White Knight by Kelly Meade

get her back, Knight,” Bishop said as Knight reached the trailer door. “I promise.”
    Knight glanced over his shoulder, something burning in his eyes that Bishop hadn’t seen in a long, long time: absolute resolve. “You’re right, brother. We will.”

Chapter Seven
    Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run! RUN!
    “Shut up!” Shay screamed at the walls to silence her beast, whose unrelenting insistence on running and escape was driving her insane. Physically Shay could not heed her beast’s demands, even though the idea of running free in beast form made her heart leap with want and joy. She had been cooped up for so long that she no longer remembered what that kind of freedom felt like. Or what sunlight felt like on her skin.
    Shay glanced at the wriggling baby in the bassinet who was playing with a stuffed dog and seemed unaffected by her outburst. Chelsea was, she could guess, about three or four months old, which fit with the timeline Desiree had given her—plus the lack of teeth. For now she had to assume that loup and Magi children developed at a similar pace, as loup did to human children.
    It had only been two days since she was allowed to shift, but the quarterly hadn’t been enough to satisfy her beast. Loup did poorly in captivity. They needed space and sunlight and the social aspect of a sanctuary town. She had been isolated, in dim light, and mostly alone for over a month.
    “I need to get out of here,” she said to Chelsea, who simply cooed and blew a raspberry. “I don’t know if I can take you with me, but I will come back. I promise, little one.”
    Her joints ached as she crossed the room to her mattress. Before she could sit, someone knocked, and she cursed herself for not paying attention. The collar was dimming her senses, as was the lack of proper nutrition. A steak and bottle of water once a day—sometimes every two or three if the hybrids were away—was not enough for a loup garou to survive. Despite the shift, she was still dying one day at a time.
    “Shay?” Leopold’s hesitant voice was muffled by the door between them. “Are you awake?”
    “Yes, I’m here.” She changed directions to the door and leaned hard against the wall. The knob had been replaced with something she had no hope of jimmying open. “Where are the others?”
    “Out. I’m lonely.”
    “I’m lonely, too, Leopold.” She missed her Cornerstone family so much it had become a physical ache deep inside of her. An ache so much worse than her wasting body. “We need family around. It’s part of who we are as loup garou.”
    He was quiet for a while. “Is that why I’m sad when my sisters leave me alone?”
    “Yes.” Leopold was only a few years younger than her, but he didn’t have nearly the same maturity. She had no idea of his mental development or his schooling, only that he reacted and spoke like someone no older than eight or nine. She hated herself for exploiting that but it was an opening she could use to get them both to safety. “I think I’m less lonely because I have the baby in here with me.”
    “I tried to take care of her. I wasn’t very good at it.”
    “Do you miss her?”
    “Lots and lots.”
    “Would you like to hold her? We can visit together, the three of us.”
    “But the door is locked.”
    “Do you know where Desiree keeps the key?”
    “Around her neck.”
    Damn it all.
“Can you find any tools so you can break the lock?”
    “Oh no. I can’t. If I break it, Des will know I was inside. She’ll be mad.”
    “She won’t be mad, I promise. She’ll be glad that we were spending time together as a family. I know she wants that, she’s just scared I don’t want to be here. That’s why she locks me up.” Truths couched in lies.
    Silence.
    “Leopold?”
    “I should wait and ask Des when she comes home.”
    “And when will that be? Hours? A day? Do you want to be alone that long, when Chelsea and I are right here? Please.”
    “I don’t know.”
    He wasn’t saying