of the event in a long white dress with lots of ribbons tied under her bust. He’d thought she looked really nice. Of course, that had turned out to be a costume for the Regency-era display dance she’d done with a passel of other people, but he still had preferred her in white. Not that he didn’t appreciate the way today’s dark clothing hugged her curves. He liked that, too.
When he wasn’t trying not to stare at her, his mind was like a hamster in a cage going around and around a wheel and getting nowhere. He and Zane were homeless, and unemployed. They both had some savings, but having to provide for themselves would soon eat into it. They needed jobs and affordable accommodation. They also really needed to go to an Internet café. Would it be cheaper to take the bus to Nebraska? Maybe they could get cheap flights? On the bus they’d need to be constantly buying food and such. At least on the airplane it’d only be a couple of hours and they’d be there.
But really, there, where? Until they knew where there was a pack that might accept them, it would be silly to rush anywhere. Maybe one of them should stop long enough to buy a cell phone. That was something else it was almost impossible to live without these days. They’d never be able to apply for a job without leaving their contact details. Damn. This was so complicated and everything depended on everything else. He really didn’t know where to start. Which one item it would be best to take care of first. It was a damn shame that life didn’t come with a neatly printed out list of instructions.
Dorothea turned the truck into a neighborhood of businesses and backed it up to a loading bay. She handed him the truck keys, pulled some papers from her purse which had been sitting on the floor at his feet, and said, “I have to return the paperwork. When they open the metal roller door, I’ll get you both to help me unload if you don’t mind.”
“Of course we’ll help.”
Zane opened the passenger door and climbed out, and he followed him. They went to the back of the truck and opened the back door then waited by the tailgate. The truck was crammed with all sorts of stuff and he had no idea what belonged here, or even what this place was. All he knew was that Dorothea had said they had to drop things off at several places today.
As he ought to have expected from seeing how very efficient Dorothea was, the items to be unloaded first had been loaded last, so they only had to move their own suitcases to get to what was needed. They then drove to several more places, unloading things each time, until Tybalt felt he was developing a good rhythm. “Maybe we should try to get a job as a furniture movers or house movers or something like that?” he said to Zane, only half joking.
“Likely we’d need to get truck license first though.”
“Damn. I didn’t think of that.”
It was almost dark by the time Dorothea reached the truck hiring company and this time she handed her own car keys to Ty. “While I return the truck, can you load our luggage into my car please? It’s the pink one. It might be a bit of a tight fit but we don’t have far to go now.”
There was only one pink car in the parking lot. Staring in stunned disbelief, Tybalt was almost certain there was only one pink car like this in Ohio, in the US, maybe in the entire world. It wasn’t just pink. It was screaming pink, shocking pink, pinker than his brain could find words to describe. It was also tiny.
“Tight fit is going to be an understatement, I think,” said Zane, staring at the mountain of luggage still in the truck.
“That’s good. If the luggage hides the windows no one will see us in that car. I don’t think I want anyone I know seeing me in a car quite that pink.”
“Don’t be a baby. Up until the Second World War pink was considered a suitable color for a boy.”
“If they’d painted tanks that color in the war, the enemy would have run away screaming in fear. We wouldn’t have had to fire a single bullet,” said Tybalt, sincerely believing every word he spoke.
It took quite a while to fit everything in Dorothea’s car. First they put all her things in the trunk, but they found their own suitcases wouldn’t fit in half the backseat, so there was no seat for a third person. So then they put the three suitcases in the trunk, but it wouldn’t close. Finally they got everything in the car with two suitcases and a pile of smaller things in the trunk, the carry-on bags and duffle bags in the front passenger side of the car, and both of them in the backseat with the third suitcase standing up on their knees.
“Well done. I brought more stuff than I’d remembered,” she said, pushing her purse onto the dashboard.
They drove in silence for maybe ten minutes, the suitcase wheel digging into his knee in the most annoying manner possible.
“We’ll be at Thorne House, the shape-shifter clinic, in a few minutes. Dr. Oscar Thorne is in charge and he and his best friend, carpenter Danny Davies, are mated to Ambrielle Watson, who’s human. They have an apartment on the top floor of the clinic, which is an old house. Also on the top floor is a recreation room with a small half bathroom and mini kitchen where people stay sometimes. They might let you stay there tonight if no one else is using it and it’s not needed early tomorrow morning.”
“You said Dr. Thorne might know about the Nebraska packs?” asked Tybalt.
“Because he treats shape
-shifters from all over the place, he knows a lot of the Alphas and packs. I don’t know if he has connections in Nebraska or not, but it’s certainly worth asking him. He also can contact the Supreme for you and the Supreme will know where you can go.”
“What about you though, Dorothea?” Are we taking you a long way out of your way home?” asked Zane.
“I often stay there in one of the clinic rooms overnight when I’m organizing events for the rehabilitation patients. I live in town which is only an hour away, but when the clinic isn’t busy they never mind me staying. Shape-shifters heal faster than humans, but they also tend to be pigheaded trying to achieve too much too soon. I enjoy planning events for them that will help them heal but not risk them overdoing things.”
Tybalt hadn’t even thought about what her regular job might look like. Planning events sounded like a huge challenge to him. He couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to organize something like the DADISP week in, week out. He’d be exhausted just thinking about it. But he supposed that’s what people like wedding planners did. He guessed if Dorothea loved the challenge and it suited her, she must be a very special person indeed.
They pulled up at a sturdy metal gate set in a long high stone wall they’d been passing for a while. Dorothea jumped out and pressed an intercom set in one of the pillars. “It’s Thea, with two homeless werewolves.”
“Do they need Oscar and his little black bag?”
Dorothea giggled. “No, not this time, Ambrielle. The nurse at the DADISP mended them. But we could all use some food. It seems like a hell of a long time since we ate lunch.”
“Okay. Come on in.”
The gate began to open and Dorothea climbed back into the car. Tybalt twisted his neck right around, noticing the gate closed right on the trunk of the car, leaving not so much as an inch for someone to follow them in. Now that was interesting. Were they expecting trouble here as well?
Chapter Two
Thea drove up the long driveway to the clinic, then around to the side where she parked in the staff parking lot. She jumped out of the car and said, “This way,” but had to wait a few minutes as they had to remove the suitcase they were nursing, before getting out, and then had to angle it back into the car and leave it on the backseat.
She hid her grin, but was impressed by the lack of complaints. “It’ll be safe here. There are closed circuit cameras watching the walls as well as the gate.”
“They do take the security seriously here,” said Zane.
She grinned at the tall, handsome blond. “There was a break-in a year or so ago. Some trouble with Oscar’s cousin George. But that’s all been sorted out long ago.”
Tybalt and Zane had just been victimized themselves. They didn’t need to know George had tried to blow up the clinic. He’d almost been successful, too, but Tegan, who’d also been one of the security guards at the DADISP, had grabbed the bomb and thrown it into the middle of the lawn where it had blown a nice big crater, but it’d only hurt a few bushes, not any people.
She punched her personal code into the keypad at the staff door, and led the two men into the clinic. Thea walked softly. The patients would have eaten already and likely were watching television now. But the ones still recovering from surgery might be sleeping so there was no need to stomp her feet and wake them up.
When Thea reached the staircase, Ambrielle was leaning over the side of it from the top floor. She waved at Thea so she took that as an invitation to come on up. Oscar, Danny, and Ambrielle had a large apartment on the third floor, and the door was open to invite Thea and the wolves in.
Thea followed Ambrielle into a spacious living area and waved to the table. Before she could speak, the microwave oven dinged. Ambrielle laughed. “Perfect timing. They’re just patient meals, but it’ll be better than starving.” Dorothea sat on one of the chairs and indicated to Tybalt and Zane to join her. They seemed a bit hesitant but she knew they had to be hungry. She was starving. Oscar and Danny joined them, Danny bringing a tray of coffee cups, sugar, cream, and cutlery. Oscar had a notepad and pen.
The meal was some kind of fish with vegetables. Dorothea had no idea what it was, but it tasted great. The food at the clinic was always delicious, likely to tempt the taste buds of recovering shape-shifters. It certainly tempted her taste buds. She didn’t stop until her plate was scraped clean.
When the three of them were sipping their coffee, Oscar said, “Now, tell me what’s going on. You didn’t give me any details at all.”
“Zane, Tybalt, it’s your story, you tell it.”
The two men gave a brief rundown of what had happened at the DADISP, with Tybalt finishing by saying, “One of the men told us there’s very little unemployment in Nebraska. We thought we’d go there if we could have a recommendation to a pack. Or even a few addresses to go visit, please, sir.”
“What kind of work are you men trained in?” asked Danny.
Tybalt looked down at the table and Thea remembered that’s what he’d done when they first spoke to her today. That was his way of dealing with embarrassment. But why would asking him his job upset him?
Zane answered softly. “We aren’t trained for anything, sir. The old Alpha saw no reason for anyone to stay at school to graduate or to go to college. Mostly we left school when we turned sixteen to work on the farm. We can both weed, plow, drive tractors and other machinery, mend things, do basic carpentry.”
“We thought today maybe we could get a job as furniture movers. I reckon we could get a license to drive a truck easily enough,” added Tybalt.
“It seems I’m about to lose both my rehabilitation aides. They went to the DADISP and found their mate, which is wonderful for them but leaves me short two men. If you want to, you could replace them. You would have to go to community college and complete the course, but you’d be working here while you study. I don’t expect you to answer me right away, and I understand you might still want to go to Nebraska.”
Now it was Dorothea’s turn to look down at the table. Wow. That had come out of nowhere. She hadn’t thought of Oscar offering them employment even though she knew Ivory Tainton was going to mate Hadrian McNaught and Gregory Boland.
“Now, I know it is totally in the wrong direction, but when Hadrian and Greg had returned I planned to send them to Arizona to pick up a patient for me. He’s a very old man and refused to get on an airplane. His granddaughter will be coming with him to look after him, but apparently he’s a contrary old buzzard and she wanted some men along who could physically lift him if they needed to. Would you be interested in making the road trip for me? It’ll give you time to think through the issues and to recover from the trauma of the mating party.”
Dorothea tried to watch both Tybalt and Zane without appearing to. She wondered what they’d decide. She also realized she was going to miss their company, which was crazy because she didn’t know them at all. They’d been together for one afternoon and evening which was hardly a relationship, yet she’d enjoyed their companionship.
She found herself almost holding her breath, wanting them to say they’d stay at the clinic and work there. Which was crazy, because even if they did, she’d still only see them from time to time when she was arranging events. She had a business to run and the clinic was only one of her clients.
The two men looked at each other and nodded. It was like a pain lanced right through her as she understood she’d never see them again. And how crazy was that. If they hadn’t been waiting by the rented truck she wouldn’t have seen then anyway and it wouldn’t have crossed her mind. But now she’d decided she liked them and they were going far away.
“You understand, sir, that we don’t have a car to drive?” asked Tybalt hesitantly.
“We have a patient transport vehicle. You’ll be traveling in that,” said Danny.
Ambrielle giggled. “Just wait until you see the patient transport vehicle. It’s sort of an RV. Danny renovated it himself after we had to transport a shark shape-shifter here from California
. At least this patient is only coming from Arizona and he doesn’t have to swim each night.”
“Huh? Swim each night?” asked Thea totally confused.
“The shark, Wynter, has to swim every day or her skin dries out. They had to stop at people’s swimming pools all the way here so she could swim.”
“Oh, okay. But you called this man an old buzzard. Is he? I mean, what kind of shape-shifter is he? Harry Harrison’s a bear. Your aunt is a panther. You just said Wynter is a shark…” Thea trailed off. She’d never heard of a buzzard shape-shifter but nothing much would surprise her.
Oscar answered. “Glen Patterson is eighty-five years old and he’s an American Black Vulture. Also an ornery person. The reason his granddaughter will be coming with him is because he’s developed a very deep bedsore. The infection is almost to the bone, and every time his fever spikes, he wants to shape-shift. He ignores the medical staff in his hometown, and he often refuses his medication. In the RV it won’t matter if his fever worsens suddenly and he transforms. If it happened on an airplane or a bus things might get tricky. And once he’s here we’ll be able to treat him properly.”
Tricky. Sure. That was one word for it. Suddenly Thea wasn’t envying the men their new job. “Has the patient transport vehicle got central locking?” she asked.
Beside her Zane laughed, and then turned it into a cough.
“Yes, it has,” said Danny.
“Dorothea, will you go to collect him as well as Tybalt and Zane? Grace might feel worried with just the three men. If you’re there as well, you can be a support for her,” said Oscar.
Another few days with the men before they left to go to Nebraska sounded good to Thea. And maybe they’d decide to stay and work at the clinic. Suddenly happy and hopeful, she ignored all the upcoming items on her calendar and said, “Yes. I’d like to come, too.”
* * * *