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Who knew an emergency house call for a tiger would bring her a family?
Twenty-Two
Rex
AfterpickingDocupfrom work the next day, they hung out in his room for a couple of hours. She took a shower before they cuddled on the bed and talked about their days. It was when he mentioned that he hadn’t seen any sign of the Pathfinder, and neither had anyone else, that Doc began asking questions.
“So… I know you said you were being followed, and that you thought you knew who was doing it. I need you to explain that more.” Rolling over to face him, she looked into his eyes. “Who are these people?”
Rex ran a hand over his face and along his beard as he tried to figure out where to start. In the end, he decided to start at the beginning. “You know, months ago, when we first met, there were videos released about shifters?” She nodded, and he continued, “Well, the videos had been leaked for days, possibly weeks, before then. Some people saw them and did what humans often do when faced with somethingunknown. For instance, the witch trials. I’m sure there are more than just this academy, but an academy was set up. From what we understand, its purpose is to train people to kill shifters. They think we’re monsters. That’s actually how they refer to us. We had a member get close to one of them without revealing his connection to the Howlers. He didn’t get a lot from her, but he learned that the academy does exist and that they think we are a danger to people around us. They apparently think we could just suddenly shift and hurt innocent people, and that we don’t have any control over ourselves. That’s just not true.”
“Even when Bullet was out of it and shifted while I was stitching his skin together, he didn’t lash out at me.” She shifted into a sitting position. “So, they’re fully prepared to kill people just because of something they haven’tprovenyet? That’s not defending people. That’s just murder.”
Staring at the anger in her blue eyes made Rex smile. She was seriously pissed on the behalf of shifters everywhere. As a person of science, Doc was probably offended that they weren’t doing their due diligence before establishing a conclusion and course of action. Fuck, he was so attracted to her for so many reasons other than her body. Her brain and her backbone were hot as hell.
She glared at him. “Stop fucking smiling. This shit isn’t funny.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied and started laughing when she smacked his arm. “Sorry.”
“Seriously!”
Rex pulled himself together and covered her hand laying on the bed, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry. I just… Seeing you get upset on our behalf made me happy.”
The corners of her mouth twitched, before she asked, “And now you think they’re following you?”
He nodded. “It’s the logical conclusion, at this point, but we’re trying to find out more information. Unlike them, we don’t condemn things without actually doing research and gathering intel.”
“But you haven’t been followed in a couple days?”
He shook his head. “Not since the day we locked down. Not sure what to make of that, yet.”
She reached over with her other hand and ran it through his hair on the side of his head. “You better keep yourself safe, or I won’t be happy.”
Rex shifted until he was sitting in front of her. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers before saying against them, “Yes, Ma’am.”
Jolene
After everything she learned from Rex about shifters, mates, and biker culture, Jolene was in desperate need of someone to run her thoughts by in an attempt to get some kind of clarification. Or at least, she needed someone from the outside to tell her she wasn’t crazy for having questions or for the part of her that wished she could just take his word for it and just jump in with both feet.
She asked Mama Hen to join her at the compound for dinner. Normally, Jolene would have gone to Mama Hen, and she could have if she wanted to. She was at the compound because it was what Rex needed from her to take the edge off of his worry. Because of that, she had Mama Hen come to her.
They were sitting at a table near the far corner of the room, eating steaks and baked potatoes that Rex had made for them.
Mama Hen finished chewing a bit and nodded. “That man can cook a steak,” she commented.
Jolene chuckled. “He’s a good cook.”
“What’s the sitch?”
After taking a drink of water, she explained what Rex had told her. She had already known that Mama Hen was aware of shifters. During one of their late night talks, Rex had suggested she speak with her friend, Mama Hen, if she wanted an outside perspective.
For half an hour, Jolene went through everything he said and all the questions she had. When she was done, Mama Hen sat and stared at her with a knowing smirk on her face.
“What?” Jolene asked as she narrowed her eyes at Mama Hen.
“Let me put it like this. We were trained to hear what we’re being told, but to also assess the situation, to follow the trail of facts, to find the cause, and to seek out everything that’s hidden. With your schooling, that was reinforced.”
Jolene nodded. The woman wasn’t wrong.
