Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 5 *

The scratches are gone.

I checked my body carefully before I went to bed last night trying to see what the coyote was paying attention to and saw no difference in the light scratches the wolf and bunny left on my body. This morning, they are gone.

I'm not a medical doctor but even I know skin takes longer than a day or two to heal. There is no hint of red where the scratches originally sat. You can't tell any injury to my skin was ever there.

I close my eyes trying to calm my racing heart. I'm a rational human being. There's no such thing as magic. I'm a college-educated woman. There is no such thing as supernatural animals with purple eyes who talk to each other. I'm an empirically trained scientist. I can't have wounds that healed overnight. There's no such thing as magic. Take a deep breath (Y/N). There's no such thing as magic.

If I repeat this enough to myself I just might not believe a single word of it. What the hell is going on?!! What is this place? Does everybody who works here know about this?

I walk with agitated steps around my apartment stewing about everything I've experienced in the last 48 hours.

Daniel should know, right? He's the director here. Only Bangtan Group is higher than he is and he already hinted that the truth behind the animals was another story to be known. He also knew about my injuries and what happened in the woods. I should ask him, right?

No, the coyote didn't want me to mention his visit. Damn, now what?

A knock sounds on the front door and I walk over in my pajamas to see who is bugging me this morning. I open the door to see Ceren, smiling brightly. My thoughts are too frazzled to register what she's doing there.

"Come on, girl. Rise and shine and come join us for breakfast." She then leaves as quickly as she comes and heads to the main room. I watch her walk down the hall and then shake my head and return to my room.

"Get a grip," I say to myself and take a few deep breaths, calming myself down. "I'm logical. I'm smart. They hired me to do a job and I can do this." I remembered back to that coyote and his calm eyes. I remember the deep husky voice that carried me safely through the woods. Of the dominant voice that looked after me. Of the gentle hands of the deep voice that made sure I was not hurt by the wolf. I feel a sense of being looked after as I remember their care.

Whatever is going on, whatever magic is at play here, it's not going to hurt me. I hope.

I get dressed and join the others in the main room. A breakfast spread has been set up on the bar and people are in various stages of getting food or eating. I join the short line at the bar behind a man with brown hair and a narrow build. He turns around and smiles at me.

"Hello there, I'm Marcus Willowby, Conservationist. Nice to meet you." He takes my hand as if conferring a favor and shakes it before I have a chance to respond.

"Hello, Marcus, I'm Dr. (Y/N) (L/N)." I smile as I shake his hand. Two can play this game. He has a light grip and I loosen my firm shake so I don't overwhelm him.

"Ah, the girl who saw three. Yes, you are all the buzz around here." He replies pompously.

"I wasn't aware everyone knew already," I comment. Marcus turns as a spot opens up at the bar and starts to dish himself a generous helping of eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, and toast.

"It's a bit of a game we all play, you see," Marcus says in an offhand manner. "Our way of pulling back the mystery, so to speak." He winks at me.

"Mystery?" I inquire.