Ottis hurried back to the mansion with his tail between his legs. He strained his ears to keep track of the situation out there, listening when Doc made a call. A police car pulled up shortly after.
Ottis shifted back into a human, wincing at the bleeding graze wound on his shoulder.
Oh, Mother Moon.What if Doc sends me away because of my disobedience?
18
PREGNANCY
Ottis hoveredby the front doors, waiting for Doc to return. He tried not to gnaw on his nails. He tried not to pull out his hair, either.
When his stomach tried to cave in like a sinkhole, he yanked on his clothes, collecting Marcie from Hijinks.
Marcie giggled and kicked, taking the edge off his worries.
It was kind of crazy, actually. It wasn’t too long ago that all Ottis needed to center himself, was Marcie safe and happy in his arms. He would’ve been perfectly fine with things staying that way, too. Marcie at the center of his world.
Except sometime over the past two days, things had changed.
Now, Doc’s opinion mattered. Some part of Ottis’ wolf-brain demanded that he do everything he could to make Doc approve of him again. It made him horribly nervous. Doc could easily cast him aside if he wasn’t satisfied; where would that leave Ottis and Marcie?
Maybe we should leave before it’s too late,Ottis thought.Before I fall in love with him.
“What do you think?” he whispered to Marcie, bringing her to the living room couch. “Is this too dangerous?”
Marcie grabbed his lower lip and yanked.
Ottis groaned. “I may as well flip a coin.”
The front door swung open. Ottis ducked behind a couch and tried not to breathe, even though he knew his thundering pulse had already given him away.
“I don’t exist,” he squeaked.
Doc snorted, closing the door. “And who does that disembodied voice belong to?”
“A ghost,” Ottis’ mouth blurted.
“A very chatty ghost who happens to be in my lair,” Doc rumbled. “Tell me, is this ghost hurt?”
Ottis’ heart tumbled. “Um, no?”
His heart skipped.
Doc was in front of the couch in a heartbeat.
Ottis cowered and clutched Marcie to himself like a shield. “I’m not hurt!” Another skip. “... That badly.”
Doc narrowed his eyes. “Show me where. You don’t have to put Marcie down, but I won’t give this a rest until you’re treated.”
“Fine.” Ottis set Marcie in the circle of his legs, before peeling off his shirt. “Here.”
He turned slightly to show Doc the bullet graze. Doc sucked in a slow breath; he probed Ottis’ shoulder, careful not to touch the wound itself. “Just this?”
“Yeah.”
Doc turned away, only for Ottis to notice the line of red acrosshisbicep.
“Hey, we’re twins,” Ottis blurted. Doc looked back, eyebrow raised. “You have a graze on your arm, just like me.”
