“Yeah, it’ll be good for my brothers too. Well, what’s on the agenda today? Will I meet Dr. Luna? But first, I need a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.”
Slate poured a cup of coffee for Colton. “Here. I can’t start without my lifeblood, either.”
While they sipped their coffees, Slate asked, “How come you don’t have a scent? If I didn’t know you were a wolf, I’d think you were human.”
“After the massacre, Jackson took us to see Jimmy who’s a lone wolf…owns a gas station and 10,000 acres behind it. He’s mated to Mystia, who’s a witch. She cast a protection spell over each of us…an anti-scent one. Didn’t Steel tell you?”
“No, does Jackson have one?”
“No…well to be accurate, he did have one, but Mystia removed it before he and Steel mated.”
“Why do you still have yours? The kill-on-sight order has been rescinded.”
“It goes back to your phone call this morning. Jackson wants us to have as much protection as possible in case our uncle is lying.”
“Ahh. Got it. Okay. How about we shower and then I’ll take you to see the facilities and meet Dr. Luna.”
“Sure, but are we going to eat breakfast?”
Laughing, Slate got up. “I haven’t forgotten. Let’s grab something quick. We’ll be meeting the good doctor for lunch and I promise you, it’ll make up for a small breakfast.”
After some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, Slate and Colton headed to the site of the new hospital and clinic. It was within walking distance and conveniently locatednear a cluster of homes and apartments where the pack of Mexican Wolf shifters lived. Colton looked around and saw new adobe houses and low apartment buildings interspersed with small green areas where young pups were playing. Walking past one of the parks, he heard sounds of growling and yapping as the kids playfully charged each other. He was surprised at how new the structures were.
“Dire Enterprises built them a couple of years ago,” Slate said, after seeing Colton’s puzzled look.
“Oh, is that when you learned how to cook Mexican dishes?”
“Yeah, Juan…Dr. Luna…asked for our help because so many of the old structures were dilapidated and falling down. We put this shifter pack on our ten year plan. In another two years we were planning to build a new hospital and clinic along with a new school. But when the attacks started, Dr. Luna asked if the timetable could be moved up for the hospital and clinic.”
Slate stopped in front of an adobe building and, pulling keys out of his pocket, unlocked the front door. “This building has been totally gutted down to the exterior walls and rebuilt. It has the latest fire suppression and alarm systems, along with all new mechanicals, and we used ecologically safe building materials for doors, windows, and so on.”
“How do you provide power to this remote area?”
“Mainly solar and wind turbines. But we have a generator as a back-up in case those fail.”
“This is amazing. Is this what you and Steel do all over the world? Help wolf packs provide a better living for their shifters?”
“Yup, so ready for your tour?
“Absolutely!”
~/~/~/~/~
All morning, Colton worked at checking off each piece of equipment against his master list. Slate’s muscles came in handy for lifting and pushing things around. By eleven thirty, he verified everything had been accounted for and had made a sizable dent in the job of arranging all the rooms. What had been just empty spaces were now filled with X-ray machines, exam tables, hospital beds and more.
“Hey Colt, I need a break. It’s been a long time since I was a mover.”
“Hmmm,” Colton looked up from the floorplan, “shit, Slate, sorry, sure. Do you want to go to lunch?”
“That sounds great. I’ll send the doc a text and see if he’s ready.”
Colton turned back to the to-do list he made. The rooms were missing what he called the ‘warm and comforting’ items which could make all the difference to a recovering patient. Maybe he’d bring that up at lunch. Or maybe he shouldn’t do it in front of Dr. Luna.Crap.Just go with your gut. If the opportunity presented itself, he’d bring it up.
“Hey, Colt, let’s wash up. The doc is meeting us back at our apartment. Hustle, hustle. I gotta make our food.”
“Really, we aren’t going out to eat? Do you want to order something to pick up on the way back?”
“No, I’ve got this. Trust me, I’m a good cook.”
