Chapter Two
Dr. Melissa Kinley, Animal Caretaker
Dr. Melissa Kinley considered herself a very lucky woman.
At twenty-five, she narrowly missed getting run over by three separate vehicles on the same road, all in the span of one month.
She’d won the lottery at twenty-three, effectively wiping out her and her family’s debt.
And just a few months ago, she’d somehow avoided getting kicked in the face by a sick horse she’d been tending, saving herself thousands of dollars in hospital bills.
But standing on the porch now, staring at Calvin Stein, she was starting to reconsider that sentiment.
Maybe I’ve run out of luck, she thought. Or maybe I’m just imagining things.
The latter thought was utter nonsense. As much as she would have preferred otherwise, she knew that this was very real.
Cal stepped forward, his gaze lingering on her as he brushed past Bryon, the man who’d opened the door for her.
He’d filled out since the last time she’d laid eyes on him.
His barrel of a chest strained against his wife beater, sprinkles of golden chest hair peeking out from underneath, and veins webbed along his sinewy arms. His hair was slightly darker than she remembered.
His jaw clenched as he looked at her, and she could’ve sworn she felt the temperature around them rise.
Melissa had always been attracted to Cal, and in the ten years since she’d left him, her body hadn’t forgotten about him.
It responded instantly, her heart pounding, heat flushing through her.
Her breaths came out in short, rapid gasps, and she felt her nipples strain against her blouse as they hardened.
Only one thing was different this time: that same tightening sensation she’d felt in her gut on their wedding day.
A deafening silence settled around them, broken only by the occasional braying of an animal somewhere nearby.
“Cal,” she heard herself say finally. She felt her throat constrict. “I...I...”
Bryon’s gaze darted between them, and he frowned. “You two know each other?”
Cal’s expression hardened. “I’ll say. She’s my ex-fiancé.”
At those words, her heart gave a painful throb. Memories she’d fought to bury for the better part of the last decade came bubbling to the surface of her consciousness.
She’d been twenty-seven when she first met Cal.
She was working as a waitress at a restaurant whose food she wouldn’t have recommended to her worst enemy.
When Cal first walked in and took a table, she quietly advised him against ordering any specials.
Why she’d done that, she hadn’t been sure at the time, but that evening, he’d taken both her advice and her phone number.
Within a month, they’d gone on at least four dates, two of them at his home.
By the second month, they’d officially begun dating.
Cal had turned out to be everything she dreamed of in a partner.
Dashing looks and mind-blowing sex aside, he’d been a kind, compassionate man, and falling in love with him was easy.
When he popped the question years later, she’d been beside herself with ecstasy.
Everything had been going so well. For a while, she’d been certain it would last forever.
But she’d been wrong.
Melissa could still remember the night Cal decided to open up to her in his living room. I’m not really human, he’d told her. I’m a shifter. At first, she’d been confused, even amused, by the absurdity of it all.
And then he’d dropped onto all fours and transformed into a fully grown grizzly bear.
She would have screamed her lungs empty, but she’d been too frozen in terror to even find her breath.
To her relief, he’d quickly returned to human form, assuring her that all was fine.
He was a shifter, but that didn’t mean he was dangerous, especially not to her.
It didn’t make him much different from any other person either.
He was simply one of millions of others across the world with supernatural abilities. Gifts, he’d called them.
In the days leading up to the wedding, she’d tried not to think too deeply about it.
Sure, the man she’d fallen in love with and hoped to spend the rest of her years with had turned into a beast right in front of her, like it was just another Tuesday for him.
So what? She still loved him, and that was all that mattered.
But that had changed on their wedding day. As badly as she wanted to, she simply couldn’t bring herself to go through with it. And so she’d done the only thing that made sense to her in that one moment.
The first couple of years that followed had been nothing short of agonizing.
She’d seen his calls and texts, listened to the voicemails he’d left, begging her to speak to him, even if only for a few minutes.
More than once, she’d almost given in, wanting to see and hear him again.
She’d felt everything from guilt about running from their wedding to a burning desire to return to the man she’d spent the last four years loving.
She’d been torn between going back to him and putting as much distance between herself and the monster he really was.
She’d reeled with the knowledge of what he really was, still struggling to grasp the new reality he’d shown her.
It was one thing to see him turn into a bear but being told that there were more like him all around the world had left her somewhat wary of her surroundings.
Who else could turn into animals? Did other monsters exist?
She’d always imagined the stories about witches, vampires, werewolves, and fairies were merely tales, and the thought that they might be a part of her reality threatened to upend her world as she knew it.
It had all been too much. By the time she quit her job and took off from Maine, she felt like her world was coming apart all around her.
She went back to college, and by the time she turned thirty-nine, she was already an established veterinarian in Chicago, with a much better understanding of animals than she ever imagined she’d have.
Did she do it because of Cal, to try and understand him? She wasn’t sure. But not once did she think she would bump into her ex-fiancé. Definitely not like this.
Take a deep breath, Melissa, she instructed herself. Just try to calm down.
She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt so tense, whether it was the fact that she was staring at her former lover or the fact that he was a bear. Either way, it was taking a lot of willpower to silence the voice in her head, screaming at her: Get the heck out of here!
The third of the men whistled. “Well, this is mighty awkward.”
“Not now, Henry.” Bryon said, elbowing him in the ribs, eliciting a wince. “This is serious.”
Cal kept his gaze on her. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He had a scowl plastered on his face. Melissa had never seen him like this before. He looked like he was barely containing his anger. She swallowed, trying to ignore the shivers of anxiety traveling down her spine, and remained where she stood, staring him down.
“I’m here for the job,” she said as clearly as she could. “I just moved to Sylva a few days ago, and I heard there was a vacancy for a veterinarian, so I came here. There is a vacancy, right?”
He was the last person she expected to lay eyes on when she showed up at Green Sanctuary. Didn’t she leave him in Maine? Sure, that was several years ago, but then again, what were the odds of them ending up in the same town?
I’m definitely out of luck.
She came to Downing in early July for a change of scenery, figuring Sylva would be a good place to start a relatively new and peaceful life. Seeing her ex-fiancé at her desired workplace wasn’t part of the plan.
Even worse, she was still attracted to him. As much as she hated to admit it, just looking at him was enough to set her insides aquiver. In the past ten years, very little had changed. It was almost as though no time had passed since she’d left him at the altar.
Except it had. The look in those blue-gray eyes said it all.
“No, there isn’t,” Cal said.
The other men frowned at him. “What are you talking about, Cal?” Bryon wanted to know.
“Yeah, we still need a vet, remember?” said Henry. “We’ve got animals dying in the woods. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten about that.”
“We don’t need her.” Cal’s tone was firm, dripping with fury. “Not here.”
He took a step closer, and Melissa felt the air being sucked out of her lungs. An ache settled between her legs, slight at first, but deepening by the second. She stared up at him, somewhat grateful that he hadn’t noticed her body betraying her attraction.
“There is no vacancy,” he said. “Not for you. I’d leave this sanctuary and look for a job elsewhere if I were you.”
For a second, Melissa opened her mouth to object, then decided there was no point in arguing.
From the second she laid eyes on him, she’d sensed his hostility.
No amount of trying to reason with him would get her this job.
She nodded and, without a word, turned and left, making her way down the dirt path that led off the property.
***
Maybe it’s for the best, she thought.
She crossed the road just before a car rolled past and headed down the sidewalk, walking past a couple of brightly lit shops.
Sylva was a lovely town, and in the few days she’d been here, she’d already fallen in love with it.
For such a small town, it seemed to have everything anyone who was coming from the city might need, except, perhaps, a shopping mall.
The setting sun had dipped behind a couple of buildings, but its orange glow filled the sky.
Up ahead, just on the corner of the next block, a blinking sign caught her eye: Rubicon Valley.
It appeared to be a bar. After the encounter she’d just had, for a drink or two sounded good.
She wasn’t an alcoholic, but a few shots of whiskey might be just what she needed to clear her head.
But in the end, she decided against it, opting to walk home instead. She could’ve driven her car to Green Sanctuary and back, but the town was small enough that she didn’t need to. Plus, she enjoyed taking walks. This town was perfect for her.
Or at least it would’ve been if she’d gotten the vet job. Now, she couldn’t help wondering whether she’d come all this way for nothing. Green Sanctuary was the only clinic in town that needed a vet, and she clearly wasn’t getting that position, not with her ex-fiancé there.
When she moved to Sylva, she was more than certain she would be hired at the sanctuary. She was definitely qualified for the position. But she hadn’t figured on bumping into Cal. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who’d decided on a change of occupation. But how could she have known?
As she walked, she looked down at the ruby ring gleaming on her ring finger.
It was the ring Cal had given her when he proposed to her.
Why she’d kept it over the years—and still wore it—she wasn’t entirely sure.
But it had kept most men at bay. She hadn’t dated anyone in the last ten years, in part because she’d dreaded the possibility of ending up with another shifter.
Maybe it was for the best that she didn’t work at the sanctuary. The last thing she needed was a furious ex breathing down her neck. Working with Cal would be awkward, among other things, and she certainly wasn’t looking forward to bumping into him in empty corridors or dark rooms.
If she weren’t still attracted to him, maybe that wouldn’t be a problem. But, if anything, Cal had gotten even more attractive. If she closed her eyes, she could still remember his thick arms, that broad chest...not to mention how tight his jeans had been around his—
Yeah, it was definitely for the best. If she ended up working with him, she’d have ended up jumping his bones.
Even so...thinking about him now, she felt a pang of emotion in her chest. Until today, she hadn’t realized how terribly she’d missed him.
With some difficulty, she managed to push the thought of Cal out of her mind.
Right now, she needed to figure out a plan.
If she was going to remain in Sylva, she needed to find some other job.
But where to start l? A diner? She’d worked as a waitress before, but she doubted there were any vacancies.
Besides, she’d be earning much less than she was used to.
Maybe you should’ve secured a job here before buying a house, said a voice in her head.
She dismissed it and continued to walk home, slowing down only once she’d reached her block. She was nearing her house when she heard a repeated banging. Just across the street, a man stood hammering a sign onto his front lawn.
Is he selling his house? she wondered.
He wasn’t. The sign read: ANIMAL CARETAKER NEEDED.
“Today just might be your lucky day, Melissa,” she muttered, her stomach fluttering with excitement.
Without a second’s hesitation, she crossed the street.
The man straightened as she approached, his graying brows knitting together in a slight frown.
He was only slightly taller than she was, with a thin, wiry frame.
Impressive for a man that looked to be in his fifties at least. He was balding, his thick beard more gray than black.
Deep brown eyes appraised Melissa as she stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Hi,” she said politely, brushing her bangs out of her face. “You’re looking for an animal caretaker?”
“That’s what the sign says,” the man replied, though not unkindly. He gave her another once-over. “You think you’re a good fit for this job? Could be a lot of work.”
“I’m a vet,” Melissa explained.
The man’s eyebrows rose almost to where his hairline should have been. “You bullshittin’ me? Where’d you serve? Iraq? Nam?”
She almost burst out laughing at his response. “No, I mean I’m a veterinarian. I treat animals. I’m sure I can take care of yours.” Hopefully it’s for a decent wage, she neglected to add. “I’m good at looking after animals.”
He regarded her for what felt longer than a minute. Then he extended a hand. “You’re hired. Come by tomorrow morning, and I’ll show you the ropes, Miss...?”
“Doctor.” She shook his hand, noting his strong grip. “I’m Dr. Melissa Kinley.”
He nodded. “Name’s Dale McClinton. Guess I’ll have to start removing this sign. Almost broke my damn back trying to set it up.”
Judging from his appearance and the way he talked, Melissa guessed he was ex-military. She noticed a jagged scar running down the side of his face. Was that from a fight or an accident? It didn’t look very recent.
Not that it was her business anyway. She just got a job. Things were already looking up.