Hidden Fox

Twenty-Four

Jacob chuckled darkly. "Hello, foxy."

I growled, gaining the strength to jump to my feet and throw myself at him. "Traitor!" I screeched, my fingers barely making contact with his shirt before I was shoved back to the ground by a bystander in the crowd that had been watching me run.

Jacob waved the man away, and he slunk off, leaving us in the middle of the track. The doctor tried to intervene, but Jacob held up a hand and stopped her.

I snarled at him as he stalked closer to me. On his next step, I shifted into my fox, shaking out my silver and orange pelt. The crowd sucked in a breath; this was the first time most of them had seen me. The doctors had asked me to shift in terms of studying, but I hadn't in front of a crowd.

But I stayed a fox, my pelt bristling as I weaved in front of him. I was ready to fight him with all I had. He was the reason I was here. He was how they knew about me. He was why I couldn't be in Xavier's arms right now.

He smirked before shifting himself, the shreds of his clothes floating down in tatters. His wolf was much bigger than I was, a mass of grey fur mottled in black and white and brown. He began to weave in front of me until we started circling each other. He waited, knowing either way I was going to make the first move. I was furious with him, and that made me reckless.

I leaped, my teeth bared and my claws outstretched. He didn't even move away, just let me ram my entire body weight against his. I knocked us over, sinking my claws into his shoulder as I snapped at his face. Within seconds, he had us flipped back over and his paw put pressure against my throat, blocking my airway.

He shifted, and his elbow stayed against my throat. I writhed and wheezed, flailing my paws against his human body as I tried to suck air into my lungs, but he didn't seem to care, even as I scratched up his muscular torso.

"You're weak, you're starved. You didn't stand a chance against me." His laugh was dark, "Xavier's looking for you, he's lookin' hard. But he'll never find you, because he's overlooking one piece of the puzzle: me."

I coughed, squirming against him until he finally stood up and walked out of the room. Someone threw him a pair of shorts as he went.

I rolled to my paws, hacking up spit and sucking in air as fast as I could. I didn't have the strength to shift back, so I merely let one of the men lead me back to the cell by the loose skin on the scruff of my neck. The second the gate locked, I collapsed on the floor, falling asleep in seconds.

When I woke, I found my body had naturally shifted back in my sleep, once I had gained the strength I needed. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it had to have been a while, because it wasn't long after I sat up that someone came in to grab Kallie and I for cleaning duty.

Carrying our buckets, we shuffled our way to the farthest room of the corridor, the one by the stairs that must've led to the rest of the packhouse. I wasn't sure who had been in the rooms today, since I slept through the entire afternoon, but it looked hideous.

Streaks of maroon were smeared on the walls, along with grime and who knew what else. The chairs weren't in place and the couch wasn't even against the wall anymore. I wasn't sure what went on in there, but I hoped the mess was from her fighting them. I knew we were all weak, starved, and worked to the bone, but the little bits of spirit that shined from each of them once in a while gave me enough hope to continue to the next day.

Kallie dropped her bucket, not seeming to care the water sloshed over the sides and splat on the floor. She walked to the chairs, lifting with all her might to tip them back into place. Dropping my bucket next to hers, I rushed to join her, knowing there was a greater chance of the chair falling back on her than her actually setting it up right. It was taller than her, for the goddess' sake!