Seeking what’s his…
Cal strode through the rec room on high alert. Above his head, the ceiling rose twenty feet, with the sun pouring through the skylights. This space had been built to accommodate huge shifters like him. When shifted, some of them would fill all that space. Now, it looked more like a school playroom than a shifter military base with all the children strewn across the floor. He scanned their faces, searching for something that looked familiar.
On their last mission, they’d intercepted buses filled with young shifters. It hadn’t been what they’d expected—they’d assumed they were seizing more of the beasts Project Zed had created.
They are beasts made by Project Zed. Don’t forget that.
These young were experiments, born in a lab. No less dangerous, yet they appeared only children.
Cal’s desire to protect them was a weakness.
Was it a weakness Lore and his men had anticipated? Had they brought their own Trojan Horse into the city?
He moved through the room, past boys carefully bouncing balls and others curled up on large pillows, reading. Even at play, these kids were quiet. Almost unnaturally so. Two pre-teen boys lay on their stomachs and played a board game. One of them had the same shade hair as he did. He watched the child for a moment, tilting his head as the boy played, oblivious to his staring. When the boy turned, apparently sensing Cal’s watchful gaze, he saw nothing that would tell him the cub belonged to him.
A young boy walked over and took his hand. Looking down, Cal smiled at the boy. A set of glowing golden eyes regarded him. He remembered this one. The little cub had held on tight to Drake for hours, seeking solace, when they’d freed the children.
Cal knelt, a soft smile on his face. “How are you?”
“Good,” the boy said with a smile. “Want to play a game?”
Cal ruffled his hair as he drew in the child’s scent. This boy wasn’t his, but perhaps he was going about his search the wrong way. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
He rose to his feet and let the boy coax him to a table in the corner. There was already a chess set on the table, ready to play while another boy sat doing puzzle cubes nearby. The small boy climbed up into an empty chair and sat on his knees. “Do you play?”
Cal chuckled. The boy was maybe five or six, at most. “You want to play chess?”
The boy nodded.
Cal hadn’t played in decades. His father had attempted to teach him before…
Before his fathers had been murdered by Zed. He clenched his teeth and pushed the pain aside. Forcing a smile, he took his seat across from the boy. “I haven’t played in a very long time.”
“I like winning,” the boy murmured and made his first move.
Cal scanned the board and moved a pawn, hoping he was remembering the rules correctly. As the boy began to consider his next move, a scent crossed Cal’s nose.
Cal turned to the boy sitting at the table, focusing on the puzzle in his hands.
“Hello,” Cal murmured, his heart beating a little faster.
The boy looked up, and in that moment, he saw a bit of one of his brothers in the look in the cub’s eyes. “Hello,” he replied before going back to his puzzle.
“Your turn,” the young cub across from him announced.
Cal turned his focus back to the game at hand, his concentration screwed. He made a quick move, his attention wanting to move elsewhere.
“You can’t move that there,” the boy across from him chided and moved his pawn back. “Try again.”
Cal sighed and made another move. He received no reprimand, so he assumed it was good. He cast a glance at the other boy.
“What’s your name?”
The boy looked up at him blankly. After a moment, he pulled up his short shirt sleeve to display a number tattooed on his upper arm. PZ2-101.
Cal cringed as he saw the dark ink etched onto the child’s pale flesh. “We can’t call you 101.”
“Why not?” the child asked tonelessly. “They did at the lab.”
Cal had thought of his own time spent in a Zed lab. He’d been a young teenager when he’d been abducted. Those first years had been some of the worst, before the chaos of his brain had made him forget who he’d been. At least he’d had the memories of a loving family to cling to until his mind had completely gone.
He still clung to them in his moments of darkness now.
These young had only known the lab. Cold, sterile… no sentiment.
No love.
He tried to keep the emotion out of his voice. “Because names are important. They tell a story of who you are.”
“My name’s 102,” the other boy said, smiling.
They saw nothing wrong with being a number, and it killed Cal.
The boy looked up from the puzzle cube he’d been toying with. He laid it on the table, fully solved. “I’m the 101st of my kind. That’s who I am.” The boy looked around the room. “I am but one of many.”
There was no feeling in his tone. It was numb.
Cal watched as the boy picked up another puzzle cube and solved in within seconds. The cub placed that one beside the first.
“Is that what Lore and the scientists at Zed told you? That you weren’t special? Unique?”
The boy frowned. “There are some within us that have powers others don’t—that makes them unique. But together, we’re strongest. We can utilize all of our powers as a whole, to benefit everyone.”
Cal felt his stomach knot. “To what end?”
The boy shrugged and grabbed another cube.
“What powers do you have?” Cal asked nonchalantly.
“I’m not old enough to know that yet,” 101 said, no emotion in his voice. “I’m only five.”
He stared at the boy. “Did you know we were coming?”
The boy stared at 102 for a moment, a look of pain crossing his face. He looked back to Cal, his face now a numb mask again. “No.”
Numb or not, Cal sensed it was a lie.
“Your turn,” 102 chirped.
Cal returned to the game, unfocused. The boy easily beat him within a few moves.
“Another game?” 102 asked.
“I think you should find yourself someone who knows this game better than I do,” Cal admitted before rising to his feet. He turned his gaze to 101. He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.
I don’t know if he is.
“Goodbye,” he murmured before heading to the door.
“Goodbye.”
Inside the doorframe, Deacon leaned, watching the children closely. His arms were crossed over his chest, a look of worry on his face.
Cal paused beside Deacon on his way out. “The boy I was talking to—101? The one with the puzzles?”
“Yeah?” the dragon asked.
“You might want to have his DNA tested.”
Deacon rose to his full height and eyed Cal. “We’re already conducting DNA tests on them all.”
“Compare his to mine.” Cal scrubbed a hand down the side of his jaw, stubble scratching at his palm. “I have a feeling we’re in danger.”
Deacon eyed him. “What is it?”
“Just my gut, Deacon… we need to keep these kids on lockdown.”
Deacon turned to look at them. “I’ll have the docs compare the samples.” He turned back to Cal. “Is there a reason we need to compare them?”
“I think he might be mine.”
Deacon stared silently for a moment.
“You had to know they got the DNA to make these kids from somewhere.”
Deacon nodded. “I’ll give you a call once I hear something.”
“Thanks,” Cal said as he moved past.
“Can you pass along a message to Dario?” Deacon called out. “Let him know I’d like to talk something over with him?”
“Sure thing,” Cal said before heading home.
* * * *
A big bundle of… joy?
Samuel sat listening to Cal, feeling as if he wasn’t in his own body.
A boy.
Five years old.
Potentially Cal’s son.
He stared at the wall opposite, trying to understand the emotions rushing through him. Cal was his everything. This child was a piece of the man he loved.
So, why did he feel like he wanted to throw up?
“Deacon’s going to have the docs compare DNA. We should know pretty soon, I’d guess,” Cal said.
Samuel turned to see Cal hunched over, his baseball cap in his hands. His fierce, proud male looked broken.
Samuel swallowed, trying to quell the sickness in his stomach. “This should be good news. You might’ve found your son.”
“No reason getting too wrapped up. Not until we know for sure.”
Samuel saw the worry crossing Cal’s brow. “There’s more.” He knew it. He could plainly see something bothering his mate.
Cal lifted his stare, his eyes shining bright with emotion. “I fear… that he might be dangerous.”
“How so?”
“He was cold—completely numb. I mean, I get that. He was raised in that hell hole. He’s known no love, no compassion. Only a sterile lab.” Cal shook his head. “Yet there was just… something in his eyes. Something in that coldness that gave me chills.” Cal scrubbed a hand down his face before looking back up at Samuel. “And he said something about the kids… that they were part of a whole. He was one of many. Together, they were stronger. But stronger for what?”
“He could simply be spitting out the things Zed shoved inside his head. That sounds like the words of an adult, not a child.”
“None of these young are children. You should see the rec room. Deacon had games and puzzles and dolls and shit brought in for them to play with. And yeah, they were playing, but it was almost silent in there. There was no life in these kids. It creeped me the fuck out.”
“They need time to loosen up. To be around other children their age who weren’t raised in a lab. Once that happens, I feel quite certain they’ll figure out how to be kids.”
“I told Deacon they needed to remain on lockdown.”
“Why? He and Drake have read all their minds. From what I’ve heard, they found nothing. They’ve been cooped up in that base for weeks now and nothing has happened.” Samuel crossed the living room and knelt between Cal’s thighs. He caressed his mate’s face, the man’s stubble tickling his palm. “How much longer is Deacon going to keep them locked away in that prison of his?”
Cal was silent a moment. “My gut tells me we need them under lock and key.”
Samuel sighed. “Do you really think they’ll open up to us and tell us their secrets if we treat them like prisoners?”
“And if they’re even more dangerous than we fear? Are we to let them out to rampage through Bear Mountain?”
“I don’t know the right answer,” Samuel said. “Maybe I should go and see what kind of feelings I get from the kids. My visions have been fewer and fewer lately… but maybe something will come to me.”
“I don’t want you going near him, not unless we know for certain.” Cal ran a hand through Samuel’s hair. “You feeling better today?”
I was until you brought me that news. He forced a smile. “Yeah.”
“Good,” Cal said, stealing a quick kiss before rising and lifting Samuel to his feet along the way. “I need to go feed the animals and make sure they’ve got enough hay to stay warm.”
“Want some help?”
Cal shrugged. “Nah. I think a little time alone with my frazzled brain might be good.” He headed for the door. “Oh, if you see Dario, let him know Deacon wants to see him.”
“Okay,” Samuel said. He watched as Cal left the house, his shoulders tight.
Samuel puttered around the kitchen and started throwing some things in a pot. His mind was on Cal, but his hands needed to be busy or he might lose his mind. Using his powers, he swept a few pieces of garlic into the pot and brought an onion out of the pantry.
A smile came to his face at the ease his skills were growing.
Dario came through the back door and drew in a scent. “Smells good. Anything I can help with?”
“No. I hear Deacon wants to see you.”
Dario frowned. “Something wrong?”
“No idea. Cal passed along the message. Dinner should be ready in about an hour—so this might be the perfect time to go see what he wants.”
Dario snagged an orange from the basket on the counter. “I’ll be back,” the man murmured before heading back out.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Samuel began mincing the onion and felt a wave of nausea hit him. Scrambling for the bathroom, he narrowly reached the toilet before losing everything in his stomach. He remained there, on his knees before the bowl, waiting to make sure he was done. When his stomach seemed to settle some, he sat back against the bathroom wall and just breathed.
His worry for Cal was making him sick. If they didn’t figure things out soon, he was going to be a wreck.