Before Bosse walked out of the house in clean jeans and a T-shirt supplied by Jaz, she’d made a point of saying that he was not a prisoner here.
He would find out for sure how true her words were when he decided to go after Alifair, but he had thanked her in the meantime.
She’d also given him a word of advice while they talked yesterday. “Since you’re not familiar with our country, you need to know there is a shifter law enforcement group called SCIS. Shifter Criminal Investigation Service. When they capture a lone shifter, it’s probably the last time anyone will hear from that one. They put shifters in underground cells. They captured three shifters, who took off from here without a word. We can do nothing to help you if you land in SCIS jail. It’s not a way any shifter wants to die.”
Bosse sucked in a breath at that. Now he understood why the kidnappers feared SCIS. He had to return for Alifair, but he would not make the mistake those three shifters had by leaving without Jaz and Adrian’s support.
He’d been straight with them. If they refused to help or asked him to wait more than another day, he would still thank them and then tell them he’d take his chances getting back to Slovakia.
She’d added, “Yep, landing in a SCIS jail is as bad as it sounds. I’m not a fan of that group, but they are the shifter law enforcement run by humans with the aid of some shifters. The jackal shifters they use as enforcers only care about their position and safety within the system.”
“Understood. Thank you for telling me this.”
Bosse stepped outside, standing on the wide porch of this old house. It had been well-kept and sat in an idyllic wooded location.
He turned to the sound of fighting, but not in a rabid way, and found Adrian working with his pack. Bosse had agreed to do a few rounds with Adrian as he showed his men ways to win a battle without shifting into their animals.
From so many battles in the castle arena, Bosse knew much of what Adrian shared, but he respected this man and listened to what he had to say.
He had no trouble executing any defensive move asked of him.
Adrian explained he took on a different shifter each day while the others paired up. His goal at this point was to teach the shifters to fight in human form, allowing them a better chance of moving around humans without risking drawing attention by giving up their human form.
It hadn’t taken long for Bosse to see the problem Jaz and Adrian faced.
These shifters had been in a broken pack run by a sick alpha for too long.
They had almost no control over their animals.
Adrian and Jaz offered motivation for them to hold back from shifting until given the go-ahead at the end of each day. If the entire pack stayed in human form until Adrian called a halt to training, they all ate a great meal cooked by Jaz and drank beer around a fire in the backyard of the house.
If not, the entire group had to hunt for their food on the one hundred and ninety acres, with no beer provided.
When Adrian paired up with Bosse the first time, he held back nothing. Bosse had never enjoyed fighting, but this training was good for him. He needed exercise every day after the life he’d led.
At the end of their round, Adrian said, “You’re more than ready to train with the other shifters. Watch out for Badger. He’s got issues with control. I’m sure you can handle him, but I’d rather not have Jaz spending all night patching someone up.”
When Bosse turned to locate who Adrian had pointed out, he saw Badger on the far side of the clearing doing all sorts of strange things, like jumping around and stabbing his hands at the other shifter called Corbin.
Adrian commented, “You have excellent timing and moves. Do you have any military training?”
“No.” Bosse chuckled. “I learned from standing my ground in the pack I was born into, then by quickly figuring out the best way to win a match in the castle arena.”
“You’ve got natural ability. It won’t be long before I can find a job for you.” Adrian’s eyes continued to check on every shifter, then came back to Bosse. “We want you all to earn money and become independent pack members.”
“That sounds good.” Bosse did not add that he could not see how he’d stay long enough to enjoy that opportunity, but he would stick to his word no matter what.
Adrian turned to the one called Corbin. “Okay, you and Bosse next.”
Corbin finished having terse words under his breath with the camp crazy, then backed away, pointing his finger at Badger.
Did that work? Bosse waited as Adrian headed over to Badger.
“Come on,” Badger yelled at Adrian. “I’m ready to fight you for alpha status.”
Every other shifter groaned and cursed.
When Corbin walked up, Bosse asked, “Will Adrian fight him? I thought Jaz was alpha.”
