Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
1
Ramsey
I hadn’t been able to protect my animal side from the evil human’s mistreatment. Not that I was even sure my falcon would have let me try. She’d seen how the man had treated the other animals in his basement and didn’t want to see what horrible things he would’ve done to me in my human form. Especially not after he’d told me what had happened to some of the shifters he’d sold to a group who were auctioning them off to the highest bidder.
Judging by the monk parakeet, California condor, golden eagle, and trumpeter swan locked up with me in the basement, the man was obsessed with birds that were illegal to own. That was the only reason he hadn’t sold me. Because he wanted to keep me for himself. But that hadn’t stopped him from threatening me with a fate worse than death.
I never expected to be saved. After spending nearly a full year trapped in his basement, I had lost all hope of being rescued. I was too malnourished to shift when he finally freed me from my small prison, only to butcher my falcon’s wings while trying to clip them to keep me from flying. When he shoved me right back into the cage, I prayed for my death.
Only one day later, the impossible happened. Police invaded his house and dragged him away in handcuffs, ranting and raving about how he’d get us all back as soon as he was out of jail. They sent people from animal control into the basement to check our condition, and the woman who opened the door of my cage cried when she saw the condition of my wings. As happy as I was to be freed from my prison, my falcon screeched and nipped at her for daring to come close. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t trust humans to touch me. Not after the treatment I’d endured at the hands of that man.
Afraid of what my tomial tooth could do to her soft skin, the woman slammed my cage back shut again. I stayed there, watching as the humans assessed the condition of the other animals, content to remain in my cage until a man with short ash-blond hair and blue eyes came striding into the basement. He was dressed casually in jeans, biker boots, a T-shirt, and a leather vest emblazoned with the crest for an MC called Silver Saints, but he had an air of authority about him. One that even the cops seemed to respect since they cleared the room at his request.
When the door that led to the basement was closed, he moved closer. He didn’t stop when I screeched. Instead, he quickly undid the latch on my cage before taking several steps back. I wasn’t sure why having him open the door was different than it’d been with the female who had tried earlier, but I hopped out. When I spread my wings, my falcon’s small body was wracked with pain, so I tucked them back against my sides.
His eyes were soft as he crouched down and murmured, “If I’d known about this house of horrors, I would’ve fucking killed the bastard before the cops had a chance to arrest him. Motherfucker deserves to pay for what he’s done, but jail is too good for him.”
I tilted my head, intrigued by the fury in his voice as he freely spoke about committing murder with several members of law enforcement upstairs.
“Harlowe is gonna be heartbroken when she finds out how badly he’s mistreated you all.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Fuck, I can never let her know what happened in this hellhole. She’ll want to adopt the whole damn lot of you, and she won’t care how illegal it is to own you, little falcon. My old lady will bat her gorgeous hazel eyes and expect me to find a way around the law since she knows I’ve broken more than a few before.”
Knowing that human laws didn’t mean much to this man was oddly comforting to me. Almost as much as hearing the love he had for his woman. It sounded as though she had him wrapped around her little finger, just like a shifter female would with their fated mate.
The man’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “You gonna let me get closer, little falcon?”
I dipped my head and let him take three more steps forward before I screeched again.
“Maybe I’m going crazy, but it almost seems as though you understand what I said.” His gaze drifted around the room, taking in the size of the cage where I’d been held before he turned back to me. “Or maybe there’s a damn good explanation for that gleam of intelligence in your eyes.”
He looked over his shoulder toward the stairs everyone had gone up to leave us alone. Once he was sure nobody was coming back down here again, he leaned toward me and whispered, “Never said these words aloud to anyone because this is a secret I’ll take to my grave. But I guess that’ll still be true if I’m wrong about you because then you’d be a regular falcon who has no idea what the hell I’m talking about.”