Chapter One Hundred

*Ivan*


Ariya loved being able to feel me run as a wolf. My heart pounded in my chest as I pushed myself to run faster with each step on the ground. I realized Caleb started to slow down as I pulled further ahead of him.
*I think our run is at an end, princess. Caleb’s out of steam.* I laughed.
*That was amazing! Take me with you on all your runs?* Ariya asked me.
I felt my heart skip a beat as the excitement of having her with me in my mind while I ran thrilled me.
*Absolutely, Ari. You can be with me always. Wanna have a little more fun first?* I asked her.
I felt her excitement, *Duh!*
I turned around and headed back toward Caleb. He was stopped a little ways back panting. I walked up and nudged him with my nose to make sure he was ok. He bowed his head in response to let me know all was well. I jumped back quickly, wagged my tail, and crouched low to the ground, growling. I stood back normally, cocking my head to the side.
*Are we about to fight Caleb?* Ariya asked me.
Caleb jumped in the air and mimicked my action I had just made towards him. That was my green light. I growled and lunged at him. Caleb jumped to the side to dodge my attack and swiped a paw at me. It caught me in the shoulder and I lunged at him again. I knocked him to the ground and we rolled, snapping our jaws at each other.
“Ivan! Caleb! Stop!” Drake and Keo yelled running at us.
*Oooooo you’re in trouble! They think you both are fighting for real!* Ariya laughed in my head.
I caught Caleb at the throat but didn’t bite down. He knew he’d lost this match. I growled at him as Keo and Drake got closer. My body shivered and I shifted back. Caleb was still on the ground but started to shift back as well. I couldn’t help but laugh as I helped him up off the ground.
“How are you so fast? And strong still? You just got your memories back to be able to shift again. It’s been 14 years!” Caleb asked, bewildered.
“Wait, you guys weren’t really fighting?!” Keo growled, putting two and two together.
I laughed, “We were fighting but it wasn’t a kill each other type thing. More just some friendly competition. Caleb, I think you’re just slow.”
“More like, it may have actually been a while, but Ivan is still getting his memories back. Any memory he gets makes it feel like yesterday for him.” Drake laughed, shoving me playfully.
I laughed more, “You’re just mad that I’m stronger than you and learning old moves that I knew before that just make me stronger.”
“Actually, I’m glad you’re stronger. It means that you can train Ariya and you both can get out of there.” Drake said, suddenly really serious.
I stopped laughing, growing very serious myself, “Actually even if we wanted to try to escape right now, we couldn’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t escape right now?!” Keo and Caleb shouted.
Drake’s face went dark, “What haven’t you told us?”
*I’m sorry, I forgot to tell them. There’s been so much happening. They don’t know about Boss. I got distracted because of the serum.* Ariya told me.
*What serum?*
*Boss uses a serum that can make a person tell the complete truth. But I think there’s more to it.* Ariya explained.
“Ariya apologizes. She forgot to mention about Boss’s ability. For fairness, I learned about it recently and didn’t tell you either. There’s been a lot going on.” I answered them.
“How does Boss’s ability make it to where you can’t get Ariya out of there?” Drake asked.
“Because Boss can control the gravity under someone. He can make it pull you to the floor and hold you in place or he can make you basically float in the air. Which means he can drop you on the ground instantly which can knock you out too. Until we know how to get around that we can’t go anywhere. I can’t get her out of there.” I growled.
*There’s more, Ivan! I feel like there’s more to his ability. I just can’t put my finger on it.* Ariya added, and quickly mentioned more about the serum to me.
“Ari says there’s more to it. She doesn’t know what it is yet but she feels like there’s a lot more to it. I think she’s right. Boss is paranoid. He’s cautious. He hasn’t used the serum since the first day he questioned her. I’ve been in the room each time though too. So that might be part of it. But I don’t think he’s going to have me not be in the room for now. He has me under strict orders to be there at all times unless I’m running out to grab food or going home to sleep.”
Drake’s eyes went wide, “You need to be careful. We can’t make a move unless we absolutely have to.”
Caleb growled, “Why not just get out of there at night? There’s barely anyone there and Boss isn’t even there. It’s the perfect time to get out of there.”
“Yeah, sounds great, Caleb. We’ll just run out of the room Ariya is in. The bracelets she has on as her restraints will send an alert to Boss when she breaches whatever perimeter he set. My guess is it’s the room she’s in. The second that sends an alert he’s going to be heading here. By the time we fight through the guards and get out of the building Boss will be there. Ready to pick us both up and drop us instantly. Even if we manage to take out the guards fast enough, Ariya’s bracelets will electrocute her the second we step foot outside. Then what?” I growled angrily.
*Easy, Ivan. He’s just worried about me. Remember, he’s been watching over me for the last 14 years. They all feel helpless because the only way we’re getting out of there is when you and I figure out how to get out.* Ariya chided me.
“Sorry.” I mumbled.
*Mean mugger.* Ariya giggled.
I snorted out a laugh and relaxed. *I love you.*
*I love you too.*
“So what are we going to do?” Keo asked.
“First things first, we need to fix the lock again on Ivan. As for Boss, we’ll all need to think about it. I’m not sure there’s an easy answer and at this point, there might be more surprises around the corner.” Drake said.
“How does the gravity ability work?” Caleb asked.
“I’m not sure. He only used it once with me around and that was because he didn’t really have a choice. Ariya had broken one of the restraints off the wall. Boss swore me to secrecy. But I’m pretty sure if we can get him to use it again, we might be able to figure it out.” I answered him.
“I don’t like that. That means he’s using it against Ariya. You mentioned she’s not chained to a table and you’ve been able to give her things. That means he’s giving her more freedom. If he has to use the ability against her again then she might lose some of the freedom she’s been given which makes things harder.” Caleb said.
“True. We’ll try to come up with a plan somehow.” I said.
“We need to fix your lock so you can get home and get some sleep, Ivan.” Drake said.
I nodded and walked over to Drake.
“Ariya has to disconnect from you but only for a minute.” Drake said.
*I’ll be right back, Ivan.* Ariya told me, *Just breathe. It won’t take long.*
I nodded at Drake giving him the go ahead as he put his hand on my head. I saw Drake's eyes go wide as he entered my mind. Then the world around me started fading out.