Justice’s Bond (Spiked Raiders MC #4)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Annahi

“How are you feeling tonight, Miss Petals?” I coo, reaching into the kennel to give the bobcat a scratch behind the ears.

Miss Petals is the name I gave the bobcat when it was brought in after being hit by a car.

She was lucky to still be alive, but she was a survivor.

The animal hospital was going to find her a spot in one of the animal reserves to try and keep her safe, though we all know that doesn’t fully guarantee anything.

She’s a wild animal and deserves to run free.

The bobcat blinks and tips her head into my hand.

I’ve always been good with animals. The wilder the better.

It’s like they listen to me and understand what I’m saying.

Granted, animals are much more intelligent than humans think they are.

They’re intuitive. They live by their instincts, whereas people stopped living that way so long ago.

We need technology to get by in so many ways, it’s kinda silly in my opinion.

I give Miss Petals another scratch behind the ear before pulling away. “I’ll be back to check on you. I’ve got to check in with the rest of my charges for the night,” I tell her, earning a blink of her eyes like she was answering me.

Sometimes I wish I could hear what animals were thinking.

It would be better than hearing the thoughts of people.

There’s a reason I work the graveyard shift in an animal hospital.

I don’t have to be around so many people.

Usually, it’s one or two. Sometimes none at all.

We have a vet on call at night, and she comes in whenever needed.

Me and those who work with me typically handle everything on our own.

The only time the vet is called in is if it’s a dire emergency and we can’t ethically do something ourselves.

I was a vet tech, but I worked with animals all my life. To me, they were my escape from a life I hated. My mother was evil. Pure evil. Darkness swarms around her, and she bathes in it.

That’s the only way I can describe it. To her, I was a nuisance.

I wasn’t anything like her, and because of that, she hated me.

I grew up knowing this about her and knew better than to take anything to heart about what she says.

Though it didn’t matter, considering the first chance I got, I moved away from her.

It wasn’t far. I couldn’t afford to go farther.

Plus, every time I even thought of moving away from Redwich, it’d make me ill.

I did, however, move to a little house in the middle of nowhere.

I had a fifteen-minute drive to work. I lived on the opposite side of Redwich from where I grew up.

Granted, my mom didn’t actually live in Redwich, she lived just on the other side of the county line, but on the other end of town. It was as much space as I could manage without getting ill.

It’s weird how it happens.

I don’t really understand why thinking of leaving makes me want to throw up, but it does.

Then again, I’m weird all the same. I can’t be around people because their thoughts will drive me insane.

Sure, I can handle being around a few people at a time without them overwhelming me, but it still stresses me out.

I can’t block them out. I never learned.

For the most part, I never told my mother about the fact I could do this if she knew, who knows what she’d do.

Probably imprison me to use me at her will.

I’ve heard her speak to people about things like using people to her advantage.

I knew what she was and didn’t want any part of it.

It’s probably what makes me different and why she hates me as much as she does.

My whole life, she told me I was never going to be what she wanted. I was only half of what I should be. I heard that from her all my life and never understood it.

Sighing heavily, I make my rounds, giving each animal attention.

Surprisingly, we don’t have that man here tonight.

Just two dogs who had surgery during the day shift were being held throughout the night to keep an eye on them.

We also had a ferret and three little kittens.

I’ve thought about adopting one of the kittens if not all of them, then I think of Miss Petals and wish I could just take her home with me.

I know she’s a wild animal and bobcats are meant to be able to roam free, but I want her.

As I finish doing a round, the bell for the front door buzzes. Furrowing my brow, I head for the door. We rarely get someone buzzing in with something happening.

“Can I help you?” I ask through the intercom.

The owner of the animal hospital is very cautious about the safety of employees.

We have a system we speak through to anyone who comes to the doors at night.

We’re not to let anyone in the building until we’ve checked first that they have a need to come in.

“Yeah, got a dog of some kind. Hit him while driving out on Fork Road. He’s huge, gonna need some help getting him inside.”

Fork Road was named that because of the fork in the road it has. It’s weird, I know, but I’m not the one who picks the names of the roads around here. It also leads to one of the two MC clubhouses here in Redwich.

For the longest time, the two clubs were rivals, and then about two years ago, that all changed. The tension seeped from out of town. Though at times I still felt that feeling, though now it was nowhere near what it was.

“All right, I’ll be out in a second to help you.

” I release the intercom and head to the back to grab one of the gurneys we keep there for times like this.

Sometimes the animals are too big for us to carry ourselves, so we have the gurneys to help out.

Works in our favor when you have an animal knocked out and have to transfer them from point A to point B.

Rushing with the gurney, I press the button that unlocks and opens the front door and push the gurney out to where the guy is waiting. I glance quickly at the front of his truck and see it is surely damaged.

“He’s right here,” the guy says, lowering the tailgate. “Damn dog is huge. Never seen anything like it.”

I get my first glance at the animal and gasp.

It wasn’t a dog. It was a coyote. But more than that, it was a shifter.

I knew about shifters because my mother hated them.

She spoke horribly about them. Plus, my bosses and the owners of the animal hospital are also shifters.

They are the only ones I can handle being around for long periods of time without them stressing me out or overwhelming me to the point where I have a nervous meltdown.

“Here, just help me get him on the gurney and I’ll take it from there,” I tell the guy, not wanting to freak him out. “I’m sure you need to get going.”

“Yeah, the wife is gonna kill me for being late, but I couldn’t leave the dog out there to suffer.” His thoughts were on the animal and its well-being, which gives me hope that the world isn’t so bad.

Too many times, I hear the thoughts of those who really need their heads examined.

Shaking the thought away, with the help of the guy, we get the shifter on the gurney, and I wheel him back to the doors.

“You need help inside with him?”

“No, I’ve got it from here,” I call over my shoulder, not stopping to get inside.

I’m not one for being outside in the dead of night. Ironic as it were, considering that I work the night shift. Didn’t mean I had to be outside, where far too many bad things can happen.

Once back inside, I make sure the doors lock in place before taking the coyote shifter to the back, where I can assess him while also calling my boss.

He’s technically not on call tonight, but I knew my orders for when something like this were to happen.

Granted, this is a first. I’ve never had to work on a shifter before, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to work on one.

They freak me out.

With one last glance at the furry beast, I pick up the phone and hit the speed dial.

“You know I’m not on call tonight,” Zaid bites out harshly through the line. I knew his tone could be harsh, grated even.

“I know, I’m sorry.” I let out a sigh and look back over to the coyote shifter. “I wouldn’t call you if it weren’t important, but . . .” I trail off to take a breath. “We have a coyote shifter, and he’s hurt. Was hit by a truck.”

“Shit,” Zaid curses, and I hear him murmur something to his wife and business partner, Clara. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Okay.” I start to hang up, but he calls my name. “Yeah?”

“Whatever you do, don’t act scared. Don’t run. Don’t provoke him if he wakes. Hear me?”

“I remember the drill. Make sure to keep calm and don’t get your head bitten off.” That’s what he and Clara had told me one night when I first started here.

They were also the only ones who knew about my telepathy and how it affected me. It’s why they rotated the others in and out, leaving me to the nights.

“Good. We’re on the way.”

Zaid hangs up, and I put the phone back in his cradle. Zaid was somewhat old school. The hospital still had corded phones. Though we had internet and Wi-Fi.

I look back at the coyote shifter and really take in the colors of his grey, black, and brown of his fur. He’s really a beautiful animal. Something about him tugs at me, and I want nothing more than to run my fingers through his fur and make sure he’s okay.

But I knew wild animals could be dangerous when they’re hurt. Shifters are even more unpredictable. The best thing I can do is keep an eye on him from a distance and wait for Zaid to get here.