Crimson (The Silver Series Book 3)

by Cheree Alsop

  Chapter 13

  “Kaynan. Kaynan, wake up. Please wake up.” I opened my eyes and found that I was still in my wolf form sleeping on the kitchen floor while the girls worked to dye my hair. Only they had stopped dyeing and all of them stared at me. Tears showed on all of their cheeks and Mrs. Carso held a dishrag to her face. Grace’s gloved hand caressed my fur through the black dyes. Something wet fell down my muzzle.

  “Wolves don’t normally cry,” Taye said quietly. She removed her glove and wiped the tears from my fur. I realized that they had seen the dream, or the reality that had come back to haunt me in my dreams. Taye saw the understanding in my eyes and she nodded. “We saw what happened.”

  “No one should have to go through that,” Mrs. Carso said, dabbing at her eyes with the dishrag.

  “It’s not your fault,” Nikki said. “You didn’t know that would happen.”

  But I couldn’t hide the self-reproach I felt and I turned away, wishing I could crawl somewhere and die with the knowledge that she would never lighten the world again with her ideas and her thirst for knowledge that she always tried in vain to instill in me.

  “You loved your sister very much,” Grace said in a whisper.

  I nodded, unable to even ask her to let me be alone with my despair.

  “How about your parents? Do you love them?” she asked.

  I thought of all the ways I had stabbed them in the back, the money I had stolen, the car keys, sneaking in and out of the house at any hour of the night no matter how much worry I saw in their eyes, my razor-sharp responses to their questions and the hurt I caused.

  But through it all there had always been one constant, one thing that never changed no matter what I said or how rebellious I acted. I think it was the one thing I tried to prove, that if I went far enough they would finally have enough of me, but they never did. Through everything, they always loved me, and no matter what I did or how far I went, I always loved them. I gave a small nod and hated myself for it even more.

  “Then let them know you’re alive,” Mrs. Carso said quietly. “They deserve to know.”

  I couldn’t meet her eyes. Grace ran her hand through my ruff. “Go home to Renee,” she said softly. “If it was Gabe, I’d want him to come home to me.”

  I looked at her for a moment, her gentle expression and the distant sadness on her face as she thought about her deceased fiancé, and I had to nod. “You’ll go?” she asked. I nodded again, her hand on my head, and she put her arms around my neck for a hug I wanted more than I could admit.

  “Wait,” Nikki said. “The dye!”

  Grace froze, then started laughing. “To think I could look like you,” she said, her face close to mine.

  I gave a wolfish huff and they closed in to finish the job.

  ***

  Mr. Davies led me into the patient room with Grace, Jet, and Jaze close behind. The room was too small for the five of us, but no one wanted to be left out. I worried about the danger of bringing Grace, but it was comforting to have her there knowing I would probably be under anesthesia, and she insisted on being brought along to make sure that everything went alright. The scent of dogs, cats, birds, and various reptiles filled my nose along with an overwhelming mixture of urine and antiseptic. The veterinarian, a skinny man with bright red hair and glasses, entered a few minutes later. His eyes widened when he saw me, then he glanced at Mr. Davies.

  “Good morning, William,” he said with a jovial smile and a disarming manner. “What have we here?”

  Mr. Davies smiled back and gave him a firm handshake. “Hey Charles, good to see you again.” He glanced at me. “We just adopted this, uh, dog, and we need to see if he has a tracking chip. He’s to be trained as a seeing eye dog,” he said with a quick glance at Grace.

  Charles studied me up and down, looked at Grace, then nodded and disappeared out the other door of the small room. The sound of dogs barking beyond rose briefly, then he returned with a small hand-held device that looked straight from a sci-fi movie.

  He motioned for the others to back up, then knelt by me and began to run the scanner over my body. He started at the back of my neck, ran down my spine to my tail, frowned, then began to scan my legs. The scanner beeped on my right forearm. Charles glanced at Mr. Davies, performed the scan again, then sat back on his heels and gave me a straight look I had never seen anyone give a dog.

  “Can I be perfectly honest here, William?” the veterinarian asked, looking from me to Mr. Davies.

  Mr. Davies nodded. “I wish you would.”

  Charles took a steeling breath and met my gaze. “I know this isn’t an ordinary dog.”

  I dropped my eyes, but felt him watching me. “Well, uh,” Mr. Davies searched for words. “I was told when we adopted him that he might be part wolf.”

  Charles looked up at Mr. Davies, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. His gaze shifted to Jaze, Grace, Jet, then back to me. “Part, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Mr. Davies said.

  Charles sat on the floor with his back to the wall. “I had a best friend when I was younger who was also part wolf.” He looked back at Mr. Davies and my heart clenched despite his calm demeanor. “He was a werewolf.”

  Grace touched my back, her fingers entwining in my fur.

  “I, uh, why do you, I mean, a werewolf?” Mr. Davies sputtered.

  “He’s why I became a vet,” Charles said with a nod. “But he was killed last year.” Sadness swept through his features. “Alphas everywhere were being killed. He tried to hide, but he was tracked down.”

  Mr. Davies' voice dropped. “So you know?” he asked, his tone thick with trepidation.

  Charles nodded. “I've known since the first day I met you. You showed up new to the area, family in tow, soon after werewolves started to disappear. I had my suspicions and Jack confirmed it. He tracked you for a while and said you were trustworthy.” He smiled. “I really have valued your friendship, and I thought that deep down you knew that I knew.”

  Mr. Davies shook his head, his eyes wide. “I never did, honest. I was just trying to keep my family safe.”

  “I know,” Charles replied. “That's why I never said anything. Jack lost so many loved ones and he told me about packs breaking apart for protection. I couldn't blame you for going into hiding with your family.” He squinted behind his glasses and looked at me. “And now for a twist.”

  “What twist?” Jaze pressed.

  Charles' eyebrows rose. “This one's different.” He ran a hand through my fur and pulled loose a few strands. He fought back a smile. “Nice dye job.” I snorted and he held up a hand. “It was a nice effort and probably fooled my staff, which is a good thing, believe me.” His mouth twitched. “How much dye did you use?”

  I stood up, offended that he thought we had gone through all of this as a joke, but he rose back to his knees, his expression apologetic. “I'm sorry. You obviously have a good reason to hide who you are.” He glanced at Mr. Davies. “What about the chip?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It's no ordinary chip,” Charles explained. He held up the scanner. “If I may?” I nodded and sat back down; he proceeded to run the tracker back over my spine. “Most dogs and cats are implanted here, at the base of the neck. A few are microchipped here,” he ran it across the base of my tail, “or here,” he scanned the sides of my neck and shoulders, but the machine stayed silent. “But your pet,” he said with a wink at me, “was implanted in the forearm.” He waved the device over the front of my leg again and it beeped. “Not only that, but it's not showing me a number.” He held up the device and showed it to me, then to the others.

  “What does that mean?” Jaze asked.

  “Probably what you knew it would. This isn't a normal pet microchip with a number linked to an owner.” He glanced at me. “My guess is it's a GPS chip designed to show exactly where our wolf friend here is at all times.”

  At our exchanged glances, Charles gave a small smile. “Can I assume you want it removed?�
��

  Mr. Davies' eyebrows rose. “Can you do that?”

  The vet nodded. “I assume that anyone's reason for tracking a werewolf can't be good. I made a pact a long time ago with Jack that I would do what I could to protect werewolves, and if removing this chip will keep your friend safe, I'll do it.”

  Mr. Davies let out a short sigh of relief. “You don't know what this means to me, Charles. I'm in your debt.”

  The veterinarian shook his head. “I'm in Jack's debt. He saved my life once and I never got the chance to repay him before he was killed.” He met my eyes. “I'll do what I can.”

  I nodded and he smiled. “Right, then. First off, we'll take an xray to pinpoint the chip's exact location, then we'll operate.” I winced at the word and he gave me a sympathetic smile. “Don't worry. Regular chips are usually about the size of a grain of rice. If this one's similar, we'll have it out in no time.” His lips pursed. “Can you act like you have a broken leg?” I lifted my paw like it hurt. Jaze laughed and Mr. Davies' cuffed him on the shoulder good-naturedly.

  “Would it be easier to remove if he was in human form?” Mr. Davies asked in a hushed voice.

  Charles shook his head. “I went to vet school, not med school. Besides, I don't know how I'd explain operating on a human at my clinic.”

  Mr. Davies bit back a smile. “Of course.”

  “Follow me, if you will, uh-” he paused.

  “Kaynan,” Mr. Davies supplied.

  Charles' eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Not a very animalish name, right Toby?” he asked, looking at me.

  I rolled my eyes while Jaze and Mr. Davies burst into laughter. Grace smiled and Jet gave me a sympathetic look, shrugging as if to say I might as well go along with it. I sighed and followed Charles through the back door like an obedient, limping dog.

  “Trisha, help me get Toby here onto the xray table, will you?”

  An assistant with short blond hair streaked with pink and wearing green scrubs came over. Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Are you sure that's a dog?” she asked. She bent down cautiously. I sniffed the hand that she held out and fought back the urge to lick the remains of sweet-smelling sugar particles from whatever candy she had been eating from her fingers.

  “He's part Malamute,” the veterinarian explained in a forced casual tone. He bent down and they picked me up in a manner most unfitting for a werewolf. I winced when they set me on the table and Charles gave me an appreciative glance.

  “He hurt his paw?” Trisha asked, taking it gently in her hand. I wondered where she had received her assisting training because many other big dogs would have bit her fingers off if she tried to handle a broken limb.

  Charles must have agreed. “I believe it's broken, and you're lucky he's mild-mannered because a move like that with a dog this size could put you in the hospital,” he said sternly.

  Trisha dropped my paw with another thoughtless gesture, her eyes wide. “I'm sorry, Dr. Green. I didn't think. Please give me another chance. I promise I'll do better.”

  Charles sighed. “Go take care of the kennels. Cindy can show you what to do.”

  “Yes, Dr. Green,” she said quickly. “I'll get them done right away.” She bent over and gave me a big hug. “Get better, big guy.”

  She hurried down the hall, pink sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. Charles and I both stared after her. When she turned the corner he shook his head and looked back at me. “She's new. Maybe I should have told you to be more aggressive. She could have learned something without getting hurt.”

  I snorted in agreement and he smiled. “Maybe next time.” At my look, he chuckled. “Not that I hope to be doing this again anytime soon for your sake, but it would be a great way to train my staff without hospital bills.”

  He positioned the machine, shot a film, then led me back into the room to wait while it developed. Mr. Davies looked shell-shocked but glad to see me. Grace’s fingers traced through my fur and I took comfort in the feeling. We sat in silence until the vet returned and slid the film onto a viewer. He pointed to a tiny capsule between the bones of my forearm. “There's our tracker.”

  “Can you remove it?” Jaze asked.

  Charles nodded. “Shouldn't be hard. The position's good and it'll only be a minor surgery.”

  “What will you tell your nurses?” Mr. Davies asked.

  Charles shrugged. “That some idiot put a microchip in the wrong place and it's starting to cause nerve impingement.” He looked at me. “They'll believe anything, as you can tell.”

  I gave him a wolfish grin and he touched a tooth. “We can clean those while you're out.” I lowered my ears and he backed away with his hands up. “Just a joke, mostly. All dogs can use a cleaning now and then.”

  The thought of going under bothered me, but Charles couldn't justify doing a procedure like that on a dog who was awake. I finally gave in and let them place a gas mask over my muzzle. The faces around me grew fuzzy until I could no longer make them out.

  Chapter 14

  “Come on, Kay. It's not far,” Colleen said. Her little hand held mine tight with eagerness.

  I followed her through the tall grass behind our house, between the orange trees, and to the old shed against the back fence that had holes in the roof and was starting to fall down. Dad often warned us not to play around it, worried that it would collapse if we bothered it too much, but Colleen pulled me inside. She ducked under a wooden beam that slanted from the dirt floor to the roof and knelt next to a mound in the far corner.

  Beams of orange-hued light from the setting sun trickled down between the slats and motes of dust danced like tiny ballerinas to the dusty floor. I held my hand up to the light and watched the way it flitted between my fingers, casting larger-than-life shadows on the floor.

  “Are you coming, Kay?” Colleen asked, her voice hushed now with wonder.

  I continued to the corner and knelt down next to her. The mound against the wall was an old sweatshirt of Dad's that had been in the discard box; now little fuzzy balls were curled up inside.

  “What are-”

  “Shhh,” Colleen cut me off. “You'll scare them.” Just then, a tiny, fuzzy, black and white head poked up and mewed. Its tongue showed bright pink against a furry white muzzle.

  “Kittens!” I said and a smile stole across my face.

  “Aren't they amazing?” Colleen asked. Her eyes shone up at me filled with the wonder and happiness only a child on the edge of discovery can have.

  “Definitely,” I said. She smiled and I knew that my answer meant the world to her. She was only a year younger than me, but it seemed like everything I did was special to her.

  I bent down and ran a finger softly over the top of the mewing kitten's head. He pushed back into my hand so I would keep rubbing. His bright blue eyes peered up at me with soft innocence.

  “He likes you, Kay,” Colleen said with a giggle.

  “I like him, too,” I admitted. I picked him up and held him to my cheek. He ran his soft forehead against my cheekbone and it felt like the feathery down of a dandelion seed tickling my skin.

  “Let's ask Mom and Dad if we can keep them,” Colleen said. She jumped up and held out her hand.

  I put the kitten back with its siblings and walked out with her.

  ***

  Something inside of me softened at the memory. Most of my youth was made up of arguments with Mom and Dad, sneaking out of the house, and generally getting into as much trouble as I could muster for reasons I couldn’t explain. Seeing Colleen at such a young age made my heart ache, and the gentler memories of when we were very young felt unreal, like a dream I didn’t want to wake up from. But the anesthesia faded and I awoke to the concerned faces of Jet, Jaze, and Mr. Davies. “Can every werewolf do that?” Charles asked from my other side, his voice thick with awe.

  Mr. Davies shook his head. “Just Kaynan. Something from when he was changed.”

  I looked at Jet and his lips creased as though he held in a laugh. “We
saw the kittens.”

  I sighed and pushed slowly to my paws.

  “Whoa, now,” Charles cautioned with a hand on my back. “Take it easy. I usually keep patients overnight to make sure they don't have any bad effects from the anesthesia.”

  “We need to destroy this thing,” Jaze said; he looked down at the object in his hand. I followed his gaze and saw a tiny piece of metal in a glass case. “But thank you for all that you've done.”

  “Anytime,” Charles replied. He shook their hands. “Really, anytime,” he said seriously, meeting Mr. Davies' eyes.

  Mr. Davies gave his hand a firm shake and nodded. “Thank you very much. It means the world to have people we can trust, especially someone with your skills.”

  Charles beamed and Mr. Davies took out his wallet. “Where do we pay?”

  The vet shook his head. “It's on the house.”

  “I insist,” Mr. Davies said sternly. “You need to be reimbursed for your time.”

  Charles shook his head again. “From what you told me, this may have saved Kaynan's life. Let me keep that thought to repay some of what I owe to Jack.”

  Mr. Davies hesitated, then nodded. I tested my bandaged leg on the table, found that it held, then jumped down gingerly and followed Jaze and Jet to the door. Grace walked by my side with her hand on my shoulder and I showed her images of the room and the hallway beyond. Jet opened the door and let us all pass.

  Mr. Davies let out a sigh after we were seated in the SUV. “Wow, who would've thought? What a guy,” he said with a smile and a shake of his head. He started the vehicle and entered the main road.

  “And kittens,” Jaze said, a smile in his voice.

  I growled and he laughed out loud, holding up his hands. “Alright, alright. I won’t say anything else.”

  “Kittens are quite adorable,” Mr. Davies said from the driver’s seat.

  “And fluffy,” Jet said. I saw his eyes crease with a rare smile in his reflection on the window as he watched the scenery roll by.