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“No, some don’t. Humans kill the ones who rattle, so they’re evolving not to warn us anymore.”
Lauren wraps her arms around my neck. I try not to jostle her too much as I run as fast as I can back to the car. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to get you to the hospital. Or to my dad. Or whatever it is you need. It’s going to be okay.”
“After the snake bit me, a bear tried to attack me.” Lauren sounds insulted.
“What do you mean attack?”
“Like he came right at me. I screamed and threw rocks until he left.”
“I think that bear saved you. He brought your shoe to me, so I’d follow him back.”
She quiets, her sobs subsiding, some of the tension in her body draining. “He did?”
“Yeah.” I get to the Range Rover and throw open the passenger door then dial my dad as I jog around to the driver’s side.
“Dad, I’m with Lauren Sterling, and she just got bit by a rattlesnake.”
“Where are you?”
I only hesitate a moment. Lauren’s life is at stake. I can deal with explaining what I’m doing with a human later. “At the cabin.”
“She needs to get to a hospital, but I have anti-venom at the office. I’ll meet you there and ride with you to the hospital.”
“Be there in ten.” I end the call and look over at Lauren. She’s pale, her teal-colored eyes standing out against her skin. “My dad’s a doctor. He has anti-venom at the office. We’re going to meet him there on the way to the hospital.”
She nods. “My phone is still back there. It fell in the crevice where the snake went, so I couldn’t call for help.”
“Oh, baby. That’s so awful. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“It hurts so bad. I think I’m going to puke.” She rolls her window down and leans her head out of the window. After a few moments, she asks, “So was the bear a shifter?”
She had texted me over the weekend asking if there was such a thing as a bear shifter, and I told her yes.
“Yeah. An old one. He’s not supposed to be on wolf territory, but I’ve seen him before. In fact, I saw him that day you almost fell off the cliff too. I never told you, but he had your letter. I had to appeal to him to get it back.”
“You talked to him?”
“No, he stayed in bear form. I don’t know if he’s going senile and that’s why he’s out of his own territory, or what.”
I drive faster than is safe down the dirt roads, then three times the speed limit in town to get to my dad’s office.
He’s waiting out front with his emergency bag. He throws open the passenger door. “Hi, Lauren. I’m Dr. Oakley, Abe’s dad. I have an anti-venom I’m going to administer to you before we drive to the hospital, okay?”
“Okay.” Lauren’s voice is thin and wobbly.
I ditch my plan to pretend I just happened across her. The need to soothe and care for her is far too strong. I reach over and massage her nape while my dad gives her the shot.
If he notices I’m way too intimate with this human, he doesn’t let on. He just climbs in the back seat and buckles his seat belt.
I take off for the hospital down in Cave Hills. “Have you called your dad, yet?” my dad asks.
“Her phone is in the snake’s hole,” I explain.
“Well, you have a phone. He should meet us there. This is serious, son.” Now I hear the judgment in my dad’s voice.
“Is she going to be okay?” I force myself to ask the question, my heart thudding painfully against my sternum.
“Rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal. About one in six hundred people die from them. How long ago was the strike?”
