Willow POV
Lights came on as I flicked switches on my way through the office to the treatment rooms and overnight kennels. Steel clattered against steel just as I reached the back.
Doc Blake looked up at me briefly. His quick smile was just a flash on his face as he acknowledged my presence. His attention immediately fell back to the chocolate lab on the table in front of him. The dog whimpered, and I could see she was bleeding. Its nose twitched, eyes whirling as it caught my scent. It knew I wasn’t human.
The sound twisted something deep in my chest. Hurt like that was always worse when the creature suffering couldn’t understand why.
But pain always recognized pain. Maybe that was why injured animals trusted me so quickly. They sensed the same thing I did—the fear beneath the hurt,
