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corridor, breaking up any chance for discussion. "Doc's got Tim?"
    "Yeah."
    "So who is in the cage?"
    The sound of something hitting the side of the cage, hard, echoed down the hallway. He and James took off at a dead run.
    Drake skidded to a halt with James right beside him. The sentries guarding the cage had backed up, eyes wary as a wolf threw itself against the bars. Its body heaved each time it pulled back for another assault on its jail. The sentries kept their hands on their weapons, ready to hit it with tranquillizers or silver should the need arise, but the wolf was still in the cage where it was supposed to be. Drake was relieved but worried. If the lone wolf kept this up, he'd kill himself.
    Drake took a quick look around. The other cages in Doc's warehouse were empty, used only when wolves who were a danger needed a secure place to heal. Doc's warehouse functioned as a halfway house at times. No one else was in danger from the werewolf that stood in front of him.
    "Has he been like this since you picked him up?" Drake gestured toward the angry wolf in the cage. Teeth bared, it had backed away from the silvered bars to stare at him. Its mouth opened on a silent growl.
    James nodded, not taking his eyes off the werewolf. "Yes. You think he might be stuck?" He sounded doubtful.
    Drake drew in a slow breath, sifting through the scents in the air. He detected something, though none of the usual array of drugs that messed up a werewolf's ability to shift.
    "Stay back." It wasn't necessary, but he gave the command just in case one of his people became temporarily stupid. He attempted to make and hold eye contact with the captive. Most people thought in order to be Alpha, one had to be brutal. They forgot brains were a necessary part of the equation. It wasn't just a matter of being strong, it was a matter of being strong, smart, and able to meld the two together.
    "Shift," he said, once the wolf focused on him. This wolf was scared. He was in unfamiliar territory, and he'd attacked one of the reigning Pack's juveniles.
    Slumped against the cage, he gave a pitiful whine.
    "Shift." Drake put more force behind the order.
    Submissive wolves couldn't deny an Alpha. Lone wolves tended to be dominant, but how dominant depended on the strength of the Alpha of the area they hailed from. This one smelled of desert. Drake doubted he'd need to take this all the way to a fight.
    "Shift."
    The sound of bones shifting, the sight of skin and fur moving, followed Drake's command. Tired and frightened, the man looked up from where he crouched on the floor of the cage. He looked dazed, not at all alert.
    "Who are you?" Drake asked, making no move to open the door.
    The nude man didn't answer. Instead, he rested his head against the cement floor of the cage. His body slowly followed.
    "He's passed out. Get some bedding in there. Let him sleep it off." Drake turned away from the cage and gestured for James to follow him. "I'm going to talk to Tim. Listen, the new wolf is not going to know where he is when he wakes up."
    James shot him a puzzled look. "Drugs?"
    "It has to be something new."
    "Do we need Doc?"
    "I'll send him here after I'm done with him."
    ***
     
    "I swear, Drake. I wasn't looking for a fight. All I said to the guy was I'd never seen him before."
    Drake waited. If one stayed silent, people tended to fill the void.
    Tim was one of those people. "The next thing I knew, he was on me. Boy, am I glad that you taught us how to fight in both forms."
    Drake gestured to Tim's arm. "When did he do that?"
    "He just shifted in mid-fight, man, and latched on."
    "When he first attacked, he didn't say anything?"
    "No, he was just standing there one minute, and the next, his fists were flying, and then…" Tim swiped his good hand over his face, dislodging some of the dried blood. "Then he was in wolf form hanging from my arm." He held out his arm.
    "You need to shift in order to heal, but not here." The sutures that doc had put in would