Silvers Alpha (The Silver Series)

by Samantha Bates

  She frowned at him. "What bull shit are you spouting? I can give you a reading Merlin, one that is more than likely to come true… Mmmm….. Here we go; I can sense a loss in your fortunes, what was once lucrative is no longer. A force is going to remove you from what is normal, to an environment controlled by someone else."

  Lucky knew that other police officers were now combing Merlin's shop for stolen goods. So far the deception was estimated to be over $25,000, which would in likelihood lead to a short and harsh prison sentence.

  Arriving at the station Darius booked him in, while Lucky headed to the office to start the paperwork. Merlin decided to carry on his little reading into her life.

  "Goodbye officer Luciano, soon to be ex officer Luciano." This was exactly why they used the glamour and fake names, so assholes like Merlin didn't know who they actually were.

  Lucky stopped mid stride and although she did not turn towards Merlin, she was stupidly listening.

  "Ah, now I have your attention let me tell you something. Quite soon you are going to come up against someone, who is stronger than you and will turn your world upside down. They will bring you to your knees and affect you forever more."

  With a sigh Lucky carried on walking, only two hours left until the end of her shift was her thought as she picked up her mail and entered the office. They had the most up to date equipment, with a bank of computers that pulled your attention as soon as you entered the room, from here Josie ran the show; it was state of the art and the best that money could buy. Josie was human but didn't take active duty; happy to be pretty much office bound, it was exactly where her talents required her to be. The rest of the office had an open plan feel with twelve desks, for the rotating officers that worked from here.

  Bastian mixed his hours, with Darius covering for him when required. Lucky saw George and tensed bracing herself for the onslaught she knew would be come, she kept moving.

  "Well if it isn't unlucky, Lucky. Where's Darius? Don't tell me that he left you alone. What happened did you screw up, or does he think you are a big girl who is now allowed to walk the building on her own? Be careful, you might stub your toe?"

  Why did George have to been on this side of the team, he was a pain in her ass? Why was he even in the team, as a fox shifter his talents were average at their best? Oh yeah she remembered, he had friends in high places? For some reason he had antagonised her from day one, initially he did this in open until he was warned to back off by the rest of the team, so then he reverted to waiting until she was alone with him. She walked away as she always did but Darius chose his moment to arrive, he didn't respond well to Georges taunts.

  "Shut up George, given a choice I would trust Lucky before you any day. Oh and a word of advice, just cos you can't see me, do not be fooled into thinking that I am not there, and won't delight in kicking your ass."

  Although Lucky hated George she found it relatively easy to ignore him. He constantly kissed Bastian's ass but rather than making him more popular, Bastian overlooked George for her and he blamed her for it. Lucky had heard that he had an uncle high up who got him the job. She certainly couldn't think of any other reason that he was part of the PTF.

  "George, do yourself a favour and get laid this weekend. It might help you to feel more, more…. No that's all I was going to say, it might help you FEEL MORE."

  Lucky's little comeback raised a few discreet twitters, before the light and soul of the party arrived.

  "Yo people of the PTF, I think we should go check the clubs for illegal activities. It is after all Friday night and nearly knocking off time." In rolled Mitch, his voice loud and excited at the prospect of the night ahead.

  As an ancient warrior for the gods, and part of PTF, Mitch had super human strength and super human looks. His hair had no particular colour it just cascaded down his back in various, brown, blond and red streaks. He was all brawn, and women swooned whenever he walked past. All God warriors probably looked strong, sexy and mean, not that Lucky had seen many. They were reported to be selected by the gods and then sent to do their bidding, though they normally remained up stairs with the Gods and Goddesses. For some reason the PTF was 'said bidding' for Mitch, he was tight lipped about the whys, but he was in party mode most of the time and always fun to be around.

  "What you mean is that we should get wrecked, I can't think of anything better right now." Darius was similar to Mitch in that they both loved a party.

  Between Darius and Mitch they were constantly trying to get Lucky to go drinking with them which she rarely did, certain they would get her into trouble. In fact Darius was quite well known in this area, and reportedly friends with the Silver Wolf Pack who ran a fair few of the bars within New York City. As well as the bars, they recently opened up a night club and they now had something of a reputation. Lucky hadn't met any of them yet, mainly because they seemed to stay on the right side of the law.

  As a vampire Darius' diet was predominantly blood and he would need to feed soon, he hadn't during the shift. He could ingest food in small amounts but mostly for show, he didn’t gain any sustenance from it. It was now illegal to take blood from a human against their will and in public, so most shops and bars now sold blood by the bottle, organised by blood type. The rarer blood types had become exceedingly expensive and in demand. Giving blood had become a thriving hobby.

  Charmed bracelets and necklaces were now sold in most shops preventing humans from being compelled by the unruly Vampires. The law recognised the power differences between humans and other species. It had also been recognised that a human could quickly become addicted to the high from having a vampire bite them; various help groups had been set up to help break the cycle of addiction similar to AA. The laws and punishments were now different for different species.

  Lucky was not aware of any occasion when Darius had taken blood from a person, although she knew lots of vampires did so during sex. Darius taught her that vampires can get drunk if alcohol is mixed with blood, she had on occasions seen Darius pretty wasted but he needed way more alcohol than any human would need, which made sense considering most vampires were pretty old, and would have built a tolerance over the years.

  "I will party if Lucky will. What do you say partner?" Darius was smiling at her, his big grin trying to appeal to her better nature.

  "Sorry guys I have a night out planned with the girls." Lucky was checking her emails, while opening her post so was somewhat distracted.

  "Is Mary going to be there, if so I might have to join you?" She felt compelled to frown at Darius' words. Mary who was Lucky's friend was terrified of Other species, yet Darius still insisted on flirting outrageously with her.

  Lucky laughed. "Darius she may have a soft spot for you, but Mary is also terrified of Others and you know it."

  Picking up a large envelope she went to slide her thumb under the crease, until Darius grabbed it from her and proceeded to sniff, causing looks to be exchanged between Lucky and Mitch.

  "Seriously D, have you got some weird thing with envelopes that you need help with, you know psychiatric help. I know you blood suckers have some strange fetishes, but envelopes?" Mitch was laughing at his own words however was clearly as confused as Lucky.

  Bastian came out from his office, at 6"2 with a willowy frame; he could only be described as elegant which although a strange description for a man it was one that suited Bastian. He wasn't feminine but with his long blond hair, many people mistook Bastian for being female from behind. That initial perception lasted as long as it took for him to turn around, at which point his hard brown eyes that had a black ring around the iris, along with his large plump lips, and his thin but strong body told you that he was undoubtedly all male. He was not only strong physically, he was also terribly talented and old even though no-one knew how old he was, he was known to be one of the strongest warlocks in New York City, and as leader of the PTF he took his job extremely seriously. Today he was dressed in a navy blue three piece suit, (one of what must be a lar
ge collection of suits) and had his hair held back with a leather tie.

  "Good job tonight folks, one warlock processed, two vampires, and a harpy locked up. So why are you all still here, I expected the office to be a ghost town as is usual on Friday nights?" He stopped when he saw Darius.

  "Darius is there a problem? What's with the envelope?"

  Darius seemed distracted as he answered. "Blood."

  Taking in the blank expressions he explained. "It's for Lucky and contains blood."

  Bastian took the envelope and examined it, before he promptly opened it resulting in a protest from Lucky.

  "Hello did any of you notice the name on the envelope, and did any of you hear that it is a criminal offence to open someone else's mail?" No-one listened to her.

  The envelope contained a single piece of paper. Peering over his shoulder Lucky read it, what the hell?

  'HOW DARE YOU BITCH? YOU TAKE FROM ME AND I WILL DESTROY YOU. YOU HAD EVERYTHING AND LOST IT, SO NOW IT'S MINE. IF YOU KEEP GETTING IN MY WAY I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM LIFE!'

  "What the hell is that?" Darius knew as she now did that the words were written in blood.

  Lucky listened as everyone made suggestions about what to do. Unsurprisingly the men felt that Lucky should stay with one of them tonight, except for George who was unusually quiet. Wanda was the only other female aside from Josie in the PTF, and although she was also office based people normally listened to her.

  "Maybe Lucky should give her opinion." Tonight though, Wanda was also ignored.

  As the resident witch Wanda spent her time decoding both legal and illegal magic. She also prepared spells for the teams and translated ancient texts. Wanda looked strong and aggressive with her short red hair, khaki pants and army boots; however Wanda was a gentle and calm person.

  Lucky did not think it would be helpful to remind her colleagues that she was going out tonight. So instead she snuck out of the office and drove home. It seemed stupid but no-one outside of the office knew her identity, so the risks were minimal.

  Within a minute of leaving the station her mobile started ringing, initially she ignored it until it rang incessantly.

  "Hey Darius, I am fine and nearly home." A slight exaggeration on Lucky's part, but who would know?

  "Lucky this is Bastian. I want to know why the hell you left before we had decided on a course of action. As your superior I am pretty pissed. Any ideas on who could have sent this, any personal problems, work problems? You need to turn around and get your ass back here while we sort this out."

  Bastian failed to take a breath between his questions thereby not giving her a chance to answer. Why did men have to get all over protective and caveman? It must be the testosterone.

  "Thanks for the advice boss but as of twenty minutes ago, I am off duty and have plans tonight. So I can't really turn around, I will however spend the night around lots of people if that makes you feel any better."

  "Lucky this is serious, get back......" Bastian's tone now held a level of authority, one that he didn't use often and one that did give her pause, just not for long.

  "I get that, but I am now running late and as scary as you are, the ladies I am meeting scare me more. As to where the letter came from, I have no idea? I piss a lot of people off. No-one has made any threats so who knows. To be fair you know its par of the course with this job. Whoever it is will still be pissed off next week."

  Shit Lucky, would you turn round if I ordered you to?" Even Lucky could hear the hoots in the background; clearly Bastian was still in the main office where everyone could hear. She didn't need to answer, he sighed.

  "Fine, I will have people do regular drives past your house. I recommend you stay in tonight."

  "Sorry hello, hello...... Bastian. Sorry I can't hear you." Lucky smiled as she hung up.

  She needed to have a few drinks; she needed to relax with the girls before enjoying the rest of her weekend. Although that was not likely to happen, the longer she was sat in traffic the later she would be getting home. Slowly moving away from the car accident which was probably caused by some asshole that did not have plans to go out, she put her foot down.

  As she crawled through the city she looked around her taking in the environment. God she loved New York, the hustle and bustle, the crowded streets. Sometimes though she wished that she had somewhere away from it all, a little sanctuary.

  Pulling onto the drive she saw Mary, Amelia and Sarah jump out of Mary's car. Sarah had her hands full with what looked like clothes and make up. Damn what were they planning? Lucky had a feeling she was about to be ambushed.

  "Sorry, sorry I'm late, it won't take me long to get showered." With that Lucky ran upstairs. When she came out of the shower she found her friends waiting. Mary was carrying hair straighteners, while Amelia was holding up a rather short black dress.

  "What are you doing, I am perfectly capable of getting myself dressed?" Lucky didn't like the look of this, glancing round seeking an escape, she found none.

  Sarah smiled at her, with her dark olive skin and shoulder length dark brown hair she was stunning, but it was Amelia who answered.

  "Of course you can sweetie. We just thought that because you are so busy, we could give you a makeover. It's like this, we spend all of our time getting ready to go out, buying a new dress, doing our nails etc. You however come in, shower, slap a little make up on, don trousers and normally a tank top, before we go out. Tonight we want to dress you up a little."

  Amelia had never been subtle, she didn't need to which is why she worked as a hot shot lawyer, and well used to getting her own way.

  "You are so pretty Lucky, you have great legs but no-one ever sees them, so tonight they will."

  Sarah was already sorting through Luckys make up, which she declared to be inadequate but manageable. Although Sarah might have brought her own make up, she liked to check Lucky's and remind her to update it. Tonight she had to admit that the result was actually pleasing, Lucky always dressed functional and although she did get dressed up it was a rarity. Tonight thanks to the girls she felt sexy in the little black dress and heels, let's just hope she didn't break her ankle.

  After getting a taxi into the city, they spent the next two hours getting more than a little drunker and a little louder with every drink, in every bar.

  Lucky watched Amelia dig in her purse with a sneaky grin.

  "Ladies I have tickets to Silver's, now Mary I know it's not your thing what with the other types of people being there. However let me tell you, the tickets also offer two complimentary drinks and it is supposed to be pretty nice."

  Lucky was curious to see the club run by wolves, they actually had an excellent reputation and apparently did not allow any unsavoury practice, which she knew other clubs offered.

  They waited as Mary tried to focus her slightly glassy eyes, she normally wouldn't agree to anything like this.

  "Oh well who am I to stop you all getting two free drinks, letssss go."

  Needless to say Mary was a little tipsy which was always amusing. Out of the four of them Mary was the most conservative. She was quite short, with short chestnut brown hair and a voluptuous figure she was the most curvaceous of them all, as well as the sweetest. As a partner in her family bookstore reading had to be Mary's favourite past time so the job certainly suited her, however the fantasy stopped in the books unless she was drunk, and then Mary became more daring and outspoken. Alcohol certainly lowered Mary's inhibitions.

  As they got to the door of Silver's she could see Mary and Sarah straighten up slightly. Lucky suspected it was for different reasons, Mary would have gotten a look at the huge men on the door and realised that they were wolves, whereas Sarah would be gawping at the huge men on the door and realising that they were prey. Sarah would no doubt dispute this as gawping; she much preferred the term admiring the scenery.

  So far the little black dress was certainly doing a superb job and maximizing her assets, she had been propositioned several times. Men and the occ
asional woman had looked her up and down, as if she were a dessert. Lucky wasn't sure if she liked the attention or not.

  Chapter 3

  Ben sat at his desk; he could feel the music vibrating through the floor and walls. He had loved the place from the moment he had seen. It had been a bargain partly because it was so run down that the renovation had taken them nine gruelling months, and when the place had opened six months ago it had been worth it. Now it was the first Silver Pack nightclub, and so far a roaring success.

  The pack had owned bars in the New York area for decades, these combined with the construction company they owned had made Silver Inc. a hugely profitable company, one Ben was proud to be a part of. It was also the first club which allowed the different species to mix safely. Several other clubs catered to all of the species but he was aware of some allowed dubious practices, and some that allowed highly illegal activities.

  Since the 'coming out' of other species, American society had evolved rather rapidly. There were still some problems but the last ten years had seen a move towards people living together. Looking back at that time, Ben and his father had prepared the pack for the 'coming out' in advance. Technology of the 21st Century had made it harder for other species to remain hidden within society, there had been too many weird occurrences; too many instances of people recording a car accident where a crushed driver was unharmed, along with instances of vampires moving so fast that CCTV could only record a blur, or occurrences involving people shifting into animal form in discreet alleys or woods. These things were being seen and recorded with the videos uploaded to the Internet. Eventually it had made it a necessity to come out.

  Each major city had set up boards comprising of the heads for each species. Initially there had been considerable problems over dominance but New York was a big place, and the groups here had quickly found a way to work together. In fact most of them had been working together for many decades already. There had been some small problems but each stakeholder worked together for solutions, and now the mayor also had a place on the board. Other cities still faced and would continue to face enormous problems, with fights breaking out and humans caught in the middle making it a nightmare.