by Godiva Glenn
“Then remember this. My full name is Kalle Lowe of the Edon clan. Outcast of the Sarka pack. My parents are dead, but I have a sister, and you remind me a lot of her—”
“Stop!” Sky’s voice shook. “Please.”
“Her name is Sierra,” he said softly. “And she has a heart of gold but following orders has made her cold and unrecognizable.”
Sky glanced at her bracelet as she ran her thumb along the smooth surface. The display lit up and this time, the humming in his ears was real.
He’d gotten through to her for a second, he was certain. He pushed on the door frame until the wood groaned and Sky flinched. “Fine. If this helps you sleep better.”
The cage was half his height. The last of his pride slunk away into a dark corner as he got on the ground and crawled in. Obviously, the metal enclosure was meant for an actual dog or smaller animal, not a muscled six-foot-something male.
He could barely straighten his legs while seated. Sleep would be impossible, not that he planned on it.
Sky stepped into the room and slid a locking bar in place. He refused to look at her. She probably looked sad and regretful, and he didn’t care.
The light flipped off and she exited the room, pulling the door quietly behind her. A whispered “sorry” drifted through the room, but it wasn’t enough. Only freedom would be enough.
* * * *
Kalle waited in the dark. A severe crick in his neck helped keep him alert as he listened. Sky had showered and gone to her room, and now snored gently. He wanted to be sure she was asleep before trying anything.
He sat patiently as another few minutes went by. She seemed to be out for the night. Sleeping soundly while he suffered, of course.
The room was close to pitch black. The boards on the window had the slightest gap but it wasn’t enough to see much. Even his heightened vision was doing nothing for him, and when he held a hand in front of his face, only a shadowed outline met him.
The cage was only suitable to hold a lupine that had been drugged, that much was clear. It wasn’t new or particularly reinforced. His shifted form could tear through it with hardly any effort. Only the collar stood between him and freedom.
He stared at his hand, or rather, where he knew it to be. There was still fog over his mind, but his wolf was near. He felt the change in his hand and knew it no longer resembled a human hand but had claws and fur.
A triumphant howl threatened to escape him, but he held it in. The transformation vibrated through his body. His lupine form wanted to race forward but he breathed slowly and took his time. The collar tightened as his torso and neck expanded. His teeth grit as he endured the discomfort, but it quickly went to shit when he couldn’t breathe at all.
He reverted his form and sucked in a lungful of stale air. Fuck. Maybe the only way to rip it off was to shift quicker, but that was risky. Either the band would pop off or it could break the bones in his neck.
Sliding his claws underneath the metal, he gave a yank. The cage rattled as his elbows hit the sides. He paused and listened, but no sound came from Sky’s room. No snoring, but no movement, either. Seconds passed. A minute.
He tried again, this time exerting force through his wrists. Without knowing how the damn restraint held itself closed, he couldn’t begin to guess the best place to attempt to weaken the latch. All he could determine was that the metal of the collar wasn’t typical. It wasn’t the same caliber of the metal of his cage, or anything he’d encountered before. Whatever it was, it didn’t even creak under his strength.
The best way to try his plan was to escape the cage first, but once he did that, there was no turning back. Sky’s resolve may have been wearing down, but if he broke out of the shitty metal enclosure, she’d never trust him again. She’d probably shoot him full of tranqs again and immediately call her buddies to take him away.
Then I’ll wait.
Tenuous was probably the best word for their captive and captor relationship, but with some luck, he could get privacy. A little more room and he could really give the collar his best. The hardest part was falling asleep in a cramped, seated position. And on top of that, he really needed to piss.
He’d survived this long, though. His wolf snapped to the front of his mind, followed by the imagined scene of Sky sleeping in her room. If she wasn’t a stubborn bitch, she’d make a good friend.
She had all the best traits of a lupine mate, actually. Determined, strong, insanely fearless, and she loved the outdoors.
Not many human women would attempt to trek through the woods with a lupine prisoner. Fewer could refuse to surrender when caught as he’d caught her in the water. She handled the punches and obstacles of life.
And she locked you in a cage. But hell. No one was perfect. He certainly wasn’t.
SIX
“Another day? Two?” Kalle asked Sky.
She placed her phone down on the kitchen table and glanced to Kalle where he sat on the couch. The cabin wasn’t tiny, but the finicky range of his collar meant it was easier if they split occupation by rooms. For the time being, the living room was his space.
She ran a hand through her hair. “When things fell apart everyone went into hiding.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring. For you, I mean.”
Stirring her dry cereal, her expression grew distant. Even without milk, she’d insisted on putting it in a bowl and eating with a spoon. “Police got Tommy’s id and phone and everything else. Found his van abandoned. It’s not the best circumstances.”
“You guys are on the wrong side of the law.” He hadn’t thought too much of it before. Not that he wanted hunters to have an in with the powers that be, but it wasn’t a stretch. After all, the lupine community got by thanks to deals with witches, some of whom held high positions in the human world.
“Technically speaking, the Wardens are considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. They think we’re cultists and conspiracy theorists.”
“They aren’t that off.”
She arched a brow. “You’re living proof that we aren’t chasing a conspiracy.”
“Just because I’m real and lupine are real, doesn’t mean we have some agenda to destroy humanity or that we eat human babies… and whatever else you may believe.”
She rolled her eyes.
There were a million reasons for him to hate Sky, but he couldn’t. Kalle had never been delusional of his qualifications to be a pack alpha. His place had been determined by lineage and physical strength. But one thing he believed and had planned to make a priority was the fragile connection they had to the human world.
Sky was just one woman, but if he could change her mind, it would be a start. More than that, he wanted to save her. No one deserved to be raised by an organization and taught hatred. Fuck, he’d seen how that impacted lives. Entire packs of lupine were taught to hate each other based on blood purity that couldn’t be seen or proven.
His baby sister had once been sweet and caring, but their pack didn’t cherish those aspects. And when they joined the Sarka pack, they quickly learned that kindness was a weakness. His sister flipped a switch and absorbed the bitterness and hate. They fought constantly about ‘proper’ lupine behavior. Then she went too far, and he had to pay the price. That’s what family did.
In the end, he couldn’t save Sierra. Could he save Sky? Maybe. Priority one was still getting free of the collar.
“Do you like spaghetti?” Sky asked out of the blue.
“I guess?” It had been a while since he’d had it. “What’s not to like about it?”
“Not everyone like tomatoes.” She glanced to the side where the pantry was. “Anyways, there’s not much in the way of food. Tommy was supposed to have stocked up before we’d gotten here.”
“Anything would’ve gone bad.”
“Some. But a better selection of canned goods would be nice, plus there’s a freezer.” She poked the empty basket beside her. “Fruit could’ve waited for us.”
He rolled his ow
n bagged cereal closed and tossed it aside. Wiping the crumbs on his pants, he leaned forward. “You don’t seem all that torn up about him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you were pissed at me at first, maybe still are, but his death seems more like an inconvenience for one thing. Or on the flip side, fuel for your prejudice against lupine.”
Her lips pursed.
“I was just assuming you didn’t get along.”
“It’s rude to speak ill of the dead,” she said flatly.
“Then there’s ill to be spoken of?”
She narrowed her eyes and crunched her stale puffed rice. After a moment, she pushed the bowl away. “Tommy usually worked alone. He was my… supervisor on this mission, I guess you could say.”
“Did you need a supervisor?”
Her lips twitched as if she were deciding to stop talking, but when her mouth opened a flood of words came out. “I’ve done exemplary work for the Wardens, but they are, as are most shadow organizations, I’d assume, male-dominated. It was assumed I lacked the mettle—or as they called it—the balls to do the mission.” She laughed dryly. “I’m too young, too pretty, too naive, too girly, to be left on my own. Whatever would I do without a big burly man watching my back?”
Kalle snorted. Though pack structure was heavily under the guidance of male lupine, the females tended to be more aggressive. And though males often held the position of alpha, there were usually as many female elders as male.
Never in his life had he felt the need to watch his sister’s back when it came to actual threats. She could watch her own, and his too.
“I’m the feather in your cap,” he mused.
“What?”
“An expression I’ve heard. I think it means that if you turn me in, you get some glory. A badge. A feather in your cap.”
Her expression turned sour. “That’s not why I’m doing it.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
She stared off, toying with her bracelet.
“You going to shock me?”
“Huh?” She glanced down and stopped fidgeting with the metal band. “No. I can disagree with you without needing to do that.”
Her wrist was red around the band, though, and after a moment she was scratching at it again.
“Rash?”
She slid her hands into her pockets. “None of your concern.”
They had a brief staring contest before Sky turned her attention to her notes. Yesterday she’d practically written a novel. It piqued his curiosity. He wanted to know what she was writing about him. She wouldn’t say, of course.
Bored, he searched the room. His eyes lingered on the bathroom door. He’d tried shifting earlier, but the bathroom was too narrow. He was a large guy. His lupine form was absolutely massive. If Sky was occupied in the bathroom, however, that could work.
“Are your muscles sore?” he asked.
She lifted her head. “From what?”
“Walking across the planet.”
Her shoulders lifted slightly. “I’ll live.”
“When we were outside, I think I saw some wild sage. Maybe some mint, too.”
“And?”
“It’s good for soaking away muscle tension.”
She dropped her pen and grinned. “You want to draw me a warm bath?”
“You can use it, sure, but I was thinking more for myself. I just figured you were more likely to let me gather it if you reaped the benefits.” He plucked at his shirt. “I’ve been wearing the same thing for days. I could use a bath. I’m sure you can smell me from over there.”
Her nose wrinkled as she looked him over. There were spare clothes for her here, and she’d switched to a long sweater and distractingly fitted leggings. Her outfit changed the feel of the situation, as if they were on vacation. It wasn’t a bad fantasy to have, all things considered. He really enjoyed a woman in leggings.
She tapped her fingers on her notebook then closed it and stood. “I’ll bite. But you’re going first. No way I’m soaking in something I don’t recognize.”
“You recognize watercress but not sage?”
“Survival training didn’t focus much on therapeutic plants,” she replied. “And I don’t trust you not to throw some hallucinogen into the mix.”
* * * *
Sky’s idea of fair while she bathed was to limit Kalle to about two feet around the bathroom door, which was ridiculous but worked out just fine for his plan. He listened to the water stop and waited for the gentle splashes that told him she was in the tub.
He could’ve gone without the drawn-out moan she released, though, since it sent a fair number of explicit images through his head. He’d been patient all day. Though they’d picked the herbs earlier, she didn’t want to try them out until after lunch.
As agreed, he bathed first, using a bundle of the herbs tied with twine. It had been fucking heaven, truth be told. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d soaked in hot water. When he had his place with Sierra, the tub was way too small for him to even attempt such a thing.
This cabin had a tub that was deeper and wider than he’d ever seen before. He couldn’t stretch his legs out completely, and his knees had stuck out, but fuck if it didn’t take away the aches of being on his feet for days at a time.
Plus, it was nice to not smell like a wet sock for the first time in forever. And afterward, Sky had been decent enough to give him a shirt to borrow. There were no pants in the cabin that fit him, but the shirt was better than nothing.
He glanced out the window that overlooked the hall. It was covered like the rest, except there was a large split in the top board that let light through. The sun would set soon. He was more than ready to get going.
Sky began humming to herself and that was his sign. Satisfied that she was preoccupied, he looked down at his hands. His wolf came forward quickly and he allowed it to, though he halted the transformation when it came to the remainder of his upper body.
Here goes nothing. He gripped the collar as firmly as he could and yanked. Nothing. His elongated fingers barely fit between the metal and his skin, but he did his best to wrap around the band and tried again. If anything, there was a minor squeak. He bit back a curse and reverted his arms to human form.
Back against the door, he considered the full shift. All or nothing. Either the collar stayed put and made his head pop off, or the collar itself popped off.
A suicide mission was a poetic ending to his time with Sky. He crawled away from the door as far as he could and steadied his breath. Now or never.
Clink.
His eyes opened. As quietly as he could manage, he turned and scooted to the door.
Somehow, he knew what that sound was. That gentle clink of metal against porcelain. Sky had removed the bracelet.
If he was right, he could break the door down and grab it. If he was wrong, Sky was going to be pissed—nothing new. The options needed no further exploration. He stood and kicked the door open.
Sky screamed as the door shook on the hinges and burst open, but he only had one thought. He dove forward and snatched the bracelet from the edge of the tub.
“Stop!”
“Sorry,” he said shoving it into his pocket.
Sky punched him in the face, but he caught her arms to prevent anything further. He didn’t look down, only lifted her up and carried her across the hall while she cursed up a storm and tried to kick her way free.
He dumped her in the cage and locked it. “This is the only way.”
“Fucking bastard!”
“It’s not bad,” he said. “You fit in it better than I do.”
“Kalle!”
He ignored her and left the room. Outside in the hall, he sat and looked at the opened bracelet. The first thing he noticed was how the inside had a flattened button that controlled the latch. He closed his eyes and felt along the band of his collar but no such luck.
“How does it work?” he asked through the door.
Sh
e didn’t answer. The sound of her rattling at the bars and screaming expletives at the top of her lungs was all he got.
He tapped the metal band in a few different spots until the display appeared. Unfortunately, it wasn’t informative. Either it was coded or used abbreviations he didn’t understand.
He turned his head and spoke to Sky again, “If I mess up and pass out, you’re stuck in there. Neither of us wants that. Just tell me how to work this.”
The swearing tapered off and she took a deep breath. “I can’t.”
He sighed at the defeated tone in her voice. She had to see this as a bad reflection on herself. She’d let down her guard. She’d failed at a task they expected her to fail at. But he wasn’t about to be captured for the sake of her pride.
Placing the bracelet back in his pocket, he returned to the bathroom and retrieved her clothing from the counter. Yeah, he knew it was a dick move to barge in on her when she was naked. It’s not like that was ever the plan, and he hadn’t taken the opportunity to do anything vile.
He brought the clothes to the room and tossed them next to the cage, not looking at her. Maybe he had the upper hand now, but he wasn’t about to become a creep about it. He closed the door again and sat down.
“The Wardens have some impressive toys for being a private terrorist organization,” he commented while examining the bracelet again.
It took a minute, but she finally replied, “We aren’t terrorists.”
“This device seems to beg to differ. Not very humane.”
“It’s not designed for humans.”
He carefully slid his fingertip up across the display. Nothing. “Think this through, Sky. If you don’t help me, I’ll probably die.”
“I can’t help you.”
He opened the door, assuming she’d dressed by now. She had, and now held the bars and glared at him. He sat in front of her, out of her reach. “I don’t think I can shift in this. I suspect you would know the answer for certain. Would it break?”
“It won’t break,” she said sorrowfully. “It’ll hurt you if you try to shift with it on.”
“It’ll choke me.”
“Yes. Likely worse. Part of the reason to keep your wolf sedated was to keep you from that risk.”