Trent and I walked into his office to find Alex sleeping while leaning against the wall, a magazine over his face. Gerard had his head down on Trent’s desk, and I could hear a light snore coming from his throat.

You’ve got to be kidding me…

I glanced at Trent, who was trying his damnedest to hold back his laughter.

“And you didn’t trust me to keep watch overnight, huh?”

“Shut up!” I rolled my eyes. “Guys, wake up!”

Both agents jumped out of their sleep at the sound of my voice, and the magazine Alex had covering his face fell to the floor as he looked around wildly.

I put my hands on my hips. “So, this is how you two keep watch? Way to show how serious the FBI is about their work!” I scolded.

Not like you were doing any better… I rolled my eyes at my inward thought. I wouldn’t have been in a car making out with a hot guy if I had a suspect to watch.

“We’re so sorry, Agent Gianni. We were awake most of the night, I swear!” Gerard exclaimed, slightly panicked.

“Yeah! We only fell asleep the last hour or so,” Alex chimed in.

“I can check the cameras for you if you want…” Trent glanced at me, clearly enjoying the moment.

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Bailey. I trust my boys. They had a long night and must have needed a moment of rest. I just wish they would have waited until I got here, like I asked.” I gave my two agents stern looks and they winced. “I’ll be including this in my report. You’re relieved for the day; go get some sleep.”

“Wait, isn’t HQ sending a helicopter for us today to bring the suspect in?” Alex seemed confused. They must have gotten called about the pick-up for today as well, but it appeared no one filled them in on the change. The Chief must have figured I would let them know.

“Plans have changed. We’re waiting for the blood results before we bring the suspect back to HQ. I will still conduct an interrogation today as planned and we’ll go from there.” I nodded at them both as a dismissal; they returned the gesture and started to head out.

“Hey, wait up! I’ll drive you guys to the gate and call Knox on the way to send someone to take you to your hotel.” Trent went after them, leaving me in the office alone.

Then, I heard shuffling.

How could you forget what you came here to do? I rolled my eyes again. I was being pretty hard on myself after the whole car thing with Trent.

I grabbed a chair from the side of Trent’s desk and slid it up to the cell, pulling a pad and pen from my briefcase as I looked up at the suspect. He was just sitting on the floor, glaring at me. I sat in the chair and returned his intense stare; I wasn’t afraid of him.

“Hello. I am Agent Gianni of the FBI and I’m investigating three murders that took place here in Acadia yesterday morning. You have been arrested as the primary suspect for said killings and I would like to ask you some questions. Let’s start with your name.”

The man’s gaze did not falter once while I spoke. He just kept glaring.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. We’ve already lifted blood samples off you, and when they are confirmed to be the victims’, we’ll be taking you to FBI headquarters. So, you can tell me your name and what happened, or you can just wait for the investigation to take its course. Either way, unless you really didn’t do it, you’re screwed. And I highly doubt you didn’t do it.”

The man bared his teeth at me and I heard a low growl escape his lips.

“Oh, so you can make animal noises, but you can’t speak?” I folded my arms in frustration. I was getting nowhere with this guy.

Just then, I could have sworn I saw something.

It was only for a second, but while I was staring at him, I saw brown fur sprout all over his hands. When I blinked, it was gone.

I closed my eyes for a moment, and opened them again. The man was normal, still baring his teeth like a threatened dog.

I figured it must have just been my imagination. Why would a man have fur growing from his skin?

“This isn’t getting anywhere.” I stood up, shaking my head as I turned away from the cell and walked toward Trent’s desk. But once my back was turned, I heard a loud roar behind me and something hit the bars.

Clank!

I whipped my head around at the sound and what I saw, I could not believe. I gasped and tried to take a step back, but my ankle caved and I lost my balance on my heels. I fell to the floor, pushing myself backward with my hands.

In the cell, a brown bear was towering over me, its mouth jutting out from between the bars as it snapped, its claws swiping wildly in my direction. I heard it growl in frustration, not being able to reach me, and I cried out for help, closing my eyes tightly.

It’s just a dream! It’s just a dream!

“Oh shit! Blanca? Blanca, are you okay?” I felt hands on my shoulders and I screamed, only thinking of claws ripping through me. “Blanca, open your eyes! It’s me!”

Trent?

I opened my eyes, hyperventilating as I looked around. My eyes met with the bear’s and I cried out again in horror.

“It’s okay, Blanca! You’re okay! It’s locked up. He can’t hurt you.”

WHY IS HE SO CALM? THERE’S A GODDAMN BEAR IN HIS OFFICE!

“It-It’s a bear! How did he get in here? Where’s the suspect?” I was terrified, and I tried to slow my breathing, but my body was in full-on panic mode.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but the bear…is the man, Blanca.” Trent was shaking his head in disbelief. “I fucking knew this would happen!”

The animal released another roar from its prison and Trent glared in its direction.

“You’d better shut up before I come in there.”

I looked from the bear in the cell to Trent and back.

Why is he talking to it like it can understand him?

I stared at the animal long and hard, and as I watched in disbelief, it started to change. The bear shrunk and shed its hair until it became the suspect. My eyes widened as I observed the transformation, shaking from fear of the unknown.

What…the…hell is going on here?

“Look, Blanca. I’m going to explain some things to you. I need you to promise to let me get it all out before you decide what to do next. It’s a bit heavy, though; you might want to stay seated for this.” Trent looked worried and heavy, like he was about to drop a bomb on me, and I was afraid I wasn’t ready for it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to move, though, so I nodded and took a deep breath.

“The man in that cell is a bear shifter. This means that he can turn into a bear at will. There are other kinds of shifters, too; ones that are able to transform into many different types of animals. When I found Danielle’s body this morning, I knew a shifter was at fault because of the damage. Actual wild bears hardly chase after humans or kill people, and when I saw the corpses of the cameramen, I realized we had a rogue on our hands.

I did my best to track him down, and when I did, I wrestled him into cuffs and brought him here. Thing is, he’s not supposed to shift the way he did in front of you. I’ve also seen parts of his body change while the rest of him stayed in human form; this is also not supposed to happen. It seems like something has caused his human brain to lie dormant while his bear runs rampant whenever it pleases, even when he’s in human form. He doesn’t speak, he only growls and roars. Something is wrong with him and I have to find out what. And I might…need you to help me.” Trent winced at the last part.

He was breathing a little heavier now, after talking at the speed of light to try and get everything out. I just stared at him, only blinking.

Bear shifters? What the hell? Is this guy nuts? Did I just make out with someone who needs to be tied up in a strait-jacket? Damn, I sure know how to pick ‘em...Wait a minute…

Something dawned on me in that moment. Trent seemed to know a lot about this, as if it wasn’t his first time encountering this problem. In fact, he seemed extremely familiar with this information.

No…

“H-how do you kn-know all this?” I stuttered, feeling the fear and panic rising again.

Please don’t say it. Please don’t say it. Please don’t—

“I’m a bear shifter as well, Blanca…” Trent gazed deep into my eyes. When I looked back, I could see worry and a little fear there. He was scared, too.

Shit…

“We aren’t supposed to discuss our existence with those outside our community, so that’s why we couldn’t tell you about him when you first arrived. Making it seem like it was either a human or an actual bear was our top priority. We thought we would be able to reason with him if we found him, but he doesn’t respond to anything.” Trent glanced back to the man in the cell.

“Wait, we? Who’s we? How many of you are there?”

“Knox, Sophia, even Ramon. We’re all shifters. There are others as well, and Acadia is our clan’s home.”

“Your clan? There’s a whole clan of—of…shifters?”

This was impossible. There was no way this was real. People who could change into bears at will? That sounded like something straight out of the fantasy books I read in high school. How could people like that exist?

“I-I…need some time to process this…” I said finally. I was still shaking as I tried to get up. Trent reached out a hand to help me. “Don’t touch me!”

The exclamation sounded worse than I wanted it to. I didn’t mean to scream at him; fear was still coursing through me and he’d just told me he could shift into a fucking bear whenever he wanted to.

He wasn’t human, and I wasn’t ready to accept that yet. Having him touch me would make this all real.

“I’m sorry…I just—I should leave…” I said, looking away from Trent’s defeated face. I used the desk as leverage to help me to my feet and started to walk out of the office. Trent’s voice made me stop, although I almost didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say.

“Blanca, I need you to promise not to tell anyone. We could all be in danger if the public were to find out about us. I know you need to do your job with this guy, but maybe we can find a way to make this work out for everyone? It might be too much to ask of you right now, but please. Promise me you won’t say anything for now…”

I could hear the pleading in Trent’s voice. But, how could he ask me to promise something like that? Who would I be able to sort out my thoughts with if I didn’t tell anyone?

I couldn’t make that promise, so, I didn’t. I continued to walk out of his office, and I didn’t look back.