“You’re hesitating to answer,” Jaz pointed out, no longer sounding as positive as she had before.
Bosse took a deep breath and hoped his words would not condemn him and Titan to an unwanted future. “I want to tell you the truth. I would like to find a place to live. You offer what sounds like somewhere my wolf and I would be happy. A woman helped me escape Krol’s prison. She had heard Krol was angry over the last arena battle he made me fight. My wolf and I won against a Cape buffalo.”
Adrian whistled at that, sounding impressed.
Nodding briefly, Bosse said, “Krol had tired of us winning for so long, which was nothing more than fighting to survive. The female came to tell me he intended to put two shifters against us the next day. We were underfed and not healing our injuries. He wanted to watch my wolf die a painful death.” His chest hurt so much when talking about Alifair. “In two years, no captive shifter had ever escaped from the castle, but this woman came to me with a way to escape. She pretended to be a servant. Without her, it would not have happened. I begged her to come with me, but she said she had to stay and find the woman she had gone there to rescue. I offered to stay and help, but she said she could not leave yet and that I would put her in danger if I remained. She told me how to find an old tunnel underneath the castle and the direction to take to reach the ports in Italy.”
He paused, still questioning his decision-making in Italy. “As bad as my wolf and I wanted to hold on to our freedom, leaving that night without her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Silence settled over the room, and Adrian asked, “Did they send trackers after you?”
“Yes. We were close to being caught when a thunderstorm and lightning gave us a break. A flash flood wiped out our path. We were fortunate to cross it without getting swept away. We found a cave on the side of a mountain to rest in until daylight, and then we took off again. I’ll spare you how we reached Venice, but by the time I made it over a bridge to the shipping docks, I could not go across the ocean and live with myself. I discussed it with my wolf. We agreed to return to the castle for the woman. That’s when a shifter gang caught me.”
Jaz stretched her legs out and crossed her arms in a comfortable pose. “Who were they?”
“I don’t know.”
“What can you tell us about them?” Adrian asked.
“They said they contract routes where they know shifters often try to escape and expect them to show up near shipping docks like where they found me. They had four other shifters in chains before capturing me. I had never been on an airplane and used that time to drink as much water as I could to get the drugs out of my system for us to have a chance to escape.”
“They took you to that meeting with the Black River Pack,” Adrian said, prodding Bosse to continue.
“Yes. The shifter, who called himself Mort, said he was in charge. I knew the minute I met him and his snipers I could not escape. My wolf and I decided we’d rather die fighting than be taken to be experimented on or worse.”
“Mort?” Jaz asked, looking up at Adrian.
“Yep, we had intel on that guy,” Adrian confirmed.
Intel sounded as if this was more than just a wolf pack. Bosse let that pass to share more.
“That Mort shifted into a grizzly bear.” Bosse thought back and added, “I don’t know the name of the wolf shifter in charge of the kidnappers, but the driver was called Wilson, and the one who handled the exchange was named Kinter.” He looked at each of them. “Did Kinter or his driver survive?”
“No.” Adrian sounded disappointed. “Our people only wounded them. Mort’s hit squad shifted and ripped out their throats before our people were able to reach the kidnappers. Justin had been chasing the leader, that guy Mort, for a couple of weeks, or our people would not have been on the scene so quickly. By the time he reached Mort, your wolf was a bloody mess, and the bear was coming at your wolf for a strike. I doubt our medic could have done anything about that to save you. Justin approved the headshot.”
Having expected to die at that moment, Bosse was still surprised they’d lose someone as important as Mort to save an unknown shifter. “I’m sure you wanted someone to interrogate. Please tell your people Titan and I thank both of them for saving us.”
“Your wolf is called Titan?” Now Jaz smiled.
“Yes. Best friend I’ve ever had.”
Titan’s words floated in Bosse’s head.We have always been a good team.
Bosse replied, We finally found a way to escape. I’m glad. I want to save the woman, too.
I understand. I am ready when you want to go.
Standing, Jaz announced, “You’re well on your way to mending. I’ll bring food in. You’ll feel stronger soon, probably better than you have in a while. I’d like you to rest more until I say you’re good to get out of here. Once you do, Adrian is training our bunch to fight without shifting. He’ll want to include you. By that time, we want you able to heal yourself quickly.”
“Whatever you say.” Bosse smiled and felt appreciation deep in his bones.
Adrian said, “I have one more thing to mention.”
“Okay.”
“The man who leads our shifter teams has his own questions. I expect him to visit this week. He may have questions because our people always want to stop shifter trafficking.”
“I am willing to help your people in any way I can.”
