Chapter Five
Felix
It took me longer to get back to Rogue than I’d planned—like four hours past the time we usually closed. We’d had a litter of puppies come in, abandoned in a parking lot. Some of them still had their umbilical cords still attached. Some people on two legs acted more like animals than the actual animals did. Not to mention several other patients with emergencies along with regular appointments. These things tended to come in waves. Patty would stay the night and bottle-feed the babies since I had a fox to deal with. Not a fox, a fox shifter, as if I could forget.
“Hey, there. Sorry to take so long.”
Rogue had moved the blanket from the couch under the desk where the chair usually slid into place. He lay there, facing the door, looking ready to pounce on anyone who came in. But as I took slow steps toward him, he only whined.
“How about let’s bring you home and grill up some steaks. I bet one of those would perk both of us right up.”
He seemed to like the idea, getting up and walking toward me, hobbling really. I’d tried to reach Malinda, but gotten her machine and decided to call it a sign and give us an evening together, see what we could do, before seeking more help.
All day I’d reached into others’ minds willingly and some not so willingly in order to get information or because they were shouting their thoughts for the whole world to hear. If I wanted to, I could dip into the thoughts of humans, shifters, and animals alike. Some shifters were tougher than others. Dragons were hard to crack, and unicorns’ magic was too strong and fought against me mentally, but anyone else was fair game. I had walls of my own, of course. Otherwise, the day would be a garbage dump of thoughts and feelings from every creature within a ten-mile radius.
When I was a kid, I hated my gift. I could hear the raw and honest thoughts of the kids around me and the vile and sometimes dirty thoughts of adults. They had no clue, of course.
My mom told me to keep my secret to myself.
I did as she told me, probably the only reason I survived being a teenager.
Patty knew my secret and did a fair job at filtering her thoughts or building a wall. Malinda had taught her to do that since she would be working with me.
“Leaving already?” Patty asked, passing in the hallway.
“Kiss my ass. Already? It’s past nine. I’m beat.”
She popped her head in, a smile plastered to her face. “You taking my little friend home?” she asked, tipping her head in the direction of Rogue.
“Yep. We’re going to have steaks tonight. Aren’t we?” Rogue peeked around my legs at Patty but then went back to rubbing his face against my calf.
“Must be nice. I’m stopping at our favorite dive to grab a burger. Sure do wish I had an alpha to grill me a steak. You two have fun tonight.” She winked and left the room.
I looked down at Rogue. Already he looked better having been fed and properly hydrated. He didn’t need his saline drip anymore. “Come on up.” I opened my arms and he moved to jump but winced. “My fault, buddy. Here you go. Might have to stick some pain meds in your steak.”
I carried him to the truck and rubbed his fur on the drive home. I liked to live far away from the chaos of my office. It was a blessing and a curse. At night, I could hear the chirps of the crickets and the bellows of the toads, and the rain on my tin roof had rocked me to sleep more times than I could count. But in the mornings, the commute was more than even coffee could handle. Still, to be away from the noises of the town and the chatter in people’s heads made my home a solace more than anything else.
I’d stopped petting Rogue to turn the channel on the radio, but after a moment he whined and nuzzled my hand, reminding me to keep the fur-loving up. I laughed and ruffled the reddish hair on top of his head. There was something about this fox. I couldn’t put my finger on it, and something inside me didn’t want to needle his mind for the information. A butterfly feeling fluttered in my belly at not knowing his secrets.
He would reveal them to me in his own time. I was sure of it.
And more than anything, I wanted to know this creature’s secrets.
I bet his human form was beyond gorgeous. I shook my head at the thought. No, this was a patient. A very special patient, but still.
I pulled into the driveway, a cloud of dust wafting away before I opened the door and went around to the passenger side. My house was a simple log cabin surrounded by towering oak and cedar trees. My inner fox pranced around, and pride oozed out of him at the thought of this fox being in my home, around my things, surrounded by my scents. He’d attached himself to Rogue on another level, a level I didn’t quite understand yet.
“Here’s home, Rogue. I hope you like it here.”
He yipped as I picked him up. “Okay. Pain meds for you. I know they make you sleepy, but I can’t handle you in pain.”
I took him inside and laid the now-clean-and-fluffy fox on my couch. Patty really must’ve made friends with him because he smelled like the expensive animal shampoo. She only used that on her friends. The others got the baby-powder-smelling stuff.
“A little pinch,” I said before giving him a dose of painkiller. I held his head against my face as it took effect, and his eyes drooped closed. I inhaled the scent of him. Now, instead of feral smells, he was clean and smelled of pine, the good shampoo.
“You smell really good, Rogue. I can’t wait to see you human. One day, maybe you’ll let me. I’m going to fix us up some meat.”
I went outside and fired up the grill on the back patio. As I did, I scanned the trees, feeling almost like I was being watched. I sniffed the air, but nothing smelled off. Rain was coming soon. I could feel it in my muscles. My fox sensed something as well. He wanted me to shift and run after whatever was there, but I denied him, intending to run later with Rogue. It didn’t feel right to run when he couldn’t.
Whatever was out there was probably just curious. I’d never had anyone bother me before.
I shrugged off the instinct and went inside to grab four T-bones and a few veggies to throw on the grill. I checked on Rogue, but he was out cold. I hadn’t given him much, but he was so skinny, it did him in every time.
After grilling everything, I went back inside to find Rogue missing. My heart fell down into my stomach. I set down the food and went searching with a sick feeling in my gut. He wouldn’t have run away from me, would he?
Find him.
“Rogue,” I called out in slight panic.
I heard some noise upstairs so two at a time I ran up them to my loft. What I saw there made me happier than I’d been in a long time. I slumped against the wall in relief. Rogue was not only in my bed, but he had managed to cover himself up, and his head lay on my pillow. He looked like he belonged there—even in his animal form. I was tempted to reach into his mind and travel through his dreams, but again the urge to do so didn’t feel right.
“How did you get up there?” I asked him, looking around for a clue. The only thing I could gather was that in his painkiller stupor, he’d jumped atop my chest at the end of the bed and then onto the mattress. “If you were any other animal, Rogue, you’d be outside on your ass for getting in my bed. But I guess I’ll let you stay.”
He wasn’t listening, of course. He was out cold. I tucked the covers tighter around him, letting my hand linger on his soft ruff then headed back down to the living room, leaving him to his rest. I’d put both our dinners in the oven to keep warm. I, a man who ate almost every meal alone, suddenly couldn’t stand the idea.