Chills ran up Valerie's arms. "What haven't you told me?"
"There's an injection that Randall can give Mitchell to force the first shift." She drew in a ragged breath. "But it's dangerous to Mitchell, and it could kill him instead of getting the desired results. I'm not sure he's strong enough to handle the injection."
Valerie blanched. "He wouldn't do that to his own son." She said it matter of factly even though it felt like more of a question.
"He'll do anything for the pack."
The door swung open and Louis stormed in. "You've had quite enough time to leave a tray."
Linda stiffened. "We were talking."
"You shouldn't have said anything," he admonished her. "Do you know the repercussions if she gives away our secrets?"
Valerie pointed to her chest. "Me?"
Linda snapped back. "Who is she going to tell, hmm? She's a prisoner in her own house, and Randall isn't likely to just let her waltz out of her."
Louis propelled her toward the door as she protested. "I failed at protecting our son, and look what happened. Look what you did to him. Do you want that for your own grandson?"
The door locked behind them, and their voices faded off down the hall. Valerie tried to clear her head to make sense of what Linda had just told her. Obviously Louis had used the injection on Randall. The more she thought about it, the more Valerie realized that Linda probably meant his attitude and cruelty were a result of the shot.
She scooped Mitchell up and made him giggle. After they finished eating, they stood at the window and watched two squirrels chase each other around and around the trees. Despite being locked up with minimal things to do, they weren't bored in the least. Valerie finally asked him about his father.
"Does Daddy want you to do something that you don't know how to do?"
Mitchell shrugged. "I don't like Daddy."
Although she wanted to cheer, she didn't want to be that parent. "How come?"
Another shrug. "I can't do what he wants."
She recognized that his speech was above a four year old level. Her heart broke because she just wanted him to be a little boy. Her fear was that Randall had already done something.
"Has Daddy taken you for any shots?" She knew from his pediatrician appointments for routine vaccinations that Mitchell hated it. Very loudly.
His head swung around. "No! I'm not getting no shots."
Relief washed over her. Now she just needed to get him out of there before it was time. She should have asked Linda if there was some kind of ceremony or just a quick jab in the arm.
Mitchell yawned while they were sitting on the floor trying to find all the colors in the gardens below. He crawled up into her lap, and she backed up to the wall so she could see outside while she held him. She loved the feel of her son in her arms, and he drifted off to sleep almost immediately.
At some point, she too fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, a dragon with Tyson's eyes hovered right outside her windows, and it was staring straight at her.
Chapter Twenty Two: Chapter 22 Title
Tyson “Ty” Hale
Tyson stared at Valerie as she cuddled her son on the floor. At least he assumed it was her little boy. And she seemed to be sound asleep as he hovered outside the window. His siblings were distracting all the wolves out front to give him time to search for her.
She was so close, and yet so far. He studied the windows and decided it wasn't going to be as easy as just opening them and escaping. But he was determined enough that he was not leaving there without them. Both of them.
As if she sensed him, Valerie suddenly opened her eyes and looked right at him through the glass. She gave a quick wave and a smile, but he could see her fear as their eyes locked. She gave him a thumbs up that she was okay, but that didn't change the fact that there was still a barrier between them.
He backed up a little bit to get a better view of the structure. He was done playing, but he also didn't want to be fighting until Valerie and Mitchell were safe. He watched her stand and lift the sleeping boy into her arms and back away from the window.
Shouting erupted from the front of the house, and Tyson knew that his time was limited. There was no time to be stealthy or prepared. He needed to get her out of there now. With a beat of his wings to hold him in position. He released a blast of dragon breath to melt the glass. Valerie had plenty of experience riding on his back, so he had no doubt that she could get out with Mitchell without any problems.
The wave of the blast that blew back on him as his fire stream bounced off the window caught him off guard. He flew backwards until he could get his bearings and steady himself. When he turned back toward the house, he saw that he had done no damage to the glass at all.
