Firebreak (Jackson's Hollow #2)

Chapter 16

Ryker blinked at the white space surrounding him, trying to focus through the fuzzy edges, for a half-second wondering if he was dead.

But neither heaven nor hell would probably have this awful medical chemical smell to it. Trying to scramble to his feet, Ryler winced at the sound his claws made against the polished concrete below him as he slid-scratched his way to a standing position.

"We're fairly sure he's a shifter?" The voice was muffled, but he could pick up on it from the other side of the wall–probably wouldn't have been able to in human form, even though his hearing was a bit enhanced thanks to his wolf side.

"He didn't act like a normal wolf when we reviewed the film. Kept stalking the fence. Too big, too."

"Think he knows someone's here?"

"We'll just have to find out, won't we?" There was muffled movement. "Oh look, he's awake. Sooner than we thought, make note of that."

Ryker's focus was rapidly clearing, enough for the disorientation to dissipate. He remembered getting tranqed and captured, and he could only assume–and hope–that he was now in the same facility as Jo. But...he processed the words he'd just heard. They didn't seem to know who he was, or that he was here for Jo. Right now, he was going to say that was a good thing based on how badly Jo hadn't wanted him to end up here.

He felt a little guilty for getting himself captured, knowing how it would upset his mate, but maybe this was for the best. Maybe things would be easier from the inside.

Not a normal wolf, huh? He didn't really know what to do about that one other than to try to keep them a little unsure. So he prowled a bit, sniffing the corners, before laying down with a huff.

"All right, it's time to give up the game, why don't you go ahead and shift to your human form so we can talk." This time the voice was over the intercom.

Ryker did his best not to react other than to raise his head and twitch his ear the way a wolf might at any normal sound. With as long as he'd spend in wolf form, it was coming almost a little too naturally. He'd learned the hard way after his mom died that spending too long in wolf form could make the transition back very, very painful. Not to mention human habits and conversation could feel strange and difficult for a while after long periods of silence and solitary wandering.

The voice came on again. "We know you're a shifter, no use hiding anymore."

Ryker rested his head back on his paws. They obviously didn't know who he was, or they would have said his name by now. Good to know.

"You want to play it the hard way? Ok then, don't say we didn't give you a chance."

Ryker gave a long, bored blink, but he wondered what they meant by that. It was extremely difficult to force a werewolf to shift back to human form if they didn't feel like it. And by nature, most werewolves were stubborn. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and decided to ignore them, though he was anticipating either pain or–

A piercing shrieking sound came through the speakers, like nails on a chalkboard mixed with a dying pig and a touch of tea kettle. Ryker jumped halfway to his feet and then lowered back down, though his ears were in instant agony. This was playing dirty, and he should've expected it. A deep thumping bass joined the shrill sounds, and he wanted to cover his ears with his paws. As it was, he laid his ears back as far as he could, but it did little to muffle the noise.

"I'll turn it off if you shift back." He could barely hear what the voice said over all the sounds that were mixing together. "It's easy!"

Amazingly, Ryker was able to not react. But he suddenly realized by not doing anything, he wasn't acting like a real wolf. Well shit. But honestly, there was no way they could be fooled into thinking he was an actual wolf. For one, he was two to three times larger than a regular wolf. He would be a mutant if he was real. Also, not reacting to all the sounds would have given him away.