Feral Northern Shifters 2

in.
    Trying not to shudder, Bram shook himself out and walked away. He shut the door behind him without looking back. Doug was down. First challenge met.
He picked up the empty syringe and returned it to the fridge. Spinning the combination lock, a kind of grim humor took hold. Doug had thought he was the only one who knew the numbers, but Bram had watched more times than he could count and had memorized the numbers just in case. Although the “just in case” scenario had always been vague and ill thought out, and had nothing to do with a cat shifter.
Bram pulled the lock off the fridge handle and opened the door to place the used syringe back beside the others. Better that whoever found Doug hadn’t a clue why the alpha was unconscious. The more time they spent trying to figure out what happened, the more lead time Ethan would be given. Bram relocked the fridge and pushed out of his squat.
Next he disabled the video, changed the master password to something unguessable and started the process of wiping the computer clean. No one would be able to access the computer in the short term, and when they could it would be empty. No sense keeping footage of Ethan as cougar or man. The fewer people who could recognize Ethan in the future, the better. Bram closed his eyes, mentally shying away from the enormity of what he was doing. Instead he focused on the next necessary step.
He marched over to face the door, wanting to get Ethan out immediately, before his plan came crashing down.
But no. First he had to retrieve the wire cutters. Wolves would smell a cat shifter loose in their compound. It didn’t take much to rouse them. So once Bram opened these doors, Ethan had to race for freedom. Speed was critical, and Ethan could not hang around while Bram ran to his trailer to pick up a tool.
Spinning on his heel, Bram banged out the door and sprinted to his trailer. He didn’t need a jacket now and soon he wouldn’t need one at all. He passed a couple of wolves who ignored him, par for the course, and tonight he was grateful. He wasn’t shaking yet. If he could stay this focused, think everything through, quickly, he might succeed.
He slammed into his trailer and fell to the floor to grab the wire cutters from under his bed. Up he rose and slipped out the back door in order to stay in shadow. Racing straight for the nearest portion of the fence, he felt the subzero temperatures. The freezing air energized him, made everything feel clean and crisp. One snip at a time, he cut a hole in the linked chain, big enough for Ethan to get through.
Ethan . Bram finished the job, stood and nodded to himself. He was prepared to face the cat. Carrying the wire cutters with him—his smell on them would implicate him—he jogged to the holding cabin and threw the tool under the stairs. They might find them later but, by then, it wouldn’t matter.
Just before he reentered the building, fear pressed upon him, like a physical weight in his chest. Someone could have stumbled onto Doug’s unconscious body and Bram wasn’t sure what to do if another wolf was in the holding cabin—except take them out. Yet incapacitating one werewolf, his leader, had been more than enough violence for Bram tonight.
Doug would never, ever forgive him. Bram shoved that thought away. No time. He swung open the door to face an empty room, no evidence that one of the pack had come by. The computer was still erasing itself. He felt giddy-sick with relief.
He shook, just a little, and had to grit his teeth, force himself to move to that door that shut Ethan in. Bram pushed the handle and pulled it towards him. He left it wide open, unlike ever before.
The cat might attack. Bram accepted that and hoped he’d be able to tell Ethan where to go to escape the compound. Bram didn’t care otherwise. He was feeling rather pessimistic tonight, at least about his own future, though Ethan’s successful escape remained very important to him. Bram couldn’t bear the thought of going through all this and failing Ethan, who deserved to be freed.
Bram unlocked the second door, pushed it slowly inward with one hand while he raised his other arm to protect his throat. His gaze fell upon the cougar.
Ethan, who would have heard him approaching, crouched nearby, ready to leap. Their eyes met for one long moment, assessing each other as if they were complete strangers. However, the hazel cat eyes were still Ethan. Bram felt like he was looking into a mirror of sorts, into the eyes