He rushed to Steph’s side. “What’s wrong?”
She could only nod her head towards Dr. Kinney. Rex turned, horrified. “What did you do?”
“Unfortunately, this young woman was mistaken for a shifter tonight. She will pay with her life. Your life and the life of that young shifter in the bed will be sacrificed for the good of the community. There’s no alternative. Even if you’re too weak to see the truth.”
“You followed me here to kill my patient?”
“You make it sound so evil. But, yes. I’m culling your clan, and I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way. I’m guessing that means you, yes?”
Rex grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. “Not on my watch, Kinney.”
The doctor grabbed Rex by the collar. He pushed up until his feet were back on the floor. He was old, but he was strong.
“Bear shifter remember? And I shift regularly. Unlike you. Weakens a shifter not to shift. Did you know that? Your mind may be strong, doctor, but your body is weak. You’ll never win. Not against a bear.”
They both released each other and backed away, facing off.
“You’ll want to be saving the life of the young lady. One ounce of potassium permanganate and tannic acid in gastric lavage should do the trick. I have some in my pocket but I’m not in the mood to share. While you run to get your own, I’ll take care of your patient for you. So, go on, don’t dawdle.” Kinney patted his lab coat pocket and then waved his hand at Rex, encouraging him to leave.
Steph slid to the floor. Rex ran over and lifted her up in his arms. “Save your patient,” she said. “Save Lawton. I’m a nurse. I was trained to handle this.”
“Just hang on. I’ll get the antidote from Kinney.”
Rex settled Steph gently on the floor, leaning her body up against the bed frame. She reached for her purse.
If she could only find her phone and dial the police...Someone would come to help...
14
Rex had sworn to never shift.
But that was then.
He roared to life, raising to full height and ripping off his lab coat as his body erupted in fur and teeth and brute strength. It took less than a second, even though it had been years since he had done it. He’d never forgotten. How could he?
He was a monstrous grizzly bear, and Kinney was tiny in his hands.
Kinney might have been strong but his reflexes weren’t as quick. By the time Kinney had shifted into a bear too, Rex had flung him across the hospital room, where he slammed into the wall by the window.
Rex grabbed Kinney’s lab coat from the floor and ripped a packet of vials from the pocket.
The antidote.
He dropped the packet to the floor and pushed it to Steph with his foot. He grunted at her.
As Steph looked up at him in horror, Rex felt the crush of disappointment.
He had shifted even though he’d sworn not to, had placed himself above both ordinary bear shifters and ordinary men too. But there was nothing special about him. He’d given in to the urge to shift, just like any other shifter.
But there was nothing he could do about it now.
Kinney was regaining his footing. He was a giant old bear, with stringy white fur and a hunched back. He threw back his arms and roared until the walls shook.
Good thing they were in an isolated lab away from the normal hospital population. No one would hear them down here.
Rex grunted at Steph again, and pointed his paw at the package. He saw her pick up the vials and look for the antidote. Steph gave herself a shot. She nodded at Rex.
Back to Kinney.
It was over for the old bear shifter. It had to be. Rex had no choice. Not any more.
He lunged and grabbed the old bear. Kinney gouged at him with his razor-like claws, slicing at Rex’s chest and face and arms.
Rex yanked Kinney by the head, ripping his face one way and his neck the other. Kinney’s claws pierced Rex and blood poured to the floor as they struggled, but Rex didn’t let go until he heard a pop.
Kinney went slack in his arms.
Rex dropped him and turned to Steph. She was backed up against Lawton’s bed staring at Rex with huge eyes, shaking her head as if in denial.
He’d broken his vow. First do no harm.
He was no doctor. Not anymore.
Shame flooded his mind. He was a monster.
He dropped his paws to his sides.
Then Steph’s face softened. She ran into his arms and he wrapped his paws around her. The pain of his ripped flesh didn’t matter. She’d seen him at his worst, and she still loved him. He felt that with every fiber of his bear being.
Rex shifted back into a man and collapsed at her feet.
15
Frozen in place, Steph couldn’t believe what she had just seen. She realized she’d been holding her breath, and quickly took a gulp of air.
And then another.
Rex as a grizzly fighting another huge bear, right in the hospital: it had been real. Her heart was still pounding.
She realized she hadn’t quite believed in bear shifters until she’d seen one with her own eyes. Bear shifters were an actual thing.
And she had one of her very own.
Rex had saved her. She dropped to the ground and gathered him to her.
The old bear lay in a heap under the window. He wasn’t moving. Steph ignored him for now and focused on Rex. He was coming to, naked in her arms.
The slashes on his chest and face looked superficial. Most likely his fur had protected his flesh. He would be fine.
She turned to look at Lawton on the bed. Still asleep. She felt more concerned for him than ever. He must be very ill to have slept through that fight.
As Rex roused, he gazed up at her face with such love that Steph felt her heart swell. She was a fool to keep anything hidden from Rex. He was honorable. He was a bear shifter. She could trust him. “How do you feel?” she asked softly.
“Are you okay? Did the antidote work?”
She nodded. “I feel absolutely fine. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“I’ve got to take care of Kinney’s body. I’ve got to get him out of here.”
They both looked across the room. Kinney wasn’t moving, lying in a limp pile of bear.
“Is he alive?” she asked.
“I snapped his neck. He’s dead.” Rex hung his head, looking miserable. He’d broken the vow he’d always held most dear, she realized. First, do no harm.
He had said he would never shift again. And yet he had.
“You know the truth now. I’m a monster. You saw it for yourself in living color.”
She shook her head. “You were magnificent.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Not a monster. An angel.”
He winced but said nothing.
Then he seemed to accept what had happened. “Can you forgive me?”
“You had no choice,” she said tenderly. “You saved my life. And Lawton’s too.”
Rex nodded. She embraced him, pulling him close until she felt his body relax and he wrapped his arms around her.
After a moment, she had another question. She pulled back but kept her hands on his arms. She didn’t want to break their connection.
“Will Kinney shift back into a man? Now that he’s dead?”
“Never again. Once a shifter dies, he shifts into the animal form no matter what and stays that way.”
“So this is it?”
“For him, yes. I still have to take care of Lawton and the illness.”
“We’ll do it together,” Steph said, sliding her hand into his. She marveled at how five minutes ago, it had been furry and huge. Now it was as fine as any surgeon’s hand. As tender as a lover’s hand. She lifted it to her lips and kissed him gently.
“Are you really okay?” she asked softly.
“If you can still kiss my hand so sweetly, despite everything you just saw...” He stood up. “I’ll be fine.”
She followed Rex into his office
where he pulled a fresh set of scrubs out of a cabinet drawer. He dressed quickly and then embraced her again before dialing Zach on the phone.
“I need your help. How quickly can you get here?”
16
Zach, Thomas, and Riley arrived ten minutes later with a gurney and a bag of sheets.
They quickly and efficiently gathered the old bear shifter’s body onto the gurney, covered it and wheeled it away.
“We’re driving up to the Great Bear Rainforest. His bear clan is preparing a burial site,” Thomas had said before they left.
“They asked us to tell you that if you cure Illness X, not to hold the behavior of Kinney against them. They’re eager to hear the results of your work and glad that you won this battle.” Zach shrugged. “For what that’s worth.”
“It’s worth a lot,” Rex replied.
Once they were alone with Lawton, Rex and Steph sat together on the sofa to watch over him. He was still asleep and breathing quietly. He hadn’t responded in any way to all the noise and activity around his bed.
Rex recognized the final stages of the disease. If he didn’t recover, Lawton would be gone within twenty-four hours. One week after that, the rest of the Harris family would start to become infected.
“One threat may have been defeated, but the larger one remains. Illness X,” Rex said.
Steph took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, but said nothing. Deep in thought, she watched Lawton closely.
“I was very sick last summer,” she said finally. “I had gone to Massachusetts for a week-long training seminar, and while there, I got bit by a deer tick. I contracted Lyme disease, but didn’t know about it for a few months because we don’t have the disease much around here. I had fevers and chills and deep fatigue, but no doctor could tell what was wrong with me. I became convinced that I was dying and there was no hope.”
“That sounds horrible,” Rex said.
“It was,” Steph said. “I was kind of a basket case before I went on antibiotics. Not delusional. But definitely confused and full of despair.”
“Who took care of you?” Rex put his arm around her.
“I did.” She shrugged. “No one did.”
“Hey, come here. You could let someone take care of you now and then.” He pulled her closer.
“I take care of other people. It’s what I do.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Not all the time.”
He held her tenderly until he felt her relax into his arms. He could feel her heart beating next to his. “I’m here now.”
“Emotionally supportive. This isn’t our arrangement.” He could hear the smile in her voice.
“I don’t care about that. Why should you?”
It was time to stop pretending this was a casual relationship.
Tell her, his bear said. Tell her again. Make her hear it.
“Steph...” he started.
She pulled away suddenly and looked up at him. “What happens when a bear shifter gets Lyme disease? I mean, wild deer get it. And domestic dogs. What about shifters?”
“It’s a good thought, but I tested doxycycline,” Rex said. “The antibiotic that’s used to treat Lyme disease. Not because I thought sick shifters had it, but because I was testing everything.”
“And?”
“No change.” He shook his head. “But it was a very good thought.”
Steph jumped up. “No, listen.” She paced across the room. “I did some research on Lyme after I got well. Doxycycline doesn’t work in all cases, especially when the disease has passed the blood-brain barrier. There are alternative treatments. Doctors and nurses who live in impacted areas know a lot more about it than we do here.”
He stood to join her.
It was a long shot. But that’s what they needed right now.
“There’s a new super-antibiotic that passes the blood-brain barrier, Cartolin,” he said. “Let’s give it a shot.”
After getting Cartolin from the pharmacy, Rex emptied a syringe into Lawton’s IV.
Steph and Rex stood above Lawton, waiting, holding onto each other.
“It will take more than a few minutes,” Rex said. “Even if it works.”
“I know,” Steph said quietly.
They both still stood over him, watching, both hoping this was the breakthrough Lawton needed so desperately.
Eventually they moved back to the sofa to collapse and fall asleep in each other’s arms.
Rex woke up every two hours to check on Lawton, but there was no change in his condition.
In the morning, when he woke again, Steph was standing at Lawton’s bed, her back to Rex. She was nodding her head, her hair floating in the sunlight coming in through a high window on the wall. He sat up, wincing as he remembered the fight with the old bear, feeling horrible about everything that had happened.
Then he remembered the Cartolin he had given Lawton. He jumped up and took three quick steps to the bed, praying Lawton had improved.
Lawton was awake and Steph was chatting quietly with him. He smiled up at Rex.
“Well, if it isn’t Sleeping Beauty,” Lawton teased.
“You’re awake!” Rex said, feeling light in his chest with relief. “That’s so great! How do you feel?” He couldn’t resist giving Lawton a quick hug.
“I can’t complain.” Lawton smiled broadly. He really was better.
Rex couldn’t believe it. He took Steph’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you,” he said. Their eyes met and he knew that she understood everything.
Diana walked into the room holding a bouquet of helium balloons. Zach, Amy and Cleo followed carrying flowers and candy and a huge, pink stuffed bear. Everyone was thrilled with Lawton’s progress.
“Spread the word. Let the wolf shifters know,” Rex told Zach. “We found the cure.”
17
After Lawton checked out of the hospital, Steph pushed his wheelchair to the front entrance, while Diana and Rex went to the parking lot to get the cars.
Steph and Lawton were alone together for the first time since he had woken up from being unconscious.
“Here. I got you this.” Steph gave him a single rose. “I’m so glad you’re well.”
“Simple and elegant, just how I like it. Thank you, Steph. For everything.”
“Where will you go now? Back to college?”
“I’m headed to the northern territories to recuperate with my grandparents.”
“Are you still graduating?”
“My teachers gave me extra time to finish my courses. I’ll be done around Valentine’s Day. In L.A. by March. Hopefully my friend Frankie will already be there, ready to help me get settled.”
Lawton had his life back. Steph felt a rush of joy.
Diane drove up and helped Lawton into her SUV, clucking over him like a concerned mom, making sure he was comfortable and buckled up.
Before she could pull away, Liam returned from picking up Mitchell’s prescription at the pharmacy and walked over to join the group.
“Diana..?” Liam stammered. The wolf shifter seemed unsure of what to say or how to say it. “We need to talk...I want to tell you...Please...”
Diana glanced back across her SUV to check on Lawton, and then leaned out of her car window and took Liam’s hand.
“It’s okay,” she said, her eyes shining. “Liam, everything is going to be okay.”
She kissed his hand and smiled up at him. He nodded and a huge grin spread across his face. Steph watched the tension drain out of Diana’s face. Clearly there was some history with these two; she would ask Rex about it later.
Steph settled into Rex’s car, happy to have their work done. They held hands as he navigated through traffic to his condo.
The moment they were alone in his home, Rex took Steph into his arms and kissed her tenderly.
Steph sighed with contentment. Finally, no appointments or responsibilities clouded their time together.
She ran her hands across his expansive back as sh
e arched her body into his, melting more deeply into his kiss. Rex was solid and massive but also sweet, a bear shifter with a kind soul. His arms were like tree trunks and she couldn’t resist admiring him. Could it be true that he was all hers?
Steph pulled back.
“You said we were fated mates,” she remembered. “What does that mean exactly?”
He leaned his forehead down on hers and smiled.
“It means that out of all the possible mates in the world, from everyone who exists anywhere at all, you are my one and only—and I am yours. It means that we get to spend the rest of our lives making each other happy and building a family together and it means this...” He grabbed her ass with both hands and lifted her off the ground, pressing through their clothes as his throbbing cock demanded her pussy. “Lots and lots and lots of this.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and slid closer.
“Take me to bed,” she demanded, grinding into him. He held her aloft in his arms, carrying her as he walked down the hall. His lips never left hers, not even to breathe.
Finally, they could take their time, but she wanted him deep inside her. “Now,” she murmured, urging him forward as his heat flooded her body.
Her flesh was burning up. She ripped her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders before they even made it to the bedroom. He placed her on his huge bed and she pulled him down to her, both flinging off their clothes and hurrying to make contact.
He filled her completely and she cried out, his name a plea on her lips for more and harder and faster. They fell deeply into each other with long, precise strokes.
Just when it seemed she couldn’t take anymore, Rex slid his hands under her ass, dragging her to the end of the bed, where he sat up and lifted her onto his lap.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and rode him until she forgot everything except his name and his body, and she could only feel his flesh under her and inside of her, and she only knew her place in his life and in his bed.
When it was over, they collapsed side by side, wrapping themselves together, forgetting where one stopped and the other one started.
Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5 Page 13