Chapter 15
Bosse had always acceptedthe day would come when he could not survive. This had to be it.
He and Titan could not escape the infamous Black River Pack of killers who used other shifters as guinea pigs for cruel experiments. He’d talk to Titan first, but the only way out of this might be death.
That sounded easy if you weren’t a shifter.
Now he was sick for real. His heart sagged from disappointment.
The leader ordered, “I want to see each captive shift.”
Kinter fidgeted uncomfortably. “Nothing was said about having them shift.”
“You dare to question me?” The Black River Pack leader swung his attention from the captives to Kinter, staking him in place with a furious gaze. “I am Mort, second to the Black River Pack alpha.”
Bosse heard Kinter’s heart rate pick up, which meant every shifter here had also caught the sound. If he remembered correctly, mort was another word for death. Had this arrogant jerk taken that moniker to put fear in others?
The only words that concerned Bosse were Black, River, and Pack, synonymous with facing worse than the most excruciating torture anyone could imagine.
Death was preferable.
Mort continued in his superior tone. “I will explain to save time. We pay top dollar for shifters. We recently received one so traumatized he couldn’t shift. Shifting is required as a new rule for any deals.”
“We have handed you no traumatized shifters in the past,” Kinter argued.
Bosse couldn’t call him on a lie as Kinter believed he had treated his captives well, but his interpretation of trauma needed updating.
Taking a long moment to stare Kinter into silence, Mort said, “And that is the only reason you remain alive at this point.”
Lifting a hand in resignation, Kinter said, “Fine, but are you prepared to handle it if one tries to run or attack one of us?”
“See those four behind me?”
“I’m not blind,” an irritated Kinter replied.
“They are trained snipers, and their weapons are loaded with one of our drugs that will drop an elephant shifter in two steps.”
Elephant shifter? Huh. Bosse hadn’t known those existed.
Mort then directed his words to the captives. “If one of you thinks to use your wolf against us, you’ll be restrained, taken to our headquarters, and then tortured for a week as an initiation. As you may have heard, we excel at that with shifters.”
More heartbeats jacked up until it sounded like a low rumble of drums to Bosse.
Kinter ordered his captives, “All five of you sit on the ground.” He then directed the driver. “Unshackle that one first and let him shuck his clothes. As each one shifts and Mort approves, he has his team contain the shifter and unshackle the next one.” He looked at Mort. “That acceptable to you?”
“Yes.”
