Page 28 of The Jaguar's Flower

As Mac sat in his chair, he relaxed as his thoughts carried to escaping the facility. It seemed impossible. Every time he tried to escape, the staff members caught on. Could this be different since a staff member would be part of the escape mission? His boot tapped against the floor. It frustrated him not to know the outcome.

His eyes grew heavy. The jaguar exchanged his sleep for the past few weeks to see her. Exhaustion crept through the shifter. As he tried to fight it, his body grew heavier. He remained seated as his breath evened out.Get up, Mac.Easier said than done when sleep called to him.

Mac! Wake up!

“I know you’re scared. Don’t deny it. I can smell it on you, brother.” Mac side-eyed 004 while Avel gripped the steel bars of the fighting arena. “It’s bound to happen. There is no stopping the first shift. Let it happen. Let them perform what they need to, and it’ll all be over with. I swear to you after the first shift.” The soldier licked his lips as they all turned to the unconscious jaguar on the ground. “You won’t ever shift again. You’ll make sure of it.”

Mac’s eyes shifted to his brother before they returned their focus to Mica on the ground. Every day, the brothers denied their shift. Animals were barbaric creatures without thought or humanity, denying their second nature.

The staff taught them to suppress the animal side and be human. When a shifter didn’t obey those rules, they were taken to a back room. Rarely did they come back. Before Mica’s shift, the brothers questioned nothing. They took their orders in stride and carried on like nothing was wrong. It was easier that way.

The jaguar under Mac’s skin itched to come out to protect Mica, but he resisted. If he turned, Avel would be alone in the facility.

“What do we do?” Mac asked.

Avel shrugged. “Hope he comes back wherever they take him.” His brother’s voice barely reached his ears. We can’t shift, Mac. We need to fight it.”

It wasn’t even two weeks later until they shifted together in their sleep. As Mac woke, he gasped as he felt the cold steel table against his back. His skin crawled when the air conditioning breezed over his naked body. The young jaguar shut his eyes as he tried to ignore his nudity in the examination room.

“Never thought you to be the one as shy.” Matilda, the LPN of the facility, grinned. She walked over to him with her fingernails grazing his arm. He tensed.

When Mac turned his head, he noticed Avel on another steel table. His stomach churned when the nurse moved behind the flimsy white curtain to touch his brother. She pricked him with a needle, and Mac struggled to claw her eyes out. He felt the straps on his body and snarled when the nurse winked.

“I am so disappointed in both of you, 012-1 and 012-3. Your brother didn’t resist like you two are doing.” Mac felt a chill crawl down his spine when she laughed. “You were always my favorite because you never made a noise. Even when I altered you with your brothers, you always fought not to make an expression.” Matilda touched Avel’s chest.

As soon as she did, Mac noticed his brother had been awake, but no sound came from him. “What did you do to him?”

She ignored Mac. “That feeling you are experiencing from the injection.” She licked her lips before glancing over at Mac. “You see, I’m not done with you. I can’t have you talking or making too much noise with what I’m about to do.”

The moment she pulled the curtain closed, Mac fell through the table. The straps came undone, but he continued to fall through the darkness until he landed. Their childhood in the facility remained his nightmare. As soon as Mac opened his eyes, he noticed the fighting arena. “Mica.”

He rose to his feet as he walked over to the fighting mats. Mac caught glimpses of the fight between Mica and him. His heart weighed heavily as he sat on the edge and rubbed his face. He picked up the sound of an alarm, but the jaguar ignored it as he replayed the memory.

“Do you know where they will put us?” Mac opened his eyes. An image of him and his brothers appeared. Mica fumbled with his bed while Avel stood at attention in front of his bunk.

Mac joined his brothers at attention once he ensured their beds met the facility’s standard. All three were identical, down to the smallest of scars. They shared everything, including dark gray eyes and brown hair with the same military buzz cut. They stood at six feet, even at age fourteen. Because of their similarities, Renfield deemed it necessary to treat them as one person.

“Our lessons growing up brought us here,” Avel mentioned. “Semper fidus. Paratus ad defendendum. Perfectus miles. We grew up with these mottos since we were infants. We know our place.”

“Always loyal and ready to defend,” Mica translated. “Defend what?”

Mac rubbed his hand over his face as the memories continued to pour. When it was his turn to speak, the jaguar repeated every word. “Questions are not permitted within the facility, Mica. Do not forget your place.” The jaguar shut his eyes as his heart grew heavier.

“We were perfectus miles,” he whispered. “It now means nothing without you, Mica.” When he opened his eyes, he noticed the fighting ring again. The pain he felt in his heart consumed him. Even as the years continued without their brother, Mac still blamed himself.

“I’m,” Mac spoke the word until he couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore. He rose from his spot as he scanned the area. The lights dimmed to a red glow as the ominous alarm continued to ring. “What the hell is going on?”

“They will break us down!”

Mac’s eyes moved to the vaulted ceiling, but he couldn’t pinpoint the voice’s location. “Draven?” The jaguar squinted as he walked away from the arena. He froze when he heard his name called out. He turned around and saw Mica in the middle of the ring.

“Wake up.” Mica frowned. “Wake up, brother.”

The jaguar’s eyes shot open before bolting from the chair. He gripped the edge of the table as his heart raced. He never dreamed of Mica or the ring before. Hell, even the memory of Avel was buried in the back of the jaguar’s mind. Why did he dream of them now?

Before he could find plausible answers, the alarm beckoned his attention. He immediately rushed out of the dorm room. Everywhere Mac scanned, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The loud ringing continued down the corridor as the jaguar’s ears ached. He headed down the hallway. Not a single soldier swarmed the hallways.

“They will continue to break us down!”

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