That Girl is Poison

by Milly Taiden

  “Oh shit, that can’t be good,” Kyro commented with a smirk.

  “Shut up.” Xeon gritted his teeth and glared at Kyro. “Remember those gray service vans that nearly plowed us over? What if the shifters were inside those vans?”

  “How would they have gotten everyone in there? It would have been the perfect chance to escape. Why not take it?” Kyro asked.

  “Mara said that she’d been drugged most of the time. Maybe they drugged them for transport. They do have a massive supply of drugs on hand. It’s not too far-fetched.” Xeon said, pulling into a parking spot less than a block away from the hospital.

  “That’s a possibility.” Kyro nodded.

  “I think it’s a good possibility.” Xeon opened the driver’s door and got out.

  “What are you two doing here?” Ryder asked when he came around the corner. “You should have called. I could have saved you a trip.”

  “Did Hunter catch any scents near the hospital? I think they transported everyone by a van out of the service entrance,” Xeon asked when they got closer.

  “I’d gotten a mix of scents. Though, they didn’t lead anywhere. It didn’t even last a full block. Seems right if they’d been in the vehicle. It would account for the lack of lingering scents.” Hunter replied.

  “Damn it.” Xeon ran his hands through his hair. “Can’t we get a damn break?”

  He should have never gone to the Sheriff. They should have gone straight to the hospital last night. Xeon mentally kicked his ass when his phone rang in his pocket.

  “Xeon,” he answered without looking at the screen.

  “Pearce, I may have something,” Sheriff Langley told him.

  “What is it?” Xeon couldn’t be sure about anything Langley had to say. Something about Langley was wrong... something not quite right. Even Mara expressed her lack of trust in calling him. Not to mention her talking about the sheriff having lunch with the doctor. That was as shady as things got in his book.

  “I did some digging into Dr. Phenix.” Xeon heard him flipping through papers. “It appears Dr. Phenix has a warehouse out on some property to the north of town. There’s not much I can do from a legal standpoint. Although, I’ll send you the address if you want to take a few guys and check it out. I can’t promise anything, but it’s something.”

  “Send the address. I already have a team together. We’ll check it out. Thanks.” Xeon hung up and looked at the message on his phone.

  “Good news?” Kyro asked.

  “I don’t know. We got an address. It’s not much, and it came from Langley, but it’s something we have to check out.” He didn’t think they’d find anything, but his hopes still rose at the thought of seeing his pack mates. He definitely found it suspicious that his only lead was coming from the corrupted sheriff.

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Ryder clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get Trina and the others back.”

  “Where’s Brody?” Xeon asked, realizing the man wasn’t with them.

  “He backtracked to the hospital to get the truck,” Ryder informed him.

  “Send him back to the compound. You two ride with us.” Xeon turned back to his SUV.

  On the way back to the truck, Xeon put the address into his phone. The warehouse was an hour away. Excitement and hope coursed through him side by side with caution and anxiety. It could all be over with shortly, but when had things been solved quickly?

  It took a little under an hour to get to Dr. Phenix’s property. Xeon pulled the SUV into a wooded area where they wouldn’t be seen from the road. According to the GPS on his phone, the warehouse should be right on the other side of the trees.

  “Keep your eyes open and ears peeled. We don’t have any intel on the property and I am not sure the sheriff isn’t setting us up.” Xeon warned them.

  As they walked through the woods, Xeon kept looking for cameras and booby traps. They couldn’t find anything suspicious. Stepping out of the woods, they came to a clearing. A large warehouse building stood in the middle of it. No vehicles or people were milling around outside. No lights were shining from inside.

  “I don’t like this,” Kyro commented. “It’s too quiet.”

  Xeon nodded. There should be some kind of ruckus coming from captive shifters. At the least, there should be howls and growls. Everything was silent. The birds weren’t chirping. Nothing, no sign of any wildlife or people.

  They slowly made their way to the warehouse entrance. The smell of shifters assaulted Xeon’s nose. He glanced at the others and knew they smelled the same thing and quickened their pace. The warehouse door had a chain wrapped around the handle to a bar on the side. A padlock linked the two ends together. Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked. It hung on the chain, opened. Kyro gave him a quizzical look.

  “I don’t think we should go in there,” Xeon told the others.

  “Are you crazy?” One of the men said. “Our family members are in there. We take any chance to save them.”

  “He’s right. Even the remote possibility of finding them should be checked out,” Kyro said.

  “Fine,” Xeon growled. His wolf argued it was a trap, but he wasn’t alpha for nothing. He’d check things out first. If there was a chance the missing shifters were inside, he would risk it.

  “We’re good,” Kyro told him. “Let’s get our people.”

  “Everyone in position. I have a gut feeling this is a trap, but I’m not leaving any stone unturned in search of our pack mates. I need you all to stay vigilant and on point.” Xeon demanded as he took a defensive stance and reached for the chain.

  Xeon tried to loosen the chain without making a noise, but it rattled against itself when he pulled it through the bar. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a noise coming from inside the warehouse. Someone moved around, but no one came to the door. After a few moments, he continued to remove the chain from the door handle. Ryder eased the chain to the ground. A ferocious bellow came from inside. It was definitely a shifter.

  “Come on.” Xeon slowly opened the door.

  He’d expected to see several shifters locked in cages. Instead, only one could be found. A Kodiak bear, and he looked pissed. Drool hung from his mouth, and his eyes glowed amber. A buzz sounded somewhere within the room, and the bear bellowed again. Kyro, Ryder, and Hunter slipped in behind him but stopped when they saw the bear. Cages lined each side of the warehouse, but they all were empty. The bear stood in the middle of the room on his hind legs, looking at them.

  Xeon raised his hands to try to calm the bear. Another bellow came out when the bear’s mouth opened. Suddenly, the bear charged them. His heavy paws made a thud when they hit the floor. Ryder and Hunter spread out beside Xeon. Kyro cracked his knuckles and stepped in front of Xeon.

  “I’ve got this.” Kyro ran toward the bear.

  The two collided. Kyro punched the bear with little result. The bear wasn’t fazed by Kyro’s assault. Ryder shifted to his wolf and growled. He joined the fight, biting onto the bear’s hind leg. The bear swatted Ryder, throwing him back eight feet. The wolf yelped but got up to continue the fight. When it turned back, the force of his head tossed Kyro on his ass. The Kodiak reared up, bellowing his rage. He lashed out in all directions, not aiming at anyone. Like a blind man in a fight, swinging away.

  Hunter shifted and ran behind the bear. The bear hadn’t noticed him until he leapt on his back, and was biting into his shoulder. Xeon shifted to his wolf and jumped onto the bear, biting at his neck. He couldn’t get a good grip on the bear’s throat. His second bite did the job. His teeth clamped down on the bear’s fur. That was until the bear spun around and lashed out wildly. Xeon lost his grip and crashed to the floor.

  Another buzz sounded, and the bear became more enraged. He stood on his hind end and bellowed loudly. That’s when Xeon saw the collar around his neck, mostly hidden by fur. Every time the buzz sounded, the bear got more and more aggressive. Xeon backed away and shifted back to his human form.

  “I need a di
straction. Attack from the front,” Xeon ordered his pack mates.

  The wolves stopped their individual attacks and settled in front of the oversized bear. While the wolves kept the bear’s attention, Xeon slipped around behind him. The bear focused only on the wolves in front of him. Xeon nodded to his pack mates, who settled into a ready position.

  Hunter and Ryder each took one of the bear’s hind legs, and Kyro jumped up and latched on to the bear’s left shoulder. Xeon took a running start and jumped onto the bear’s back. Not being too happy about their unified assault, the bear lashed out with his right arm and knocked Kyro off its shoulder. Kyro yelped as he landed on the floor.

  “Let us help you, damn it,” Xeon gritted through his teeth.

  Xeon locked his legs around the bear using his thigh muscles to hang on since his legs didn’t meet around the giant form of the bear and reached up to the bear’s neck. The bear shook his head, trying to break Xeon free, but he had to get the collar off. His head reared back, and he head-butted Xeon in the nose. The bear swatted Ryder free of his left leg. Finally, locating the collar’s latch, Xeon used both hands to release the clasp. With a final shake, the bear tossed Xeon off, and the collar fell to the floor. The giant bear swayed, unsteady on his feet.

  “Timber!” Xeon yelled, warning his pack mates to move away.

  Ryder barely got out of the way before the bear fell face down on the warehouse floor. They all readied themselves for the bear to get up and start to fight again. To their surprise, he didn’t move. After a few minutes, the bear shifted slowly. First, the body shrunk to human size. Then his fur disappeared, and his body transformed into his human shape. Soon, only a man lay on the floor. He didn’t move. Xeon went to the man’s side and checked the pulse in his neck.

  “He’s still alive,” Xeon confirmed.

  One by one, the wolves shifted back to two legs. They surrounded the unconscious man, expecting him to jump up at any second.

  “There’s no doubt he’s one of the doctor’s experiments.” Xeon picked up the shock collar at the same time it buzzed again. He felt it vibrating in his hand, no doubt it was high voltage.

  “Then we can’t leave him here,” Kyro commented.

  “I never intended to.” Xeon dropped the collar on the floor. “Let’s get him out of here. Hopefully, he won’t wake up swinging.”

  “Man, this sucks!” Kyro commented and shook his head.

  “What?” Ryder asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “It’s times like this that it doesn’t pay to be all muscles.” Kyro sighed.

  “Why? You can carry him all by yourself easily.” Hunter slapped him on the shoulder.

  “That means his hairy balls are going to be on my shoulder.” Kyro shivered. No doubt, the mental image passed through his mind.

  Hunter and Ryder burst out laughing. Xeon cracked a smile but tried to remain serious.

  “Suck it up.” Xeon patted him on the arm. “Let’s get him out of here.”

  “How about you suck it up and carry him?” Kyro looked at Xeon.

  “That’s what’s good about being the alpha. I get to tell others what to do.” Xeon looked down at the man on the floor. “Now, let’s get moving before someone shows up.”

  “Fine, damn it, you two can at least stand him up.” Kyro pointed his finger at Ryder and Hunter.

  Together Ryder and Hunter picked up the stranger from the floor. Kyro bent down and pulled the man over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He grimaced before he walked out the door with his cargo. Xeon led the way back to the SUV while Ryder and Hunter covered the rear. The entire walk, Kyro mumbled under his breath about sweaty balls being too close to his face.

  When they reached the truck, Kyro gently set the man in the back.

  “Are we taking him back to the compound?” Ryder asked, closing the back hatch door.

  “No,” Xeon and Kyro said in unison.

  “I don’t want him waking up and freaking out. I think it’s best if we take him to the bears,” Xeon said. “It took four of us to take him down. We don’t need that at the compound. Besides, Fiona is only a nurse. The bears have a doctor on hand. They’ll be better equipped for this.”

  “Hunter, you’ve got friends in the bear clan. Give them a call and let them know we’re coming.” Xeon pulled the SUV onto the road, hoping this delivery went well.

  Chapter Nine

  It took over an hour to get to the bear’s den on the south side of town. Hunter had called his friend in the clan, and they were now expecting them. Xeon had made it a habit to carry extra clothing in the SUV for moments when they shifted out in public. Now with all of them dressed, it was time to take the bear home. Hopefully, the man in the back was one of their missing clan mates. Xeon pulled into the compound and stopped at the large wrought iron gate. A man came out of the security station with a gun on his hip. He was bigger than Kyro, in muscles and height. Xeon rolled down the window to speak to him.

  “What’s your purpose?” the man asked, walking to the driver’s side.

  “Vlan,” Xeon greeted him. “We brought a package over for Raul.” He nodded to the back of the SUV.

  “Oh, it’s you guys. Come on in. Raul’s waiting in the medic building.” Vlan pulled out a controller, no bigger than a cell phone, and punched in a code. The iron gate slid open, allowing them access.

  “Thanks.” Xeon waved as they pulled into the bear’s home.

  It was a similar set up to the wolves’ compound. Houses lined the roads with the main buildings in the center. Xeon couldn’t be sure which one would be the medical building until he saw the red cross painted above the door.

  “This is it,” Xeon pulled in next to a truck.

  “I’m surprised sleeping beauty’s still out back there.” Kyro opened his door. “I’m not throwing him over my shoulders again.”

  “You did your work. These two can take him the rest of the way.” Xeon got out and shut his door.

  “I’ll carry him, but I’m not slinging him over my shoulders either,” Ryder protested. Hunter followed him around to the back of the SUV.

  The naked man was still out cold. The length of time the unknown bear shifter laid unconscious had Xeon worried about his condition. Ryder wrapped his arms around the man’s torso, and Hunter grabbed his legs. The door to the medical building opened. Raul, the bear’s alpha, stepped out with Jonah behind him. Jonah had been Raul’s beta since he took over the clan ten years ago.

  “Is it Alex?” Raul said, stepping aside so they could pass with the bear shifter.

  “I don’t know. You see one bear shifter, you’ve seen them all.” Xeon shrugged. He only knew a few of the bear shifters.

  “Now, you know that’s not true.” Raul clapped Xeon on the shoulder when he walked past him. “I’m glad you were able to get at least one of our guys back.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. He’s been out for nearly two hours,” Xeon informed him. “I’m not sure what’s going on with him.”

  “Get him up on the bed, and we’ll get him looked over. Melonie is on her way over now. She’s a general physician, but she knows her stuff. I’m sure she will have an idea of what’s happening.” Raul pointed to one of the hospital beds against the wall.

  Ryder and Hunter laid the man on the bed, and Jonah covered him with a sheet. Even with all the moving around and manhandling, he didn’t wake. Xeon didn’t have a good feeling about it. Raul looked at him, and immediately Xeon knew what he was going to say.

  “I’m glad you got him out. Sadly, he’s not one of mine.” Raul shook his head. “I had hoped it would be Alex. He’s been gone for nearly a month.”

  “I’m pretty sure he had been experimented on. Who knows what he used to be, but he’s a bear now.” Xeon told him and sat in an office chair on the other side of the room.

  “If he doesn’t have his own clan, then we’ll take him in.” Raul pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the unconscious man. “Jonah, have you seen him before?”
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  “He looks familiar, but I don’t know who he is or what clan he belongs to.” Jonah stood next to the hospital bed, looking at the man.

  The door opened, and everyone turned. Xeon had met Melonie once. She almost matched him in height. She’d tossed her dark black hair into a messy bun, which added another inch or so to her height.

  “I see my patient beat me here.” Melonie came closer to the bed. Her eyes lit up when she looked at the man on the bed. “Zeke!” She rushed to his side.

  “You know him?” Raul asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

  “I... um... we have kind of been dating for a few months.” She hesitated. “We haven’t told anyone. When he went away, I thought he just wanted to avoid me. We had an argument, and the next day he wouldn’t return my calls. I thought he was ghosting me.”

  “How long ago did that happen?” Xeon asked.

  “The fight? About five weeks ago,” she answered and turned her attention to Zeke. “Why did you bring him here? His den has a medic unit. I don’t know if they have a doctor, though.”

  “What was he?” Raul asked what Xeon thought.

  “He’s a fox.” After a second, she turned to Raul and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean was?”

  “Apparently, he’s a bear shifter now,” Raul explained.

  “Oh, that’s great!” Melonie smiled and turned back to Zeke. She ran her hand through his hair.

  “You think that having a doctor experiment on him and changing his DNA is great?” Xeon cocked his head to the side. He saw no greatness in the situation.

  “Well, not that part. We had a fight because I wanted to quit hiding our relationship, and Zeke didn’t want anyone in his den to know about him dating a bear. Now, it won’t matter because he’ll be a bear too,” she explained.

  “It won’t be much of a relationship if he doesn’t wake up,” Kyro frowned and leaned against the wall.

  “He’ll wake up,” she assured them. “He just needs rest. I’ll run some tests and see what I can find out. So, what is this about becoming a different shifter species?”