Page 96 of Bear Facts

“We came here to rescue you,” Shane informed them. “Get you away from your human captors and back home.”

He spoke resolutely, but a couple of the Shifters laughed.

“Do we look like captives?” a Feline said. “Don’t think I want to be rescued by a mangy bear.”

Shane really wished the comms worked. Something was very wrong here, and help would be useful right about now. He’d love it if Reid teleported in to take Freya and Matt to safety, but that would only work if Reid could get a fix on their present location.

Second best idea, satellite phone. Cells probably didn’t have the range this far from civilization, even in this day and age, and humans now locked theirs with facial recognition or codes and shit. Satellite phone would be best. One of these guys must have one, or maybe someone inside the building would.

“So, what did you do?” Shane kept his tone casual and his claw-hands where they could see them. “Convince the humans you were on their side? Smart.”

“Better than that,” the Feline answered. “What happens when a human thinks he can control Shifters by removing their Collars and pumping them full of adrenaline?” He showed pointed teeth in a cat smile. “He finds out he can’t.”

“Did you kill them?” Shane tensed but held his position.

“Not yet.” The Feline’s smugness was annoying. “But they’re out of commission. They didn’t bring enough bosses to keep us in line, did they? Typical human mistake.” A few Lupines guffawed in agreement.

A typical Shifter mistake to think Shifter Bureau wouldn’t care that the humans in question had been doing something very illegal. Though humans weren’t supposed to help Shifters out of Collars and let them fight in combat situations, the Shifters would be punished first. Humans—if they were still alive—second, and they wouldn’t be given the harsh treatment the Shifters would receive.

Furthermore, if the human abductors turned up dead, these Shifters would be instantly terminated. Other Shifters in the area who had nothing to do with any of this might be as well.

“Where are they?” Shane asked. “Heaney and his followers?”

“Why do you care?” The Feline’s grin vanished. “You here to rescue them?”

“Seriously?” Shane scoffed the word. “I’m not fond of humans who think they can use Shifters for their own gain. But I have to tell you, a pile of dead bodies isn’t going to help your case.”

“There are some Shifter bodies.” The Feline growled. “No Guardian. Humans didn’t care.”

“Yeah, that was stupid of Heaney.”

Shane shared the Feline’s anger about that. Shifters couldn’t be left to rot, their souls open to Fae capture.

“Tell you what, though,” Shane continued. “I know where there is a Guardian. Or at least, I can call him. He traveled with me on what we thought was going to be a recuse mission.”

“Which Guardian?”

Shane figured there was nothing to lose by telling them. All Shifters—rogue, feral, or happy at home—needed a Guardian.

“His name’s Neal Ingram. He’s with the Las Vegas Shiftertown.”

“Yeah?” A Lupine with longer black hair that hadn’t been combed in a while snorted a laugh. “Vegas, eh? He gonna dance for us?”

“Shut up,” the Feline said irritably. “If he’s with a Shiftertown, he’ll report us to his Shiftertown leader, and we’re screwed.”

“Neal’s only concerned about being a Guardian,” Shane said. “Not with following human rules. He’ll be more worried about getting to the Shifters in time.” He hesitated. “What happened to the Shifters on that island near Malaysia? The ones that died there?”

The Feline flinched uncomfortably but kept his rifle trained on Shane. “I told you, humans don’t understand about Guardians.”

“What happened to the human soldiers?” Shane asked. “On both sides?”

“You know, you seem to care a lot about the humans.”

Shane held on to his patience with effort. “Because if they’re found, there will be a lot of questions. Even if it’s in a country that doesn’t have special laws about Shifters killing humans, Shifter Bureau will get wind of it. Did that battle happen before or after you overthrew your human captors?”

The Feline said nothing, but the Lupine answered, his voice rasping. “Before. We won that fight for them, but they didn’t give a shit that Shifters went down doing it. When we got back here, we took over the compound.”

“There’s another Guardian heading out to find those Shifters even as we speak,” Shane said.

---