Page 12

Kellan

“Before we do anything else, we need to check you for a chip.” The alpha was waiting when I woke again. After breakfast, that is.”

I opened my eyes, taking in the sun-bathed room around me. I lay in the center of a soft bed, between silky soft sheets, comforters piled over me. Pillows cradled my head. And the alpha sat on a chair a few feet away, wearing a camel-colored hoodie over a white T-shirt and jeans. He looked rested and composed, as if I was just any guest who stopped by to spend the night.

Instead of a bear who had menaced him for hours while he tried to command my shift.

“Where am I?” It seemed like the logical first question. “This is not where I last remember being.”

“No.” He stayed where he sat, giving me space, but he was such a tall, broad-shouldered alpha, he seemed to take up most of the smallish room. “You’re at Markus the healer’s place, and you slept the clock around.”

“How did I get here? I was in some kind of holding cell or maybe one for shifters who lose their sanity.” Those padded walls…

“That was in the basement of the alpha house. But once you shifted, we decided to trust that you would hold in two-legged form and I carried you over here.”

“Why did you feel safe enough to do that?” If my bear took over again, it could have run amok.

“Because I established contact with the bear, at least enough to make you shift, and we needed to talk to you about how we can help you from this point forward. Now, get dressed and I’ll meet you in the hallway.”

After he stepped out and closed the door, I got up and realized I was naked. That meant, he’d carried me here from that other building nude in front of whoever was out and about on the grounds. Although shifters weren’t too wound up about nakedness, being hauled around like that stung a bit.

But I couldn’t fail to feel a little better at my improved circumstances. Now that I was able to shift again and was free of the labs, it was time to look forward. A stack of clothing was laid out on the dresser, and while the shirt was kind of big, the jeans fit well. I dressed and moved toward the door, only half surprised to find it unlocked. After all, the alpha had told me to come out into the hallway, but other than my escape route the other night, it had been a long time since I’d opened a door under my own power.

“Right this way.” The alpha waved me down the hall, and we emerged into a living/dining room just as another male came in carrying a platter of breakfast foods. The scents had my mouth watering. Eggs, bacon, pancakes… He set it on the table next to a bowl of fruit and other good things. “I don’t suppose you like coffee?”

“I don’t know.” I’d smelled it lots, both before I was taken and after, but no one had ever offered me any.

He stared at me. “How can you not know whether you like coffee?”

“I was fourteen when they took me, and in the labs, we were not given anything like that.”

“Fourteen.” Markus shook his head. “They must have had you nearly twenty years.”

“I don’t know. It was a long time.” I was trying to pay attention but the food was drawing me in. The only real quantity I’d eaten in years was what the bear had hunted and foraged on the way. Oh, and the pail in the cell.

“We have questions for you,” the alpha said. “We need to know everything about those who had you so we can help others.”

“Locke, let the omega eat his breakfast, okay?” The healer pushed the platter toward me. “But go a little slow. Your stomach is probably pretty shrunken, and it needs time to adjust. I promise you’ll never be hungry in the sanctuary.”

So this was the sanctuary. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but from what the alpha, from what Locke said, they were here to help people like me, and that would have to be good enough for now.

I didn’t do a great job of restraining my eating, and with my sunken stomach bulging, I leaned back and took my first taste of coffee.

“People like this?” I wrinkled my nose and sipped again. “It’s bitter.”

“Add sugar and cream,” Locke said. “At least, until you get used to it.”

A liberal dose of both was a big help. I thought I might learn to like the beverage, but for now, I poured a big glass of orange juice. That had always been a favorite of mine.

“Now that you’re done eating, I need to go over some things with you,” the healer said. “Our alpha…I mean, Locke will need to interview you regarding your captivity, but that can wait until we take care of business.”

“All right.” I didn’t like his tone. It sounded like someone about to deliver bad news. “Go ahead.”

“We need to discuss one of your bears and how we can keep it from taking over again.”

“One of my…I only have one bear. Is it possible to have two? Because I’ve never heard of that.”

“The alpha, I mean, Locke was able to make contact with both. One is the bear you were born with, but the other is not natural at all. It doesn’t have the characteristics of one of our animals, and that’s why you were unable to control it.”

“But it’s still there?”

He nodded.

“I can’t believe…two bears? How did they do that?”

“We haven’t seen it before, so we just don’t know.” Locke patted my shoulder. “But you can imagine it’s critical to make sure that it doesn’t take over again until it’s either eliminated or you can learn how to control it.”

“Absolutely.” My poor bear. Even now, it hadn’t been out to play. “But what about my real one?”

“The only way to protect you, and us, is to treat you with a shift suppressor. It will keep you in two-legged form.” Markus offered me a smile, but it did not reach his eyes. “If we don’t do it, you’ll have to stay in the room where you were before until the situation resolves.”

“It will wear off in a few days if we don’t retreat you,” Locke assured me. “It’s up to you, but I would really prefer you wander free than be locked up.”

“Me too.” I chewed on my lower lip, thinking. “I was given a lot of drugs while I was at the labs. And I never knew what they were. What if they mix badly with yours?”

He shrugged. “That’s a chance you’ll have to take if you want to have freedom.”

I was still shocked at having two bears. But I’d do anything to avoid being locked up again. “I’ll do it.”