by Cara Adams
Tybalt wasn’t sure what he was signing himself up for, but a quick glance at Zane had told him his friend was more than willing to go and fetch the old man. A vulture. He’d definitely never met a shape-shifting vulture before. Unless one of the ones he’d seen flying miles overhead happened to be a shape-shifter, of course. He knew there were all sorts of different shape-shifters. The men wishing to attend the DADISP had been told that while most of the women were human, or part human, some were of other species. That hadn’t worried him at all. He’d gone along with high hopes of finding a woman he and Zane would both love. Yeah, well, that plan hadn’t exactly worked.
Now, however, the opportunity to do this task for Dr. Thorne meant at least they’d have a connection to Dorothea for a while longer. He and Zane would need to talk properly about whether or not they stayed at the clinic. He liked the idea of still being linked to Dorothea. Of seeing her occasionally when she was there organizing something. He also liked the idea of a job and earning money so he and Zane could put a roof over their head.
They’d always lived on the farm. Being homeless was a terrifying feeling. All he’d ever known had been ripped from him thanks to Walter and Joseph’s stupidity. Now he was the one who was homeless and cast out from the pack, the only family he’d ever known, just because of someone else’s inability to follow the rules. The old Alpha had never listened to the word “no,” but why did it have to be him and Zane who suffered? Oh well. It was too late to have a meltdown now. It’d happened. It was time for them to move on. And fetching the old man was one way of having a roof over their head—well, in a manner of speaking—while he and Zane had a few days to plan whether or not they could cope with school and passing exams and working at the clinic.
“We have plenty of vacant rooms at the moment. We just sent four patients home yesterday which is why I thought we’d have the staff available to fetch Mr. Patterson. So let me show you to your rooms,” said Ambrielle.
“Is breakfast in the dining room still at eight?” asked Dorothea.
Tybalt’s stomach groaned at the thought of having to wait until eight for breakfast. But he supposed the kitchen staff probably didn’t start work until seven or even seven thirty. Once they had the RV they’d be able to go to a store and stock up with snacks, though, which would help if meals were delayed.
“Yes, eight o’clock. After breakfast I’ll take you all for a run in the RV. You can all have a go at driving her, and then we’d stock her up with everything she needs to get you to Arizona. It’ll be a fast enough trip on the way over, but coming back you’ll need to be slower to stop whenever the old man needs to,” said Danny.
He wished he still had his cell phone. It hadn’t been an iPhone or anything particularly modern, but at least he could’ve looked up the route to Arizona. He didn’t even know how far it was.
“Are there some maps I could look at please? I don’t know how to get to Arizona from here,” said Zane.
“Don’t you have Internet on your cell phone?” asked Ambrielle.
“Walter and Joseph smashed our cell phones,” said Zane.
“Nice. Hmm, let me think. Come this way.”
Ambrielle led them down the stairs and to the front of the building. She went into a small office just near the reception desk and opened a closet, pushing boxes around and emerging triumphantly with a laptop bag, a cell phone, and chargers for them both.
“This should still work. This is the laptop I used before I got my iPad. Anywhere in the clinic itself will connect to the Wi-Fi.” She handed it to Zane.
“Thank you. I’ll give it back to you tomorrow at breakfast.”
“You might need it on the road trip. Take it with you. There’s plenty of storage space in the RV.”
“You can keep the cell phone. It’s an old one left over from when Danny first got his iPhone. You can pick up a pre-paid card for it at any of the major stores.”
“Thank you.” Ty was excited. Wi-Fi again. There was so much he wanted to look up. Of course, Zane had asked for the laptop so he would use it first, but Tybalt would be able to have a turn as well. He longed to see the route they’d take. He wondered if he’d be able to transfer his existing credit across to the cell phone or if it’d need a new SIM card. Oh well, the person in the store would tell him.
They were shown to private patient rooms on the second floor. He had his own personal bathroom and his own television. It was just like a hotel room. Ty longed to stretch out on the bed and watch TV. He still felt all crammed up from the time he’d spent shut in the closet and then in the backseat of Dorothea’s little pink car. One day he’d ask her why ever she’d chosen that color. But right now he needed to go and collect his luggage.
He knocked on Zane’s door and Zane said immediately, “We need to get our luggage. We should bring up whatever Dorothea wants as well.”
Her room was farther down the hallway and they tapped quietly on her door, aware of patients all around them, perhaps trying to sleep. They could hear the sound of her moving around and then she opened the door.
“What luggage would you like us to bring upstairs for you?”
“If you bring me the suitcase, please, I’ll do a load of laundry tomorrow as well. If we’re going on a road trip I’ll need clean clothes.”
Tybalt followed Zane down the stairs. “A load of laundry is a good idea. Likely we should do that as well. I don’t have enough casual clothing to last another week.”
“Neither do I. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Do you think we can transfer our credit from the old cell phones across?”
“Seeing as they’re smashed, likely not. We could ask though.”
Happily making plans for the next day, Ty and Zane collected their luggage and Dorothea’s suitcase, and then returned to their rooms. Tybalt sorted out his possessions and wondered when he’d have a home for the new Alpha to send the rest of his things to him. It was good of the Alpha to offer to do that. At least he hadn’t blamed them for everything that had gone wrong.
And suddenly Ty realized he’d actually been handed a gift. By having all his ties to his home pack cut away from him, he and Zane were now free to build a totally new life for themselves. One free of all the old traditional ways. One where they would have new skills and new jobs as well as a new home and a new life. And maybe even one day a mate.
When he said the word “mate,” a picture of Dorothea burst into his mind.
She was not very tall, maybe five foot three or four, with a curvy figure, although she was full of energy and always moving, so likely it was muscle, not fat. Her light brown hair fell three or four inches below her shoulders, and she often tied it in a ponytail. Her eyes were hazel, sparkling green-brown or even amber at times, depending on whether she was inside or out in the sunshine.
He liked her a lot. She hadn’t had to listen to him and Zane yet had immediately helped them. She’d been fair and kind to them. She’d paid attention to their story and brought them here to the shape-shifter clinic. Even more, she’d agreed to come on the road trip with them. Did that mean she liked them and was willing to spend more time with them? Or was it like work for her? An event to be planned and organized? Damn, he wished he knew.
Whatever her motivation, she would be there in the RV with them, and they would have an opportunity to get to know her better. That was truly an amazing bonus.
* * * *
Zane was very nervous the next morning. It seemed to him since he’d left the pack lands to go to the DADISP one thing after another had spiraled out of control. Discovering they weren’t allowed back home had just been one more thing to add to the list. Getting to the parking lot and finding his car had disappeared had merely been another nail in the coffin of his life. It hadn’t been much of a car but he’d paid for it himself and it got him around just fine. He supposed the people who’d come to help Walter and Joseph had taken it.
He hadn’t even realized how much he relied on his car and his cell phone until he was stu
ck without either of them. So he really wanted to do well at the tasks Dr. Thorne and Mr. Davies gave him. He’d been driving tractors and farm trucks since he was eleven. He’d always been tall and was able to reach the pedals before kids a year or two older than him, which meant he’d gotten to drive to take food and water to the pack members during harvesting while other kids were stuck weeding the vegetable garden. But hopefully that meant he’d pick up how to drive the RV easily enough. He knew about stick shifts and backing long vehicles and trailers.
It was the rest of the things he might have to do that were worrying him. Would he need to dress the old man’s wound? He wasn’t afraid of infection or blood, and was certain he could follow any instructions, but didn’t nurses do tricky things opening sterile packets with long scissor-like things without actually touching anything? He didn’t have the faintest idea how to do anything like that. It looked pretty easy in the movies, but he was sure it’d take a while to learn, and who would teach him?
Maybe he could offer to go get them breakfast while the others cared for the ill man. And that was another thing. How would they pay for the gas and food for a long journey and five people? Five adults would eat a lot of food and maybe the old man needed special foods. And medications. Medicine was damn expensive. How would they pay for it all? Even the gas to get a big vehicle to Arizona and back was going to cost megabucks.
The more he thought about it, the more he worried. He was damn glad when it was time to go to breakfast. He’d repacked his suitcase leaving the things he wanted to launder on top. He’d showered and gotten dressed and he’d watched so much TV his mind was numb. But it was better than thinking around and around all the problems facing him right now, none of which had a solution he could see.
And that was without even considering Dorothea. She was so pretty. He loved a woman with curves and she had curves in the right places. He also loved the way she was constantly moving, using her hands and arms as she spoke, flicking her head this way and that. Besides, she’d been endlessly kind and considerate to him and Ty. She hadn’t had to do anything for them, yet had looked after them and brought them here where the doctor was now taking care of them. Only someone very special would have inconvenienced herself to care for two stray men, like Dorothea had. He wanted to look after her and help her. Maybe this road trip would give him the opportunity to do that.
Feeling a little more confident, he walked downstairs to the dining room. It was easy to find, as there was a lot of noisy talking and laughter coming from the room. Only when he stepped inside the room did he realize he had another problem. Did people have assigned seats? Where was he supposed to sit?
Fortunately, before he could tie himself in knots or get into trouble for blocking the doorway, Dorothea waved to him. Feeling relieved, he crossed the room and took a seat next to her. Ty arrived right then and slid into the seat beside him just as a rotund, almost bald man in chef’s whites banged a metal ladle against a pot.
Instantly there was silence. “Table three went first yesterday. Table four, this is your lucky day.”
Zane blinked as the table to the right of him erupted in shouts and cheers, and people surged toward the chef.
Dorothea leaned over and said, “Don’t worry. There’s always plenty of food. It won’t run out before they get to us.”
Zane nodded, but he hadn’t been worried about going hungry. He was just surprised that people in a clinic, people recovering from surgery, were so happy and cheerful. Some of them had canes or walking frames. One man was pushing an IV with bags of fluid which were attached to his arms, yet everyone seemed happy. It was totally the opposite of the usual idea of what happened in a hospital.
Finally he said cautiously, “Everyone appears very happy.”
Dorothea nodded. “The clinic has a marvelous atmosphere. Oscar aims to personally design each patient’s program to return them to full health and strength as smoothly as possible. Everyone here knows the staff cares about them and wants the best for them. It helps that they’re among other shape-shifters. It gives people a little extra freedom to be themselves.”
“But you aren’t a shape-shifter, are you?” asked Tybalt.
“No, but I’ve grown up around them. Some of the staff is human, but they all understand the special needs of shape-shifters.”
Breakfast was delicious and there was plenty of food. For the first time since Walter and Joseph appeared, Zane was relaxed enough to eat and enjoy a really good meal. He was just putting his plate and cutlery on the correct trays to be washed, when Danny appeared.
“Are you ready? Let’s go.”
Obediently he, Ty, and Dorothea followed Danny out of the dining room, down the hallway, and out the side door where they’d entered last night. Danny took them out back of the clinic to a huge barn.
Tybalt helped Danny open the doors wide. Inside were racks of carpentry tools and things like cans of paint along one wall. There was a storeroom in the back corner, a gleaming green Kawasaki Ninja 250R motorcycle, a white truck, and the RV.
“The Kawasaki is Ambrielle’s,” said Dorothea.
“It’s nice,” Zane murmured. He’d ridden motorcycles on the farm, but nothing as powerful and well kept as this one.
Danny took some keys off a peg on the wall and unlocked the RV, ushering them all into the cab. Slowly and patiently Danny demonstrated all the features to the three of them. “I’ll take it outside so you can all drive it.”
The barn seemed very full to Zane. He watched Danny’s hands and feet as he inched the RV this way and that, until it was clear of all the obstacles and exited the barn. Danny drove it to the parking lot and stopped. “Who wants to go first?” he asked.
* * * *
“I will.” Thea itched to get her hands on the controls, to feel the power under her feet, and to know she could control the big vehicle on an open road. She didn’t feel the same about Ambrielle’s motorbike. Ambrielle had taken her for a ride a few times, and she loved it, but she liked being tucked up inside a car or truck, protected from the dirt and dust of the road. She probably wouldn’t even buy a convertible, preferring a roof over her car.
Now she took the controls, mentally reminding herself of where everything was. Cautiously she put the stick shift in first gear and began moving. Five minutes later she was sure she could handle it if she needed to, including parking it. Power steering and multiple side mirrors made maneuvering the huge truck much easier than she’d expected.
Dorothea sat back and watched while both men had their turn. They explored the rest of the vehicle, checking out storage space and how to use the little stove and refrigerator, working out where they’d all sleep. Obviously the old man would need the main bed, but she and the granddaughter could share the bed over the cab, leaving the two bunks for the men.
“The lockers will hold enough clothes for us to take a week’s worth of items. But I do need to do a load of laundry today,” she told Danny.
“We do, too,” added Tybalt.
“We have industrial washers and driers, that’s not a problem. Let’s go inside and you can get that started and then we’ll shop.”
They made a list of foods they could easily carry with them to make snacks and Oscar gave them a list of medicines to take as well. Pain killers, bandages, dressings for the wound, antiseptic creams and lotions. Then Zane drove them to the mall and Tybalt drove back again after they’d shopped up a storm, filling the food lockers with cans of juice, bottles of water, and crates of fresh fruit as well as sandwich fixings. The little refrigerator was adequate to hold butter, milk, cheese, and some steaks and hot dogs for them to grill.
“We’ll only need to stop and buy one good meal a day. The rest of the time we can do our own thing. That’ll save time on the trip,” said Thea happily.
The men went off to plan the route they’d travel while Thea went into the recreation room at the clinic. The old man and the granddaughter might get very bored. She had no idea how old the girl would be, but
supposed she’d need to be at least sixteen. Thea collected a pile of magazines, some crossword puzzle books and Sudoku books, a couple of soft balls meant for rehabilitation that could be thrown inside, then stared at the wall.
It was a two thousand mile road trip. That meant at least three days each way, probably four. Longer if they got caught up among construction, or if the old man needed to stop frequently. She went to one of the shelves and pulled out the games and puzzles there, adding a jigsaw to the pile of things she planned to take. Likely the granddaughter would have a passel of games on her cell phone or iPad to keep herself amused, but maybe they’d enjoy a puzzle. She added a couple of board games to her pile and a game of Chinese checkers. That would have to do.
But as she folded her clean laundry and repacked her suitcase, Dorothea couldn’t help thinking of Tybalt and Zane. They were really delicious men, although very different to look at. Zane was so tall he appeared to be skinny, until she got close to his body and realized just how hard muscled it was. He’d lifted things in and out of the truck after the DADISP with no worries at all.
Tybalt’s green eyes were amazing. They glittered and sparkled when he was happy. He’d loved driving the RV. She wondered if he’d been worried he wouldn’t be able to do it. But surely growing up on a farm he’d be used to machinery? Well, she’d have a week to get to know them, and she was looking forward to that. Looking forward to it a lot. They seemed to be really nice people.
It was just a damn shame there’d be five of them in the RV, not just her and the two men after the first few days. She really wouldn’t mind getting a close look at their naked bodies, or kissing them. Hmm, kissing. I wonder if I can arrange that?
Chapter Three
Tybalt had been up at six to pack the clothing and other things he needed to take with them in the RV and then put his suitcase and duffle bags back in Dorothea’s car. While Zane packed his clothing, Ty collected plates, mugs, and cutlery from the kitchen which Ambrielle had put in a cardboard box for them, and stored them in the racks built into the RV. Danny had showed them how to fill the water tank, which they’d done the night before, as well as install a GPS, fill the gas tank, and check the batteries were fully charged.