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“We are not dangers or monsters,” I growled. “We’re individuals with unique abilities, just like humans who have their own strengths and weaknesses. What you’re talking about could kill people.”
“A price I’m willing to pay.”
“That’s not a choice you get to make,” I barked, thrashing against my restraints.
Her smile widened. “Oh, I’m sure you truly believe that. But our research shows that shifters can be unpredictable and volatile. Your life became forfeit when you were born as unrepentant abominations.”
“Let me make one thing clear,” I growled. “We won’t let you do this. We won’t be your guinea pigs.”
Ms. Paulson’s expression darkened. “You don’t have a choice, Cole. We have you all under our control now. We have you separated. We have you weakened. And by the time anyone finds you, our work will be done.”
My mind raced, searching for a way out of this dire situation. But as I struggled with the steel cords, I knew escape was not an option. Lanyon Clover had prepared for every contingency, and they wouldn’t let me go without a fight.
Chapter 15
Marley
It had been a horrible, miserable, agonizing week.
After my initial meltdown when Cole had fallen off the radar, I had done nothing but try to organize efforts to find him and everyone else who’d gone missing with him. I had tried to appeal to our local police, and Ginger had pleaded with her colleagues, but Lanyon Clover had fully infiltrated the force, thanks to some local non-shifter politicians who were wrapping them up in red tape. We were told to come back when we had hard evidence that the shifters had actually gone missing and hadn’t just gone wild, consigning themselves to a life of permanently being in their lupine form.
After a few days, it became clear that there was nothing we could do. I had to make the heart-wrenching decision to send out a message to the rest of the pack that we were hoping to secure evidence, and I’d look for other ways we could take the burden on ourselves. I ordered the rest of the pack not to go anywhere near the canneries and to stay vigilant.
The day after I sent that order, in the wee hours of the morning, I jerked out of a fitful sleep when I heard banging on the door. I sat up from where I’d fallen asleep, going through the numbers over and over again, combing through every pack member and trying to figure out if we had the manpower for a full-scale rescue mission. I rubbed my eyes as I picked up my phone and found that I’d missed ten calls and about fifteen texts from—
“Open the fucking door, Marley!” Lana shouted from the other side. “You think you can put through a command like that and then ignore all my calls and texts? Open the fucking door!”
I stumbled over to the door and unlocked it. Lana stormed in, grabbing the collar of my shirt. “You get the pack together and tell us to go save everyone?” she growled, only inches from my face.
“Lana,” I said softly, “you need to calm down.”
“Fuck you,” she snarled. “Travis has been missing for four days, and I call Farrah for an update and find out that you’ve called off the search?”
“I called off the search because we already know where they are!” I screamed, my head threatening to explode. “Fifteen able-bodied, powerful shifters went to the canneries and never made it to the eastern border. That’s the only place they can be.”
“So then we go get them,” she snapped.
“Farrah told me that we don’t have the manpower.”
“So, what? We just let them fucking die?”
“No, of course not. You think I don’t care? You think I haven’t been racking my brain, trying to come up with ideas to get our family back?” I gestured back toward the dining room table, which was a mess of maps, notebooks, pens, and highlighters. “I am doing everything I fucking can, but unfortunately, it isn’t very much.”
“Call the Georgia pack,” she said.
“They told me to fuck off.”
Lana clenched her fists. “Then we use our own people.”
“Sure, let’s send a bunch of single parents and elderly people into the same environment that took out Cole and his powerful grandfather. Great fucking idea,” I snapped. “Like I said, Lana, I’m already doing everything I can. But putting everyone in danger to save them won’t fucking work.”
Lana breathed hard for a few more moments, her nostrils flaring. The silence was deafening as we glared at each other. Then tears welled in her eyes, and she let out a whimper as she crumpled into me. I wrapped my arms around her.
“I know,” I said as my vision blurred. “I feel like I’m imploding, too.”
“I can’t sleep. I’m so worried about him. He’s supposed to be safe now. He’s a shifter.” She wept against my shirt. “What can we do? There has to be something we can do. There has to be someone in the world who cares. Someone who…who is just pissed off enough about shifters getting shafted that we can get them to help.”
I had a refusal on the tip of my tongue when something clicked into place. “Oh,” I said softly.
