Whiskers

What's to Come

"Should we take the collar off? The guy said that it could cause problems." An unknown voice said in a hushed tone. 

There was no breeze and the hard floor against the side of his wolf's head told him that he was lying on some type of hard flooring in an enclosed area. He could feel rough rope holding his paws together, though it wasn't as tight as it needed to be. 

Those must have been his men. Of course he was able to post bail and find me again. 

Palace knew that he'd been sold again at that moment, but it didn't bother him as badly as it had before. His wolf, however, was eager for bloodshed and paced quickly around his mind, just waiting for a stressful trigger to allow it full control. 

Not this time. We need to get out of here, not just kill people. He told it. His wolf scoffed, but when he sighed and let an image of Jamie, unconscious on the forest floor before they'd left to confront the people encroaching on them too quickly, flash in his mind, its aggression wavered. 

Help me help us get back to him. We need to be calm.

His wolf didn't like the word calm, but the picture of Jamie kept cycling behind Palace's eyes before it changed to other images the wolf had stored in its memory. The young man's smile, specifically, kept coming up in several different thoughts. 

If you want to see him again, let's do this together. He told it as he finally allowed his eyes to slowly open and survey their current situation. 

"It's finally awake." The voice from before said as the man's image began to come together. 

I hate when they shine lights on me. 

It made it hard to see clearly, which was probably the point. 

"The boss said to just check him over and wait till he gets back. That means we leave the collar on and not mess with him." Another voice, belonging to someone who wasn't in his line of sight, said. 

Damn, there's a smart one here? 

"I'm curious if it's really true. He paid more than I make in three years for him. I've heard of cross shifters, but what are the chances? There are no records that he was a proven breeder, so I don't get why he bought him." 

The person in front of him stepped closer, revealing the rest of his blurry form. He was an older man, likely somewhere in his late fifties. When he knelt down in front of him, Palace lifted his upper lip and growled. Normally such a display would have someone backing away, but the man just chuckled and reached forward, petting his thick coat as if he were a dog. 

"Don't bother grumbling. You can't even lift a paw you've been pumped with so much sedative your former master gave us for you." The man said as he continued to run his fingers through his fur. 

Palace focused hard to keep his wolf from tearing him apart. Even with his paws tied he could kill him due to his proximity, but that would give himself away and that could end badly if the other person he couldn't see happened to be armed. Thankfully, he had been smart and just sat down when the group had caught him in the forest, so he didn't have any bullet wounds, but he did still feel a little groggy. 

His wolf snorted in his mind, making Palace growl quietly. He could still easily kill the two if he could see the second person, then get out of wherever he was being held. 

"I think he's mad at us, but he doesn't know how good he's going to have it if he starts pumping out babies. Our boss would be ecstatic and spoil the hell out of you. You'd have your own room." The man started listing, though Palace couldn't help but think differently.