Trust Vs. Freedom

Chapter Two

I growled and lunged at all the people while colliding with the titanium/steel bars of the cage, denting it in the process and collecting everyone's immediate attention.

"Holy fucking shit man! You didn't tell us he was huge as fuck and mean looking to boot River!" Yelled the first man to come into the room.

A second man from the group that stood shocked had blond hair, blue eyes, was creamy white as well, and stood shorter than the first man by three inches or so yelled out, "Shit dude!! He dented the fucking STEEL bars! What the hell is he made of?!?"

I retreated some from the bars as a snarl rumbled from my chest and started to pace my cage. I was getting even more pissed, was hurt, hungry, and felt betrayed. It was even worse having more than one male intruding on my territory ogling me like a pathetic fucking zoo animal or a dumb ass show pony! I wanted them to get over with whatever the scientists wanted and go. I've had just about enough for one day.

River glanced at me for a moment then turned to his team. "Jake, Marcus, Ty, Leonard, and Luca you all need to calm down. It's just going to make him even worse. And to be quite honest I did give fair warning to come in slowly and be cautious Cole. He is dangerous from what I can gather from the file. Hell from even looking at him. But he's been here for 10 years. They made him this way. Just keep a cool head and watch out. It seems from the most recent log on the file that they had just brought him back from experimenting on him two and a half hours ago. He was cut up, shot and much more as you can see. We need to calm him down and figure out a way to get him out of here to take back to HQ with us. One more thing. He is a rare breed. The only one of his kind. Seems he was born this way from what the file tells us. He can shift into three types of wild cats. Be careful and alert. I'm going to try to talk to him. Does he speak? Can he understand us? Probably, yeah? Cause he was a normal person before being taken here. That okay Ms. Russell?"

Ms. Russell sighed and nodded, "Yeah he can speak. But I don't know if he will or wants to. For as long as I've worked here I've only heard him say one thing. It wasn't even to me. The scientists wanted to take him from the cage to test a new weapon on him. So the guards shot seven tranquilizer darts into him, granted even one could take down a rhino, and then opened the cage. Although he was groggy from the drugs he still managed to take out fourteen guards, two scientists, and still come out alive with only minor scratches and bruising after being tossed into a testing facility with the experimental machine gun and evading the bullets and small rockets. He said and I quote, "Next time I get out, I'll slaughter every last one of you mother fucking sadistic bastards and enjoy ripping your hearts out!," unquote. From then on he hasn't spoken as far as I know."

Cole looked towards me and stared while asking, "Did he do it? Kill everyone that did that to him the next time he got out I mean."

She glanced up at the team while shifting and rubbing her arms. "Yeah.. From what I heard he got his revenge good I'd say. Went and massacred half the guards in this place and killed all the scientists that got in his way. Only a few were lucky to live or escape with injury. He got surrounded by the rest of the guards here and shot up with drugs before he could finish the job. I'm just glad I was away on a job retreat when it went down." Then she glanced back over to me and stared as well before adding, "He's not bad. I know it. I know because one time he protected a kid. Didn't have to but he did."

The team looked over at me and I stopped to glare and growl at them before I looked away and walked to the back of my cage listening to them continue to talk.

"Why did he do that?" River wondered.

"And why does that one thing make him good?" Leonard, the only very big very muscular member of the group who had red hair cut military style, a mustache and a goatee, had deep green eyes and had the outer looks of a biker gang member but the inner personality of a teddy bear.

Ms. Russell looked right into the eyes of every team member before stating, "Because that day he had only one chance, one hope, to escape. But he wasted that all to save one child. And that child was one of the scientists very own kids that they brought to work. He never got the chance to escape again. The people here made sure of that. Even though he saved their kid the parent of that child was one of the main abusers and scientists that experimented on him. He is good. But I think only to the kids. He probably loathes us all. I'm going to wait with the other teams holding the scientists while you try to get him out peacefully. Be careful though. He hates other males more than the females but still hates us people in general. He's kind....just in his own way on the inside and even with everything done to him." Then she left out the door escorted by Jake, the blond, while the rest stayed and focused on me. All with looks of respect, shock, sympathy, alertness, and determination.

All the men started to walk towards me except River, who stayed behind the line.

"I wouldn't get to close you all. You don't want to step into the danger zone. Ms. Russell explained that this line is the safety line. He could snatch you right up. And there would be no traces left." River explained seriously as he looked to his teammates.

"Christ! Are you serious?!" Exclaimed Cole as he moved back with the rest and looked at me.

I tensed and growled low into my throat. To me he was eliciting a challenge. And I was more than willing to take him on. Wounds or no wounds. I caught movement to the left and turned to see River crouching with his hands up and looking at me.

"Whoa there. It's alright. I'm Commander River of the Navy SEALs. We are not here to hurt you. Ok? We came here to get you out. Do you understand? Can you tell me your name? I mean your real one, not the one these scientists gave you." He said calmly as he motioned the others to get on their knees cause it seemed to relax me a bit. Though, I did snarl viciously when he mentioned the scientists. I hated them.

I surveyed their faces and their body gestures. They seemed like they wouldn't come close and try to do anything to me. They also didn't seem to work for the scientist bastards either. They said they were in the Navy SEALs but they could be lying. But I couldn't stand much longer with my wounds still bleeding out. So I cautiously slid down the wall to sit against it with my legs out and a hand on the worse of the two bullet wounds. I kept my eyes on them the whole time.

"Damn River. He's not looking to good. We need to hurry and treat him." Whispered Luca who had black medium length hair, brown chocolate eyes, was somewhat tan, was as tall as Cole but bulkier, and had freckles all over him.

"I know but we can't rush this. Shit could hit the fan before we even know it. Be patient man." River whispered back before turning back to me and asking for my name again.

'Should I give it?' I thought. I hadn't used my real name in so long that I don't even think I remembered what it was. Hell, that's the only thing I should of held onto and never let go. Not knowing who you are would only prove that this place and those people got to me. Broke me.. I definitely didn't want that to happen. But I didn't know these people either. They could be the same and this could be a trap. 'Don't trust anyone' appeared in my head like a warning of reminder. I shouldn't trust anyone. I DONT trust anyone.

"I don't trust anyone." I decided to tell them in my smooth, silky, and somewhat deep voice that had a little bite to it from the growl in my throat.

"Fuck. Dude has the looks and now the panty-dropper voice that could get any woman to bed in 5 seconds to go along with it?! Lucky bastard." Stated Ty the ladies man of the group with his tall and slim not to muscular figure, his hazel eyes, his Mexican skin color, and his light brown hair that was styled into a quiff.

Everyone ignored Ty and raised their eyes in shock. Probably because I actually spoke. Yeah I do it every now and then to keep my voice working and in good shape. But I only talk to myself. Never around the scientists or guards.

"That's understandable." River said as he shook himself out of astonishment. "But I'm sure a first name would be alright. No harm. I'm positive you don't want to be called an experiment number the rest of your life? What do you say?"

I gave a quick glance at everyone in the room and then sighed heavily while closing my eyes and growling out, "Nyxton."

"Hahah! That fits him perfectly." Laughed Marcus in his Jamaican accent who was the last of the group. He was a creamy black with black dreads, hazel eyes with bits of green in them, and was around the same build if not a bit taller than River. He seemed like the jokester type.

I just grunted and re-closed my eyes to try and focus. The drugs from being taken and experimented on a while ago haven't worn off completely and I'm still bleeding out even with my shifter healing abilities. I heard movement and quickly opened my eyes as I jolted forward to check what that was. And to make sure they weren't trying anything funny.

"Whoa big guy. Nothing's gunna hurt ya. Clumsy Cole over here just dropped his snack pack from his pocket." River stated as he held his hand up for me to see. 'Not a lie' I thought when I didn't hear his heart skip a beat. I sniffed the air to smell what food Cole had. I'm not sure what it was but it smelt good. Kind of like meat but not really meat if you get what I mean. It's hard to describe when I've never had it in a looong time.

Cole recognized my interest in the smell of the food and got an idea. He motioned to River to hand him the file and then proceeded to look up my meal forms. I was only ever given small amounts of gross brown water and a medium slab of raw cow thigh. I didn't much care for the water but the meat was a take-what-a-carnivore-can-get kind of deal in this facility. For me, I was just glad they fed me every once in a while.

"It says 'A half cup of dirty brown water and one raw medium small slab of meat cut from left overs of any animal they can find once a week or until needed'. That's some fucked up shit right there. Didn't they want him to be healthy for you know what...? I mean come on, a half cup of water and a small thing of meat. Just by lookin' at the guy you can tell he eats gazillions more than that." Complained Cole as he tossed the file to the ground and looked up to me with a hint of a smile on his face. If a stranger looks at me like that it usually means pain or trouble ensues so I'm definitely not going to fall for any tricks. I gotta be careful.

"I'll make a deal with you Nix. You don't mind me calling you that do ya? Anyways, I'll give you the food I have if you let one of us come over there and remove those chains. What do ya say? Pretty sweet deal if you ask me." Cole joked.

I growled at him. I'm not some mindless animal that'll trust my stomach over my instincts. They probably plotted to cause me harm once my defenses were down and they got the chance to get close. Like now. Using food on someone who hasn't had much for over ten years is a dirty trick. Bastard!

Then again if they're really here to rescue me then this may be my last shot to freedom. My chance to show just a tiny tiny ounce of trust before I can escape to live in solitude away from people and the horror of recapture and experimentation. Besides, these chains were getting ridiculously annoying. I was just so puzzled. Do I take a small chance to be ultimately free or risk getting tricked and harmed?

'I guess I'll just take the chance. It is simply too tempting.' I nodded to the team and mumbled to myself as I rose to stand and waltzed over to the cage bars. If they got too close I would have no qualms with snapping their necks like a twig.

River was the first to stand with the rest of the guys following behind but Cole was the one who grabbed the key to the chains and slowly approached me, snacks in hand. I let a soft growl pass through the room and gripped the bars tightly to try and calm my tense nerves. They were just taking the chains off and giving me food. No big deal.

Except it was. I have become so accustomed to this harsh life style that just the thought of mere strangers, who have come to save me, getting close pushed at my every instinct to fight and protect myself. It shouldn't feel normal but it did.

I stuck my hands through the gaps between the bars so Cole could get a better look at the chains. I kept a close eye on him but made sure not to forget the other males in the room either. Cole just gently unlocked the chains and gave me the bags of snacks before moving back to the group.

I rubbed my red raw wrists before sitting down right were I was and sniffing the packages. They may be drugged or poisoned so I had to be sure. When I didn't sense anything amiss I continued to open them, picking out the ones that smelt the most intriguing. Living on a diet of just raw meat and water made these small morsels the best thing I've had in my whole life. I started out by eating the one labeled 'Jerky' (it was my favorite of all the snacks) and continued on till I devoured the last bag with a weird blueberry flavor labeled 'Gummy Sharks'.

The whole time I ate I only stopped once to look up at the team. They were standing and watching me eat with looks of amusement, sympathy, curiosity, and slight contentment. I felt that I should say something for what they've done so far. But that didn't mean I trusted them. Not. One. Bit.

"Uh..." I paused. They stared, waiting for me to continue. "Thanks.."

"Your welcome. Now how about we get you out of there and take you back to our head quarters? I promise no one will hurt you or go near you if you don't want them to. The scientists have been cleared out and taken into custody. We will interrogate them for information before they go to jail with the life sentence. The rest of the animals have been found and given medical treatment. We will be taking them to be rehabilitated at animal shelters near our base. What do you say Nixton?" River explained as I stood back up to glance around at their faces then around my cage with an uncertain expression. Truth was, I was kind of scared to leave. Stupid I know but I felt safer in my cage than out in the open where others could get to me better. I was less exposed and vulnerable encased in these four walls. I didn't want to stay here either though. I had dreamed, PRAYED, that I could break free of this facility. Now that I have the chance I'm hesitating.

'Quit being such a sniveling pussy Nyx!' I reprimanded in my mind. It's now or never. So I silently backed up for the team to come and break the locks on my thick impenetrable cage door. When the door is gone nothing will be between me and these people. I gulped but squared my shoulders and fisted my hands as I observed them work.