LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Having a family get-together,” Valerie replied. “Soon, I hope.”

      “Sounds good to me,” Chuck responded. “We’ll invite you over to our condo soon, bro. You, too, Rosa.”

      She couldn’t help but cast a sideways glance toward Valerie to see what she thought about that invitation. Carleen’s sister remained smiling, and it didn’t appear forced.

      Maybe Rosa was wrong about this woman flirting with her kind-of brother-in-law. Maybe she just intended to keep the family in contact as long as she did stay in town.

      “Thanks,” Rosa said, not committing to anything.

      But somehow the idea of spending more friendly time with Liam, not related to veterinary or Alpha Force issues, sounded good.

      For now, though, she was glad when Liam said goodbye to Chuck, then Carleen, who also joined them, and waved to Valerie behind the counter.

      Time for them to get busy with everything they each needed to do for the rest of the day.

      Liam refused to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about the attention Valerie had leveled on him. The woman was attractive, sure. She was also a shifter, like her sister. She’d made it seem that flirting with him was second nature to her, though he had never encouraged it.

      But he always remained friendly toward her. She was, after all, a member of his family.

      “Nice people,” Rosa said from beside him in the car. Behind them, Chase shifted in his seat, clearly wanting to get into the bags of food that sat on the floor near Rosa’s feet.

      “Of course they are,” Liam said. “They’re family.”

      “Like Chase?” Rosa wasn’t exactly jesting. She’d told him she considered pet dogs to be family, and she assumed the relationship between a shifter and his cover dog had to be strong.

      “Yeah, kind of. Chase and I are pretty damn close these days.” Hearing his name, Chase sat back on the seat and made a low sound that made Liam laugh. “Glad you agree,” he said.

      As they continued on, Liam thought a bit about his brief discussion with Chuck. Yes, both he and Carleen had loved the way their shift went. Yes, the Alpha Force person who’d acted as their aide for the night had been just great: Sergeant Kristine Parran. The elixir had been amazing. As far as he knew, all had gone well from Alpha Force’s perspective. And, yes, both Carleen and he would love to do it again. Soon.

      Almost as if she read his thoughts, Rosa asked, “Are your brother and sister-in-law shifters, too?”

      “Yes,” he acknowledged.

      “Do they get to use your elixir?”

      Good and appropriate question, he thought. Without saying too much, he told her they were involved in an experiment being conducted by Alpha Force, in which they could be given occasional doses of the elixir on nights of a full moon.

      He was glad that Rosa and he had reached the vet clinic, since he didn’t want to answer any further questions she might have. Liam parked along the street. He intended not to just let Rosa out of the car. He planned to go inside and check with Denny about how things were going. And most especially, he wanted to see for himself how Drew was doing.

      He opened his car door at the same time Rosa opened hers. Her expression seemed to register surprise as she turned back to look at him. “I thought you were just dropping me off so you could get to work.”

      “Not till I check on Drew. Besides, we can wolf down our sandwiches together.” He grinned at his own pun, and she laughed.

      “Fair enough.” She bent down to get the bags as Liam got out to leash Chase and let him out of the back seat.

      As Rosa headed toward the clinic’s rear door, bags in hand, Liam let his dog sniff the curb and driveway, and when he was ready, hurried him to the entrance.

      The street had been fairly well lined with cars, so Liam wasn’t surprised, as he entered the waiting room, to see a lot of people there with their pets—everything from an English sheepdog to a couple mewing kittens in carriers.

      They all carried scents of their own.

      Since he didn’t see Rosa there, he figured he’d better let the receptionist behind the desk know he needed to catch up with the vet. But Susie, whom he’d met before, smiled and motioned Chase and him through the inner door.

      Rosa approached him from down the hall. “I just put our food in the break room, but let’s go check on Drew.”

      “Great.” Liam followed her to the room where he had last seen his superior officer. Rosa opened the door, but motioned for him to enter first, which he did, Chase right behind him.

      The place looked the same as before, with wolfen Drew sitting on the towel-covered top of the lowered table. With him, on one of the chairs against the wall, sat Staff Sergeant Noel Chuma, who was an aide to whichever Alpha Force shifter needed him.

      And no one needed help now more than Drew.

      Noel wasn’t a big guy, but he was strong, smart and dedicated to Alpha Force. He rose, and the expression on his deep-toned face worried Liam.

      He couldn’t ask detailed questions now, though. Not in front of Drew.

      “So, how’s our patient doing?” Rosa asked. She approached Drew, who regarded her with stony eyes that, on some canines—whether shifters or not—would have made Liam worry that he was about to attack.

      He knew Drew wouldn’t do that. But Drew’s expression did indicate that he wasn’t happy.

      That he probably didn’t have a sense he’d be shifting back anytime soon—and it was getting to be late afternoon on the day he should have retaken his human form early in the morning.

      “He’s mostly been resting,” Noel answered for him. “We’ve been for a couple of walks and he seemed happy enough to be out of this room, but, well—happy isn’t the best word. I think he’s really frustrated.”

      “Understandably,” Liam said.

      Drew made a growling sound that didn’t seem threatening, but might’ve connoted frustration. It was enough to get Chase, who had sat beside Liam, to stand again and watch his sort-of counterpart.

      “Tell you what,” Liam said. “Drew, are you okay with being here on your own for a few minutes? Dr. Rosa and I brought lunch back and we need to sort it out, but one of us is going to bring you a really good burger very soon.”

      Drew answered by making a noise that this time sounded like a sigh, then lying back down.

      He didn’t seem overly excited about the late, tasty lunch he’d get.

      And Liam could understand why.

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