Shifters Storm by Tia Didmon

Chapter 2

Evie’s legs almost buckled under the cougar’s dense weight. Mark, the security guard, had offered to help her get the cat to one of the examination rooms. They both struggled to maneuver the large feline down the private hallway.

The animal’s fur was soft and warm, and his talons had retracted when she picked him up. It was like the big cat was concerned about scratching her. While she had an affinity with animals, she was conscious that they remained wild.

They grunted as they pushed through the door to the examination room. Then put the cat on the steel table beside the sink. It scattered a clipboard and several files on the counter. Remnants of the project Evie was working on prior to Mark’s call. Evie’s x-ray screen lit with an outline of a back bear’s broken femur.

After they positioned the sleeping cougar on the table, she turned to Mark. “Why did you shoot him twice?”

Mark shook his head. “I only shot him once. I didn’t realize he had been tranqued by someone else until after he went down.”

Evie put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know how he made it this far, but I’m assuming that tranquilizer disorientated him. Is there any chance he escaped a transport truck en route to us?”

Mark went to the wall and pulled down the clipboard. “There’s no intake record for a cougar.”

She shook her head. “Then someone is poaching. You can go. I’ve got this.”

Mark raised an eyebrow. “You want me to leave you alone with a rebel cat. We don’t know where it originated from.”

She huffed. “I have enough anesthesia to knock out an elephant, let alone a cougar. I will be fine.”

Mark’s eyes hardened. “Fine, but I’m notifying Ulrich you’ve taken in another stray.”

Evie returned her attention to the cat. “You do that.”

Her voice dropped to the soothing low tones used with her patients. “You are in exceptional shape. I don’t think you’ve been caged before.” She pulled up his lip to examine his teeth. No stains or debris marred its perfect incisors. There wasn’t a mark or scratch anywhere on his fur. Cougars were territorial. They fought often. This was a cougar in his prime, but every inch of him was perfect.

Her cougar was a mystery, and one she planned to solve. While she always had a unique connection with animals, this one was different. The urge to protect the sleeping cat was almost primal. “Let’s take a blood sample and see what those jerks injected you with.”

She put on her gloves, unwrapping a sterilized needle, when Ulrich burst into the room.

“Evie, what the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

“Good evening to you, too. What does it look like I’m doing? I’m about to take a blood sample.”

Ulrich stepped up to the table. He ran a hand through black hair speckled with grey. While older, Ulrich was in phenomenal shape and looked much younger than his fifty-plus years. “You need to relinquish care of this animal. I will have a team here in twenty minutes.”

Evie put a blue gloved hand on the cougar’s chest. “You’re not taking this cat anywhere until I assess it. It’s unconscious and has been dosed with multiple tranquilizers. It could be in respiratory shock. I don’t care who was trying to acquire it before, it’s mine now.”

Ulrich rubbed his mouth. “Evie, you don’t know who you’re messing with right now.”

Evie stepped back. “Are you threatening me?” Her disbelief and disappointment in her mentor was like a vice on her chest.

Ulrich held up his hands. “No, I would never do that. Kevin is very particular about the animals he allows on the premises. We just reversed the court injunctions against the zoo. I don’t want any more issues with the city.”

She let out a long breath. “If it gets out that someone was hunting a cougar on zoo property, we’ll have more than a court injunction. We will have lawsuits up the wazoo.”

A bead of sweat trickled down Ulrich’s temple. “I think it best if we get the cougar off zoo property as quickly and quietly as possible.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I realize that I’ve only been fully licensed for three months. If you don’t trust me, then I’m not the right fit here. Please tell me if this is the case.”

Ulrich shook his head. His skin had taken on a pale look as if he were nauseous. “You’re exactly where you need to be. I will run interference with Kevin until you confirm the cougar is safe to transport.”

Evie had always wondered how she had ended up on Kevin Kallan’s radar. She had assumed that Ulrich had brought her to Kevin’s attention, but now she wasn’t so sure. “What’s the deal, Ulrich? Kevin offered me this position a year before I graduated. There had to be applicants with more experience.”

Ulrich wiped the sweat from his brow. “Kevin chose you personally. You have a way with animals. It will distress him that you’re putting yourself in danger with... this.”

Evie huffed. “We deal with large cats every day. Why would this one be any different?”

Ulrich stared at the cat. “I am concerned about its origins.” He motioned the needle. “Take a sample and give it to me. I will expedite the results so we can counteract the tranquilizer in his blood.”

She wanted those lab results, but Ulrich’s nervousness concerned her. Still, she had no idea what was in the cat’s bloodstream, so she inserted the needle under the fur and withdrew one vial of blood, before handing it to Ulrich.

He took the sample and left.

She leaned down to her patient. “Well, that was weird. You’re getting me in trouble, aren’t you?”

The cat opened his deep blue eyes. Pain. Forgiveness. Commitment. His eyes conveyed a world of wonder, sucking her into a vortex of emotion before it blinked and closed its eyes.

She took a long breath. “I can’t believe you can open your eyes. You shouldn’t be able to move at all.” She removed her gloves to run her hand over his fur. “You are gorgeous. I don’t care what Ulrich or Kevin says. I have a nice little female named Lotte I’m going to set you up with. Someone is hunting you. I think you will be safer here. I have a nice pen all ready for you. And we have a great medical and dental package.” She chuckled at her own joke, but the cougar huffed as if insulted.

She glanced at the x-ray machine. “Hold on, cute stuff. I’m going to take some x-rays to ensure there’s no internal damage.” She went to the screen and pulled off the old x-rays, before grabbing the blanket to cover the parts of the body she wasn’t x-raying. She sterilized the blanket from the last patient, then positioned it on the cat before exiting the room to activate the x-ray machine.

Her heart stopped when she re-entered the exam room to find the cougar gone.

She should have called Ulrich, but part of her was happy the cat escaped. Still, she needed to make sure Ulrich hadn’t interfered. She dashed down the hall, checking all the rooms before exiting the building.

Evie strolled down the walkway that would team with children during park hours. Lamp posts illuminated the cement pathways with steel railings that herded the crowds toward the main attraction.

She was thankful her cougar would not be part of it. Her perfect specimen had disappeared as mysteriously as he had arrived. “Goodbye, sweetheart.”