Jace’s stomach was doing flips—not only because they needed to get out of here, and fast, but because no matter what he did, his friend had already suffered more than anyone should. “Owen, man, if I had any idea… I would’ve come for you sooner. They told me you were all dead.”
He nodded, but it was weak, almost a dazed motion. “I figured. At first, I thought for sure someone would come for us. But then time dragged on, and I knew… we were dead, as far as the world was concerned. And would be dead for real soon.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jace whispered, running his hand through his hair. His chest was tight with the guilt about all of this. “I still don’t understand—why did they take you, but not me?”
“It all started with him.” Owen lifted his chin to point to the medical bay. “Colonel Wilding. He wasn’t our CO, but he was behind the whole thing, setting it up. It was a ruse from the start—they wanted an excuse to bring us all into the program. You, me, Wyatt, Anthony—all shifters, all on one patrol. Funny it didn’t even occur to us that was strange, huh? The IED was already planted. They sent us to drive over the damn thing, knowing we were shifters, and it probably wouldn’t kill us. Colonel Wilding himself called in the artillery and blew up the village.”
“What?” Jace gasped. “But they told me… they said that I…” Jace swallowed, just now realizing what Owen was saying—that Jace didn’t actually kill all those people in the village. “They told me an animal killed everyone. Said it was the most powerful shifter they’d ever seen… that it was me. I didn’t remember anything, and I had no reason to think—”
“They lied to you,” Owen said. Of course, that was obvious now. “I don’t know why they’d make up a story like that, but these guys are covering up all kinds of shit. If I had to guess, Colonel Wilding must’ve come in for some trouble with targeting that village. Maybe they said it was friendly fire something. I don’t know. I’ve been locked up here ever since. But he’s just enough of a bastard to try to pin everything on you, the one shifter he couldn’t catch.”
“Catch?” Jace asked. “Owen, what happened back there? I really don’t remember any of it.”
Owen shook his head. “Not much of a surprise your memory’s shot, given how much they had to tranq you to even slow you down. When you didn’t show up with the rest of us in the program, I thought they just killed you outright. When the IED went off, I was thrown from the Jeep, but you shifted right away, and your wolf went nuts. He took off running toward the village. I chased after, but you were freaking fast, man! By the time I caught up, you were trying to save those villagers. The place had already been bombed, and everything was on fire, a regular inferno. Your wolf dove through those walls of fire, trying to save all those people, like there was nothing to it. Then the troopers swooped in. I thought they were there to help, but then they started shooting at us. I shifted human and tried to explain, but they just took me down with a tranq. Last thing I remember, they were going after you. That crazy wolf of yours just kept trying to save the villagers. If you would’ve run, I doubt they could’ve caught you. Wyatt and Anthony didn’t see none of it, but I saw you in action. I thought for sure you got away.”
Jace glanced at the other cages. “Are they here?”
Owen sighed. “Nope. Dead.”
“Shit.” It was like finding out he had lost them all over again.
“These people are straight-up murderers.” Owen’s growl finally came out, angry and bitter. “We figured you either escaped or got killed, too. No way had I figured they would just let you go and come back stateside.” He shook his head. “But now you’re here, just like me, in the end. It’s all fucked up, man.”
Jace was reeling from the story, but calm was settling deep inside his chest. His wolf was stirring with the memories, and for the first time in a year, that simple fact didn’t terrify him.
He glanced at Piper—she had a shine in her eyes that probably reflected the amazement in his.
She gave him a small smile. “You see? You really need to listen to me. I know what I’m talking about.” She meant what she said earlier, about him being a good man—words he never would have believed if Owen hadn’t seen it all with his own eyes. Jace still had a hard time wrapping his mind around it.
He didn’t kill those people. It was like a shockwave going through his system, working things loose, reshaping his thoughts, lightening the burden. He had been carrying a rock the size of Mt. Hood, and someone had finally told him he could set it down.