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She immediately pushed those thoughts away.
No. Hannah was alive.
They were going to get her back. And she would not allow herself to even consider any other possibility.
The sun was on its way down. Finding Hannah would be much harder in the dark. Maybe not, though. Hudson could turn into a polar bear, after all.
At the very least, he’d still be able to smell her out. She wasn’t sure if polar bears had good night vision or not.
It wouldn’t matter if he didn’t, though. Neither of them were about to give up anytime soon. Up ahead, she saw the tenth No Trespassing sign, but the last few warnings had progressed to more serious threats of prosecution.
Suddenly, Hudson seemed to perk up. Then he dashed through the trees.
Nora ran after him, struggling to keep up. It was then that she also realized that she was wearing flats while running through six inches of snow.
She ignored the stinging cold of the snow getting into her shoes and tried to keep pace with Hudson.
If he was going this fast, it must have meant they were close. Which meant Nora was close.
We will get her back. We will get her back.Nora repeated the mantra in her head.
Then she saw it. Just coming into view beyond the trees was a building.
Hudson slowed his pace, still a fair distance from the structure. He crept a few steps closer, and she peeked around him.
The building looked as though it was falling apart. Though from the cameras and thick-looking doors, she suspected that was only how it was made to look. Someone had wanted to make it seem as though it were an inconspicuous shack in the woods. That way, if anyone saw it, they’d pay it no mind.
Which also meant that whoever created this must have something sinister to hide.
And these were the people holding Hannah captive.
“What is it?” she whispered.
Hudson shook his big bear head, then shifted. She handed him his clothes as he did.
While he dressed, Hudson had a grim look on his face. “I hope to God this isn’t what I think it is.”
Worry coiled tightly in her. “What do you mean? Do you know what this place is?”
Hudson gave a tight nod. “While I was growing up, a couple of clan members had gone missing. A teenage boy and girl whose parents didn’t want them together. We found no sign of them on our land or in the nearest town, so we figured they had run away.
“A few others have gone missing over the years, but they could’ve left of their own accord. We never suspected anything bad happening to them. A little while later, we heard rumors of a place that illegally experiments on shifters, but no one had any idea where it was or if it really existed.”
Nora’s eyes widened. Someone was experimenting on shifters?
“Is it other shifters experimenting on their own kind?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. Humans.”
Nora furrowed her brow. “But how do they know your kind exists? It’s not like it’s public knowledge or anything. How would they even know to look for you?”
“While it may not be public knowledge, and shifter clans do their best to keep the secret from outsiders, we’re not perfect. We live intermingled with humanity, and there are times when we slip up or get caught. And whether through pictures or video or word of mouth, word spreads.”
He sighed and met her gaze. “It’s like the people who hunt Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. They might only have stories to go on, but they still search. And from what it looks like, these people seem to have found out a lot about my kind. Why else would they be so close to the clan?”
Nora wrapped her arms around herself more tightly, still staring at the structure. “But it looks like a rundown shack. How can research labs and such be in there?”
“I’m guessing that the main facility is underground. That’s how it’s been kept hidden so well.”
