Page 4 of Run Free

“Don’t let anything drink this water, it’s still not right. Full of toxins,” Alfred told me.

“Then why are you two in it?” I asked.

“We didn’t want to look too suspicious and figured you’d be here.”

Alfred and his mate, Miriam, were a couple of duck shifters who liked to show up on my jobs and annoy me. I supposed that wasn’t entirely fair. In the past they’d helped me rescue a few animals that we otherwise would never have found.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“You really think we’d miss out on all this? Besides, you missed a section,” he told me.

“Not possible. We’ve scoured the entire area,” I assured him.

He shook his head. “Afraid not, sweetie. There’s a hidden section, and it’s full of our kind,” he said, lowering his voice.

Neither of them trusted humans, and they often argued with me over the ethical decision of me working with them.

“You’re serious?” I asked.

“Would I ever joke about something like this? Come on, we’ll show you. You have to help them.”

I nodded and Alfred changed back into his animal form. I had no doubt I looked absolutely ridiculous following two ducks through the zoo, but despite having a couple of curious eyes shot in my direction, no one asked any questions.

The ducks led me to the back of the park, passing the showers and dorms we’d set up. They took a left and we came to a dead end.

“I told you, there’s nothing here.”

Miriam shook her head and squawked at me. Alfred walked behind me and nibbled at my heels, pressing me forward.

“Stop that, it hurts,” I chastised him, but I obeyed and pushed through the thick landscaping. About five yards through it, a whole new section opened up. “No way,” I cursed under my breath. “How did my team miss this?”

There were small cages everywhere, at least thirty of them, and all but one was filled with animals. Aside from dehydration and some bruises they looked in better shape than most of the animals I’d worked on. I couldn’t help but notice how scared they all were as they shuffled to the far back of their cages.

Alfred shifted into human form. “She’s a friend, here to help.”

One by one, those that could shifted into their human forms. Their voices were hoarse as they cried out for help. Tears streamed my cheeks.

“How did this happen?” I wondered aloud.

“Water,” managed a thin male with hollowed-out cheeks. I quickly handed over mine. After downing the bottle I was carrying, he began speaking. “They were exotic pet retailers. Their clientele only wanted the rarest breeds, and they were easier to find in shifters. They searched for pairs in hopes to breed us in our animal forms. It’s been almost a week since they last came. The keys are in that office over there.”

“Why would they harm the animals then? It doesn’t make sense.” I said.

“To make them submissive. The buyers wanted pets, not wild animals.”

I wiped tears from my eyes. “I’m so angry right now, I’m struggling not to shift myself,” I confessed. My wolf was pressing hard to be set free.

Alfred came back with the keys to the locks and handed them to me. I went through to each of them and unlocked their cages. Two were ready to bolt, but most were too weak to even leave their cages on their own.

“I’m going to need you all, to just stay calm and trust me. Can you do that?” I asked, and got only a few head nods. I picked up my radio and called it in. “Dave, I’m going to need some help down here, back of the park to the left of the showers. It’s a code brown in various states; I repeat, code brown.”

Code brown was reserved for shifters in life threatening danger. Because the Verndari were sworn to protect and cherish shifter lives above all else, it was the ultimate drop everything and come running call. While I had crossed paths with several shifters throughout the years working this job, it was only the third time in my career that a code brown was invoked.

“Shit, how the hell did we miss that?” Dave replied. “Full team on the way.”

Less than two minutes later I heard their footsteps, and Dave called out for me. I pushed my way back through the brush and motioned for the team to follow me.

Alfred quickly shifted back to his animal form and Miriam immediately started squawking and attacking Dave.

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