Page 54 of Monster

Some of the children had begun to cry. Others looked numb. The boy who’d held his hand as a mist stepped close and took Drake’s hand again. He looked down into a tiny pair of glowing golden eyes.“Lore made them… he made shifters.”

“Get those buses moving and bring them here,” Deacon said over the comms.“We’ll figure out what to do with them.”

Bull released a breath.“Shit, I’m not good with kids.”

Drake lifted the cub into his arms. “We aren’t going to harm you,” he said in as gentle a voice as he could to the entire bus. “I know you’re frightened. Those men who had you weren’t good people. You were in danger… and now… you’re not. You’re safe.”

“You’re like us,” the cub said, smiling. “Not human.”

Drake nodded.“We’re like you.Shifters.”

“Can you fix the damage you did to the engines?” Bull asked.

Drake put the boy down.“Yeah.I only pulled some hoses and wires.Just need to replace them.”

“Good. Get to work and I’ll find drivers,” Bull said. “We’re driving the kinderbuses back home.”

* * * *

More than they bargained for…

“A bunch of children wasn’t in the plan,” Declan said at Deacon’s side.

The buses and team were on their way back, expected to come up the road within minutes.

“Would you have preferred we left a bunch of helpless shifter children in buses on the side of the road?”

“No,” Declan said, sighing. “But now we need to decide what to do with them.”

“We find them homes.”

“Have you room here at the facility for them? The secured rooms?”

Deacon nodded. “Those rooms are for the beasts we planned to rehabilitate.Not a bunch of children.”

“We have no idea what kind of time bombs Lore placed in these kids. Until we determine what they are—and if they’re safe—we need to keep them under lock and key.”

“We can’t forget they’re also scared children.”

“Deacon—you worried this was a trap.What if these kids are the trap? We don’t know what Lore and Harding have made these kids with… what they might’ve planted in their minds. We might have two busloads of weapons headed our way.”

“Drake and I can sweep their minds—see what they endured and see if we can find any hidden issues. His mental powers are even stronger than mine.”

“Sounds like this new dragon of yours made this operation a piece of cake.”

“That it does—but we have two new dragons. We just need to figure out how to get him healed.”

“Yes, you said. Metal on his back,” Declan murmured.“How did the first heal himself?”

“He was able to shift while in a beast’s mind—somehow came out repaired. Jaeger, the ice dragon, doesn’t have the same mental skills Drake does.We’ll need to find a new approach.”

“What of this elemental who’s in an induced coma in the clinic?” Declan asked.

“We know little. He showed up, knocked Bull on his ass as he crashed down to earth.From what Logan tells me, he’s got burns to most of his body. They’ve got him under until he’s healed more.”

“Knocked Bull on his ass, hmm?” Declan smiled. “I’m sure that’s not the only thing that’s knocked him on his ass as of late.”The alpha sighed. “I’m glad he found who he was searching for.”

“Me, too. There’s a lot to repair between them—but I hope they can find a way.”

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