Page 32 of Monster

Both docs hit him with several tranquilizer darts, one after the other. The beast roared… but Drake kept on sending his mental projections over. He moved to the edge of the cage and locked eyes with the wild man.

Again, he quieted some. After a moment, the tranquilizer seemed to kick in and he slumped some in the cage. Two beasts entered the barn and nearly broke Drake’s focus. One looked like a griffin, the other was a mix of what appeared to be bear and wolf, and… perhaps more. He wasn’t sure.

They moved with a quiet grace and control.

These were men like the beast before him… after they’d been saved from the hell they were imprisoned in. It gave him hope that the one within the bars could find a way out, too.

He turned back and continued to murmur inwardly.

The two beasts lifted the cage as if it weighed nothing and carried it outside. It broke the eye contact a little too long, even with Drake fast on their heels. The beast began to rage—until Drake climbed into the back of the army vehicle and settled the creature again.

The barn wasn’t far from the new facility. It was only a matter of minutes before he was watching them taking the cage down, off the back of the truck.

“How far do we need to go?” Drake asked Bull as he rounded the back of the truck.

“We’re deep within the facility.Through several secure doors.”

The creature began to rage within the cage.

“I need to remain in eye contact.I’ve got to climb onto the outside of the cage as it’s moved.Is there enough clearance?”

“Possibly. We made the halls wide to accommodate cage movement,” Bull said.“And Jericho and Cyprian can likely carry your added weight.”

Drake climbed up onto the cage the two beasts were carrying. He felt the slash of claws against one hand, making him hiss in pain.

The beast calmed.

Drake gazed into the cage and sensed the beast knew he’d caused pain.

And was upset by that fact.

Drawing in a deep breath, he continued the mental assault, forcing the beast to hold on to the calm he had.

They traveled deep into the facility, through secured lock-ups and twists and turns. Finally, they arrived in a room with several massive cells—ten times as large as the one the beast was now in.

Jaeger whistled. “The monster gets an upgrade.”

“We needed to make sure they could hold any beast, of any size,” Bull said before pulling open the first of two sets of bars. After he opened the second, he turned to them all. “Everyone ready?”

Drake turned to look around them.The room was packed with shifters—some already shifted and ready to jump in to force the beast back into his new cell. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The creature was still calm as they moved the opening of the old cage to the new.

Everyone in the space was tense.It hovered all around them, lingering in the air.

Once Bull had gazed about the room to apparently ensure everyone was ready, he opened the door to the old cage and pushed the whole thing the last few inches to close the gap as much as possible.

Drake persuaded the creature to enter the new cell. Mentally, he pushed with all his might.

“Draaake,” the beast murmured.

He rose and placed a furred hand that was more paw than fingers through the bars of the old cell—reaching for Drake.

His focus shattered, he stared at the hand, shocked his name had been called.

The loss of attention was all he needed.The beast lashed out, pushing the old cell away from the opening.He lunged toward Bull, claws flashing.

“No!” Drake screamed, throwing himself on the creature’s back and grabbing the male’s arm. The claws narrowly missed Bull’s face.

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