Looking around, she saw more metal enclosures in the huge room. A few of the cages had people sitting with their heads down. The ones across from her were occupied by wolves, big ones. They were pacing in their cages, growling, with glowing golden eyes. Their large, sharp, white teeth showed when they snarled.
“Let me out,” she yelled. “I don’t belong here.” She tried to shake the bars to get someone’s attention. Panic set in. Terrible thoughts flooded her mind all at once. First, the injections and now locked in a cell. What did Dr. Asshole do to me? What will happen if I can’t get out? Will those huge ass wolves manage to get out and eat me?
“It’s no use, honey. No one will come to help you or any of us.” The young woman in the cage next to her said.
“What did they do to me?” Mara asked, more to herself than anyone else.
“Not sure yet, but I bet it probably won’t be long before we find out,” the woman replied.
Mara looked closer at the young woman next to her. She looked familiar, maybe the female that went missing last week. The same one she’d called the alpha about. The one she saw on basement level one on the hospital bed. Mara paced back and forth.
“You’re the missing woman I saw on TV,” Mara said.
“I’m Trina Pearse.”
“I’m Dr. Mara Maxwell. What do you mean by finding out?” Mara asked her.
“Do you feel anything different yet?” Trina asked from her cage.
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I feel tingly.”
“Yep, it won’t be long now.” Trina backed away from the bars and sat on the makeshift cot on the other side of her cell. “They’re changing our DNA. Turning us into something different.”
“Aren’t you already different? You’re a wolf shifter, right?”
“Yes, but not now,” she shrugged. “I shifted not too long after I woke up here. At first, I thought I hallucinated the whole thing. I wasn’t my normal wolf.”
“What did you change into?” Mara’s brows drew together. She had no idea that a shifter could change into something different.
“I turned into a Bengal tiger. Can you believe that? I wouldn’t have it if Benny hadn’t told me about it afterward.”
“Who’s Benny?” she asked, looking around at the other cages.
“Benny is my pack mate. They took him before they nabbed me. He’s the man on the end.” She pointed to the last cage on the opposite side of the room.
“He’s a hyena,” Mara said, staring at the creature pacing in his cage. “He’s your pack mate?”
“Remember, they changed us. What were you before they grabbed you?” Trina asked.
“I’m human. There’s nothing special about me.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, honey. You’re not human anymore.” Trina leaned back on the bed and rested her back against the bars.
Mara paced the cage, not able to stay still. She felt on edge. No longer human? Never had she thought she would be anything but human. Shifters weren’t a secret, but she didn’t personally know any either. Now she was thrown into the world of shifters, and she didn’t know exactly how to respond to that. It is not like there would be anything she could do about it.
Her body heated, a fire starting deep within her. She didn’t know what was happening to her. Suddenly her stomach churned and cramp. She wrapped her arms around herself and fell to her knees. A tingle grew in her arms and back. Black fur shot up through her skin. She looked at Trina with wide eyes and a panicked expression.
“You’ll be okay. Just let it come naturally.” Trina sat up on the bed and tried to calm her.
Mara screamed as her body twisted in different angles. She fell over, her arms and legs changing. She could hear the snap of her bones as they shifted shape. The pain had come and gone. For a moment, she lay there. Unsure what she should do.
“You’re beautiful,” Trina exclaimed, going over to the bars.
On unsteady paws, Mara got up from the floor. She looked at her body, totally covered in black fur. What the fuck? She screamed out, but her voice did not come. Instead, a loud roar sounded from the mouth. The strangest feeling hit her. She tried to ask Trina what to do, but only another roar came out. Normally a calm person, she felt a panic attack coming on.
“You’re a panther.” Trina took a knee next to the bars. “A beautiful, sleek, black, fierce panther.”
Mara took the few steps it took to get to the bars on the side of the cage. It didn’t come as naturally as the others because she wasn’t meant to be a shifter. At least, she didn’t fall on her face. Trina reached her small hand out to her. Everything is going to be okay. She moved her body against the bars and let Trina run her hand down her back. It felt similar to someone running their hands through her hair. She walked around her cage, getting used to her new legs. How is this even possible?
I’m good, a voice said in her head.
“Who is this?” she roared out.
No answer came. Mara paced the cage. Her anger mounted at the voice in her head that never answered her. What if whatever Dr. Phenix did to her, made her crazier than a loon? She had no clue what all Dr. Asshat had done. He could have just added shifter DNA to her, or he could have messed her up completely. The more she thought about it, the more pissed off she got. She would make him pay for what he was doing to all those people… somehow. First, she had to get out of here. Maybe now, being a panther, she’d be able to fit through the bars.
Not happening, the voice again spoke in her head, this time Mara noticed a hint of the roaring tone.
She walked straight at the bars, no way her head would even fit between them.
Told you. The voice in her head laughed.
“If you won’t tell me who you are, then fuck off.” Her anger came out in more roars. She wasn’t even sure whoever she could hear, could hear her.
The door on the right side of the room opened. A man came in with a gun slung over his shoulder. She recognized him. He was the man that had offered to help her with the lug nuts on her car. Her eyes narrowed in on him. He walked past the cages. The shifters reached through the bars, trying to slice him with their claws. Sadly, he stayed just out of their reach.
“Oh, you’re a pretty one. Aren’t cha?” He aimed the gun at her.
“No! Don’t take her. She just shifted. She hasn’t had time to adjust.” Trina pleaded with the man.
“Quiet! Or I’ll get you too. I’m sure we can find something to do with you.” He blew Trina a kiss.
Mara hissed and swatted at the bars, trying to intimidate the man. He aimed the gun at her again and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, and a tranquilizer dart hit her in the hind leg. Fire shot through her, and she hissed. She tried to get the dart out but couldn’t reach it. Stumbling to the cage bars, she rubbed up against it. The dart dislodged and fell to the ground. The door to the room opened again, and Dr. Phenix walked through. His grin had been all she needed to know that he enjoyed it. Mara hissed as Dr. Phenix came closer.
“Should I shoot her again?” The man put the gun up to his shoulder, ready to fire again.
“No, one should be plenty. She’s already drowsy.” Dr. Phenix cocked his head to the side and watched her.