Uncaged

Chapter 12

So, either there was a mind reading wolf in a cage in the exact same room that my mystery girl was supposed to be, or the wolf was the mystery girl. Now, I may not be the smartest guy around, and this magic shit wasn't my specialty, but I was pretty sure the wolf was my girl, just using more magic. But as I made my way over to see her, she suddenly turned and stared at the door and growled. Yeah, I was pretty sure we had company.

Looking around the room, I realized the only place I could fit for a hiding place was under the bed, so I quickly lay down and slithered into the narrow opening, pulling out my phone as I did. I quickly pulled up the camera and pressed the video record again, and then shielded the screen so the light wouldn't be visible. I heard a soft click at the door, and then two pairs of feet came into the room as the overwhelming scent of wet dog flooded my nose. Shit, I know that smell. I could see the wolf retreating to the back of the cage, ears pressed flat against its head.

"Here she is Mr. Phillips," I heard Mr. Garrison say to the other man.

"She's a beauty!" came the voice of that same scammer that ran the junkyard I went to.

"Nichole, go ahead and change back." Her name was Nichole! Shit, she had wanted to tell me herself.

The wolf burrowed into the blankets, and then they started moving, and soon my girl was there, holding blankets over her body. "Can we get this over with fast please." She said in a voice that made my heart melt. She sounded just like Jasmine, but a little raspier. And Jasmine had never made me feel that way.

Her father passed what looked like cold pizza slices through the cage bars and she grabbed them quickly while keeping a hand on the blankets. Now I was even more upset that she didn't get any of the food from downstairs! She quickly started chewing on the pizza, no doubt she was starving.

"How old is she?" Phillips asked.

"She's 17, turns 18 in April."

"Well, I know you're looking for a cure, but that isn't possible. Being a werewolf isn't a disease, it is part of who you are." Holy shit, I thought she cast a magic spell! Werewolves are real?

"She wasn't always a werewolf though! She got bit 7 years ago!" her father complained.

"Huh. 7 years? Up in Ocala?" the man asked thoughtfully.

Nichole looked up at him with loathing on her face, and a bit of fear as well. Was she reading his mind? "Yeah, we were camping in the national forest up there, she said a wolf bit her on the arm, and then ran away."

"Girl, you remember the wolf? What it looked like?" he spat out.

"Yes, I do. It was the opposite of mine. All white with black feet and ears and facial marks," she replied carefully.

"I knew it. That was a rogue we hunted down up there a ways back. We didn't know it was biting people though," he chuckled, rubbing his thumb under his chin. That makes this real interesting.

"How so?" her father asked.

"We can take her into our pack, make her one of ours. She'll have a better life that way, instead of being in a cage here," explained the scammer.

"I'd prefer to stay here," Nichole said.

"Honey, you can't stay here, you know that," her father reasoned.

"My mate is here, I could be with him, then mom can come home," she replied. "I don't want to go to some pack with people I don't even know!" tears were streaming down her face at this point.