Chapter 1
The sun peeked over the eastern horizon in a perfect Alabama sunrise as Ivy Cook lugged the pails of raw meat out of the Gator utility vehicle and walked toward the hyena enclosure. She shivered a little in the February chill. She’d arrived at work early to do what she’d been paid to do under cover of darkness.
She paused when she saw the hyenas head for the fence. The leader, Clara, always gave her the creeps with her laughing mouth and evil eyes. A hyena pack was weird, too, with a dominant female that didn’t let any of the others eat until she was full. The males all ate last even when Ivy tried to toss food their way. They watched Clara for permission.
Ivy had heard her boss, Blake Lawson, mention he was giving them to a nearby zoo. If the owner and head zookeeper didn’t trust the hyenas, she shouldn’t either. And she didn’t. She opened the outer gate and locked it behind her, then approached the inner one.
A sound came from her right, and she spun that way. Nothing there. She was losing it. Rubbing the gooseflesh from her arms, she reached into the pail and began to toss food over the fence. Clara ate piece after piece while her clan watched avidly.
“Let your clan eat,” Ivy said. Clara’s returning stare held animosity, and Ivy stared her down. “You can’t get out of here too soon for me.”
She had worked here for two weeks, but it felt like two years with the stink of the animals and the hard work involved. But if she had any hope of paying off her gambling debt, she needed the extra cash, and this job had seemed an easy way to earn a little. She’d been wrong. Now that she was here, Ivy wasn’t enjoying the work or the animals. The smell got to her, and so did the fear of them.
The sooner she got the information she’d been hired to extract from Paradise Alden, the sooner she could leave.
The first chance Ivy got she’d look for a job that didn’t involve getting so icky. She wiped blood from her hands onto the grass and shuddered. She stood and whirled at a soft scraping noise. Still nothing there. Why was she so jumpy this morning?
She retraced her steps and locked the gate behind her, then moved on to the tiger enclosure. Her gut tightened at the sight of the tiger staring at her. Some of the keepers were able to touch the ones born and raised here, but Raj was new and was kept separated from the rest. He was not one of the animals they could trust, but Ivy didn’t trust anything with teeth and claws.
“Hi, Raj,” she said in a calm voice. She unlocked the gate and stepped into the outer perimeter area. She moved toward the inner gate and caught her breath. It was open.
Barely breathing, she backed away toward the exit behind her.
The huge cat moved to the open gate and pushed through. His golden eyes followed her, and he crouched with his tail lashing the air. She didn’t dare take her eyes off him, but she would have to in order to get through the outer gate.
She edged back two steps, then three, reaching her handbehind her to find the gate. Her blood thundered in her ears and her breath rasped in her throat. She had no chance against those teeth, those claws.
Tears blurred her vision as her fingers touched the gate. Maybe she could escape. This might not be the end.
She was so intent on escape she barely took note of the sting at the back of her neck. The gate resisted her attempts, and her vision blurred even more. Her legs didn’t seem to want to work either. The tiger took another step closer, and she knew she wasn’t going to make it.
The smell of big cat in the treatment room made wildlife vet Paradise Alden’s mouth go dry. The black jaguar lay limp and seemingly unconscious for her to treat the abscessed tooth, but she couldn’t assume Midnight wouldn’t react. The fingers on her right hand started to stray to the ugly ridge of scar tissue on her other arm, from an attack when a panther came through a door left open to the habitat, but she took hold of her fear and moved toward the animal instead.
Her new vet tech, Warren Gibson, moved to the side. “Respiration and heart rate are good. Should be an easy extraction, and we can let her wake up.”
She could only hope.
Her pulse accelerated as she ran her fingers over the jaguar’s smooth fur. She was a beautiful specimen. Her arrival yesterday to The Sanctuary Wildlife Preserve had caused a lot of excitement mixed with worry when her mouth problem surfaced. And it was up to Paradise to make sure she made the move to her new home easily. The poor thing had been in a ten-by-ten cage herwhole life until the owner died, and his kids had to get rid of the beautiful black cat.
Paradise steeled herself and plunged into the task. Thankfully Warren was right, and fifteen minutes later, the female jaguar was back in her crate sleeping off the anesthetic.
“Nice job, Doc.” Warren’s red hair stood up like a rooster’s comb, and his easy grin vanished when his gaze lingered on her scars. “It took a lot of courage to jump in there after all you’ve been through.”
“Piece of cake thanks to your skill with anesthesia.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. Her first day as the vet in Nova Cambridge would start in half an hour. She would be working mornings at the clinic before returning to the park. Midnight had been an emergency she’d squeezed in this morning, but the quick procedure had made her late.
She grabbed her bag and raced for her green Kia Soul. Though she glanced around the compound as she drove off, she didn’t catch sight of anyone, not even Blake, whom she’d hoped would see her off on her new adventure. A morning kiss for good luck would have come in handy.
The outskirts of Nova Cambridge came into view around the corner, and she accelerated. It wouldn’t do to arrive late and find customers waiting in their vehicles or at the door.
She braked at the sight of the new blue-and-white sign hanging from a post outside the veterinary business. Pawsome Pets—Paradise Alden, DVM. Paradise was buying the business from Jenna with quarterly payments, but she still wasn’t sure how she felt about the new venture she’d been talked into. Caring for domesticated animals hadn’t been on her radar, not when her heart belonged to the wild ones since her teen years.
She parked in the lot and hurried to unlock the front door.Luckily no one was outside to notice her late arrival. She stepped into the waiting room and stopped short at the scent of sweet cake instead of cleaning solution. Congratulations banners and balloons fluttered from the ceiling and reception desk.
Blake Lawson and his mother, Jenna Anderson, shouted, “Surprise!” Jenna’s boys, Isaac and Levi, bolted toward her with shrieks of excitement. Five-year-old Isaac already had cupcake frosting around his mouth, and he planted sticky hands on her jeans. “Are you surprised, Paradise?”
“I sure am.” She scooped him up, and he wrapped his arms and legs around her like a monkey. She turned a wide smile toward Blake and Jenna. “I wondered where everyone was when I left.” Paradise should have realized something was up when they weren’t outside to wish her well on her first day. Especially when this whole vet thing was their idea.
Blake’s thick dark brown hair was still damp, and his blue eyes were tender. “We couldn’t let this monumental day go uncelebrated, babe. Brownies and cupcakes are on the table over there.” He gestured to a decorated card table piled high with treats. “We’re taking you to Jesse’s tonight to celebrate.”
