by Kate Wendley
Her face crumbled and it looked like that actually upset Ed. “Aw, now I’ve messed things up. Miss Charlotte, please don’t cry.”
“Call in sick, mom. If they fire you, we’ll talk to Zach.”
**
After some arguing and a quick shower, all three of them were on their way to Brookhaven. Vince drove because Ed said he thought the bullet in his arm was sitting on a nerve.
Ed filled them in on the rules for going to the club on the way. No weapons, no silver, and no making trouble there. The ranch was where fights could take place, some wild land someone in the family owned. It was also safe grounds to run in their animal form.
“Do you and Vince run together, sweet mama?”
“I run with myself. And stop calling me that.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
Vince caught the barely hidden smirk on his mom’s face. She was falling for Ed in a big way, and it was weird to see. She didn’t date, at least not that he’d ever known. Ed seemed to be an ok guy, though. Hell, she shot him and he was still flirting with her.
Vince kept his eyes on the road and focused on where they were going. He remembered how to get to club from being there last night, but when he pulled up, the buildings looked different. They didn’t seem so ominous and instead looked like a cheerful, well kept up, though old, apartment complex. As they got closer, he could feel the same energy buzzing in them as he felt last night. Weird as it was, the feel of all that energy helped calm his nerves because these were his people more than humans had ever been.
**
Ed led them past the fortress of a building the club was in to a second, slightly smaller building. Zach was upstairs looking weary and tired as he sat slumped in a chair facing the entrance to the doctor’s waiting room. He pushed himself to his feet when he saw them, his eyes popping wide open when he got closer. “I smell blood. What’s going on?”
Vince was surprised, and jealous, that his sense of smell was so good.
Ed casually said, “It’s me sir. I’m fine. I just need the doc to dig this bullet out.”
“You got shot? By who?”
Ed looked at Charlotte, and even though Vince was still mad at her for lying to him all these years, he didn’t like how pale her face got all of a sudden. He started towards her, but Ed put his arm around her shoulder and more quietly said, “It’s all right pretty little mama. It’s ok.”
Vince stared at the two of them, not sure how he felt about what was going on between them. He glanced at Zach for his reaction.
“You got shot at, too? What happened?”
Vince shook his head. “Mom shot Ed for not listening to her.”
Zach went still, nothing moving except his eyes as he looked from Vince, up to Ed, then down at Charlotte. She stood completely still with tears streaming down her face, watching Zach as if expecting him to hit her.
Ed pulled her in close, then finally hugged her, only barely wincing as he moved. “Come on now little mama. It’s ok. Everything’s ok.” She looked tiny wrapped up in his giant arms.
Zach shook his head and chuckled. “Wow. Never a dull moment around here.”
After a time, when the only sound was his mom’s sniffling, Vince took a deep, tired breath and looked around the quiet room that was at least half full of people. Everyone was watching them, everyone except gorgeous punk rock Penny who’d just had her sexy ass in the air as she worked on something under the reception desk. That sight woke him right on up.
She was dressed kind of quirky today with hip hugging army green pants, a loud, abstract floral shirt that was snug and barely long enough to cover her flat belly, and dark liner around her hypnotic eyes. Her hair was spiked again and she wore a lanyard around her neck with some kind of badge dangling from it. He wondered what kind of security people around here needed and why.
She settled down behind a computer and he smiled her way, but she didn’t react. Great. She obviously didn’t like him, but damn she was as sexy as last night and she made him ache just seeing her. She was gorgeous, and, he realized, the first woman he’d ever freely been himself around, sort of, and she hadn’t freaked out about it. That thought made a heavy emotion settle in his chest, and he forced himself to look away. No sense getting torn up over someone that hated him.
Thankfully a nurse appeared pretty quickly from a back hallway and directed them to a patient room. Still, he was unable to stop himself from locking eyes with Penny on the way. When he was almost right beside her, he inhaled deeply, trying to get her scent without being obvious about it.
Her personal scent was a mixture of hair products, sweet soaps, and a fragrant spiciness that he’d never smelled before. It hit him in an enticing wave, and he couldn’t stop the rumbling purr that started deep in his chest because of it. He quickly turned away and pretended to clear his throat while he struggled to contain his body’s uncontrollable desire for her.
**
Penny’s heart raced as sexy Vince walked by, but his sudden sour reaction to her let her know she’d turned him off for good. Great. Most guys just made crude jokes at her expense, they didn’t usually start choking and gagging when they were around her.
Still, maybe he’d be interested in just being friends. He was the first person she’d met around her own age that had the same taste in music, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy and all…
Tammy whined, “Penny, when’s my computer going to be done? I have work to do.”
“Don’t really know. Could take as long as an hour or more. Depends on the speed of the Ethernet.”
Tammy grumbled and got back to writing everything out by hand while Penny screwed around opening and closing random files that had nothing to do with the already installed updates.
**
Vince piled into a room with his mom, Ed and Zach, though it was a bit of a tight fit with Ed in here. He loomed large and tall in the small space with his barrel chest and giant arms, all of it looking like pure muscle.
The doctor joined them in his long white coat, and Vince caught himself staring at him. He’d imagined someone younger for some reason. This guy had a shock of white hair, a lot of wrinkles, and looked a little frail.
He scowled and said in an old man’s, irritated voice, “We’re digging a bullet out of Edison’s arm this morning?”
His mom looked over at him in surprise. “Ed’s short for Edison?”
He smiled. “Yes ma’am. Edison Michael Newkirk.”
The doctor unceremoniously said, “Take your jacket and shirt off, tough guy.”
Ed obediently started fumbling with his clothes, grimacing every time he moved his arm. “Char, could you help?”
She froze and flicked a wary eye at Zach, who sat slouched in a chair by the closed door looking like he could fall asleep. She eventually relaxed, Ed smiling at her as she helped him wiggle out of his jacket and t-shirt.
Vince was still mad at her, but his anger was overridden by the sheer oddity of seeing her and this giant man being totally into each other. He’d never seen anyone seriously flirt with his mom before. Occasionally, but not anything that felt like what was going on with Ed. Something in the way she hid her eyes and her cheeks brightened to a pinkish brown the longer Ed smiled at her told him his mom might seriously like the guy.
Ed hissed, “I think the bullet’s sitting on a nerve, doc. When I move a certain way, it’s not good.”
Dr. Williams said, “Then you should work on not getting shot.”
Ed gave a low rumble of a chuckle that made Vince reluctantly smirk and his mom blush in embarrassment. She even started to turn away, but Ed used his good hand to keep her close. Caught in his grasp, she helped him sit on the patient table, a sheet of thick white paper lining the bed. The dude was packing some serious muscle, and of course a set of six pack abs, which his mom was busily eyeing.
Vince flicked a look at the smooth skin of Ed’s bicep and frowned. “His arm is healed. How are you going to get the bullet out
?”
The doctor looked unamused. “I’m going to open him up and dig it out.”
His mom’s face fell as she slipped out Ed’s grasp and backed away. “No. Oh God no. I’m so sorry.”
Ed said, “Don’t worry Char. It’ll be fine. I can handle a little pain. Just come here and touch me while he’s doing it. Please.”
She didn’t move and everyone jerked when Zach tiredly said, “Touch him. It’ll help calm him. That’s what pack’s for you guys. Get used to it.”
Vince wasn’t sure he liked Zach’s tone of voice, but his mom finally stepped up to Ed’s side, eventually putting her hand on his good arm. She seemed nervous about touching him, but as Ed lay there and waited for the doctor to start cutting, he looked happy. Then again, he always seemed happy.
And after all the bloody stuff was finally done, Ed put his shirt back on and it was time for Vince and his mom’s physicals. They were brought to separate rooms where Vince stripped down and waited for the doctor.
**
“So tell me about when you shift. Do you have trouble shifting?”
Vince flatly said, “Didn’t Zach tell you? I don’t shift.”
“You’ve never shifted into your cat?”
“I don’t have a cat.”
The doctor’s silence as he frowned at Vince made him tense.
He more carefully said, “Well, son, I don’t claim to be an expert in all things magic, but I do know more than my fair share about shapeshifter physiology. I’d bet my fifty some odd years of medical knowledge on the fact that you’ve got a cat inside you.”
Vince stared at the doctor as he absorbed that into his head. He’d already spent the last couple hours this morning trying to make peace with his mom’s lies, but hearing this from the doctor really made it hit home. He’d grown up believing he was only part shifter, always disappointed that he wasn’t a full animal like his mom and the father he’d only ever heard brief mention of. He’d spent his whole life dealing with his body constantly fighting itself and thought he’d learned to live with it for the most part, but now…
Now he wondered why his mom let him believe there was such a thing as a partial shifter. A hybrid. He’d never liked that word and now he understood why it bothered him.
“So what you’re saying is I’m handicapped.” He couldn’t help the anger that seeped into his voice. It was his deepest subconscious fear laid bare in the cold lights of this sterile room. Hybrid was his mom’s code word for handicapped. He’d always felt it… seen it in her eyes…
The doctor scoffed. “Now son, I wouldn’t put it like that.”
“How would you put it then? I’m shaky and tired as hell by the end of every day, and it’s worse when I push my supernatural abilities in any way, plus I’m totally uncoordinated. Oh yeah. And I can’t shift.”
The doctor more quietly said, “You’ve only just come to see me, Vince. Please give me a chance. We’re going to do the best we can to get you healthy. I promise you that.”
He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. This wasn’t the doctor’s fault. He knew that, but it still felt like a blow to everything he thought he’d ever known about himself and his world.
**
Everyone joined Vince in his patient room once he was dressed again so Dr. Williams could fill them in.
“They’re both underweight for shifters. If they were human their weight would be fine, but shifter bones and muscles are more dense. Charlotte could add an extra five to ten pounds. I want to see Vince put on at least fifteen, maybe more.”
Vince lifelessly groaned, “Good luck with that. I can’t put on weight.”
“Why not?”
“I get sick when I eat too much.”
“Sick how?”
He shrugged. “I can’t keep all the food down, and then my muscles hurt and I feel like crap all over.”
The doctor made some grumbling noises. “Then let’s take it slow. Try to gain a pound or two a week and let’s see how you feel.”
He nodded and just wanted this over with. He was sick of being poked and prodded, and sick of talking about everything that was wrong with him.
And of course the doctor brought up the most humiliating thing next. “The biggest issue we need to work on is Vince’s inability to shift.”
Ed’s eyes got huge and Vince winced when he blurted out, “You can’t shift?”
He immediately felt stupid for ever believing his mom’s lies.
Dr. Williams continued, “Knowing that Min-chul is Vince’s father doesn’t help me a whole lot since I haven’t examined any of the Savannah brothers, but they are rather powerful, from what I hear, which only makes me even more perplexed…”
Vince glared at his mom while his heartbeat roared in his ears. This entire room of strangers knew who his father was, yet no one had bothered to tell him.
His mom had never bothered.
The doctor kept talking but it was background noise by this point. Rage pounded in his head like a bass drum. His whole life she’d claimed she didn’t know the man’s name or anything about him. Now everyone except Vince knew who he was.
He exploded out of his chair, grabbed his jacket, and flung the door open. He had to get the hell out of here.
“Vince…”
He batted his mom’s hand away and she thankfully didn’t follow him out the door. She was supposed to be family, his only family, but all she’d done was fill his head with lies his entire life. If he couldn’t trust her, who could he trust? And if he weren’t this handicapped thing… now felt like the perfect time to shift and run around as a wild animal. He needed to be away from everyone. Now.
**
Penny was busy putting a screen saver on Tammy’s computer of a poodle with beaded dreadlocks when she heard a door open. She looked down the hall to see Vince storming towards her, Zach several feet behind.
Zach tightly snapped, “Vince.”
His eyes were fever bright with rage as he stared straight ahead and growled, “Fuck you. Fuck everyone here.” He looked Penny’s way and locked eyes with her. She wasn’t sure whether to be scared, confused, or offended. He slowed his steps and snapped, “Except you. You work here?”
She gestured around herself and sarcastically said, “Behold geek training grounds.” Ok, she was still mad at him for calling her a geek yesterday.
The corner of his mouth twitched into an almost smile and her heart fluttered. For an instant, she felt a strong wave of power from him, but it disappeared as he angrily pulled his jacket over those broad shoulders that she’d love to get her hands on someday. His shirt rode up, exposing a peek of yummy abs with a light dusting of dark hairs, his jeans slung just a little low on his hips. He put off some serious animal ferocity as he growled at Zach and quickly surveyed her as if she belonged to him, or at least would soon.
Right…
Daydreams of sexy guys were what kept her warm at night, and Vince was seriously sexy with those intense eyes holding her captive in their gaze. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized he was wearing a Ramones t-shirt…
To her dismay, he turned and walked away as he grumbled in distraction, “Maybe I’ll see you around then.” He stormed out of the waiting room, and she was mad at herself for sounding like such a, well, geek. She scowled and turned back around, locking eyes with Zach, who was still standing in the hall. He didn’t look all that happy when he shrugged and went back to the patient rooms, and she felt like she’d gotten in the middle of something she shouldn’t have.
Since there was no more reason to hang around here putting non-boring pictures on Tammy’s computer, and no more trouble that she knew about that she could either accidentally or on purpose get in the middle of, she closed all the control panel screens she had up while she was pretending to work, and left Dr. Williams’ office. She was supposed to be installing a new printer at the NFWA office next door according to the five emails she’d gotten over the last half hour. Whatever.
She checked
her phone again and, oh goody, here was another email about it. She read through the chain of messages as she walked and nearly ran into someone when she opened the front door to go outside.
“Hey! Watch it!” She growled as she looked up to see Vince standing on the front stoop.
He murmured, “Sorry,” and moved off the step.
She toned down her bitchiness and said, “Well… you shouldn’t hang out right there. People come in and out of here a lot.”
He just nodded and looked away, taking a big breath as he leaned back against the building and tilted his face towards the sun.
“You ok?”
He arched a brow at her. “Where are you going?”
“Over to the NFWA office to install a printer.”
“The NFWA office?”
“It stands for ‘No Fucking Wolves Allowed’. It’s the business office for every were-animal except wolves. They think they rule the world or something and can’t even work nice with the rest of us. Bunch of jack-offs.” She looked around herself and said more quietly, “Well, some of them anyway.”
His lips quirked and she swore he almost smiled. “I thought you worked in the doctor’s office.”
“I work all over this place. I even do stuff for the wolves sometimes, when the all-mighty animals allow us inferior vermin to help them, anyway.”
He definitely almost smiled this time, but their connection was ruined when the door opened behind her. Zach, Ed, and Vince’s mom all filed out, and the energy of the small crowd was somber and tense. Penny flicked a look back at Vince, his expression closed off again as he willfully ignored everyone.
It was weird to hear Zach sound so careful when he said, “Have you guys eaten? We can get breakfast at the club.”
Vince locked eyes with him, and the strained anger in his tense posture couldn’t have been more evident. “I need to get back home. I have work today.”
Penny couldn’t tell if it was relief or haggard frustration in the sudden tired slump of Zach’s shoulders. “All right. Ed, can you drive them back?”
“Of course.”
Penny took that as her cue to go, but caught Vince’s eye before she left. With a sarcastic thumbs up she said, “See you around.”
