Theo’s eyes were wide and he could barely get the words out. “You knew?”
She shook her head. “Not until a few days ago. Right after you went missing, Mr. Max came and explained things. He said…” She smiled at Theo, trying to show him with just her eyes and her words that she would love him no matter what kind of biology he had. Human, bear, wolf, or anything else. “He said you were on the verge of your First Change.”
“Into a bear? It’s not…you know…lycanthropy or something?”
“No, sweetie. I don’t think so. But when Carl gets us out, he’ll explain it to you. He’s a bear, too. As are a lot of people. He says your father was one of them, and they’ve been watching over you since you were first born.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed and his hands gripped the bars, twisting as if he could work them free. They didn’t budge, and she could see his brows lower in fury. “My father did this to me?” he asked, his voice low and rough. “And Mr. Max?”
“No, no. They’d didn’t do it to you. It’s something you are. It’s something they are.”
“A freak?”
“Never! Theo, you have to calm down.” But it was too late. She could see his emotions getting away from him. His hands were thick where they gripped the bars and as she watched, they got larger and darker. She looked to his eyes and saw them turn golden brown. His nose lengthened and dark fur spouted everywhere.
He was shifting and in that confined space, he wasn’t going to fit. Plus, she knew if she and Theo were going to have a chance to escape, it wouldn’t be with him unconscious after the bastards used their cattle prod on him. Carl had said that shifters could change only once a day at best. That the change took too much out of them. And it was clear that Theo needed to conserve his energy. He was thinner than she’d ever seen him and this wasn’t going to help. So it was time for her to go into Mommy mode.
“Theodore Samuel Weitz, you will settle down this instant!” Her voice was sharp and cold. Theo’s head snapped up immediately, his eyes pinned on her, but he didn’t stop growling deep in his throat. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, young man. You will sit down on your bottom and think, do you hear me? You will use your brain or so help me, I will climb out of this cage and flick you hard right on your nose.”
The absurdity of that threat wasn’t lost on her. She couldn’t get out of her cage and no way was a finger snap on his nose going to do anything. But it was the only physical punishment she’d ever used. It was the shame of it that settled Theo down when he was ten. And it was the tone—she hoped—that made it through to the bear.
It worked.
He dropped down onto his butt and stared at her. A moment later, his nose seemed to recede and his ears returned to full human. Odd how she was starting to pick up the little changes more than the big ones. But she’d been studying Theo’s face since he was a baby. Of course she’d notice every little thing. She didn’t speak again until he was fully human.
“I know you’re angry,” she said softly. “I am, too. But you need to conserve your strength. We’ll get our chance soon. I promise.”
Theo swallowed and turned his face away. Then a moment later, he looked back at her, hope once again burning hot and wild in his hazel eyes. “Promise?” he whispered.
“I promise. Mr. Max won’t let us down.”
“But what if?—”
“Hssst,” she said. “Stop questioning that. You can ask about anything else, Theo, but don’t doubt for a second that we’re getting out of here. Do you understand?”
He nodded twice, just like he had when he was ten and she’d told him he was going to live with her and they were going to be so happy together. “I understand.”
“Good,” she said, her voice dropping to a quieter tone. “Now tell me everything that’s happened to you so far. Everything. Starting from how they found you.”
His story turned out to be remarkably like hers. He’d been walking to practice and then there’d been four guys on him and a cloth over his face. He’d woken up some time later in the Moss compound basement with the two wolf boys. There was a mad scientist—his words—and lots of bastards with cattle prods. He’d shifted only once and that had freaked him out so much that he’d slept on and off for the next two days. He’d even slept for most of the move from the farmhouse to here, though he suspected that was because they’d drugged his food.
He’d woken a few hours ago when they brought her in. He’d watched when they drew blood from her arm, and then he’d waited until they’d left to try to wake her. Which brought them up to now.
She suspected that he left a lot of the details out. She didn’t know whether to be thankful or to push him for every last detail so she could figure things out. But that was silly. She wasn’t James Bond or even Tonya the pissy cop. She was a human baker who wasn’t going to martial arts her way out of this mess. She didn’t have the skills.
All she could do was keep Theo calm and wait for their opportunity. Because one would come. It had to.
Hurry up, Carl. Find us!
CHAPTER 21
“Head to Walmart.” Carl’s voice was clipped as he thumbed in Alan’s phone number.
Tonya shot him a baffled look. “You have a sudden need for Cheetos?”
He shook his head. “Becca’s not answering her phone.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you.”
