Journey Home

I abandoned the only family member I had left, but I did it to save his life. We may not have had much of an existence, but it beats being dead, and one of us had to die. Instead of waiting for someone else to decide our fate, I chose for everyone. In a world where I had no say in anything, it felt good to choose, even if that choice was death.

Someone shook me roughly, and I was overwhelmed by a cacophony of sounds and smells battling for my attention: high-pitched repetitive beeps, blood, sweat, voices, the whoosh of a machine, the acrid scent of cleansers, someone coughing—and humans. It overwhelmed me, and I felt like I would be sick.

A man appeared over me. “Wake up.”, he shouted. Obedient by nature, I struggled to do as I was asked, but consciousness slipped through my fingers.

Someone shook me, and I surfaced to wakefulness. “Wake up, child. Wake up.” I tried to obey, but I was so sleepy. “It is not nice to fall asleep when an adult speaks,” the man said sternly.

Darkness swallowed me. “We are losing her.”, a woman said. “God, she is in terrible condition.”

“Did anyone call the police?” someone else asked. “What makes a child do this to themselves?”

Then, someone shook me hard, and I was back. I tried opening my eyes, but the bright light burned. “Hey.”, the man said. “Hey!” Darkness dragged me under again.

This time, they shook me so hard I swear that my brain rattled in my skull. I tried to open my eyes, but I could only manage to see the world through slits. Suddenly, the same man loomed into view. “What’s your name, little girl?”

“Char.” My voice sounded far away, and oblivion was waiting. I closed my eyes. I wanted to rest.

“Char, that is a pretty name for a pretty girl. Do you know where you are?” the man asked. Opening my eyes, I could see the man was not alone. Other humans stood over me, looking down. I was surrounded.

“Speak up, sweetheart. Do you know where you are?” someone asked.

Frustrated, I took a deep breath to yell, but all that escaped was a croak. The humans murmured among themselves, and in the brief moments their focus wavered, I slipped away.

Startled awake, I sat up abruptly and heard someone gasp. Wherever I was, it was dark. I could hear and smell a dissonance of familiar and foreign scents and sounds. My instincts told me to go to ground and find cover, but when I tried to move, I felt things tugging at my skin.

“Good God, child. You scared me sitting up like that.”, a woman said.

Homing in on the voice’s location, I saw a human female sitting in a chair by my bed. She wore dark blue pajamas and smelled like garlic, fish, and a lingering perfume that made me want to sneeze. Patting my body, I tried to identify what was attached to me and felt some thin strings leading to my chest. Horrified, I put my hand under an itchy shirt and found the strings led to stickers on my chest. I gave an experimental tug, and when it didn’t hurt, I gathered all the strings into my fist and yanked. Alarms started wailing, lights started blinking, and my chest stung, but there wasn’t any time for me to nurse my wounds.

I tried to get out of bed again but was still attached to something. This time, I felt a pain in the back of my hand. “Girl, what are you doing? Don’t pull that out. You’re going to hurt yourself.”, the woman said. She stood and tried to stop me, and I easily batted her away.

Quickly, I touched the back of my hand and found a bandage wound around it. Probing, I found a bump on the back of my hand with tubing leading to an unknown place. I yanked the tube and yelped. Whatever it was, it was embedded under my skin. In a panic, I scrabbled and tore the bandage off.

The human yelled. “I have a code grey.”

I took a deep breath to calm down, then slightly shifted to access my wolf. With its superior senses, I needed my wolf to get me out of this. My eyes flickered amber, but the magic sputtered like a guttering candle about to run out of wick. “Damn it.”, I thought.

Focusing, I tried making the shift minuscule, and it worked. Quickly, I assessed my hand. There was something inserted under my skin, and liquid was dripping into me. Shivering in disgust, I yanked hard, felt a stab of pain, and then smelled blood. But before I could leap from the bed and flee, humans poured into the room, put their hands on me, and pressed me into the mattress.

I struggled to free myself and began screaming for my brother. The only person I had left in this world. A pinch on my right shoulder was the only warning I got, and within seconds, my screams lost their power. No matter how I fought to stay awake, I could not stop slipping into the inky void of unconsciousness.

The next time I woke, the room was oppressively bright, and I lay there for a time, confused. Where was I? I attempted to sit up and look around but couldn’t because I was tied to a bed. Alarmed, I tried identifying what was restraining me and discovered my feet and wrists were in leather cuffs, and my waist and chest had thick leather straps running across them.

My heart raced in my chest. I felt terrified. What kind of place was this, and why was I restrained? Turning my head, I could see I was in the center of a large room. It was obvious this room had another purpose besides tying children to beds because, to my right, heavy-looking couches and tables were pushed against the wall. On my left were a series of windows, and behind them, I could see three people facing me—two females and a male—wearing pajamas, sitting at what looked like workstations.

I tested the restraints, and no matter how I wiggled or strained, I could not get out without help. After exhausting myself, I realized that the only option to remove the leather cuffs was the three runts behind the glass. “Excuse me,” I said. My voice sounded hoarse, and my tongue was as dry as a desert.

When was the last time I drank or ate anything? I had no idea how many days had passed since…my brain flinched away from the memory that had started this chain of events.

Louder, I tried again. “Excuse me.” The humans behind the glass did not even twitch. Could they hear me?

Feeling a tickle in my mind, I heard my brother speaking through our familial bond. All shifters related by blood, pack, or mate had a telepathic bond. Sometimes, the bonds were so strong that you could sense locations and feelings.

“They can’t hear through the glass. They are human, remember?” Tee said. I twisted my head to see my brother, but it was futile.

“Tee, is that you?”I mind spoke.

“Yes, you idiot. Who else would it be?”

“Are you okay?”

“No, I am not. I am tied to a bed by crazy humans.”Tee mind spoke.

Still craning my head, I asked. “Where are you?”

“In a bed behind you.”

I heard him thrashing behind me and realized they had positioned us head-to-head directly in front of the observation windows. No wonder I couldn’t see him.

“Have you noticed?”Tee mind spoke

“Noticed what?”

“It’s cooler here.”,Tee spoke.

He was right. This meant we could shift. I can’t believe I didn’t notice. I reached for my wolf and sensed her presence. She was weak, but she was there. It felt like a piece of me had returned. I felt strong and complete. Whoever restrained us didn’t know about the Arctic werewolf’s greatest weakness: heat. I bet they didn’t even realize we were werewolves, or they would have never restrained us like this.

But where was here, and why was Tee with me? He was supposed to be safe. He was supposed to…I swerved around that memory. It was too painful.

Was I wrong, and they hurt him? I thought they would have no choice but to keep him safe if I was not there.“Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?”

“No, but you are. I can smell blood.”, Tee said out loud.

I remembered the strange tube inserted into the back of my hand.“It’s nothing. It’s healed already.”I mind spoke.

I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I didn’t notice my abilities had returned. I even used them. The partial shift and the wound on my hand—I knew it had healed. I needed to be careful to hide my hand. I made a mess of it when I yanked that thing out. It was probably healed in minutes.

And wait, I was alive—I should be dead right now. Someone must have brought me to the hospital. There’s no way it was Alice or Brad. They would never risk exposure. Did they sell us to someone else? That would explain the restraints and the new room.

I asked, “What are we doing here? Did they sell us?”

“Don’t you remember?”Tee asked.

“No.”Wait, do I? I wondered.

Furrowing my brows, I attempted to retrace my memories and recalled the hospital room I had tried to escape from. Before that, someone had been shaking me. And before that? Where had I been? My littermate was unusually silent, allowing me time to rummage in my memories.

I sorted through them like I was looking through old photos, picking up each memory and time-traveling to the past. Do you remember how we always got the warmest spot in the middle of the wolf pile? What about Father? Remember him? He was the best Alpha ever. Remember how Mother smelled like milk and honey or how we tried to run away whenever she licked food off our faces? I remember after every kill; we gave the heart of the beasts to the gods Luna and Lupus to show our gratitude.

But those were the golden years; I love looking through those memories. How about something more recent? Remember how it was my fault we got caught and saw our first human, and they kidnapped us? What about when we were sold a surgeon named Brad? How about the first organ he harvested, remember that? And we can never ever forget that it is my fault that we would never see our parents or pack again.

But that’s not what Tee is asking about. He wants to know how we escaped. But I can’t tell him that, can I?

“You tried to leave me.”,Tee said through our bond.Feelings of pain and betrayal flooded the bond.“You promised we would run away together. You promised. You and me forever.”

“What do you mean I tried to leave you? You’re right here.”

“You left me behind.”Tee’s wolf whined.

I can’t tell him. He would do something stupid if he knew the truth. It’s better for him to think I left without him. Hopefully, he will forgive me. We can leave this behind us, but first we need to get out of here before Brad and Alice find us, before they find Tee. How long has it been since I left? We need to go—now.

My heart began to race. Sweat beaded my forehead and trickled into my hair as I struggled to find any weakness in the restraints that held me. We had to get out of there right now! Brad and Alice must be searching for us, and if they find us, I didn’t dare to think about that lest Tee sense it through our bond.

What if I shifted? I could slip free of my bonds and free Tee, but if I was seen… I looked at the humans seated behind the windows. There was no way I could transform, not with them there. The existence of paranormal beings was a secret, and our ancestors ensured we could never reveal ourselves to humans, not even if our lives were at risk. It was an instinct all paranormals had woven into our DNA using an old, forgotten magic. If there were a chance a human could see me, my wolf would not come.

I needed a better plan.“Wanna get out of here?”I said through the bond.

“I’m not talking to you.”,Tee responded, then added. “Are we even a pack anymore?”

I shared my irritation through our bond.“We don’t have time for this. Help me think of a way to get out. Have they ever untied you? Like to eat, or, um, to go to the bathroom?”I asked.

Tee was quiet for a few heartbeats, and I continued wracking my brains for some kind of loophole in the no-shifting in front of humans rule. Finally, he answered me.“Yes, they let me out to go to the bathroom. You were sleeping.”Tee thought.“Lazy head, you missed everything.”

The bathroom. That made sense. They couldn’t say no to that, or they would have to clean up the mess. All of a sudden, I had an idea, and I grinned. It’s a good thing that runts are stupid.“Hey, Bone Head.”I teased.“I have an idea.”