Free Pack Justice (Nature of the Beast Book 1) by RJ Blain Page A

me muzzled most of the time, removing the accursed leather contraption long enough to feed me. What she considered an appropriate diet disgusted me and my spirit beasts.
    We wanted meat, fresh and still bleeding, but she wanted to force dry kibble down my throat, and I refused it. Maybe the thought of eating raw meat disgusted most humans, but I understood a predator’s needs from my time as a cheetah.
    Through my protests, Idette remained silent. If my rejection of her offerings bothered her, she hid it from me.
    The silver around my throat and decorating my harness deadened my nose.
    Idette fell into a pattern of rising early and checking out of the dive motel she had selected since they were least likely to ask for identification. On the drive, she kept below the speed limit, stopped at every red light, and did nothing to draw attention to herself.
    My hunger ate away at my stomach, but I continued to refuse what she offered despite my cheetah and wolf’s growing desperation for sustenance. I gorged on water and wondered which one of us would crack first.
    I was a wolf, proud and majestic. I was a cheetah, sleek and cunning. Kibble was beneath us. We were not a pet for anyone’s amusement. I was a man, too, although my memories of walking on two feet instead of four were hazy and slipped away whenever I didn’t force myself to remember what I had been.
    Once I was free of Idette and her harness, collar, and leash, I’d be happy enough as a wolf.
    The night the dark moon rose, I won the battle. I had no idea where we were, but the land was flat, the parking lot of the used car dealership and mechanic shop was empty, and Idette presented me with a bowl of beef cut into bite-sized cubes. Instead of raw, they were cooked as a stew, long cold. Had she made it at the last hotel? It had been a nicer place, that much I remembered.
    It had contained a full kitchen. She had bathed me in the sink despite my warbled protests. She hadn’t taken the leather harness off, either, and the bands had cut into me as they swelled from the water. The straps had since stiffened, restricting my mobility and ability to breathe.
    I sighed and forced myself to eat.
    As a human, Idette’s attempts at cooking left me eager for lunch away from home. My wolf shuddered at the pungent flavor. It was tempting to go without, but if I did, I wouldn’t be able to act when Idette finally slipped. The years of tolerating Idette’s behavior had taught me patience. My cheetah and wolf, however, wavered under the hopelessness of our captivity.
    They retreated to some deep recess in my head, leaving me alone with my thoughts for the first time in weeks. While I ate, leashed to the rental, I watched Idette swap plates with a similar make and model of car. While neither of my spirit beasts were wise to the ways of the human world, I understood what she did and why, and through me, they too understood.
    If anyone was looking for me, her trick would be enough to throw people off her trail for a little while. Would Marcello and Dan pursue my disappearance? It had been long enough I doubted they held much hope for me. My time serving as a prosecutor had taught me a lot about the nature of people and what happened to kidnap victims.
    A very small percentage remained with their kidnappers, some were released or escaped, and most died. After the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the chances of survival plummeted. Idette hadn’t killed me, but I had no delusions about her having a change of heart. I was a wolf, and as far as I could tell, she wanted me to stay that way, although I didn’t understand why.
    I sighed, tested my injured left paw, and calculated my chances of pulling free of the leash and making a run for it while Idette was distracted with the plates. I couldn’t reach the clip attaching the leash to the harness, not with the silver glued to the leather, but I could reach the knots binding me to the car.
    My continual compliance worked in my