by Jana Leigh
Calli entered the meeting room and looked at all the people who were there. All the lead Commanders from all the sections and their tech geeks. Her friends sat at the end of the table with an empty chair in-between them. Calli nodded at Ms. Praton and then walked to her friends.
They looked at her curiously, and she shook her head, indicating she would talk to them later. Both were wolves, of course, so when she sat down they could tell she had been aroused. Rissa chuckled and shook her head knowingly. They probably thought she had gone down to see the men in the training room. They were all buff and hot, and when Calli went down there, she inevitably came back aroused. All of them did.
But when Brooks walked into the room with Kade, she felt her friends perk up. She could not stop the growl that came out when they checked out her mate, and her friends looked at her closely. Cherri was the first one to realize what was going on. She was the doctor and knew what a mating pair looked like when they first met, she had studied them. It took Rissa a few more minutes, until Calli dug her nails into her friend's wrist to draw her gaze from her mate.
Rissa frowned and then leaned around and looked at Cherri, who was grinning. Then she caught on and sucked in her breath. "Oh shit," Rissa said in a low voice. "We have a new roommate?"
"No," Calli ground out and glared at her friend.
"Um, ok, just saying, we all planned for it. He will have to know that he is going to be living with all of us, and we will totally support him running around naked," Rissa whispered. They planned a long time ago if the mates didn't accept the friend, it was tough shit. They came as a package, not for sex, their wolves would never allow it. No, they had been through too many years together to actually move apart. Their wolves knew they were family and had declared them a small Pack, whether anyone acknowledged that or not.
Packs were something that was only family now. The organization of all the magical communities, did not allow for single groups to separate and be organized. They discovered over the years, that if a Pack, Pride, Clan, or Coven grew too large, they could disrupt the balance of the Community. But wolves still needed Packs, and cats still needed Prides, etc. So they declared that family members would all be considered a group. Lone wolves, or creatures, could join a family. But the family was only allowed to accept two Lone creatures at a time. They were all registered and documented in the Drekinn Agency.
"We have a problem," Ms. Praton said, and she stepped to the front of the table and looked around at each of them. Finally, her gaze landed on the three of them. Calli, Rissa and Cherri shifted in their seats uncomfortably. They hated to be the center of the attention at a meeting, now at a bar, that was different.
Brooks and Kade quickly took the chairs closest to the door. "Before you sit down, Mr. Milgren, let me introduce you to the team."
Kade stood at attention but nodded to all the people the older woman pointed out. Of course when she got to his mate and her friends, he did grin, he couldn't help himself, especially when her friends started nudging her.
"Kade, will be the new Commander of training, if I'm correct, he will make this a permanent position?" she said looking at Calli, and then him slyly. She knew, Kade knew the moment the old dragon said the words that she knew before he had even arrived that they were mates. He wondered if it was a dragon thing.
Kade just nodded and then sat back down. Calli sat with her mouth open at the end of the table, and the blonde woman next to her that Ms. Praton introduced as Cherri, raised her hand and pushed up on her chin, closing her mouth. His mate frowned and glared at him.
"Back to business," the woman said and walked to the wall the monitors all hung on. They could monitor any area within the city in this room. That's what the tech geeks and Rissa all did. They made sure if an Enforcer was needed, they got there. In addition, they could also search for Ulfer, who were causing problems or on the wanted list. Unfortunately, their wanted list had expanded a lot in the last few months. Rissa had been talking about it at home.
The monitor came to life, and Calli knew they were going to be looking at a recording of something. Without saying a word, she pressed a button and two men appeared in a conversation in what looked like a Drag Bar downtown. Calli couldn't place the bar, but sat up and watched closely.
"The King has made an alliance with several of the Packs who want to do business with us. He's working his way through the Prides next to see where he can gain support. But he needs these three chicks taken out first before he can organize too much," the initial man said quietly. Their backs were to the camera, so she couldn't actually see his face, but she knew the voice. It was the King's right-hand man, the top of the most-wanted board. They had heard him plenty of times over the last few years. He made all the plans for the King, hired thugs and then disappeared. At the Agency, they called him 'Mr. Twisted', since they had seen what he was capable of.
Last month, they found a woman who obviously, he had paid for sex. The reason they knew it was him was because of the monitors, they were set to find him when he showed up on the radar. The Enforcers were too late; he had tied her up, tortured her, then killed her. The dead guy examiner, as Calli referred to him, said he had ejaculated on her dead body when he was done. It pissed her off that they had not been able to find him. All they had was a voice print and the back of his head.
"What's so special about these chicks?" the hired thug, whose face was not shown either, said. Calli turned her head and tried to place the voice, but she couldn't. She studied the monitor, the program had not been able to identify him either. So that meant he was not registered in the Agency database. He was a Loner. Not good.
"None of your business. The King just wants them eliminated. So, do you want the job or should I find someone else?" Mr. Twisted said.
"Fuck no, I'll take it; how much are we talking?" The Loner said.
There was a muffed sound, and they could tell that papers were exchanged. "Everything's in here. Call this number when you're done," Mr. Twisted said and stood up and left.
Then a freakin' gorgeous Drag Queen came to the table. She had hot pink hair that was obviously a wig, but it was cut into a bob. Her dress was turquoise with sequins; her make-up done heavily but to perfection. Hell, if she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt walking down the street, she could pass for a woman. She had a great figure. Calli and her friends leaned forward to check out her boobs to see if they were real or silicone. And she looked tall because she cocked her hip above the tall table and said, "Your friend didn't order the minimum drink requirement. So you have to pick up the tab, what'll it be?" she said in a sassy tone.
The Loner stood and threw money on the table and said, "Bill is paid."
The Drag Queen laughed, picked up the money and put it in her bra and then left with her hips shaking. Hot damn, she was going to a Drag Bar; she loved it.
The tape ended, and Ms. Praton turned back around, "So as you can see, we have a lot going on right now. Apparently, there are hits out on our top Commanders, and the Ulfer decided to go into business with some of the Packs and Prides. We have to find out who they are targeting; some of the larger families could really pose a problem. The business they are referring to is disturbing also. Dr. Steive will explain."
Cherri stood up, and Calli looked up a little surprised; she had no indication that Cherri had any information about this, she would have told them.
"I just received this report this morning," Cherri said and looked at her friends pointedly to let them know she hadn't had a chance to talk to them yet.
Rissa and Calli nodded, shit, this was not going to be good. If Cherri had a report, it had to do with one of two things. Drugs or Genes, and neither would be good. A few decades ago, a doctor tried to genetically create something that would change any human that had even a trace amount of shifter or magical being in their blood into a full-blooded Breyting. But it hadn't worked; instead, it had killed a lot of people. Unfortunately, the doctor had never been caught, but they had reports, he was human; he
should be long dead by now.
"Unfortunately we have reports that someone is working with the Ulfer. The information is sketchy at best. But here is what we know. They have a scientist of sorts working with them to turn humans again into Breyting, and Ulfer. As you all know, the difference between the two is huge. Breyting are full shifters and magical beings; they are born, not changed. Any human with even the slightest amount of magical or shifter blood can have a full-blooded shifter. We have no clue how it happens, but our assumption is there is a dominant DNA strand that allows this. They have the full use of their powers and can control them. A shifter can shift at will and also control his animal side with little problems. They are connected and act as one when they are shifted. Just the same as other creatures like Warlocks, Witches, Sidhe, and Fae, they are directly connected with their powers and can control them easily."
Cherri walked around the end of the table; she loved lecturing. Calli wanted to laugh; it was like being in bio 101 again. She kept a straight face for her friend, or later she would probably try to kick her ass, or put hair remover in her shampoo. Don't laugh, she had done it before.
"Whereas the Ulfer have a piece of their DNA that's missing. We know the part that's missing is the part that allows them to control and have a conscience. As you all know, this is a bad combination. According to a few sources, whoever they have working for them is still working on the formula. We need to stop them ASAP. I'm sure you all know what will happen if this hits the streets," Cherri finished and sat down.
Ms. Praton took the front of the room again. "So we need protection for these ladies," Calli went to protest and Ms. Praton glared at her and then looked around the room. "Kade, I believe you are more than capable of doing double duty. You have Calli. Cherri and Rissa, I will have Enforcers sent up. Make sure you have room in your palace; they will be staying with you."
Calli wanted to scream. How could she actually do that to her? The rest of the meeting she listened half assed. Until, of course, she heard mention of investigating the men at the Drag Queen Bar. The waitress was the only person still alive that could identify the assholes. Her name was Kiki De Laru, and she was a cougar shifter. If they could get to her, keep her alive and get her to look at mug shots, they might have a shot at getting these bastards. Calli raised her eyebrows when Ms. Praton paused, before assigning it to her and Kade. She wanted to groan out loud. Was she being punished for something? Callie wondered.
Chapter 5
Calli was silent as she gathered her stuff up and then walked with her friends to her office. Kade at least had the decency to leave her alone to get shit; she noticed that he stayed back with Brooks to get his gear issued.
For an Enforcer, the gear was the coolest thing about the job. He would get an amped up taser gun, which could knock out a linebacker on crack. Also, he would get the cool vest with all the pockets, filled with ammo for his newly issued Track 12 guns, which could shoot both pellet and real bullets. You never know when you need to shoot a human. Some of the radicals were dangerous, and since they didn't want to cause a WAC incident, pellets had to be used on humans. Also, the knives and sprays, those were necessary. Her favorite was the NG3 spray that would cause a shifter to shift and become a pup. It was entertaining.
Focusing on the matter at hand, her friends, she sighed and walked into her office and shut the door behind Rissa. Cherri calmly walked to the other side of the room and crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at her sweetly. She should have seen it coming, but she was thinking about being in her shuttle with Kade for a long period of time.
Rissa smacked her upside the head and then grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back and pushed her to the ground. Calli didn't resist; she hated bruising up her friends, there were too many questions.
"Bitch, how could you not call us the second you found your mate? Do you even remember the whole blood sister promise? I cut my fucking hand for that, and you know how I hate blood," Rissa screamed into her ear. She could see Cherri's black boots come into view and worried for a second she was going to get kicked in the face.
Cherri bent down though and got on her level and grinned evilly, "You know what this means?"
"Damnit, we were pups when we made that deal, I will not be forced into walking nude down the street just cause ya'll have your panties in a wad," Calli ground out.
Cherri frowned and looked up at Rissa, who applied more pressure to her arm. "BLOOD!" Rissa cried, and put a knee in her back.
"Now, we don't want to hurt you, but we will. A blood oath is a blood oath. And we also need to have all his info in ten minutes, so we can do the required background check. Including his email, so we can send the required form for him to fill out. You know the drill; we all agreed," Cherri said calmly then grabbed her hair and pulled. "Damnit, you promised."
Calli groaned into the floor, pushed backward and laughed when Rissa began to screech and crab crawl back away from her. Cherri rolled her eyes and held onto her hair and said, "I will pull it out by the roots."
"Fine, but he's gonna think you're all crazy and then what?" Calli sniffed and put her hand up to her face. "He's my mate, my one true love. What if you scare him away?"
Cherri let go of her hair; Rissa quickly crawled back and they both hugged her and tried to soothe her. Calli was biding her time, and peeked through her hands.
"We were just kidding, honey, of course we would never embarrass you like that. We would wait until he knew us before we did that," Cherri crooned.
"Dumb asses!" she cried and grabbed them both around the neck and squeezed. Both girls screamed; they ended up on the floor in a heap. That's where her new mate found her. Boy, could she make a first impression. Wait, not mate, new Enforcer. He entered without knocking. She growled and stood up.
"Seriously, GI Kade, this is how it works. You knock on the closed door, wait on the other side for me to politely tell you to enter or fuck off. If I allow you to enter my office, you will wait until I open the door. Are we clear?" she yelled.
Cherri and Rissa still sat on the floor gaping up at her. While Kade grinned and held out his hand to each of the girls. "Hi, I'm Kade Milgren, please call me Kade; I'm pleased to meet my mate's friends. I understand we will all be sharing a home. So I would like to get to know you more."
Cherri and Rissa both fawned over him. Really? Asshole, he knew just what to do; they were her weak spot. She growled at him, and he looked at her with a surprised expression. What a fuckin' faker. Both of her friends glared at her, and she knew they were going to yell at her later.
"Guys, we have to get going," she said and pulled her vest from the back of the door.
Cherri and Rissa both flipped her off and then said a nice 'see ya later' to Kade. She laughed and turned toward the door; Kade blocked her way out. Damn it, she just wanted to work; she had so much to think about. Someone wanted her dead, and all the other shit. She did not have time for a knock down drag out with this guy. She hated shifter men. They thought just because they were your mate; women would fall on their backs with their legs open wide and cry 'do me'.
Well, she had a surprise for him. Not happening. She refused to be like all the other women and kiss his feet. "I said we are leaving," she ground out.
"I heard you, but we need to settle something first. We are mates, and partners, where you go, I go. Brooks warned me you would try to ditch me the first chance you got. I already knew that. But I want to be real clear on this. If you try to slip past me at anytime, or think you are leaving me somewhere or any other crazy-ass plan you have in that head of yours because yes, I have read up on you, I just didn't realize you were my mate, or to be honest, a female. Thank goodness I actually didn't know you, because I would have had a heart attack when you went to disarm that bomb at the WAC by yourself. Now, I can tell you that if you do anything that dangerous again without me present, we are gonna have a problem," Kade said smoothly.
Calli stared at him in amazement. She didn't just hear him tell her
that she had to be careful. She was one on the most highly trained Enforcers in the world; kids looked up to her and shit. Totally not going to happen.
"Before you decide you are gonna argue, please note that I said with me there. I know your job is dangerous, and I know you are gonna do it. I would never try to take that away from you. I am just saying that I am your back up now. So, before you try to take my head off, please stop thinking the worst of me before you know me," Kade said and then stepped aside.
Fucking A, he threw her for a loop. Now she couldn't say anything bitchy without looking, well, bitchy. That totally sucked.
***
Kade grinned as he followed his mate to her shuttle. Brooks and Ms. Praton told him how to handle the three girls. Rissa was the most flexible, while Cherri the most intellectual. Calli was the whole package, and as Ms. Praton put it, too smart for her own good. She needed to have things spelled out for her. Once she got something in her head, then it was hard to change it. They told him to let her be in charge at work. But when they got home, all bets were off. He was going to be the King of that domain. She was going to have to listen to him. Calli carried too much on her shoulders. He was just the one who could help her with that.
They got into the shuttle, and she programmed the address they were going to. The Drag Bars were in one area of town, so it would be easy to find the one they were looking for.
They drove in tense silence for a few minutes before Calli's communicator rang. He grinned when the ID was marked, Alpha Bitch. It had to be her mother, that was the only Alpha she would have; besides Calli groaned and hit the answer button.
"Not alone, Ma," she said briskly. "And I'm working; you know I can't talk while I'm working. I will be over this weekend for dinner like always. And yes, the girls will be there too."
