––––––––

Cole kept his breathing calm while he raced to come up with a way to escape this facility. But he had one more question for Tess. “Why haven’t I shifted?”

“The medics weren’t sure you’d survive shifting in the condition you were in. They feared you might become stuck in mid-shift. You’re being given a special tranquilizer mix. A full dose would stop an elephant in its tracks, but you’re on a drip that is just enough to keep you from going under completely. I backed it off when I came in to see if you were ready to wake up and talk.”

That explained why his wolf hadn’t taken over.

He should have known better than to think the explosion might have done something positive to his wolf.

What a joke.

This crap going in his system only delayed the inevitable, and he had a bad feeling his wolf would be in even worse shape once he got off the juice.

Speaking of his wolf ... the beast had been quiet since Cole opened his eyes this time. Too quiet, even with the super-Valium cocktail. That worried him more than all he faced, which was saying something with the mess he was in between being framed for the explosion and suffering the mating curse.

Shit. The only woman he would ever take as a mate was sitting inches away and he couldn’t touch her, much less claim her.

Angry now, Cole pointed out, “The only way I’d be too injured to shift was if I’d died.” Not necessarily true, but while she might have knowledge of shifters, she knew nothing about the Gallize variety. He added, “Not allowing me to shift is preventing me from healing.”

“I know. I mean, you are healing, but slowly.”

“Technically, this is torture,” he snapped. Okay, that was a low blow since he knew she’d never torture or harm anything. She couldn’t kill a damn bug back when she’d found one in their apartment.

“Your medical treatment is not up to me and I’m not the one who blew up a building,” she defended with no small amount of irritation.

Attagirl. Give me shit.

That eased his conscience. He had to get her out of here and without her turning on the drip again.

It hurt to push her away and he hated lying to her, but he said, “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know how I ended up near that building just as a bomb exploded. I’ve had that lock pick set since I was a kid. Got it when I was captured as a runaway teen and put in a home with some sick fucks. They ... ” He paused for effect. “Did things to the kids that I won’t describe. All I remember before the explosion was working in that area as day labor. I went to get some dinner and ... I just don’t ... know what happened. You’re not going to believe me. No one will. I’m screwed.” He tried to grab his head, but his bad arm hurt too much to move and his good arm was stuck. Restraints. “Oh, shit, just do whatever you’re gonna do.”

Tess moved forward, putting her hand next to him on the bed. “Okay, take it easy. Maybe more details will come back to you.”

Hallelujah. She took the bait. Hook, line and ten-pound sinker.

“I don’t understand ... who would ... ” He blinked his one eye, intending to sell it some more to get her on his side, but she touched his face.

One touch and he forgot about anything except her fingers on his skin.

His body knew her.

His skin begged for her hands anywhere she could put them.

His heart cried out for the woman he loved.

She stroked his face on the side that wasn’t burned and smoothed her hand over his hair that might be an inch long by now. He shook with the need to put his arm around her and feel her body next to his.

To taste her skin. He’d spent hours loving her any chance they got. She liked to have her nipples sucked when he teased her to an orgasm. If she got that wild glint in her eyes, she’d shove him back and ride him.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, misunderstanding a hard shudder that ran through his body as a reaction to pain.

Oh hell, he was definitely in pain.

He had a boner working.

If she saw that, she might up his tranq dosage.

Now this was torture. He wanted her to stroke him like she used to or allow him to reach down and do it himself. Neither was going to happen.

That surge of life inside him must have been enough to wake the beast.

His wolf lunged and clawed in a wild effort to break free.

“Oh, hell!” Cole ground out at the sudden pain. That killed the boner.

Tess jumped back. “What’d I do?”

“Nothing. Not ... your fault.” He was half sitting up. “I just had a cramp.”

Fucking wolf snarled to get out.

You’re not getting near her, he silently told Gray Wolf.

His wolf howled.

Tough shit. Cole felt just as frustrated, but for a different reason. He had to get Tess out of here and shift to heal. That would be tricky. What if there was a video feed transmitting to a monitor?

He challenged her again. “Are people staring at me like a bug in a box? I heard that’s what happens to shifters used in experiments.”

“No, SCIS is a law enforcement arm. We do not hand anyone over for experiments. No one is watching you due to the necessity of you being naked for treatments. You have rights, unless you’re convicted of killing humans. We don’t want shifter lawsuits over lack of privacy while you’re a suspect.”

“It’s okay to hold me without solid evidence, and without representation, but not to film me naked? I’d trade being filmed in exchange for being treated as innocent until proven guilty.”

There came her sigh again. “I’m trying to ensure you have a fair opportunity, but apparently you’re not with a pack. If you were, we’d be involving your alpha. As it is, you’re rogue and fall under different rules. As for watching you, no one has time to watch every inmate. You’re in a titanium-reinforced room so it’s not necessary to observe you. We all check the window in the door before entering.” She took a breath. “In case you think to overpower anyone once you’re healthy again, we all carry a specially designed stun gun that is set to disable a shifter. You wouldn’t like it. Please don’t try.”

He remembered being hit with a load of electrical power when he was incapacitated. Had he been shifting or had someone just taken advantage of his condition?

Based on what she said, this group had no worries about anyone breaking in to extract him or of Cole breaking out.

SCIS had probably airlifted him from the bomb scene to keep their prisoner alive. Without someone like the Guardian, who could shift into a giant sea eagle, no one else on his team that night could have followed.

Cole accepted the depressing truth.

He had no cavalry coming to the rescue. He was on his own with no tools or weapons. His only hope was in healing as quickly as he could and taking his chances at fighting his way out of here.

Tess said, “Now that you’re conscious, the medics will want to be alerted. I’ll switch your drip to the next stage, which is loaded with protein and a mix of something they claim will help you shift.”

She wanted to do that now?

She might not get out the door before Gray Wolf exploded on the scene.

Cole debated a half second. It would be so much easier for her to make the IV switch, but he wanted her out of here and gone before that happened.

She moved her hand an inch on the bed and he snagged her wrist. His fingers were wrapped around her wrist, but not too firmly. A buzzing energy ran between them like a crazy current. She once said she couldn’t wear watches, but he’d never felt this with her in the past.

She went perfectly still and stank of fear. “What are you doing?”

Yes, he could snap her bones like twigs, but he’d cut his own throat first.

Could he not get a break?

He worked to speak in a more even tone to convince her he was not dangerous, but his rough voice still sounded like an axe murderer. “I won’t ever harm you. Please don’t start the new concoction yet. My insides are a mess. You can’t tell from the outside what’s going on in there, but I can feel it. I’ve got organs to rebuild and bones to mend. Now that I’ve thought about it, your medic was right to wait. I’m at least another day from being able to shift without ripping everything apart. Shifting is part magic and part physiological. There are limits to what we do.”

He wasn’t being entirely honest, but if he could just get her to leave the narcotic drip off, he’d flip the valve for the protein stimulus mix once she left.

When she didn’t reply, he added, “I admit I was surprised I hadn’t changed on my own, but I’m glad someone had enough forethought to put me under until my body was ready.” There was a speck of truth in that. He had a better chance of managing his wolf now than he would have had a few days ago.

Tess had seemed to be debating what to do during the long pause, but that had always been a positive sign with her in the past. She’d see reason if someone presented a logical argument.

To help push her in the right direction, he eased his grip and rubbed his thumb over her wrist.

He could feel her pulse race.

But not from fear this time.

That was interesting.

“Uhm, I guess I could leave that for the medics to decide when they come by to check on your progress,” she offered.

That was a start. “You said it was evening now, right?”

“Yes.”

“When will they come by?” Damn. That sounded suspicious even to him. He added, “I’m thinking in an hour or two, my insides might be healed enough for me to eat solid food. That’s why I asked.”

“Oh. Probably two hours unless I tell them to come now.”

“Please don’t. I’d like to catch a little more rest without the drugs so my body is better prepared for the kick of the shift.”

“Very well. I’ll leave you to rest.”

Tension eased from his chest. That would have to do, because he could shift and heal significantly in an hour.

“Thank you.” He meant it and loosened his grip.

She pulled her arm away and he wanted to think she’d been reluctant, but that had probably been him projecting emotions he wanted her to feel. He took one last inhale just to have something from her in his chest, close to his heart.

Talk about torment. He was killing himself with wanting to tell her the truth and break out of these bonds to be with her. He’d like one vision of her fully in focus, but if he was successful, he wouldn’t be here long enough for that to happen.

He’d still talk to her before he met with the Guardian for the last time, but he didn’t want her to know he’d been here.

She walked across the room and paused at the door. “Working with us will help you when it’s time to determine where you go next. The more information you can provide, the better chance you have of ending up in an aboveground location. Maybe with a pack, if one will accept you. But if you attack someone in human or animal form, you’ll be taken straight to a subterranean holding facility.”

Subterranean holding facility was a fancy name for a ten-foot-square by ten-foot-deep hole in the ground, completely encased in titanium. That metal wouldn’t kill a shifter unless inserted into their bodies and left there. Then it would prevent them from healing or shifting, which would result in death. Their claws wouldn’t even scratch that metal.

Expensive, but money flowed when fear opened the gates.

A cage by any other name was still a cage.

If he shifted and regained all his Gallize power, he had a chance at escaping. If not, he’d just have to play it by ear. “I understand. Thank you again.” He yawned intentionally. “Think I’m ready to sleep some more.”

“You’re welcome. I hope your wolf rests.” The door swished shut behind her.

He stared at the door.

He hadn’t told her his animal was a wolf.

Just how much did she know? Probably one of the jackal shifters on staff, which SCIS was known for hiring, had clued them in.

Now wasn’t the time to waste on unanswerable questions when reaching that IV drip was going to take an acrobatic move.

Cole stared one last time at the door, cursing his life and accepting that this might be the last conversation he had with her. If he failed to escape or died trying, he’d never get to explain what happened when he disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared for what he was about to try. This group thought he wouldn’t be able to use his burned hand and they would be correct for a normal shifter.

That didn’t mean this would be a cakewalk.

He lifted his burned arm. It did not want to work.

Closing his mind to the pain he was going to cause, he forced his hand up and over his head.

The pain was immediate.

He clenched his teeth and held his breath, straining to reach the drip. Pain like nothing he’d ever felt hit his hand when he pressed the button to shut off the drip from the multi-line IV pump. A series of beeps signaled the pump shutting down.

Cole dropped his arm and fell back against the pillow, taking in fast breaths and waiting for the excruciating pain to ease.

His wolf growled and snarled.

“Stop it, dammit,” Cole murmured low. The searing ache streaked down his arm and along his side. He hissed at irritating his burned skin. Perspiration bubbled on his forehead, dampening the bandages. Chugging a couple of fast breaths, he dropped his head back to lock his one-eyed gaze on the second IV line.

What would that kick-him-in-the-ass potion do to his wolf?

Cole had no idea, but he was determined to take his chances.

The trigger for letting Gray Wolf out was on the other side of the pump, six inches past his reach.

Time to try again. Holding his good side as still as he could, he inched his bandaged fingers toward that button.

Unhealed skin tore and muscles pulled. Tears poured from his eyes, the salty liquid excruciating on the burned skin of his face under the bandages.

His body shook from self-induced shock and bile ran up his throat. When stars floated through his vision, he focused on that tiny button marked “C.” If he didn’t get to it now, he would have no other chance to be strong before the medics, or anyone else, entered.

He needed the advantage of a surprise attack.

The smell of his blood leaking from fractured skin permeated the air.

His fingers trembled as he stretched within a half inch of the IV feed.

Then he heard voices in the hallway.