Chapter One
A Safe Place for Every Wild Heart
Sylva
Downing, Colorado
Present Day
Three minutes before the doe’s heart stopped beating, Cal knew she wasn’t going to make it.
“Easy, girl,” he whispered, stroking her flank. “You’re going to be just fine.”
A gnawing sensation filled his stomach as he wrenched the lie from his lips. The doe was far from alright. She lay on her side, twitching slightly, bleeding profusely onto the earth from a deep gash in her neck.
“Crap,” he muttered.
This was the second—no, third—animal he’d found lying either dead or critically injured on the ground so far. He’d taken his third brief trip this week through Paradise Woods, half expecting to find another casualty. And he hadn’t been disappointed.
He stroked the doe’s flank, feeling her faint heartbeat against his fingertips.
The creature’s eyes were wide with terror, her mouth open in a silent scream.
She was far beyond saving—the doe had already lost too much blood, for goodness sake.
He certainly couldn’t take her back to the Sanctuary with him.
Still, just crouching there, helplessly watching her bleed to death, made him sick to his stomach.
With a sigh, Cal sank back on his haunches, his boots crunching a few dead leaves and twigs.
Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away from the dying doe, peering around Paradise Woods.
There wasn’t very much to see—just an expanse of tall trees stretching to the edge of his vision.
The woods usually teemed with wildlife, critters scampering about every few minutes or so, but today, everything was quiet, as if the entire forest was mourning the loss of another of its own.
He cursed again, silently this time. He’d known Sylva to be a somewhat peaceful town, the woods just as tranquil. But these days, something wasn’t quite right, especially in these woods. And these dead animals were proof of it.
With his jaw slightly clenched, he examined the dying doe before him. The bleeding wound was significant. It looked like she’d been bitten by some larger creature. A troubling thought struck him then: What if it wasn’t just some other animal? What if she had been attacked by a shifter?
As soon as the idea occurred to him, he pushed it aside. It couldn’t possibly be a shifter. Shifters were the bridge between humans and animals. They, of all people, would know better than to attack wildlife like this.
His inner bear stirred uncomfortably. Whatever the case, there was something new in these woods, something that shouldn’t be here, something terribly dangerous.
The doe twitched again, blood spurting from her neck. And then she lay completely still, her eyes glassy. Cal felt for a heartbeat, but found nothing.
“Fucking hell,” he said. “This can’t keep happening.”
He stared at the bloody carcass for a moment longer, then rose to his feet, gazing around.
The ground sloped downward, the treetops swayed gently in a sudden breeze.
Paradise Woods was a mountainous area, overlooking the rest of Sylva.
From where he stood, he could make out most of the small town.
If he traveled higher up the mountain, he’d be able to see the two other towns in Downing: Everland and Minos.
More times than he could remember, he’d ventured into these woods, either to rescue an injured animal or simply to spend some time surrounded by nature. It was one of his favorite things to do these days. But the woods weren’t what they used to be, not anymore. Now, a quiet tension hung in the air.
This dead doe hadn’t been the first. She wouldn’t be the last.
But he couldn’t leave her here like this. The least he could do was bury her.
Biting back a curse, he scanned his surroundings until he found a stick suitable enough, and began digging a hole in the earth next to the doe.
Once it was deep enough, he shoved the carcass into it and covered the body.
He stood back, staring at the fresh mound of earth before him, then turned and began trudging downhill.
***
It took him less than ten minutes to reach the edge of the woods. Just beyond, separated from the greenery only by a small, gated fence, was the sanctuary.
At first glance, the sanctuary looked no more than a ranch.
That was what it was—or at least, what it used to be.
A large, glassy plain stretched almost beyond the edge of his vision, its structures seemed to jut out from the earth.
Several barns stood to the right, one of which, to his knowledge, had long ago been converted into a clinic.
From the others, he could hear the braying and bleating of animals.
He trudged forward, heading for the big white house in the center of the property. Two stories high, the home was impossible to miss. Vans were parked out in front, next to a sign with bold green lettering:
GREEN SANCTUARY WILDLIFE RESCUE
A Safe Place for Every Wild Heart
A man was standing on the front porch, watching him approach. As Cal neared the porch steps, the man uncrossed his arms and leaned against the railing, his dark eyes narrowed as they took him in.
“I take it there was another dead animal?” he asked.
Cal followed his gaze, staring down at his own hands. They were covered in blood and grime. He nodded, grinding his teeth together.
“I couldn’t save her, Henry. She’d lost too much blood.” He shook his head. “How soon do you think we can get a new vet? Ever since Cecil quit, we’ve had more dead animals on our hands. I’m sure we could’ve saved at least a few.”
Henry nodded, running his fingers through his dark hair for a second. “I already informed the boss about this, remember? He’s put out a vacancy notice. It won't be long before we get another vet.”
“Hopefully.”
“We’ll get through this, Cal.” Henry straightened. “This isn’t the first problem we’ve dealt with, is it? We always come out on top. Problems like this are part of being an animal rescuer.”
Cal nodded. He’d been friends with Henry for more than half a decade. They’d dealt with a lot together, showed up for each other as needed, both as co-workers and friends.
“You’re right,” he said.
“Of course I am. Now come on in. But make sure you wash your hands first. Bryon’s made lunch.”
He turned and entered the house. Cal stared at his hands again, suppressing the shudder that threatened to race up his spine, and headed toward one of the barns to get cleaned up.
Henry’s words repeated themselves in his mind. Problems like this are part of being an animal rescuer. The man was right. This wasn't the first time Cal had found a dead or wounded animal in the woods, nor would it be the last.
Working as an animal rescuer hadn’t been on his bucket list, but since he moved to Colorado seven years ago and found work at the Green Sanctuary, he’d never been happier.
Quitting his job as a mechanic back in Maine was still one of the best decisions he’d ever made in all forty-four years of his life.
Being an animal rescuer was the perfect job for him, especially since he was surrounded by fellow shifters.
And more than anything else, it was just what he’d needed after Melissa abandoned him.
He tried not to think about it, but even though ten years had passed since it happened, the memory still remained fresh in his mind. If he closed his eyes now, he could still see the look of horror and disgust on her face just before she took off.
I can’t do this, she’d told him. I can’t marry you, Cal.
The words clawed at his heart now, and his jaw clenched.
How many times had he tried to reach out to her after that?
She’d ignored all his calls and texts, resisted all his attempts to get through to her.
And in a matter of days, she’d simply disappeared.
She’d blocked his number, moved out of her apartment, leaving behind a devastated Calvin.
In the past ten years, he hadn’t seen or heard from her.
Whoever said time heals all wounds clearly hadn’t been abandoned on their wedding day.
The months that followed had been agonizing.
He’d reached out to Melissa's friends and family, hoping for any information that might lead him to her. But they’d either been unable to help him or had simply refused, insisting Melissa wanted nothing to do with him.
Cal wasn’t sure which hurt worse, the fact that she’d taken off at their wedding or her refusal to explain why.
Not that it was hard to figure out why she’d left him.
Looking back on it now, maybe revealing his shifter nature to a human just weeks before their wedding hadn’t been such a great idea.
Most humans had no idea that supernaturals existed.
The ones who did tended to go off the rails.
It was a pattern that had repeated itself throughout history: witches burned at the stake, shifters and vampires hunted down and slaughtered.
Humans fear the supernatural because they don’t understand it.
And what they fear, they destroy.
He’d known that sharing the truth with Melissa was a huge risk. But at the time, he’d been beyond certain about her. Besides, he couldn’t stand the idea of keeping something so fundamental from someone he loved.
Fat lot of good that had done him.
At least he still had a head on his shoulders. If anything, he should be grateful all she’d done was run from him.
Working here at the sanctuary certainly helped take his mind off his past, but it hadn’t healed him. Cal was self-aware enough not to assume he’d gotten over his pain. All he’d done so far was learn to manage it. And helping animals as a shifter, living among other shifters, certainly helped.
Once he’d cleaned up, Cal marched back to the big house, heading straight for the kitchen.
The aroma of roast lamb immediately reached him before anything else.
Henry was already seated at the table, digging into his food.
A tall man with long brown hair stood working by the stove.
He turned just as Cal sat down, and set a plate before him.
“Here you go, Cal,” Bryon said. “Hope you haven’t already lost your appetite.”
Cal most certainly had, but he didn’t say it. He picked up his fork, poking gently at his food.
Bryon took a seat across from him, lifting a piece of lamb to his mouth. “Henry told me about your trip to the woods. Another dead animal. Oh, and I’m supposed to tell you that we’ve got a new vet. They’ll be arriving today. Just got word from the boss that someone’s applied for the position.”
Cal’s jaw clenched slightly. Certainly, a new veterinarian was in order, but that wasn’t all that bothered him. “There’s something not right about what’s going on in the woods. I don’t think those attacks are random. That doe looked like she’d been bitten.”
“So did the other animals we found,” Henry pointed out. “The woods are full of wild animals. There have been at least two bear sightings in the last month.”
“Animals don’t kill for sport. They kill to eat. We all know this.”
“It could be a shifter.”
“We don’t kill to eat either,” Bryon said with a pointed look at Henry. His jaw clenched slightly. “Or, at least, we ordinarily wouldn’t. If there’s a shifter behind this, they’ve got a twisted sense of humor. Too bad the boss isn’t around.”
The founder of the sanctuary, Theon Gardener, had been out of town for the past month, leaving the sanctuary in their hands. So far, Cal thought they were doing a great job of running the place, except for the growing number of carcasses in Paradise Woods.
The doorbell rang then, and Bryon shot to his feet.
“I’ll get it,” he announced, shuffling out of the kitchen.
“We’ll figure this out on our own,” Henry said, lifting a forkful of food to his lips. “I’m sure it’s nothing too serious.”
“Nothing too serious?” Cal scoffed. “There are animals dying in the woods, Henry. I had to bury another of them, and we still don’t know who or what’s killing them. How long until there aren’t any left?”
Henry held up both hands as if in surrender. “Hey, take it easy, man. I’m just trying to stay positive.”
“We’re animal rescuers.” Cal’s fork clattered onto his plate. “If we can’t keep the animals in the woods out of harm’s way, then what the heck are we even doing?”
Henry regarded him for a moment, then stared at his plate.
Of all the animal rescuers, he’d always been the least serious.
He joked, took almost everything with a pinch of salt, and tried to maintain a positive outlook on things.
It was one of the qualities Cal appreciated about the dragon shifter—when the lives of animals weren’t at stake.
“Hey, you two!” Bryon called from the front door. “The vet’s here.”
Cal and Henry exchanged a glance. Then both men rose and left the kitchen, Cal feeling a wave of relief. At least a part of their problem was solved now. Whoever this vet was, hopefully he’d be able to keep more animals from wasting away in the woods.
In a matter of seconds, Cal and Henry were at the front door. Bryon stood in the doorway, talking to someone, but stepped aside as the pair approached. And Cal stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t simply because the veterinarian standing on the porch wasn’t a he,, but a she.
It was because of who she was.
Her dark hair was longer than he remembered, tiny gray strands in her wispy bangs, and her features were a lot more defined.
She had on a linen blouse over jeans that hugged her hips.
But it was those green eyes that nearly stopped Cal’s heart.
They stared back at him, slowly widening with recognition, at the same time that he found his voice.
“Melissa?”