"That voice..." Walker mumbled, utterly confused.

The woman's brow furrowed for a moment as she sat back, looking unsettled.

"How old are you?" she asked after a long stretch of near-silence. The only one making any sort of sound before her question was Ranger snickering quietly.

Marsh tilted his head slightly, but did not answer. Age was just a number, one that he hadn't cared about in years. It didn't matter how old he was.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get an answer to her question, Sally sighed quietly and straightened her shoulders.

"Can I have your name, at least?"

You don't need it to fix my remaining injuries, or to release me, so that is another question I have no reason to answer.

Since she was getting nowhere with her questions, Sally finished with her work, taking care of his skinned nose, then packed up her things and pulled out a small tablet. Walker scooted closer to her, curious about what she was looking up. Marsh wasn't interested, and he couldn't move with Ranger holding him, anyways.

"Too many people," Sally mumbled as she tapped at the screen a few more times. "It would help so much more if we had his birthday, or even just a general age, because that voice definitely doesn't fit his looks."

They both looked up at him, but Marsh just stared back silently.

Seemingly thinking for a few moments, Walker jerked his head up and quickly stood. He walked out of the stall-like area, then returned a minute later with a large white plastic bag that appeared to have some weight to it. It only took Marsh a few seconds to pick up the smell of raw meat and start chewing at the air hungrily.

"I think I've got something you'd like... and we have a few questions we want answered. Seem like a fair trade?" Walker said as he pulled out one of the white Styrofoam containers and opened the lid to reveal a massive raw steak.

Marsh's stomach rumbled loudly at the sight of it, and he didn't hesitate to try and yank himself out of Ranger's grip to get to the food. Of course, it was no use.

"Down boy, we just want a few words from you and then you get that whole thing. It's a pretty good deal, yeah? My brother wouldn't even buy my dinner, let alone three huge steaks," Ranger said, half helpful, and half complaining.

Marsh ignored his later words, but the first few sentences...

"I don't remember my birthday," he said, his words, while not helpful, had the two faces he could see before him lighting up with hope.

"That's perfectly fine. Do you remember anything about your past life? Perhaps around what age you were when you left to go live as a bear? Or how long you've been out in the forest?" Sally questioned as she held a hand over her tablet, ready to get to the bottom of his uninteresting mystery.

Marsh looked down at the blanket over his lap as he tried to think back on his life. His childhood was a muddled blur. He couldn't even remember the faces of the adults who had taken care of him... if they even had.

"I... left when I was in middle school."

The woman started typing frantically at her device. When she seemed to get as far as she could with that information, she looked back up at him with an encouraging smile.

"Do you know about how many years you've been out there?"

That definitely wasn't something he cared enough to keep track of, but he did always have to be careful when winter was coming. He let himself get lost in his thoughts for a short while as he tried to remember the winters that had come and gone.

"At least... eleven."

Both Walker and Ranger repeated the number out loud in shock, making Marsh confused, but not enough to bother questioning their surprise.

"Well, that solves that. Give Marshall his food," she said as she held up the tablet for Walker to see better.

Hearing the name he'd used to be called made Marsh bristle. If he were in his bear form, his hackles would have risen to pin-points.

"I don't think he likes that name, Sal," Ranger said as he gently relaxed his hold.

Marsh's bear wanted him to swing around and bite the man's face immediately, but his human half, that rarely had much control, reigned it in just enough to prevent the attack. He was hungry. Starving, even, and winter was fast approaching. He needed something to eat, and the raw steaks were definitely worth behaving for the time being.

As soon as his arms were free Marsh lunged at the top container, grabbing the meat and raising it to his mouth with a warning growl. He heard Walker beginning to read about him on the electronic device, but none of that information mattered as much as filling his belly as quickly as he could.

"He disappeared at fourteen. That was eleven years ago..."

Marsh felt eyes on him, but he didn't bother looking up and instead just gave another warning growl to the group to not touch him or his food while he ate.

"He doesn't look twenty-five," Walker whispered as his brother walked over to drop down beside them, curiosity having gotten the better of him.

"Dude, he's the same age as us!" Ranger said, a little too loudly for Marsh's aching head.

He was just finishing the first large steak, licking the blood from his fingers, when he heard someone moving directly behind him. Their enthusiastic discussion and his constant chewing covered the sound of someone approaching. His claws began to extend from his fingernails the second he realized that someone was moving closer, but he hesitated striking when he felt the blanket that had been on his lap, gently drape over his shoulders. When he looked over his left one, Walker was already retreating to sit back down next to Sally a few feet away, a cautious smile on his face.

"You were shivering. That should help while you finish your dinner."

He honestly appreciated the extra layer, since he didn't have his fur and the temperature had dropped quite a bit since the afternoon. His instincts wanted him to pull it around himself snuggly so that he wouldn't be as cold, but they also warned him against it. He needed to be able to defend himself if needed. Humans were the biggest threat to bears, and he was definitely more bear than human.

"There's not a lot of information on him besides his missing person details. He went to Starkey Middle school, then disappeared three weeks into eighth grade," Sally read out loud.

"So the question is," Walker said, mainly to himself. "Do we report him found, or leave it be?"

Ranger took that moment to chime in as he leaned against one of the concrete walls nearby.

"It's his own damn life. Leave it be. If you report him found, what the hell would he be able to do in this type of society with such a strong-willed shift? He would definitely hurt someone, or even kill them on purpose."

True.

He had no qualms about killing people if he was hungry and they were the only thing available, or if they tried to hurt him.

"Take out the earring."

Having heard his voice suddenly, all eyes turned to Marsh as he finished his second steak, his human stomach struggling to handle the last few bites. He hugged the third container holding his last steak to his chest and stared at Walker with sleepy dark brown eyes.

"I let her near me. Take off the earring and take me back home."

He could tell that Walker wanted to argue. He also knew that his leg wasn't something that could just heal in a day, and his damaged eye would likely mean that he starved to death this winter, but he was already at his limit with humans.

"But your leg... and eye," Walker mumbled quietly, averting his eyes since he knew that Marsh wouldn't stay just because his injuries weren't healed.

When he didn't receive a response, he slowly stood up and walked over as Marsh rose to his own feet. The blanket began to slip from around his shoulders, but he'd planned to ignore it. Except, Walker caught it right before it was going to hit the floor and carefully wrapped it back around him.

"Don't want to get too cold until you have your fur back," he said as he reached forward, making Marsh raise his upper lip and let his teeth sharpen in warning.

Walker hesitated, looking confused. That's when Marsh realized what he'd been trying to do and quickly relaxed his posture and closed his mouth. When Walker stepped closer, Marsh tensed, then growled when the man reached past him and gently pressed a hand against the back of his head, carefully pressing against the back of his head as he leaned closer on his other side to look at the back of his ear.

You're warm, but I want to kill you so badly for this.

It took him a few tries to work the clasp, but he did finally manage to get the back piece off. Marsh yanked the front part off a second later, then let it drop to the floor as fur began to sprout from his body.

Walker started backing up, but Marsh was much faster. His bear had the man pinned beneath thick paws in seconds. As his aching body finally returned to its true form and his leg easily broke the tiny brace that had been fastened to it, Marsh's human mind gladly receded, allowing his bear to lean down and let out a ferocious roar, his hot breath rustling Walker's hair, as well as the straw beneath it.

He knew that the man was his ticket back home, but he couldn't restrain his animal any further. It had been abducted, locked away, and forced to be around humans. It was done being friendly.

He was just turning his head slightly and opening his jaws wider, intent on making an easy, killing bite, when a shrieked roar made his head jerk up less than a second before something heavy and massive sent his whole bear rolling into the far concrete wall.

What the hell was that?

Dizzy and disoriented, Marsh lay there for a few moments, confused about what had just happened. When his vision finally cleared in his good eye, he was even more unsure of the situation. There had definitely been something large and aggressive attacking him, yet he could plainly see that there were only the three humans in the room with him.

Walker was just getting up, dusting straw off of himself as he looked at him nervously. The woman present had her arms crossed, but her expression was hard to discern. Ranger, however, wasn't even looking at him. The man had his back to him facing the steel bars, his arms risen, gripping one tightly in each hand as he tried to catch his breath.

I don't smell any other predators, but what happened, it's definitely him. His shirt is torn in a few places and his jeans are ripped on his left side.

His bear slowly got itself back up, favoring its injured leg. It wanted to get up on both of its back ones to look more menacing, but that was impossible with the damage. Instead, it roared another warning, though the force of it was much less than his first.

"Thanks, Ranger," Walker finally said, making his brother glare at him over his shoulder with bright gold eyes.

What the hell is that?

When Walker finally took another step forward, Marsh's bear hunched slightly and let out another warning grumble, but it was through with roaring.

"I told you I would take you back, and I even took off the earring. Yet you attacked me right away. I can't just open the door and let you run off here, it's too close to a large town, so either you shift back and behave for the car ride, or you stay here."

His bear wanted neither option, but Marsh knew that he no longer had the upper paw. There was something else much more dangerous in the room, and he wanted away from it as soon as possible.

With a strenuous amount of effort he forced his bear back, then shakily got to his feet. Walker actually looked upset with his choice, but Marsh paid his expression no mind. His attention was mostly focused on Ranger, whose golden eye color was dulling, the beast that had suddenly appeared, returning to its former slumber.

"I guess I'll drive this time, Rane?"

His brother nodded and shoved the door open, then stood aside as he stared at Marsh with narrowed eyes.

He knew that he was warning him. Whatever had suddenly attacked him earlier could just as easily show up again if he did something stupid. It wasn't worth it.

Picking up his remaining package of steak, Marsh hugged it to his bare chest and slowly walked out of the room, following a few feet behind Walker, but constantly glancing backwards at his brother.

Why can't I smell anything? Not even a hint of a predator on him?

His worry only mounted when they stopped outside of the SUV he'd been brought there in.

Ranger stood uncomfortably close as Walker held the back door open. Marsh weighed his chances of escape if he shifted again as he looked between the two brothers. His bear could still run, somewhat, but whatever had attacked him earlier was much faster, and didn't have a crippled leg.

With a frustrated shake of his head, he carefully got himself up into the car, then scooted all the way to the far side when Ranger slid in to the other seat. He couldn't help but let out a nervous warning growl, but Ranger seemed to just shrug it off as he leaned his head back and then turned it to stare at him.

"You're going to behave, hmm?"

Marsh curled up closer against his own door in response. His action just had Ranger lifting one side of his mouth in a half-grin.

Walker took a few more moments outside of the car to talk to Sally, then got himself situated in the front. They were off soon after, but as the miles passed in a blur, Marsh could only focus on one thing... and that was the predator sitting across from him. It had the expression of a cocky playboy, but he had felt the fangs and claws. The muscled body as it had impacted his own large form. Whatever the hell that guy was hiding deep down, it needed to stay there until he was long gone.