Threshold shift

Chapter 19

Two hours after Annika had signed his release papers, an hour after his last IV, and ten minutes after he had fought about whether or not he needed to be wheeled away in a wheelchair – which he had lost - Owen was on his way to his own home. With his very own driver.

Dan had only raised his eyebrows when Owen had started to argue, which had made the other man shut up about getting a nanny.

"What happened to the Sorna raptor pack?" Owen asked instead.

"Not your concern."

"The hell they are, Dan!" he snapped, then suppressed a groan at the pulse of pain.

The blond looked at him for a long moment. He had yet to start the engine. The car sat in the brightly lit spot in front of Medical, and the world around them was dark and mostly asleep.

"They were sedated by the vet unit we called. All animals and the eggs have been transported to a safe area. They didn't just have velociraptors, Owen. Dr. Foxworth counted close to twenty babies from all kinds of species."

"Fuck."

"They're all in quarantine."

"Good."

Quarantine was far, far away from the regular theme park, walled off, with special access only.

"Where's your pack?" Carter asked, sounding almost casual.

Owen reached along the bond and found them waiting in the jungle for the car to get started, for their alpha to head home.

He told Dan and it got him a knowing look.

x XX JW XX x

Carter started the car, pulled out of the parking lot and drove back to the raptor paddock as carefully as possible, but nothing could help the jolts rattling through the cab as the SUV hit bumps and dips. The road was dark, only lit up by the light from the headlamps.

Owen looked decidedly ghost-like when they finally stopped and for a moment Dan was afraid he would either faint or throw up.

Thankfully he did neither.

But it was probably a close call.

He was even more thankful when he saw help in form of Professor Grant approach the SUV.

x XX JW XX x

The raptor enclosure and Owen Grady's house had been cleared of all non-essential people, which meant absolutely everyone who wasn't on Grady's list of approved visitors.

Alan Grant had been on that list since it existed. He had been at the hotel, talking to Mick and enjoying a good drink, trying to distract himself from the worry he felt about Owen, when Claire had called him. Giving him the news. The terrifying, horrific news.

"I knew something had happened," he murmured, shaking his head. "He's a trouble magnet."

"You got no idea what happened, Alan."

"Whatever happened, it won't be easy. I know that kid by now. If he is involved and Medical was needed, it's bad. Really bad."

The raptor pack was most likely hidden in the jungle but so very much free to roam. They might even go home, to the enclosure.

x XX JW XX x

Alan arrived just twenty minutes ahead of Carter, switching on the lights in the house. The paddock was bathed in spotlights already, since they were on timers.

When Owen arrived at his home, with Dan Carter acting as his personal cabby-nanny-bodyguard, he was reasonably alert, though a bit slower than usual. His face looked like someone had banged it against something hard and unyielding repeatedly. There was one big, colorful bruise running down his face, a cut over one eye, a split lip, and bandages peeking out from under shredded looking clothes.