The First Shifters

Brother Raiden

I had to be dreaming again. There was no other logical explanation for what I was seeing. When I’d made it down the stairs, my mother pressed a button and the doors closed behind me. The sound of the doors clicking shut made the hair on my arms raise a bit, but I knew I was safe with her.

“We’ve been collecting information for a few years now. You’re not the first person to stumble across those files.” Mom pointed to the table that had small piles of paper and photos. I saw Silas and Rowan, and now it makes sense why she reacted the way she did when I told her about Inara. I see her photos as Mom is straightening up and re-organizing stacks. I involuntarily growl, and I feel Mom’s gaze on me.

“You’re not following Inara around, are you?” I ask, staring at Inara’s sun-gold eyes in the photo on the top of the pile, and she shakes her head.

“These were stolen from the database from the science center. They have someone following her, but we don’t know who it is yet.” I make a mental note to warn Inara about it. We were going to have to watch where we met up at, and I start to feel a little frustrated. Not only was this getting more difficult, but I was worried someone was going to get hurt. It felt like I was dealing with a gang war or something.

“As much as they try to keep this a secret, I have to wonder about all they’re guilty for,” I say, and mother’s face is grim.

“They’re trying to play as gods,” she whispers. “They want people for experiments, but we don’t know what exactly yet, but we think it’s another genetic experiment. Even on their own family,” she gulps. She looks about how I feel; sick to my stomach. What kind of sick ass family experiments on their own? It was bad enough they wanted to experiment on anyone period. Didn’t we have enough of that? I had to hurry and learn everything I could down here, so I could warn Inara.

“How did you get all this?” I ask mom. She looks a little guilty, and I’m wondering if I have to be worried about the answer.

“I help run an organization that’s hell bent on proving The Greys are maniacal tyrants that don’t have many morals.” I can’t help but laugh, of course my mother does. She’s a nurse at a hospital, I bet she hears all kinds of stories, meets all kinds of people. And with the chaos that sometimes comes with the job, it would be the perfect cover to pass information and tech that held the secrets.

“What about dad?” I inquire; no doubt he’s part of this too. She confirms my suspicions.

“He does work at the shop, but they have an underground base right below it where he builds weapons and armor. We have several spots in case one is found out.” I run my hand over my face, groan and chuckle in the same breath.

“Of course he does, the military background makes sense.” I’m smiling, but I can’t tell if it’s due to the shock of it all, or because I should have known. It was perfect, the cover ups, the help I’m sure they had; I had to wonder how many people were involved.

“Please understand,” Mom pleads, grabbing my other hand that’s resting on the metal table. “I never wanted you to be caught in all this, I just wanted as normal a life I could give you.” She squeezes my hand, and I lay my hand over hers.

“I understand, I promise I’m not upset. It’s just…a lot to take in,” I chuckle. “I never really imagined you and Dad being part of a rebel group.” She laughs at this, and puts some of the paperwork away, leaving the piles for Inara, Silas and Rowan on the table.

“Trust me, I never imagined it either, but after hearing about the files, I had to help.”

“So, who did you hear it from? Like, how did all of this start?” I ask, taking in the laptop and other old school tech.

“You need to sit down for that answer,” she says, gesturing to an old, grey computer chair that’s slightly splitting in the seat. I do, but I’m confused. What could be so life-altering that I’d need to sit down? She hands me an 8x6 full body photo of a burly man that looks to be about seven years or so older than me. He’s got similar coat colors to mine, dark ears and hair, tanned skin and vibrantly green eyes.

“Who is this?” I ask, waving the photo and looking into mom’s golden-chocolate eyes.

“That man right there is your full-blooded older brother.”

Okay, so sitting down was probably the best because I was floored. I’m staring at his photo again, wondering what happened. The man here was jacked, like he’d been living a hard life and lifting weights like he was an inmate in prison. His piercing green eyes looked like he wanted to kill someone, and I’m glad it wasn’t me. My throat feels a bit dry, and I swallow to try and get it moving again.

“What’s his name?” My voice comes out in a strained whisper, and I clear my throat.

“Raiden. He was twelve when he brought you to the hospital,” she tells me, her voice full of sadness.

“What happened? Why did he bring me to the hospital?” Part of me wants to be so angry, but I knew the reputation of the River wolves that ran River Rock Co. They bred the best of the best for what they did, and it made sense now as to why Raiden looked so muscular. They lived a life of hard work, mining stone and rock. They had the best technology, but they still had to send men deep in the underground to get to the hard-to-reach places. It was risky, and a lot of them died in the process from built up gasses in the earth. Their line had been genetically built and bred for this kind of work. He wouldn’t have had the time to come find me again.

“Your real father had badly beaten you, that’s all I could get out of him,” she tells me, wiping a lone tear away. “He said you’d be safer at the hospital; he was scared your father had beaten you to death.” It makes sense, I do remember bits and pieces of waking up in the hospital with mom at my side.

“He must have risked a lot to save me,” I say lowly, putting the photo down on the table. Any pup they deemed unfit, or unworthy in any way were cast aside. River wolves were known for having twins and triplets, pups born back-to-back to keep the mines running. It was insanity to me. The fact that he thought I’d been killed makes me wonder if my biological father wanted me dead. How many more siblings did my real mother birth? How many siblings did I actually have? I asked my mother this, and she shakes her head.

“We don’t know for sure; we haven’t seen their names come up in the system since Raiden brought you in. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”

I nod my head, and stand up from my seat. Gazing over the photos once more, I stare at my brother’s murderous stare, and I make it a personal mission to find him one of these days so I can ask him questions. But for now, I had to warn Inara about the new information I’d learned.