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  Celina’s face pinched.

  “Spill it!” Mindy wasn’t about to let her off the hook.

  Celina sighed. “You’re more of a coffee bar kind of girl. Sticks is wild. Most nights it’s a free-for-all.”

  Mindy’s heart sank. “Are you saying I’m not any fun?” Celina wouldn’t be the first one of her friends to imply she didn’t know how to have a good time. Being her sister’s keeper had left little time for a social life. The added responsibility had cost Mindy a lot of friendships over the years.

  There were times, though—in the dead of night—that Mindy wondered if her sacrifice had been worth it. Wondered what would’ve happened if, just once, she had shrugged off her responsibilities and kicked up her heels.

  Celina’s brown eyes widened. “I didn’t say you weren’t fun,” she insisted.

  “No, you implied it.” Mindy frowned as childhood taunts of “Monotonous Mindy” echoed in her head. She wasn’t monotonous. Not anymore. She could have fun. There was no one to hold her back now. Tears unexpectedly made her eyes burn. She blinked them away before Celina noticed.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Celina said. “It’s just that Sticks isn’t your typical bar. It’s really rowdy. Fights are common. Most of the guys that go there are...different. You’re used to hipsters, not the kind of chest-beating, blue-collar he-men that frequent Sticks.”

  Mindy glowered. “I like he-men. I just haven’t met many in real life.” Try never.

  She wasn’t lying about being attracted to those types of guys. Or any type of guy, for that matter. It had been a long time since Mindy had dated. Her dry spell now resembled the Mohave. She was willing to try anything at this point.

  “And I enjoy going to wild places on occasion,” she said.

  Celina snorted. “Name one wild place you’ve gone to. Seriously, just one. Before you answer, I want the dates, too, because I can’t remember the last time you went to a rowdy bar,” she said. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve planned your ‘impulsive’ moments.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Yes, it is,” Celina said.

  Heat spread up Mindy’s neck and into her face. She took her eyes off the road. “Perhaps if you’d invited me to go along with you just once, we wouldn’t be having this argument.” Her voice cracked.

  Celina patted her arm. “I told you that Izzy didn’t want me to. She made me promise.”

  “Well, Izzy isn’t here anymore. This isn’t about her. This is my life we’re talking about, not my sister’s,” Mindy grumbled.

  Maybe Celina and Izzy were right. Maybe she wasn’t any fun. Maybe her sister had inherited all the fun genes in the family. That would explain why Celina always took her other friends to Sticks and left her at home.

  Celina glanced out the windshield and slammed her hands against the dashboard. “Mindy, look out!”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Two

  They were going to die! And it was all because she didn’t get invited to a bar. The black mass lying halfway in her lane grew larger and larger as she bore down upon it.

  Mindy screamed and jerked the wheel to the right, missing the object by inches. Her tires screeched and her heart did its best to crack her ribs. She hit the brakes and the car skidded dangerously before coming to a stop in the center of the road.

  She pressed a hand to her chest and looked in her rearview mirror to make sure no one was behind them. Darkness met her.

  “What was that?” Mindy asked. She hadn’t gotten a good look at it. She’d been too busy trying not to hit it.

  “Not sure. A bear, maybe?” Celina slowly released the dash. “That was close.” She looked over her shoulder. “Turn around so your headlights illuminate it. I want to get another look at it.”

  With shaky hands, Mindy managed a three-point turn. The massive animal came into view. “I think you’re right about it being a bear.” Nothing else outside the zoo could be that large. She couldn’t see the beast’s face, but its crumpled body was almost as tall as the hood of her compact car.

  “No, it’s the wrong shape.” Celina squinted. “We need to get more light on it.”

  Mindy hit her high beams, illuminating the road and more of the animal.

  They both gasped.

  Whatever it was, it was massive. Really massive. “It has to be a bear. A grizzly from the size of it. There’s nothing else in the wild around here that big,” Mindy said.

  “Buffalos are,” Celina said.

  “That isn’t a buffalo,” Mindy said.

  “I know,” Celina said. “Only one way to find out for sure.”

  Mindy squinted at the animal through her bug-stained windshield. “Do you think it’s dead? It looks dead.”

  “Yeah,” Celina said. “I think it’s dead. We need to get it off the road.”

  Mindy glanced at her. “Have you been lifting weights without telling me? There’s no way we’re going to be able to move it, unless we cut it up.”

  Celina scrunched her nose. “Ew! I’m not cutting anything up. If need be, we’ll hook your tow chain around it and pull it off the road. If we leave it there, someone’s going to hit it and total their car.”

  “Looks like it’s already been hit.” Mindy checked the deserted road to see if there was a car lying in the ditch. “I don’t see any wreckage.” She also didn’t spot any broken glass. “Maybe someone shot it.”

  Celina paled. “Let’s hope not,” she said. “That wouldn’t be good for anyone involved.”

  It might not be good, but it was common for the area. Mindy pulled over to the side of the road and parked. She flipped on her hazards and kept her headlights trained on the animal.

  Celina unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Mindy walked to her trunk and popped it open, then grabbed two pairs of latex gloves. She pulled a pair on, then handed the other set to Celina.

  “I don’t see a lot of blood.” Celina moved closer to examine the animal. “Holy crap! It’s still breathing.”

  The news startled Mindy. She’d thought for sure the animal was dead. “Get away from it,” she said. “It might attack out of fear and pain.”

  Celina glowered at her. “I’ve been working at the animal clinic longer than you have. I may not be a veterinary student, but I know what I’m doing.”

  Mindy sighed. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  School was a sore subject for Celina. She’d had to go to work to help support her parents and had never managed to finish high school. After they died, she’d eventually gotten her GED, but the achievement had done little to ease her insecurities.

  Mindy had encouraged her to continue her education, but Celina had balked. She’d claimed that if Izzy didn’t need a degree, then neither did she.

  As excuses went, it was pretty sad. But not nearly as sad as the real reason Celina had no interest in going back to school.

  The real reason she hadn’t bothered to better her life was because Celina was waiting for a knight in shining armor to come and sweep her off her feet. It was a fantasy she clung to and it was just as real to her as monsters were to Izzy. Celina wanted that knight more than anything and wouldn’t settle for less.

  Years of looking after Izzy had taught Mindy that you couldn’t change someone, especially once they’d made up their minds.

  “I’m going to move in closer to see if it has any other obvious injuries,” Celina said.

  “Are you sure it’s alive?” Mindy couldn’t see any movement. Maybe what Celina had witnessed was the body settling after death.

  “I just saw its chest rise again,” Celina said. “I’m pretty sure that means it’s alive.”

  Mindy took a deep breath. She wanted to point out that she was the one with the medical training, but didn’t want to upset Celina any more than she already had. “Is it a bear?”

  “No,” Celina said. “It’s canine.”

  “That’s not
possible,” Mindy said. “It’s too large.”

  Celina tore her gaze away. “Pretty sure the animal in the road is definitive proof that you’re wrong.”

  Mindy ignored her sarcasm. “I don’t have the instruments or equipment with me to tend its wounds and I don’t have pain meds to ease its suffering.”

  “I know,” Celina said. “Help me get it into the car.”

  Mindy glanced at the animal and then at her compact car. “There’s no way it’s going to fit,” she said.

  “It’ll fit.” Celina sounded so confident.

  Too bad Mindy didn’t feel the same. She hesitated.

  “If we can get it to the clinic, then Dr. Fields might be able to save it or at least make sure it doesn’t suffer more,” Celina said.

  Her friend was determined to save the animal. Mindy appreciated her tenacity, but found it odd since Celina had always kept her distance from all the animals that were brought into the clinic.

  Up until tonight, Mindy was the only one who’d regularly rallied to save the animal kingdom. Maybe her passion was finally rubbing off on Celina.

  Mindy approached cautiously. The animal was larger up close. Celina had to be wrong about the species. A quick cursory examination proved otherwise. What kind of canine grew to this size?

  “Celina, I really don’t think he’s going to fit.”

  “He’ll fit. Trust me.”

  She didn’t think so, but Celina was right—they couldn’t leave the creature here for someone to hit. Who knows how long it had been suffering. Mindy couldn’t bear to see any animal injured and in pain.

  “I’ll move the seats forward.” Celina raced to the car and adjusted the seats.

  Mindy stared at the animal. She’d never seen anything quite like it. Its head was wide, wider than a typical canine, and it had a mouthful of sharp teeth. Sable fur covered its broad body. She glanced at its paws. They were canine in shape, but its claws looked like something more suited for a grizzly bear.

  “I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I can’t identify this animal.” Mindy hadn’t grown up in the area, so she wasn’t familiar with every species, but thanks to school she had a pretty good grasp of the natural habitats of predators. “It sort of looks like a wolf, but it’s too big and its head isn’t the right shape.”

  The biggest wolf Mindy had ever seen had weighed 175 pounds. This one was much larger.

  “Have you ever seen anything like it?” she asked.

  Celina’s gaze skittered away. “You grab the back end, I’ll lift its head.”

  Mindy watched in horror as Celina whispered something in the creature’s ear. The animal shuddered.

  “Seriously, be careful,” Mindy said. “I know you’re trying to soothe it, but an injured animal this size can do a lot of damage.” She glanced at her car. “I wish I would’ve thought to carry a muzzle.”

  “I doubt it would fit, even if you had brought one,” Celina said.

  Mindy glanced at the creature’s mouth. No, she thought. Probably not.

  After thirty minutes of grunting, dragging, and shoving, they got the injured canine in the backseat of Mindy’s car. Surprisingly, it fit, when everything about its body said it shouldn’t have. Maybe its size was deceptive due to the thick fur? At one point, Mindy could’ve sworn the animal was helping them, but it was just wishful thinking on her part.

  Celina’s knees touched the dash and the cold pizza box was crushed to her chest, as Mindy raced to the animal clinic in Breakbend, Oregon. Fifteen minutes outside of town, she dug her phone out of her purse and tossed it to Celina.

  “Call Dr. Fields and tell him we’re on our way,” she said.

  Celina punched in the number. “You know he’s going to ask you to assist,” she said.

  Mindy glanced at her, afraid to take her eyes off the road for long at this speed. “Of course, that’s my job. It’s what I’m training to do.”

  Breakbend’s lights twinkled in the darkness, illuminating the western facades covering the businesses on the main drag.

  Mindy slowed when they came into town, but they still reached the clinic in record time. Celina pried herself out of the car and tossed the pizza onto her vacated seat. She was digging for the keys to the front door when Dr. Fields showed up.

  “What do we have, Mindy?” he asked.

  “Canine of some kind,” she said. “Looks like it’s been hit by a car, but it could’ve been shot. I haven’t located any entrance or exit wounds, but won’t know for sure until it’s been X-rayed. We found him lying on the side of the road. We got out to move it and discovered he was still alive.”

  Dr. Fields poked his head into the car to take a look. His brow slowly furrowed. “Not a lot of visible blood, but no doubt there are internal injuries. Where did you say you were when you found it?”

  “Off the highway. On the back road between Breakbend and Carson, not far from Telegraph Road. We were headed to my house.”

  “I’m surprised it fit in the car,” he said.

  “You and me both,” Mindy said.

  Celina came out of the clinic with a gurney.

  “Help me get it on the table,” Dr. Fields said. “Be careful. We don’t want to do more damage.”

  Once again Celina and Mindy grabbed a section of the canine and lifted, then helped the doctor wheel it into the operating room.

  After a quick set of X-rays ruled out a gunshot wound, Mindy pulled scrubs on over her clothes and administered the anesthetic under the vet’s supervision.

  “He’s under,” she said, monitoring its vitals, before making sure the animal received enough oxygen.

  The doctor’s frown deepened as he analyzed the X-rays for other injuries. “That’s odd. Only one bone appears to be broken. Given its lethargic state, I expected the damage to be much worse.”

  “That’s good, right?” Mindy asked.

  “No, that means it’s in shock. That can kill it just as effectively as an untreated injury. I’ll have to open him up to be sure we’re not missing anything vital.”

  Dr. Fields made the incision, then carefully repaired a couple of minor tears on one of the organs. After a thorough search to make sure he hadn’t missed any other trauma, he closed the animal up and aligned the bone, then put a cast on the leg.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Mindy asked.

  “He should be, but I simply cannot explain his condition. With these minor injuries, the animal should’ve been up and moving around,” he said, his expression troubled. “Albeit slowly.”

  “Do you know what it is?” Mindy asked.

  “A mystery,” he said.

  “I mean, do you know what kind of animal it is?” she asked.

  He pulled his bloody gloves off and tossed them into the HAZMAT container. “I’m not entirely certain,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything quite like him, especially in the lupine family. It’s almost as if someone bred a Russian wolf with a Caucasian Mountain dog, which would be hard to do without the wolf trying to kill the dog. But then again, those dogs are tough.”

  “I’m not familiar with that breed,” Mindy said.

  “It’s also known as the Russian Bear dog for obvious reasons. The males can grow to be over two hundred pounds. They make perfect guard dogs.”

  “I can see why. I wouldn’t want to take one on,” Mindy said. “But this isn’t Russia.”

  “No, but people have all kinds of exotic pets that they shouldn’t own,” he said. “I’ve pulled some of its blood for a DNA check. We’ll know more once we get the results. In the meantime, let’s get him into recovery. I think we have one cage big enough in the back.”

  “If he fit in my backseat, we can get him into the bear cage,” Mindy said.

  * * * * *

  Celina watched through the small window in the door as Mindy and Dr. Fields wheeled the massive wolf toward the back room. She’d been eavesdropping on their conversation, so she’d heard the doctor order the DNA test.

  She couldn’t let them
see the results when they came in. Celina had to get to them first, so she could switch them out with another canine. Since she received all the paperwork and documentation coming into the office, it should be simple enough to do.

  The doctor and Mindy were baffled by the unique discovery, but Celina wasn’t. She’d immediately identified the creature they’d found on the side of the road.

  Sure, the animal looked a little different from the others. Less wolf, more monster, perhaps. Celina hadn’t recognized it immediately, but once she’d gotten closer, she’d known.

  She peered at it one last time before it disappeared into the recovery room. Its body was bigger and its head a few inches wider than the others of its kind. Its teeth looked longer and sharper, too. The only really surprising thing about the whole situation was that the animal was injured at all.

  Celina had seen them in their other form many times. Watched them fight until they were bloody and almost unrecognizable. Each and every time they’d risen like nothing had happened. She’d always assumed they were invincible or close to it. The news that they weren’t came as a relief.

  No, there was no mistaking the massive animal lying on the table, but Celina couldn’t exactly go in and tell them that they’d found a werewolf. A real, honest-to-goodness werewolf.

  A thrill shot through her and Celina clasped her hands together. Today was her lucky day. She had prayed for an opportunity like this. Hoped it would occur. But deep down, never thought it would happen. Yet here it was laid out in front of her like a gift from above. It was a sign. The sign she’d been waiting for.

  Izzy’s warning floated in her head. If you don’t stay away from the monsters, they’re going to end up killing you.

  Her best friend was wrong. Unlike Izzy, Celina wasn’t afraid of these creatures. She understood them. They weren’t all that different from humans. There were both good and bad ones. It was a distinction Izzy rarely made. She loved her best friend, but Celina wasn’t about to pass up this chance.