Page 19 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 2

I pretended I hadn’t heard a word when she came back into the room, but my dingo was on edge and it was difficult to plaster a fake smile of relief to my face.

“I am sorry about my son. He means well, but can fluster easily. Best not to get him so worked up next time. He seems to really like you. I’ve never seen him take so well to one of your kind before.”

“That was him liking me?” I scoffed before I could stop myself.

She gave me a weak smile. “My family wasn’t always like this. Believe it or not, we used to protect your kind. It was myparents’ entire life, my in-laws too. My husband and I thought we’d continue that legacy and pass it on to our boys.”

“What happened?”

This time there was sadness in her eyes when she spoke.

“I was assigned to a facility that had just begun running a few tests on shifters. It was sort of like a prison for the really bad ones so we were all able to justify it. Every culture has dangerous beings. There are jails for a reason. Anyway, these sorts posed dangers to all, humans and shifters. They were evil, or so we’d been told. In hindsight, I’m not entirely certain. Whatever, there was a breakout and all the prisoners were released. Two of them came after me, but another protected me from them. In the end they all escaped.”

“We’re still human too. Without judge and jury, who was making the determination of punishment for them?”

“That was certainly a bit of a moral dilemma. At first even the worst of them were asked to participate in the trials. They had to sign a waiver and agree to it. In many cases it meant a reduced sentence there and we did try to rehab and release. But after a while that sort of fell to the wayside and it just became common practice that if they were there, they must have done something bad enough to deserve it and therefore had no rights.”

“But you don’t believe that?”

“I saw the decline of morals within my people. I warned others. And then, that woman saved my life. How could she have been so horrific and do that?”

“It weighs guilty on your conscience, doesn’t it?”

“It did for a long time. But one of those filthy animals followed me home that night. My husband tried to fight him off and he was murdered in cold blood. My children watched that happen. Egan was just a teenager and Kent was already falling in with a bad crowd. That just solidified his path. I’m not sayingwhat we’re doing here is right. I’m just telling you, we all have our reasons. Like you for instance.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. What were you doing hiding in that house?”

“I was hiding because I’d just seen two men shoot my. . . parents.”

“Oh, honey, don’t start lying to me now. I know damn well they aren’t your parents and I was just so open and honest with you.”

I huffed. “My friends. They’re just good friends.”

“Friends. Not Tribe? Interesting. So what Tribe do you belong to then?”

I defiantly stuck out my chin. There was no way I was telling her that.

She just shrugged and released my straps.

I sat up in confusion. The temptation to fight her was strong, and yet, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.

“Tell me, don’t tell me. Eventually we’ll get out of you one way or another. Now go on. Back to your room. It’s down the hall and to the left.”

She left the room with the door wide open. I was too stunned to move at first.

It felt like a trap.

Forcing my legs to move, I left the room and followed her instructions until I found my room and reunited with Aaron and Maxine. I could have ran. I could have explored the area to get a better feel of where we were, but I did none of that. I had to ensure Lachlan’s parents were okay above all else.

“Good girl. You can follow directions,” Egan’s snide voice said over the intercom just before the lock on the door activated.

Lachlan

Chapter 7

“Control the things you can control,” I told myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth. “You’ve got this. Let the rest go and have faith in those you care about. Tilly is strong, stubborn, and a fighter. She will come back to you. To think anything else is doing a disservice to you and to her. She’s got this and you’re strong enough to handle this distance and time apart. Focus on the things you can do instead of the things you wish you could do.”

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