“There’s no reason to tie up this room,” Heather decided.
“I’ll have one of the nurses check your vital signs in an hour and if everything is normal, you’re free to go.”
They loitered in the waiting room for an hour. Jake stepped outside to use his phone and Heather flipped through a dated magazine. She wasn’t interested in the articles on gardening, she just needed a distraction. Anticipation made her pulse race and her mind whirl. She felt restless and excited. They’d go back to the safe house and a few drops of Jake’s blood would change her life forever. She’d lived among shapeshifters her entire life and yet she’d never really been one. All that would change today.
Jake was still outside when the nurse motioned Heather back to the triage area, so Heather went alone. The nurse took her temperature, blood pressure and pulse then asked, “Any shortness of breath or dizziness?”
“No. I feel fine.”
After clipping a sensor on to the end of Heather’s index finger, the nurse wrote something on a clipboard as she waited for the device to register the oxygen saturation in Heather’s blood. “Well, all of these readings are normal. I’ll let Dr. Garran know.” She freed Heather’s finger and motioned to the archway leading to the waiting room. “Unless you have any questions, you’re free to go.”
It was such a curious custom. As a patient, was she a prisoner in a doctor’s office until he or she granted her permission to leave?
“Thanks.” She smiled at the nurse and hurried out of the clinic.
The sun was blinding as she stepped outside. Not so much as a wisp of white disturbed the bright-blue sky. Surrounded by flowering bushes and massive shade trees, the clinic looked more like a rural homestead than a medical facility. However, on the other side of the graveled parking lot stood a large, perfectly square building with few windows and only two doors.
Jake quickly ended his call as she walked up to him.
“What is that?” She pointed to the mystery building.
“Research lab. Paul Garran might seem like a quaint country doctor, but he’s likely the most brilliant scientific mind in the Therian nation.”
“Who funds his research?”
“The feline networks, primarily.”
That raised her brow. “And cats reap the benefits of his findings?”
Jake shrugged, apparently unconcerned with her conclusion. “Some of his projects have focused on feline problems, but just as many deal with Therians as a whole.”
She didn’t want to start an argument right before her definition, so she said nothing more. The feline networks—Rocky Mountain in particular—were larger and more affluent than the other Therian networks. Wealth bought power and power provided privilege. It was an inescapable fact of life but she didn’t have to like it.
Jake kept the conversation going as he drove back to the safe house. Heather answered his questions but her mind was consumed by what was about to happen. She was about to be transformed on the cellular level. Did this mean she would no longer be a wolf?
“Are you scared?” he asked as the house came into view.
“Excited, scared, generally freaked out, pick your label.”
He pulled into the driveway and put the car in park, but she unfastened her seatbelt and got out before he could do the same. She crossed to the keypad mounted on the garage door’s frame and entered the numerical code. The door went up and he pulled into the garage. She crossed to the door leading to the house and used the manual trigger to close the garage door.
“Do you want a drink before we get started?”
“No. I want this finished once and for all.”
He nodded and motioned toward the bedroom they shared. “Do you have a bathrobe?” She shook her head. “Then take off everything but your t-shirt. You might have time to yank it off before the shift hits you but there’s no way you’ll have time to undress.”
Shapeshifting was hard on clothes. Many Therians left spare clothes at friends’ houses or in the trunk of their vehicles. “I’ll be right back.”
She returned a short time later wearing a t-shirt and socks. He stood near the refrigerator, drinking a beer. She smiled. “The drink question wasn’t so much for me?” She motioned toward the bottle in his hand.
“I’ve defined females before, but this feels different.” He looked away and set down the beer. “I couldn’t take it if anything happened to you.”
She rushed across the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him. After hugging him tightly for a moment she leaned back and looked into his eyes. “The only thing that’s going to happen to me is I’ll finally be able to shift. I’ve been looking forward to this for six years and now it’s finally happening with a person I chose. You have no idea how much that means to me.”