Page 12 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 2

I sat up and banged my head on a metal bar. “Ow.”

“Don’t sit up, sweetheart.”

I looked around and realized I was in a cage and started to panic.

“Breathe, Tilly. Just breathe,” a male voice said.

I tried to do as he said, but I was stuck in a fetal position with no room to move—trapped.

“Who’s there?” I managed to say.

“It’s Maxine and Aaron, sweetie. We’re in the cage next to you. They had you in dingo form when they brought you in.”

“No, that’s not right.” My head hurt trying to remember everything that happened. “I never shifted.”

“But you did.”

“That’s not possible. I wasn’t even conscious.”

“I don’t know how they did it, but you weren’t you when they put you in that cage. And then they came back about a few minutes ago and they gave you a shot and suddenly there you were again,” Aaron explained.

“They forced me to shift while I was unconscious?”

“Yeah. I think they did.”

Tears pricked my eyes. I felt so violated. I couldn’t even explain all the emotions flowing through me.

“Tilly, it’s going to be okay,” Maxine said.

“How can you say that? Look at us?”

Granted I couldn’t actually look at them. Were they crammed into such a small space too?

“Shh, they’re coming,” someone said.

It was the first time I realized there were others in the room.

I could hear voices getting closer until a door opened. I tried to turn my head to see them, but I couldn’t move.

“Please. There’s been a mistake. Let me out,” a woman begged.

“My son is just a child. Please release him. Do whatever you must to me, but he’s just a baby,” another pleaded.

How many people were here?

“Shut up,” a man said.

The hair on my arms stood up and my dingo tried to surface, but I couldn’t call her forward. Still, a menacing growl erupted from within me.

The man clapped and cheered gleefully.

“There she is. A true prize. A fighter.”

He was standing in front of me, but I couldn’t turn my neck enough to look up at him.

“This tiny cage will never do for such a precious treasure. Move her.”

I had no idea who he was talking to, but a second set of feet appeared in front me.

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