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and the cage is well fortified.” Shana assured them.
    Shocked, the siblings stared at her.  For some reason, it had not registered with either of them that she knew what had been going on.  Jason‘s jaw muscles grew tight and twitched as his teeth clenched.  His eyes narrowed as he spoke.  “Are you freaking kidding me?  You know everything , and have done nothing to help us?” he bellowed. 
    “Don’t you dare raise your voice to me.  Sit down, shut your mouth, and listen, young man .  I will be happy to explain the circumstances in which you find yourselves.  What do you think I'm doing here?  Just setting up a family reunion?  Everyone goes through hard times, believe me, if you‘d stayed it would have ended up the same way.  Possibly worse.”
    Sarah placed her hand on Jason’s arm.  “Calm down.  We need to know more.  I need to know more.  Anger will get us nowhere.”  Something felt very wrong.  Wrong about Jason, wrong about her, and most importantly…wrong about what they were going to find out.
    Jason looked from Sarah to Shana.  Taking a deep breath, he attempted to control his emotions.  “Fine.  We’ll listen to your excuses for being a rotten human being, but first, I want to see the basement.  It’s too late for us to make it back home.”
    Ignoring his sarcasm, her mouth slid into a wid e grin.  “Wonderful.  Follow me,” She said as she moved through the kitchen to a panel door. After one last glance over her shoulder, she headed down the stairs.
    Amazing , Sarah thought as she gazed at the luxuriously decorated, enormous cage.  It took up half the large basement.  A thick and obviously expensive oriental rug covered the entire floor.  A television sat in the corner beside a small fridge, and a large comfortable couch offered seating.  There was even a bed covered with thick soft blankets against the back wall.  Jason and Sarah exchanged surprised expressions, and then started laughing.  “Don’t you think it’s a bit of overkill for a dog?” Jason asked.
    “I’m not sure what you mean,” Shana replied.
    “All of this, so a dog can be comfortable?  That’s pretty ridiculous.  Seriously, when I change I’m not interested in watching television or having a cold beer.”
    “Oh, that.  I’m afraid you have it all wrong, dear.  The cage is not for you, it is for your sister.” Shana answered.
    Sarah stared at her while waiting for Jason to say something.  Hearing nothing but silence, she turned her gaze to him.  Jason’s face was white and drawn.  His lips moved as if he were trying to speak but could not find the words.  The muscles in his neck twitched as he glared at the woman.
    Placing her hand on his heavily muscled arm, she felt the tension in his body, and slipped between Jason and Shana.  “What do you mean?  I don’t change.”
    “Well of course you don’t, not yet anyhow, but the rest of us do, dear.  That is why this is here, to keep those too young to change out of harm's way.” Shana replied, then turning to look at Jason, asked, “Don’t you remember any of this from before?  I know you were young, but you were still six the last time we saw you.  Surely, you remember something?”
    “I don’t remember any of this.” Jason answered. 
    “It’s okay, Jase.  I’ll be fine down here.  Look how nice and cozy it is.  I can even catch up on my favorite shows.” Sarah’s eyes wandered over the massive structure.
    “Exactly how many of us are there?” Jason asked Shana.
    “Hundreds.  All over the United States.  Seventy-five in our particular pack.  Each pack consists of clans, and each clan has their own territory.  Our pack is lead by my husband, Thomas; he's also t he Masada clan leader.  There are also the Rashuk and Indera clans.  They all live in this territory but each have their own lands.”
    Jason crossed his arms over his chest looking as if he might throttle someone.
    Unabashed, Shana continued,