Page 17 of Claimed

I step up to the empty reception desk as I call out, “Hello?” Silence greets me, and I glance at my brothers in confusion.

“Where is everyone?”

Chase and Hunter start to walk down the hall on our left-hand side as my fingers reach down to touch Cherry’s head, making sure she’s close. She presses against me as we watch the twins.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Chase calls out, much louder now.

The door at the end of the hall in front of them opens, and a man steps through, then freezes when he sees us. “Who are you?” he asks in confusion. His eyes move past the twins, as he notices the rest of us, including Cherry. But he doesn’t seem phased by her appearance.

“He’s a tiger shifter,” Hunter tells us through the bond as the man takes a step closer to them.

“How did you get in here?” he asks nervously.

“The front door is open,” Hunter says, pointing his thumb toward us.

“Well, shit,” the man says with a sigh, his shoulders dropping as if that relieved some tension. “I guess Gus is getting fired.”

“Who’s Gus?” Chase asks as the man walks past them toward us and gestures for them to follow.

“The security guard. It’s Sunday, we’re closed today, and the front door should definitely be locked.” He gives us a strained smile as he enters the lobby and heads for the door. I expect him to open it and usher us out, but instead he turns the lock, then spins to face us, his hands on his hips.

He takes a moment to assess each of us, including Cherry, before he speaks. “So, wolves, huh?”

“So, tiger, huh?” Chase repeats, sounding amused.

“What brings you to Starfall Animal Sanctuary?” he asks, his attention moving to Cherry and the way I’m stroking her head. “I somehow doubt it’s because you’re looking for a home for your little friend there.”

“No,” I say immediately. “She stays with us.”

“So?” he asks again, with a raised eyebrow. “Did you want a tour or something?”

“Yes,” Gage says immediately. “A tour would be great. We’ve heard great things about this place and wanted to check it out.”

“This will let us see how the animals are being treated, and maybe give us insight into what’s going on here before we ask any more questions,” Gage says through the bond.

The man looks at him skeptically, but nods. “I’ve got some time now. I’m Dante Peterson, by the way.”

He heads back down the hall and motions for us to follow. “Come with me and we’ll get started.”

“Do you run this facility?” I ask as I walk beside him.

“No. I’m an animal behavior specialist. SAS, that’s what we call Starfall Animal Sanctuary for short, has the main goal of helping animals in any way they can. Ideally, they would all be brought back to full health, if needed, and released back into the wild. But some of them are too sick or don’t have the skills needed to survive out there.”

He pushes open the door and we all step outside. Glancing around, there’s a paved path that goes both left and right, and I can already smell the animals out here. The paths are lined with short wooden railings, and five feet further in are eight-foot-tall chain-linked fences.

“Over here,” he says, gesturing to his left as he moves down the left-hand path, “is our grizzly bear, Sheena.”

We all step up to the railing and look through the fence. The terrain is filled with grass, bushes, and several big trees to provide plenty of shade. Right in the middle is a large rock cave that gives us a view inside, where a large bear appears to be sleeping.

“She sleeps during the day. She’ll be more active at dusk,” he tells us before continuing down the path toward the next enclosure.

“How did she end up here?” Gage asks.

“She was terrorizing a small town and broke into a bakery. It was for her safety that she was moved here. We’re trying to find a good place to release her that’s away from people but also not in another bear's territory.”

What they are doing here seems ethical on the surface level. But I’m really curious to know what they do with shifters. Gage is right, though. It’s best to look around before asking the hard questions.

“This is Sunny and Cher, our North American river otters,” he says, pointing into the next exhibit, which is mostly water.