5. Maddox
Maddox
My mate is testing my self-control. And somehow that just makes me love her even more. Part of me worried that when she shifted, she’d be nervous and maybe even scared of us. I never imagined she’d be so outspoken and… adorable.
There really is no other word for it. She’s somehow the perfect blend of curious, funny, smart, and sweet, all wrapped up in one gorgeous little package.
I’m dying to see her standing. I know she’ll be shorter than me, but as the shortest of our pack at only five-ten, I had a small worry that my mate will see me as lacking.
She’s already erased any doubt of that in my mind, though.
I can tell she wouldn't care, even if I were shorter than her. But I’d guess she’s under five-two. Perfect.
I glance over at her sitting in Bain’s lap in the window seat of the plane, looking out into the clouds like she’s never been on a plane before. She seems calm. I’m pleased flying doesn’t upset her. Then again, with everything she’s been through, this is probably a walk in the park for her.
I’m desperate to know exactly what these experiments consisted of. But I’m also terrified to ask. I might not be able to get the image of it out of my head. But she had to actually live through it, and she deserves to share that with someone else, to share her burden with us, so we understand.
Deciding not to fill my mind with such negative thoughts right now, I instead fill it with memories of my little mate.
The way she tried to bite me and mark me as hers.
I grin, pride filling me that she wanted me so badly that it was her first instinct when we hugged.
Then, later, she begged me to complete the bond.
I might be a fool to have said no, but there was no way we could get intimate with her while she was at risk of shifting. Hopefully, Starfall Haven is where we think it is and holds the answers we need to help her.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Hunter says, and I glance up at where he’s sitting across from me in question. “I have a feeling Starfall Haven will be there, that it’s where we’re supposed to be.”
“I hope so,” I say with a sigh as I glance back over at her. “I’d hate to be leading our pack into something worse than where we came from.”
“It’s all going to work out, just you wait and see.” His optimism has no backing, but I decide to lean on it anyway. We’re already heading there. May as well hope for the best.
We stand outside the building that reads Starfall Animal Sanctuary, as we all stare at it in silence. After a smooth plane ride, we drove an hour and a half in a rental SUV to finally reach this location.
“What if they start yelling about a wolf on the loose?” Hunter asks and I glance down at Cherry. I hadn’t thought of that. If this is a non-supernaturally run animal sanctuary, they would flip out at seeing a wild wolf walk in with us. We were lucky we could keep her hidden from human eyes so far.
“We’re not collaring her,” Bain says angrily as he steps forward. “If they freak out, then we know they’re humans.”
He marches forward, and we quickly follow so he doesn’t enter without us, keeping Cherry secure in the middle of our pack.
When we step inside, we’re greeted by a large, empty lobby. I take a second to look around. Everything looks very clean, but I expected to see lots of people in here.
I step up to the empty reception desk as I call out, “Hello?” Silence greets me, and I glance at my brothers in confusion.
“Where is everyone?”
Chase and Hunter start to walk down the hall on our left-hand side as my fingers reach down to touch Cherry’s head, making sure she’s close. She presses against me as we watch the twins.
“Hello? Anyone here?” Chase calls out, much louder now.
The door at the end of the hall in front of them opens, and a man steps through, then freezes when he sees us. “Who are you?” he asks in confusion. His eyes move past the twins, as he notices the rest of us, including Cherry. But he doesn’t seem phased by her appearance.
“He’s a tiger shifter,” Hunter tells us through the bond as the man takes a step closer to them.
“How did you get in here?” he asks nervously.
“The front door is open,” Hunter says, pointing his thumb toward us.
“Well, shit,” the man says with a sigh, his shoulders dropping as if that relieved some tension. “I guess Gus is getting fired.”
“Who’s Gus?” Chase asks as the man walks past them toward us and gestures for them to follow.
“The security guard. It’s Sunday, we’re closed today, and the front door should definitely be locked.” He gives us a strained smile as he enters the lobby and heads for the door. I expect him to open it and usher us out, but instead he turns the lock, then spins to face us, his hands on his hips.
He takes a moment to assess each of us, including Cherry, before he speaks. “So, wolves, huh?”
“So, tiger, huh?” Chase repeats, sounding amused.
“What brings you to Starfall Animal Sanctuary?” he asks, his attention moving to Cherry and the way I’m stroking her head. “I somehow doubt it’s because you’re looking for a home for your little friend there.”
“No,” I say immediately. “She stays with us.”
“So?” he asks again, with a raised eyebrow. “Did you want a tour or something?”
“Yes,” Gage says immediately. “A tour would be great. We’ve heard great things about this place and wanted to check it out.”
“This will let us see how the animals are being treated, and maybe give us insight into what’s going on here before we ask any more questions,” Gage says through the bond.
The man looks at him skeptically, but nods. “I’ve got some time now. I’m Dante Peterson, by the way.”
He heads back down the hall and motions for us to follow. “Come with me and we’ll get started.”
“Do you run this facility?” I ask as I walk beside him.
“No. I’m an animal behavior specialist. SAS, that’s what we call Starfall Animal Sanctuary for short, has the main goal of helping animals in any way they can.
Ideally, they would all be brought back to full health, if needed, and released back into the wild.
But some of them are too sick or don’t have the skills needed to survive out there. ”
He pushes open the door and we all step outside. Glancing around, there’s a paved path that goes both left and right, and I can already smell the animals out here. The paths are lined with short wooden railings, and five feet further in are eight-foot-tall chain-linked fences.
“Over here,” he says, gesturing to his left as he moves down the left-hand path, “is our grizzly bear, Sheena.”
We all step up to the railing and look through the fence. The terrain is filled with grass, bushes, and several big trees to provide plenty of shade. Right in the middle is a large rock cave that gives us a view inside, where a large bear appears to be sleeping.
“She sleeps during the day. She’ll be more active at dusk,” he tells us before continuing down the path toward the next enclosure.
“How did she end up here?” Gage asks.
“She was terrorizing a small town and broke into a bakery. It was for her safety that she was moved here. We’re trying to find a good place to release her that’s away from people but also not in another bear's territory.”
What they are doing here seems ethical on the surface level. But I’m really curious to know what they do with shifters. Gage is right, though. It’s best to look around before asking the hard questions.
“This is Sunny and Cher, our North American river otters,” he says, pointing into the next exhibit, which is mostly water.
We watch closely, and I see a little head pop out of the water before swimming back below the surface.
“Someone spotted these two a little North of here. They could tell that one of them was injured. Cher somehow injured one of her legs, and unfortunately, we couldn’t save it.
It’s clear they are a bonded pair, so we took both of them in while she recovers.
We’re not sure if she’ll be strong enough for the wild yet. ”
He stares fondly into the exhibit as he speaks. It’s clear Dante cares about these animals, and it makes me let my guard down a little.
It takes a couple of minutes to get to the next exhibit. This one is much lower down, so we are looking into it from above. The edge closest to us is a large pool of water, spanning the entire front of the enclosure; the rest is filled with trees, bushes, and a similar rock cave to the bear’s.
It takes me a minute to spot the tiger walking through the bushy part of the exhibit.
“These are our Bengal tigers.”
“Tigers?” I ask. “I only see that one.” I point to it, and he nods, then points to the other side of the exhibit.
“Oh!” I say in surprise, realizing the other one is a white tiger, and I almost missed them since they blended into the side wall they are sitting in front of.
“Jasmine, that’s what we call the orange one. She’s been here a year. She can be a little aggressive. She was being held as a pet in a small cage.”
“And the white tiger?” Hunter asks.
I watch as Dante’s brow pinches in concern as he rests his forearms on the railing and looks down into the exhibit to where the tiger is sitting quietly, staring back at him. “She just showed up yesterday. I haven’t even named her yet.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Chase asks.
“I don’t know,” he admits.
“Why was she brought in?” Gage asks.
He sighs before standing up and turning to face us.
“I honestly don’t know. I came into work yesterday and she was just here.
” He gestures into the exhibit. “I assumed one of the bosses arranged to have her brought in when I was off, but so far nobody has mentioned it. It’s strange…
” he says, glancing over his shoulder at her again.
“She’s not a shifter,” Hunter states, as if it needs clarifying, and Dante shakes his head. “No, she’s not. But there is something about her I can’t quite place my finger on.” He shakes his head and smiles at us. “Anyway, let’s move on to the next exhibit, shall we?”
He shows us three more exhibits, including a rhino with a broken horn, a bald eagle with a broken wing, and a pair of moose who were apparently wreaking havoc on a town by smashing their front windows for fun.
When the building we entered through comes into sight, I decide it’s time to ask our questions.
Turning to Dante, I stop walking as I ask, “What happens if humans bring in an animal shifter?”
He nods, like he expected the question. “It does happen, unfortunately. But we have a protocol for that. We have a special room inside the building. We place them in there with some human clothing and allow them time to shift. Then we have a conversation about what happened. Honestly, ten out of ten times, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and never meant any harm. At least from what we can tell.”
“So you just let them leave?” Gage asks.
“Of course,” Dante says with a slight pinch of his brow. “We’re not going to lock up people. We’re not a prison.”
“Do you ever offer anywhere… safe for them to go?” I probe.
“Safe?”
“Yeah, you know, maybe you suggest somewhere they can live that’s safe from human eyes.”
“Ohhh…” he says with a small nod. “That’s why you’re here. You want to go to Starfall Haven. Why didn’t you just say so?”
“It’s real?” Chase asks in surprise.
Dante grins as he glances at each of us, including Cherry, before finally replying. “It’s very real. Want to see it?”