Chapter 7
“I’ll talk to him,” Mal said.
“No. It shouldn’t be you. He… trusts me. I’m the one who should tell him.”
“How sure are you about this?” Alp asked. “Maybe it’s a mistake.”
“It isn’t,” Mal said, certainty in his voice. “We’ve been all throughout the base, and we’ve found everyone in it. There was no sign of another bull shifter.”
“What if he escaped?”
There was a desperate hope in Alp’s voice, but even Teddy could see he knew the truth. There was so much pain etched on his face, it broke Teddy’s heart. This was why he hadn’t wanted Alp involved. Family was everything to rabbits, and even if they’d never had the chance to meet Cooper, he was family through his connection with Teddy.
“I’m sorry, Alp.”
He buried his face in Mal’s chest. “Why? What could they possibly have gained from something so barbaric?”
Teddy bent and picked up the folder. He placed it back on the desk. “The papers say that they wondered if the meat from shifters tasted the same as the meat of other animals. They said, because they believed shifters were animals who mimicked human behavior, that everything should be the same as any other cow.”
“He wasn’t a fucking cow!” Alp snarled.
“He knows that, baby. Trust me, Teddy knows. He’s only telling us what the file says.”
“I—I’m sorry, Teddy,” Alp said, his voice cracking. “I shouldn’t have…. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be.” Teddy sucked in a breath, thinking about Callum. This might devastate him, and it was possible they’d lose him to his animal side forever. He’d seen it before when someone was so deep in grief, they simply gave up. “I don’t know what to say to Callum.”
“I can still do it,” Mal offered. “I’m the First of this pack.”
His mind screamed for him to say yes. Let Mal deal with it. But Teddy wasn’t about to let his friend suffer alone. He wanted to be there to console Callum.
“No, it has to be me. I don’t want to, but I know it has to be done.”
“Tell us everything you know,” Damon demanded. “I’m going to see the Council. The deeper this depravity goes, the more they’ve failed our peoples.”
Teddy flipped the folder open. He retched when he gazed at the pages again, but there was nothing left in his stomach. He picked up the water Alp had brought in and sipped it, then placed the glass back on the table. His eyes burned as he read out loud.
“Experiment 22407: Dr. Julian Evers posed a fascinating question today. He wondered, since these shifters were animals, whether or not the meat would taste the same. When we got together for our meeting, I asked Dr. Evers to propose his query to those gathered. As soon as he did, the debate started. Dr. Cord said that with the chemicals involved, there was every possibility that the meat would be tainted and unfit for human consumption. So we took several shifters and placed them in solitary confinement. They were given no medications, as to keep the meat untainted.
“The first animal we tested was a squirrel shifter. The animal was humanely destroyed, then prepared in a stew. Dr. Mendez said that his family often ate squirrel when she was growing up and that the flavor was similar, but not exact. There was, she said, a certain gaminess to the meat. On a scale of one to five, she gave the meat a three.
“The next animal we tested was a quail shifter. As before, it was humanely destroyed, then it was prepared. This time it was roasted. Dr. Syo agreed with Dr. Mendez that the meat was rather gamey. He gave it a two out of five.
“The tests continued. We tried snake shifter, aquatic shifter, porcine shifter. Each time we followed the same procedure. The animal was humanely killed, then prepared. In every instance, the group agreed the meat was off from the flavor they were used to.
“Our final test was made with the bull shifter. Surprisingly, he fought against us, even after we?—”
Teddy stopped reading, he was shaking so hard. Mal took the stack of papers from him.
“Even after we shot him in the head,” Mal choked out.
Alp pushed away and rushed to the door. “I… I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
He stumbled as he tried to get away, falling face-first onto the floor. Mal put the file down, then went and scooped his mate into his arms. Alp buried his head in Mal’s neck, the sobs tearing at Teddy. He knew he’d have to deal with this soon.
“I’ll be back,” Mal said. “I have to take care of Alp.”
And Teddy understood. He truly did.
After Mal left, Damon picked up the papers. “This is monstrous,” he said, his voice gravelly. Damon was the strongest shifter Teddy knew, and this was tearing at him. “They fucking graded the meat they were eating. It says that Cooper’s was the closest to the meats they’d tried, and he got a four of five. There are also notes in the margins talking about the type of fucking wine that would go best with each meat.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m not the least bit sorry they’re dead.”
Once again, Teddy thought of Angel Salvatore and wished he existed. He wanted to revive all these people, and this time he would go slowly as he was killing them.
“Nor am I,” Teddy admitted. “Does this make me a bad person?”
“What?” Damon got up and pulled Teddy into a hug. It was weird, because though Teddy was bigger than Damon, the mere presence of the man made him seem so much larger. “You are one of the best people I know. You and your brother are our pack. Our family. Never forget that. Even if you’re here, you’re still ours.”
Teddy bent and put his head on Damon’s shoulder. “What am I going to tell Callum?”
“The truth. That’s the only thing you can give him. Leave out the details, though. He doesn’t need to know them.”
No, Callum had gone through too much already, and telling him about his brother’s death would be hard enough.
“I should go talk to him,” Teddy said, standing again.
“No, you should go rest first. You need to have your brain together. The date on this file is five years ago. It’s waited this long, I think it can hold on a little longer.”
Teddy gave a sharp nod. He strode from the room, his mind busier than it had ever been. Yes, he’d killed people in defense of his sleuth, and then his pack, but he’d never had to tell someone that their family had died.
He wasn’t looking forward to this at all.
Callum glanced at the sky for probably the twentieth time. The sun had nearly set, and he still hadn’t seen Teddy. He went to the box they’d mounted on one of the posts in his pen and pressed the button with his nose. He heard the squawk, and then a moment later, a familiar voice came on.
“Hey, I’m sorry. It’s… been really busy. I’m going to be out in a few minutes, okay?”
There was something wrong with Teddy’s voice. It sounded pained, as though he was close to tears. Callum pressed the button again.
“I said I’ll be right out!” Teddy snapped. “No, wait, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just….” He blew out a breath. “We have to talk.”
Callum wasn’t certain what he should do. He stepped back from the box, trying to think of what Teddy would want to say. Nothing really came to mind, except maybe he didn’t want to be friends. Callum couldn’t blame him for that. Who wanted a bull for a buddy? Not like he could take his bovine pal to dinner, right?
As the sun dipped below the tree line, the familiar footsteps finally echoed around him. His heart sped up, because he still couldn’t fathom why Teddy sounded sad and told Callum they had to talk. When Teddy finally stepped into view, Callum was on full alert. Teddy looked absolutely shattered. His eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. His hair was mussed and unkempt. And sadness clung to him like a shroud.
“Hey.” He got closer and opened the gate to the pen before stepping inside. “I’m sorry I barked at you. That was a dick thing for me to do.”
Callum moved cautiously, nudging Teddy’s hand. As if he was in automatic, Teddy stroked Callum’s hair.
“So, listen. I know I didn’t tell you why I came to Wald, and maybe I should. A few years ago, the leader of our sleuth—that’s what a group of bears is called—betrayed my brother Ivan and me. Well, to be fair, he betrayed all shifters. See, he told Hyde about us.”
Callum tensed. It was because of Teddy’s leader that he and his brother had been taken?
“None of us knew about it, and we didn’t find out until much later that he’d offered to sell shifters to Hyde. When Hyde told our leader no, that he’d already found shifters, he….” Teddy sniffled. “He killed his wife and kids, then blamed it on us. We were beaten and left to die. If it wasn’t for Cece, the wolf’s wife, we would have frozen to death on the mountain. Then Mal called and said they needed help rescuing shifters from a lab. This place. Ivan and I were the first ones to volunteer, because we believed our leader’s family died due to us.” He scratched harder. “I’ll be honest. I didn’t care if I lived or died, as long as it was in the service of the Maker.”
Teddy leaned in and brushed his cheek alongside Callum’s.
“We killed everyone that worked here. It didn’t matter if they hadn’t done anything themselves—they knew of our existence, and we couldn’t have that.”
Callum had no problem with these assholes dying. The screams, the cries in the night, the absolute terror? Yes, kill them.
“I was asked to come here to be sort of an archivist. I was supposed to scan the documents in and put them onto the computer for Dr. Hamilton. Today, as I was doing that, I found…. I found….”
Whatever it was, it obviously was tearing Teddy apart. Callum nuzzled his neck, hoping to encourage him to continue talking.
“Callum, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “They killed your brother.”
As though a switch was flipped, Callum snorted, then slammed into Teddy, who fell to the hard packed earth.
He started to get up. “Callum, please, I?—”
This time Callum charged him, ramming into his side and knocking him head over ass, until he landed fifteen feet away. Teddy got to his feet slowly, and Callum lowered his head again. He rushed forward, grazing Teddy with a horn. The scent of blood was strong as Teddy cried out.
“Callum, stop! Please,” Teddy growled.
But Callum refused. Cooper was dead because of Teddy! Maybe he didn’t do it himself, but he was just as responsible. He raised his head, ready to rush Teddy once again, when he saw it. Teddy stood, his glower dark as his body rippled. Hands became claws with nails at least four inches long. That face Callum liked to look at elongated, the snout protruding outward, and the teeth pulled back into the mouth, only to be replaced by a sharper set. Callum stood, shocked, as Teddy’s transformation left him in bear form. Yes, he’d seen Teddy before, but now? He had no idea how big he was. Then he rose onto his back legs, making himself even larger, and a niggle of fear ripped through Callum. This version of Teddy stood at least ten feet tall. He roared at Callum, who stepped back.
Teddy dropped to his paws and stalked toward Callum. Pain seared through him at the thought of his brother dying in this hellhole. If Teddy had stopped it…. He lowered his head and charged, but was surprised when Teddy latched on to his horns and drove Callum to the grass. He tried to lift his head, but Teddy wouldn’t be budged. He leaned in, and Callum knew he could bite through his throat and kill him. Maybe he should.
“Callum, please,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
The weight was gone from Callum’s head, and he peered up to see a naked Teddy on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I would give anything for you to have your brother back.”
It wasn’t fair. Cooper shouldn’t have died. He…. He….
Then Callum realized it wasn’t Teddy’s fault. It was his. He ran and left Cooper alone, fighting against too many men. He’d frozen, and because of it, his brother had died. Grief surged through him, and he ran into the woods, needing to get lost.
“Callum, come back! Don’t go out there!”
He heard, but didn’t listen. He needed to get away from Cooper’s voice in his head. The one that was hurling the accusations that Callum had abandoned him. It was because of Callum that he was dead. It was?—
Before he could react, Callum was slammed from the side, which pushed him into a tree. He turned and found a very pissed off bear staring at him. Well, fuck him. Callum had just lost his whole world, and if Teddy thought he’d calm down, he could go to hell. Before he could get up, Teddy was on top of him, this time not allowing Callum to move at all. His struggles were in vain, as the bear outweighed Callum’s bull by probably five hundred pounds or more.
Buried beneath the massive body, Callum could do nothing but try and breathe. Each time he did, he smelled a slight musk from the bear. It wasn’t anything like Callum thought it would be. He thought it would be strong and disgusting, but instead it was actually pretty clean. And the weight pressing down on him? Why did it feel comfortable, like a blanket you wanted to curl up with? What was wrong with Callum? All the fight had gone out of him, and he wanted to cling to Teddy, to be held in those arms as he cried.
The weight continued to increase, until it became painful. Callum struggled, but was unable to find enough purchase to move the massive bear. He opened his mouth to bellow, but what came out shocked even him.
“Teddy, you’re crushing me.”