Chapter One

Peter

"Oh my. Do you see that?"

"Who is that? How did they get in there?"

"Oh no! Is that a child in there?"

Surprised voices woke me from my slumber. I pulled my cub closer, expecting to find a furry little body. Instead, I felt skin.

Naked human skin.

I jumped up, my eyes popping open to look down at my five-year-old son, Georgi.

"I told you, Georgi," I whispered frantically, trying to figure out how I would get us out of here. "You weren't supposed to shift."

That's when I realized I was also in my human form. I had no idea how this happened, and it also meant that I was naked in a zoo exhibit. And there were witnesses.

Looking up for my nest of leaves, I found onlookers gawking at us. The flashing lights of cameras went off, and parents covered their children's eyes. This was not what they expected and wasn't good.

"Papa." Georgi rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and sat up. "We're not in our fur anymore."

"That's right." I looked at our surroundings. "Honey, can you shift back?"

Georgi closed his eyes and concentrated hard if his grunting noise was any indication. "No, Papa. Can you?"

I closed my eyes, trying to summon the shift from human to bear. If I shifted back, I could blend in with the other bears in the enclosure. And the security people would have trouble finding us. But my bear wasn't responding. "Shit."

"Papa, you swore," Georgi said. "You know what that means?"

"I'm sorry. I'll put five dollars in the swear jar when we get home," I fibbed, knowing we would never be going home again. But I needed to find a way out of here, and trying to appease my child for the moment would be worth the lie in the long run.

"Georgi, we're going to go over there." I pointed off to one side. "Do you see where the other bears are?"

"Yes, Papa."

"We're going to go over there, and I need you to talk to them for me." I was grateful my son was born able to mind-speak with any animal. It just might be our solution to this problem. "See if they will help us even though we're not bears anymore. Do you think we can do that?"

"Yes, Papa." Georgi nodded. "I can get the bears to help us."

"Okay, let's go talk to your new friends." I gently urged Georgi to start walking toward the three polar bears in the corner of the exhibit. I kept checking around us, looking for an exit. I didn't find one. And the humans watching were getting louder now, terrified that we were going closer to the bears.

First, the bears looked confused. A little cub was protectively pushed behind the biggest one. "Tell them that it's okay. That we're not here to hurt them." "Okay." Georgi closed his eyes and concentrated before looking back up at the slight glow of his eyes, which indicated to me that he was communicating with animals.

Suddenly, the bears came forward and circled us. Some people may have feared that the bears would eat us because I heard some onlookers yelling for help. But I knew differently.

They weren't attacking us. These bears were trying to protect us. I sat on the ground and pulled Georgi into my arms. "Okay, baby. Let's figure out how we'll get out of here."

"Okay." Georgi's eyes glowed again as he spoke with our furry protectors. "Papa, the momma bear said we're okay for now. Their handlers usually come out to feed them any minute. When they do, the bears say they know a secret way to sneak out. Should I find out more about that?"

Relief flowed through me at this slight shimmer of hope of escape. "Yeah, baby. Find out more information."

As Georgi communicated with the bears to find out more about the secret exit, I attempted to devise a plan for what to do next. I could not do this myself. Hiding in the zoo was no longer an option. Something was preventing us from shifting; perhaps it was some spell.

"They said that there are spells in the enclosures to force shifters back to their human skin because too many were pretending to be animals for whatever reasons. So, the zoo owners hired a coven of witches to cast the spell."

"That's interesting." Maybe security wouldn't be too bad to deal with after all and could help us. But I would listen to the bears. I couldn't let my ex's goons get us, so I needed to sense the scene before I reached out for help.

"Papa," Georgi said. "Do you think maybe we could contact Cousin Charlie?"

The light bulb went off with his question.

That's it!

"Yeah, baby, we will once we get out of here."

I hadn't considered calling my friend Charlie from college. We'd been so close that we always called each other's kids our nieces and nephews. Our children thought they were actual cousins for a while. If I called him, he would help me. Charlie's husband worked for the Global Shifters Council. And, right now, I needed them to protect me.

"The bear said that the secret door is there." Georgi pointed to a discreet wooden door I'd overlooked behind the bushes. "When the feeders come, they will open it."

"Are they sure this will work?" My anxiety was growing with each minute that passed.

"They said even if the trainers see us, they will understand. It's the crowd and the owners we need to hide from. The zoo employees have experience with shifters; another bear shifter even hid here a few years ago. He's one of the trainers now and would probably help us if he's on shift." Georgi pulled my hand. "Come on, Papa. They said they could hear that the door was about to open."

I couldn't help the nugget of hope that grew in my heart that everything would be okay. These trainers could help me contact Charlie or Omar. I hoped none were related to one of the families, or Georgi and I would be in deep trouble.

Working as a team, the bears walked toward the door, surrounding us and hiding us from onlookers. I snuck a look up at the crowd and noticed security officers up there calming the humans, many of whom had already walked away. I wondered if the zoo also had magic weavers helping with crowd control and wiping their memories of events. I wouldn't be surprised considering they had spelled enclosures.

As we approached the door, it opened, and two trainers stood before us. Waving to us and leaning his head toward the room behind him, one of the men turned around and returned into the building while the other man made sure the polar bears stayed back.

Georgi looked up at me, and I nodded my consent. "Let's follow him. It'll be okay."

"I know, Papa. The bears told me to trust him. He's the shifter they were talking about." Georgi bounced along next to me. For him, it seemed the danger had passed. For me, it wasn't quite yet.

The man led us to a locker room and closed the door. "Hi, I'm Daniel. The bears told me you needed my help."

"You can speak with them too?" Georgi stared up at the man, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. "They told me you were a shifter we could trust, but not that you are like me."

"I feel you are much more special than I am." Daniel smiled down at Georgi. "But yes, I can communicate with the bears. They said you were running from bad people and needed to get somewhere safe and contact friends. I can help you with a burner phone, cash, and clothes. Just tell me what you need."

"I appreciate it." Tears of relief gathered at the corner of my eyes.

"Those who are escaping toxic environments must help one another." Daniel handed me a backpack and wallet. "Someone helped me once, and this is how I pay that back."