Resolution Read online

  Resolution

  Refuge Shifters Book Four

  By Carol Lynne

  Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

  Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  P.O. Box 992

  Edgewater, Florida, 32132

  Resolution

  Copyright © 2010, Carol Lynne

  Edited by Tiffany Mason

  Cover art by Rika Singh

  Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-112-2

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Electronic release: January 2010

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  res·o·lu·tion (rĕzʺo-liüʹśhən; rĕsʺo-lüʹshon)

  n.

  1. the act or an instance of resolving an issue

  2. the condition or quality of being resolute

  3. something resolved or determined; decision

  4. a formal expression of opinion agreed upon by a vote

  5. (Law) a judicial decision or judgment

  Chapter One

  Two months after getting the first of the bird shifters into their new homes, Enapay was still unsettled. Although he had a new home he loved, he couldn’t rest easy until Takoda was out of the clinic.

  Lately, it seemed Takoda had more bad days than good. Takoda wasn’t the only shifter still suffering the effects of the poisonous gas, but the others appeared to be getting stronger every day.

  Enapay put on his soft buckskin pants and laced up the waist. He’d received word that Dr. Gray Whitmore wanted to talk to him about Takoda’s condition, but Enapay wanted to go by the clinic first to check on the man he’d always loved.

  He climbed down the ladder of his tree house and headed toward the overcrowded clinic. Construction had begun on a bigger and better hospital, but until recently, houses for the shifters had been the number one priority.

  It wasn’t yet clear to Enapay whether or not Gray would stay at Refuge once his research was complete, but the visiting researcher had settled in nicely. When not in his lab, Gray had worked right alongside the shifters to build hundreds upon hundreds of tree houses.

  Enapay had spent a great deal of time with the handsome doctor, which had prompted even more visits to Takoda’s bedside. There was just something about Gray that made Enapay feel guilty whenever they were around each other. On several occasions, he’d had to remind himself that he wasn’t a free man. The overwhelming desire to touch the human doctor was strong, and it scared and shamed Enapay.

  Stepping into the clinic, Enapay waived to his favorite nurse, Nancy. “Good morning.”

  “Morning, handsome,” Nancy replied with a grin.

  He strode into the small private room they’d given Takoda and stopped. The curtain had been drawn around Takoda’s bed, which usually meant his doctor, Refuge’s newest physician, Sam Sparrol, was examining him.

  Enapay crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Sam was a good guy. He’d been brought in five weeks earlier to replace one of the other doctors who’d had a family emergency. The curtain opened and Enapay got his first look at Takoda that day. The man he loved appeared pale, but awake.

  Enapay kept his position. “How’s the patient today?”

  After opening the window blinds, Sam approached Enapay. “Weak.” Sam shook his head. “Maybe you can get him to eat something.”

  Enapay glanced over Sam’s shoulder to Takoda. “Has he had anything yet?”

  Sam shook his head. “He sent his breakfast back. I told him if he didn’t start eating, I’d be forced to hook up a feeding tube.”

  “Would you please ask someone to bring me some grits or oatmeal?” Enapay asked.

  Sam nodded before leaving the room.

  Enapay approached Takoda and took his customary spot in the chair next to the bed. He knew Takoda’s lack of appetite was a reflection on his inability to shift. So far, they hadn’t been able to figure out why his crow refused to come out, but that was what Gray was researching.

  Enapay reached through the bedrails and took Takoda’s hand. “You need to eat.”

  Takoda shook his head. “I’ve no taste for human food.”

  “You’re in human form. You need to eat the right kind of food to get your strength back,” Enapay tried to explain.

  Takoda gazed at Enapay with tears in his eyes. “Why do I have to stay here?”

  “Because you’re still sick.” Enapay concentrated on rubbing the skin between Takoda’s thumb and forefinger. How many days had he sat wanting nothing more than to pull the man into his lap to protect him from the world?

  “But I don’t feel sick, just tired.” Takoda ignored Enapay’s touch like he had every day.

  “Maybe if you’d eat, that would go away,” Enapay argued.

  “Why can’t I shift?” Takoda asked the same question every time Enapay visited.

  “I don’t know, but I’ve got a meeting with Gray after I leave here.”

  “He’s nice.”

  “Yeah, he is.” Although Enapay agreed, he found the observation strange. Takoda didn’t take well to humans, at least the full-blooded variety. To know Takoda liked Gray was unsettling.

  Takoda’s eyes had started to drift shut when Kelly brought in a bowl of grits.

  “Thanks,” Enapay said, taking the bowl.

  Takoda tried to turn his head away when Enapay lifted a spoon toward his mouth. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Please. Just a few bites,” Enapay begged.

  “Two and then you have to leave me alone about it,” Takoda offered.

  “Three and I’ll leave you alone until this evening,” Enapay countered.

  Takoda rolled his eyes. “Why do you care so much? If I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to eat.”

  “Three,” Enapay repeated. He thought about once again telling the small shifter how much he loved him, but those words always seemed to make Takoda uncomfortable.

  In the end, Takoda managed to get down two and a half spoonfuls of grits. Enapay had no doubt Takoda could have eaten more, but the shifter refused to fully do as asked. Enapay eventually set the bowl down and held out a glass of water.

  Takoda took several sips out of the straw before rolling to his side, his back to Enapay. “You can go now.”

  Enapay took a deep breath. There were times Takoda was damn infuriating to deal with. He could tell Takoda was in one of his moods, so he knew there was no sense staying any longer. Enapay got to his feet and readjusted Takoda’s blankets. “I’ll be back later.”

  “No need to hurry,” Takoda mumbled.

  With a shake of his head, Enapay left the room.

  * * * *

  Enapay knocked on Gray’s door. Because the clinic was still full of healing bird shifters, the doctor had turned the living room in his small cottage into his office. Enapay hated to admit it, but he’d actually made it a point to run by his house and ready himself for the meeting.

  The door opened and the gorgeous, somber-looking doctor attempted a smile. “Come in.”

  Enapay followed Gray into the house. Instead of heading toward
his desk, Gray gestured to the sofa that had been shoved to one side of the room. “Have a seat.”

  Suddenly uneasy by the doctor’s demeanor, Enapay stayed where he was. “What’s wrong?”

  Gray grabbed a folder off the coffee table and sat at one end of the sofa. “I think you need to sit down for this.”

  Enapay wanted to argue, but the expression on Gray’s face was grim. With his knees growing weaker by the second, Enapay eventually joined Gray on the couch, sitting as far away from the tall, lean doctor as he could. “What’s wrong with Takoda?”

  “I don’t know, which has me really concerned.”

  Enapay’s eyes immediately began to burn. “Why?”

  Gray shook his head. “Because Dr. Sparrol can’t find anything wrong with him, yet he continues to have these periods of weakness. And we still don’t know why he can’t shift.”

  “Maybe he just needs to regain his strength,” Enapay offered.

  “Maybe. But that doesn’t solve the problem as to why he’s been so up and down lately. Dr. Sparrol says there’s no explanation for it.”

  “Why don’t you try?” Enapay asked.

  Gray ran his fingers through his short blond hair. “I’m a geneticist, not a medical doctor, and Dr. Sparrol’s one of the best at treating the human side of shifters. I was brought in because I’ve been studying shifters for years, but in their shifted state.”

  Enapay could tell by Gray’s expression that there was something else. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  Gray nodded. “It’s possible the gas Takoda breathed has done irreparable damage to his crow. It’s completely possible he may never regain the power to shift.”

  Enapay shook his head and stood. “No. I won’t believe that. Takoda’s crow means everything to him.”

  Gray stood and reached out to place a hand on Enapay’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  Enapay’s breathing started to increase from the simple touch. He pushed his desires away. “You can’t tell Takoda he may never shift again.”

  “Someone has to.”

  “Why? He’s not strong enough. The news will kill him,” Enapay tried to argue.

  “He’s weak, but he’s no longer knocking on death’s door,” Gray tried to reason.

  Enapay shook his head. “You don’t understand. Takoda would rather die than live without his crow. He hated life as a man.”

  Gray’s eyebrows drew together. “He’ll figure it out eventually, and then he’ll be pissed no one prepared him.”

  Enapay held his hands out, palm up. “Please. Just give it some time. If anyone tells him, it needs to be me, but I need to put a few things into motion before then. If he’s told now, I guarantee you he won’t last the week.”

  * * * *

  Two days later, Gray walked into the clinic and straight to Takoda’s room. He knew the clinic’s head physician, Dr. Sam Sparrol, was signing Takoda out, and Gray wanted to talk some sense into the man.

  Gray rounded the corner and almost ran into Daniel and Hakan. He stopped short. “Excuse me.”

  “Our fault. We were on our way to find Enapay,” Hakan explained.

  “He’s not here?” Gray questioned.

  Hakan shook his head. “Takoda’s been asking for him for two days.”

  Gray was more than a little surprised by the news. “He left my house almost forty-eight hours ago. I hoped he’d have talked to Takoda by now.”

  Hakan’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think something’s happened to him?”

  Gray pictured the way Enapay looked when he practically ran out of the house. “He was upset. He’d said something about setting a few things into motion. Maybe he’s off somewhere processing what I told him.”

  “Which is?” Hakan probed.

  Gray glanced around. Other than the lab, which was in use, there really wasn’t an available space to talk in the small clinic. “Let’s step outside.”

  Hakan wrapped his arm around Daniel and followed Gray to the side of the clinic, well away from the open windows. “What’s going on?”

  Gray explained Takoda’s condition to the two men.

  “And there’s nothing else you can try?” Daniel asked when Gray finished.

  Gray shook his head. “Like I told Enapay, there’s nothing any of us can do about Takoda’s crow. His ability to shift either will or won’t return.

  Hakan pulled away from Daniel and walked into the timber before Gray could say another word. Gray glanced at Daniel. “Have I angered him?”

  Daniel shook his head. “He’s going to talk to Father Sky.” The smaller shifter ran a hand through his hair.

  Gray had seen Daniel’s gift first hand, and if the Coyote King hadn’t been able to heal Takoda, he didn’t hold out much hope. “I would think if Father Sky could heal the shifters he would’ve already done it.”

  Daniel nodded. “It’s not the first time Hakan has communicated with Father Sky since this whole nightmare began.”

  “Well, Takoda’s man-skin, as he calls it, is getting healthier every day. He should be happy he’s alive at all. Takoda’s going to need to pick himself up by the bootstraps and move forward. No sense dwelling on what may never again happen.”

  Once again, Daniel shook his head. The expression on his face was one of disgust. “You have no fucking clue who we are. You sit in your lab and dissect parts of us, but you’ve never learned what really makes us who we are. Until you can do that, save your opinions.”

  Gray felt like he’d been slapped. He gave Daniel a short nod and turned to go back into the clinic. He knew they thought he was being heartless, but facts were facts. In his opinion, it was no different than asking a diabetic to give up his legs in order to save his life. Wasn’t the important thing to live?

  One thing was certain. Takoda couldn’t be discharged from the clinic—not yet. Not only did Takoda need to be informed of his condition, but also he simply wasn’t strong enough.

  Gray was lucky enough to catch Dr. Sam Sparrol coming out of a patient’s room. “Sam. Can I have a word?”

  “Sure.” Sam glanced around, finally indicating a corner of the nurses’ station. “What’s up?”

  “I need you to hold Takoda here for at least another day,” Gray explained.

  Sam shook his head. “We need the bed. Quite frankly, from what I can tell, Takoda needs rest, nourishment and to be out of here. He hates it, ya know?”

  “I’m aware of that, but you’re only seeing his human side. He needs to be told he may never regain the power to shift, and I’ve promised to let Enapay do that.”

  “So where is he?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t know, but when he does tell Takoda the news, I’d feel better if he was in here. We have no idea what his reaction might be, and at least here, we can sedate him if we need to.”

  Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry, Gray, I can’t. He’s demanding to leave, and I don’t have the authority to keep him against his will. You’re a doctor. If watching Takoda means so much to you, take the needed supplies and convince him to go to your place.”

  Gray felt like screaming. Having Takoda in his house wasn’t an option as far as he was concerned. It had been hard enough being around Enapay almost on a daily basis, but Takoda brought out his protective side, and that wouldn’t do. He’d worked damn hard to keep an emotional and professional detachment to Takoda.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t seem Gray had much choice. Sending Takoda out into an unsupervised world simply wasn’t an option, at least not yet. Gray glanced back at Sam. “Fine. Give me an hour to get my house ready.”

  Sam nodded. “I’ll have one of the nurses gather the items you might need.”

  Gray strode out of the clinic. His mood was iffy at best, so when Daniel rounded the corner of the clinic and stood in front of him, Gray was prepared for a fight.

  “Sorry,” Daniel said, surprising Gray.

  The fight left Gray in a heartbeat. “You were right. It doesn’t matter how much I try to understand or how
much I want to, I’ll never know what it feels like to be a shifter. Unfortunately, other than Sam Sparrol, I don’t know any shifters who are also doctors.”

  Daniel held his hands up and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. You’re right about not having enough doctors, and the fact that you’re here at all is commendable. I know what the outside world thinks of us. Since someone leaked the truth about what was going on here at Refuge to the press, almost every hate group out there has target us. Most of them claim to be Christian groups, which pisses me off even more.”

  “They just don’t understand the facts. Maybe you should think about holding some sort of press conference or something to educate people,” Gray offered.

  Daniel shook his head yet again. “Humans will continue to believe what they want to believe.”

  Gray didn’t agree with that statement. Hadn’t his own mind been changed by learning the truth about the shifters DNA? When Ryker had first hired him, Gray had been uneasy about getting close enough to the shifters to test their blood. It had been the amount of money Ryker was willing to give him to fund the project that had clinched the deal for Gray.

  Without anything else to add to the discussion, Gray pointed toward the used car he’d bought in Seattle and driven up to Refuge. “I need to get home. Sam won’t keep Takoda here, so I’ll be taking him to my place until I know he’s going to be okay.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ve already offered to sit with him during the day while Enapay is working,” Daniel said.

  “You can help out at my house if you’d like, but I think Takoda needs medical supervision.” Gray shrugged. “At least until he comes to terms with his condition.”

  Daniel started to say something but stopped.

  “What? Are you going to warn me about Takoda’s sharp tongue? Believe me, I’ve already been on the receiving end a time or two.” It was a shame, too. When Takoda slept, he looked like an angel. The thin, sharp features of Takoda’s face seemed to soften, giving off more beauty than a man had a right to possess. It was when Takoda’s black eyes opened that you had to duck and cover. The small crow-shifter was obviously so full of pain and hate, he knew no other way to act.