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  "You screamed out. Dreams about the place?" She didn't know what else to call the hell they had been caught in.

  "Dreams? Oh," he swallowed looking around the room, and she could hear his breathing steady out. "No, just a bad dream. I'm okay."

  "You sure?"

  He rolled over, hiding his face from her. "Yeah, back to sleep."

  Frowning she shut off the light and went back out.

  ~Everything okay?~ JD asked in her head, she could taste bitter salt in his words, stress.

  ~Nightmare. Talk later, headed to bed.~

  Worried a bit, and stressed about tomorrow, she headed to bed, falling asleep as soon as she curled up.

  Chapter 8 - Down the Rabbit Hole

  With the rescue of Officer Largo and the kids, the picture of another officer walking her into the hospital has gained popularity and raised questions. Sources have identified him as Officer Joseph Daniel Davidson, the same officer on the viral video that changed into bear. They are almost always seen together and have been partners for years. From his intentness questions are rising, is there a relationship there? Will we soon be seeing little cubs and kits tumbling about? While he isn’t as handsome as other people McKenna has been paired with, his devotion seems real. Let’s just hope the police department doesn’t have fraternization rules. ~ Local gossip column

  Heart pounding, skin clammy with sweat, she curled up tight in the dark closet, the only light shining through a hole in the door where Gerry, mom's current husband, had slammed his foot through it. The need to be forgotten, for them not to see her, kept her a tight ball.

  The sounds of rough male laughter from multiple sources, followed by a softer more feminine voice laced with need filled the space. The monsters were in the room, and the flimsy door wouldn’t protect her.

  Unable to not know, she moved quietly, to the door, peering out into the room though the hole, praying they wouldn't see her.

  Mom stood there between three men. Gerry held a needle out to her and her eyes tracked it without blinking.

  "You want this, don't you, Shelia? Ready to pay for it?" Mocking amusement filled his voice as he taunted her with the drugs.

  "Sure, Gerry, I'll do whatever. Just let me have it please?" The level of need in her voice, wrapped around her heart, along with the wish she'd love her as much.

  "Well, my boys here need a good time. You willing to give them a good time, Shelia?" Lust tainted the amusement, and a tone all too familiar with sly menace sent ripples of fear down her back.

  "Sure, Gerry." Mom's tone never changed, eyes fixated on the needle.

  Gerry handed her the needle, and she turned, grabbing supplies from an end table drawer, and a minute later she had the needle plunged into her arm. Her aim expert as the plunger went down and the contents injected into her.

  A dreamy smile spread across her face as she shrugged her dress off, revealing a slim body, stretch marks from pregnancy, sagging breasts, and bruises in various stages of healing. Dropping to her knees, the smile never fading, she reached out and undid the pants of the man nearest her.

  Through the hole in the door, never making a sound, she watched her mom performing blow jobs at first, then it degenerated into watching her getting fucked over and over again, none of the men caring about her comfort or enjoyment. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't, frozen in terror, sorrow, and horror.

  Then Gerry glanced over and must have seen something from where she watched.

  "I think we need a party favor, boys. And I see just the thing." His huge body, heavy with fat over sagging muscles headed towards the closet, heavy footsteps beating in time with the terror in her heart. She scurried backwards, trying to disappear into the shadows of the closet, but they disappeared as Gerry yanked the door open, looming in the brilliant light like a monster.

  "Enjoying the show boy? Just remember to be good, or we can get our fun from you too. I know a few people who would pay dearly for that sweet white little boy ass." He paused and then a huge calloused hand lashed out grabbing the thread bare shirt and dragging her forward. "But maybe we should do a taste test? What do you think, boys? Should we make sure this ass is as sweet as it looks?"

  "No, please, I'll be good, no!" Terror caused her voice to shriek, even as he dragged her from the closet, kicking and pleading.

  "Oh, this might be fun. Shelia doesn't have any spirit left. I needed something with a little fight left in them."

  Desperate, she thrashed, and reached blindly for the cat, but instead a wolf answered, surging forward to her call, and twisting her body into the warrior form as she tried to attack those reaching for her.

  [Commander, stop it.]

  Wefor's voice cut through the mental fog, the idea of the wolf rescuing her, and brought her awake with a jerk, heart pounding, panting as if she had run for miles, ready to kill.

  ~What the fuck was that? I have never had that dream before.~

  A heartbeat of hesitation, then Wefor's voice sounded in her head. And she could have sworn it held a note of sorrow in it.

  [Designee Charley is too close and opened the connection. He pulled you into his dreams. You were in his dreams as him. You need to go to him, he is calling the warrior form. He mustn't.]

  The words took a second to sink in then she leapt out of the bed streaking towards his room. Again, he tossed and turned, fur starting to sprout as his body slowly twisted, starting to morph. This time she pulled him to her as she said his name, her voice sharp.

  "Charley, talk to me. Wake up, you can't change. What happened?" Her hands holding him close to her, so he could feel her next to him. He might attack she knew, but she'd take that risk, anything to stop the pain and terror Gerry's hands had caused.

  He struggled for a moment, a scream on his lips as he woke up eyes wild looking around. Charley's eyes latched onto hers, then he went limp as if his strings had been cut.

  "It wasn't real, just a dream." He panted as he said that, and she felt him shivering.

  "I saw those people. Was that your step-dad and your mom?"

  He nodded, not looking at her, his head hunched between his shoulder.

  "You watched them using your mom and threatening you. Did they do that Charley, sell you for sex? Did they rape you?" Her voice shook, and right then if Gerry had been in front of her she might have ripped him open, making sure not to kill him. He needed to suffer for what he'd done to Charley. The desire to hunt them down to kill them had the hunger for blood welling in her mouth.

  He buried his head in her shoulder, but shook it a little, and she felt tears dampen her shirt.

  "No, just beat me. He'd taunt me while I hid in the closet. They made me stay there, so they didn't need to worry about me slipping out unnoticed. He threatened but hadn't followed through."

  The unspoken 'yet' rang in the room like a clarion bell.

  "So that was just a dream of what might have been? What might be if they get you back?" They would never get him back, she would make sure of that.

  "Yeah," his voice barely a whisper, clogged and thick.

  "Why didn't you have the nightmares in the place?" The question arose unbidden, but she didn't understand, and she couldn't kill who she wanted to right now.

  [Animal forms tend not to dream. They ignore the internal drama to focus on food and other needs.]

  Wefor voice answered and McKenna hugged him tighter.

  "Change, come sleep with me."

  Charley lifted his head, eyes red. "Will you change too?"

  The idea called to her, a night of dream free sleep.

  "Yes."

  She let him stand and walk to her bedroom where she turned around as she stripped. A minute later she heard the stomach churning sound of his shift, and saw him curling up on her bed, tail over his eyes. With a minimum of fuss, she dropped her shirt and underwear, shifting as they fell on the floor.

  She leaped up on the bed and circled around, curling around the white wolf who relaxed as she curled around him. It
felt good to have him next to her, the comfort of fur and snuffled breathing easing her into dream free sleep.

  Chapter 9 - Possession is 9/10ths

  Russia has had wolves in their tales, folk and fairy, since the country existed. Now those that can shift into wolves are finding themselves revered on one hand and castigated on the other. A country of extremes, the wolves are living in that dichotomy. In the smaller towns they are revered and shooting a wolf and hanging its pelt on the wall has always been a rite of passage, but now the practice is under fire. With wolves still being the most common animal the debate on this old practice is getting heated. ~TNN World News

  The alarm pulled her out of a dreamless sleep about nine and she shifted, groaning, into human form. Naked she slapped the alarm and stalked to the bedroom. Charley curled tighter into a ball under the covers.

  "You're going to have to get up shortly. Remember who we're meeting today," she called out as she closed the bathroom door. The closet entrance was inside the bathroom, so it worked out well.

  The knowledge she'd been naked in front of Charley froze her for a second, then she sighed. He'd seen her stripped naked and beaten, and something about the animal aspect just made the nudity not matter. She didn't care anymore, not that she would flaunt it, but having someone see her naked after everything else didn't seem all that important.

  With a shake of her head, she went through her morning routine then pulling on jeans and a shirt. Maybe if the social worker left soon enough, they could drive to IKEA today.

  By the time she left the bathroom Charley had disappeared. Walking towards the kitchen she heard noises in the other bathroom and smiled.

  Hunger poked at her, not savage since they had only slept, but still there. With a groan, she realized she really needed to figure out a way to have more food on hand that she didn't have to cook each time. Setting that in the back of her mind she started making a breakfast scramble.

  Ten minutes later Charley emerged, nose in the air sniffing and a rumble from his stomach telling her what mattered most to him right now.

  She grabbed some bread, and peanut butter and jelly, setting it on the table. "Don't own a toaster, but if this isn't enough we can make some PB&Js."

  Charley nodded, and she stirred the food even as her coffee finished brewing.

  The doorbell clanged through the house making both of them jump.

  "I'll get it, stay there."

  [There should be perimeter alarms. This is not acceptable.]

  Wefor’s spoke, making her blink.

  ~Huh? Later, not now.~

  She pulled open the door to a man in a suit that almost fit. He had dark skin, tanned from the sun, brown hair balding on the top, and a pinched expression to match flat brown eyes. He carried a bulging briefcase in one hand and the tie looked like a refugee from the seventies, being wide and avocado green.

  "Yes?" Though she had a sinking feeling she knew exactly who stood in front of her.

  "Miss Largo? I'm Roy Wallace. We have an appointment?"

  "We do, though you are almost forty-five minutes early." She pointed out her voice dry.

  He smiled back, with no humor at all. "I find catching people off guard serves me well." He stared at her and she toyed with the idea of shutting the door and opening it again in forty-five minutes.

  Instead she turned and walked away from the door. "Come in, we were just eating. Would you like some coffee?"

  "I don't drink coffee," he said from behind her as he walked in.

  Oh, I'm really not going to like this man.

  "Well there is water or juice." Her voice neutral as she went back to the pan and filled a plate full for Charley, then whipped up another mix. Eggs, vegetables, precooked sausage, cheese and salsa all went in for fast easy food.

  I need to get some more precooked stuff, and hash browns. Ooh, bacon.

  "Is that what you're serving him?"

  The man sounded askance, and McKenna turned to look at Charley who was plowing through a large plate of food.

  "I'll get him some more as soon as I eat, and I've got some PB&J's we can make."

  She turned to face him sipping her coffee and wondering if the desire to add whiskey to it constituted a bad sign.

  "If he eats that much he is going to be obese in short order." The man sounded offended and like he would jerk the plate away from Charley.

  "No. We are both shifters. He has to eat that much not to lose weight. Didn't you know that?"

  "Of course I did. What difference does that make about food intake? That isn't healthy." His officious tone grated across her nerves.

  She restrained a sigh with an effort, and opened her mouth, but Charley responded first.

  "I shifted last night. So, starving this morning."

  Roy glanced at her and she nodded. "As far as we can figure, it burns thousands of calories each time, so we have to replace them, or we lose muscle after the fat is gone."

  Roy narrowed his eyes but nodded slowly. "Show me where he is sleeping."

  "In a minute. I shifted too, and I need to eat first."

  "Why did both of you shift?"

  "Cause?" He snapped a look at her, and she hid her frustration with another sip of coffee.

  "He had nightmares, and the animal form made it so we didn't dream."

  "You slept together!" His voice hit an octave note she knew a man his size shouldn't hit and her patience, not very high in the first place, snapped.

  "Yes. Because after a week of being held by kidnappers, being forced to perform smart animal tricks, and staying in animal form, it is comforting and safe for both of us. It is the best comfort I can give him right now and frankly at this point there is no difference between that and a scared child crawling into their parent's bed. So, get over it." Her voice snapped out, and she turned to dish up her food.

  "Need some more, Charley?" She asked even as she scooped some into her mouth.

  "Nah. PB&J sounds good though." She nodded, handed him a butter knife and pushed the stuff towards him.

  Roy glared at them, his hands crossed over his chest glaring at her. "You do realize you need my approval to be able to keep him, right? And if I don’t think this is a healthy or safe environment, I'll pull him out of here."

  The idea of her house not being healthy or safe after the dreams she had seen caused McKenna to snort, then choke on her mouthful of food. After a sputtering moment of coughing, and Charley looking at her eyes wide, JD's voice sounded in her head.

  ~You okay? Charley just pinged me worried, said you were choking.~

  ~Am fine. Social worker made idiotic comment, and I choked.~ She replied as she finished coughing.

  ~Kay, here if you need me.~

  JD's voice faded, and she drank some water turning to the man.

  "Mr. Wallace, let me make one thing very clear. Charley is not going anywhere. And after what I've learned about his previous home life, I don't care if his mom shows up. I won't let her take him. The only thing you are going to do is get me the paperwork so we can make this legal. As long as he wants to stay with me he will have a home here. And if you try to make this difficult for me, the Governor knows me personally, every reporter on the planet is begging me for an interview, and at the moment I have a golden touch, not to mention anything I say or do on video seems to go viral. Do not fuck with me about this kid. I am not going to let anyone put him at risk, and sure as hell am not going to let a bureaucratic idiot get on that list."

  The man glared at her for a long moment, then a smile broke across his face, and he looked more human and caring.

  "Good. I read up on your before I came here. And I don't give a damn about your power or media presence. I wanted to see if you would stick up for the kid, and you did. We have the rules put in place to try to prevent people from taking advantage of the system, but sometimes people don't see them for what they are. Safeguards, not absolutes." He turned and looked at Charley, who while paying close attention also worked on creating some sandw
iches.

  "Do you want to stay with Ms. Largo, Charley?"

  "Yes." His answer immediate, and he didn't look at the man.

  "Why?" Roy's voice was gentle, but McKenna tensed at the possible minefield in answering that question. She resisted the urge to tell him what to say, instead focusing on eating.

  Charley cast him a look of pure derision, and McKenna almost choked at it and had to get up to get more water.

  Roy cast her a sharp look but didn’t say anything just waiting for Charley to respond.

  "She took a beating for us, it almost killed her, and she didn’t yell at us or anything. The entire time she protected us and did everything she could to keep us safe." He opened his mouth but closed it. "She’s nicer to me than my mom ever was," he muttered focusing on the spreading the peanut butter perfectly.

  Roy looked up at her and she shrugged. "The kidnappers used me as an obedience example."

  The man’s eyes darkened, and he stood. "May I see his room?"

  "Sure." McKenna shoveled one more mouthful of food into her mouth then headed down the hallway. "It’s only got a mattress right now, I was hoping we could get to IKEA today and buy him something. A dresser and a desk too."

  The man poked around a bit, but McKenna was relieved to see he didn’t look outraged at the mattress on the ground.

  "This is great, better than what a lot of kids have. You planning on making a habit of this?"

  "Of what?"

  "Taking in foster kids," Roy said his voice uninflected.

  "Yikes no. Heck, this wasn’t ever in my plans, but," she shrugged casting a look at the kitchen, and shrugged again, not having any idea how to define why she was doing this.

  "And that is the best reason. You aren’t married, but you have a good job. You have a support system? Being responsible for a child impacts a lot of your life and having someone to help makes the transition easier. Granted, because of your shared history he already trusts you, which is the biggest hurdle most parents face. But having someone else to lean on occasionally isn’t a bad thing." His voice echoed the soft smile on his face and McKenna felt the words sink into her.