by Jessica Ryan
However, the thing that bothered her the most was his eyes. If Ms. Wilson was a sociopath, then Jacko was a psychopath. There was a great intelligence in his eyes. She didn’t detect murder or insanity in there. He was hungry, there was no doubt about it, but the intelligence in his brown eyes only made the cruelness in them that much scarier. This was a man who was cruel and he knew it… and he was in control of it. This was the stuff that nightmares were made of.
And then there was Maribel. Somehow an overweight Hispanic girl from south Texas had ended up with this cast of characters at the behest of her vampire boss, smack dab in the middle of a town populated exclusively by werewolves. If only her parents knew what she was doing on this business trip, they’d move back to Mexico and take their chances with the cartel over this insanity.
But it was Maribel’s job. Numbers were easy for her, humans were not. The entire ride up from Dallas with Ms. Wilson and Jacko had been torture. It wasn’t like they had a lot of human feelings to talk about, but they’d still felt the need to drone on and ask her personal questions. Of course to Maribel a question as innocuous as “What’s your favorite restaurant?” was too intrusive. But if they’d asked her the statistical probability of gaining weight while eating out one night a week and then asked her to calculate the probability for time if they added a day, she would have readily hashed it all out for them. Numbers had rules, humans didn’t. Maribel wanted to stick with the rules.
“Maribel?” Ms. Wilson asked with authority in her voice.
“Yes, Ms. Wilson?” she said, then hopped out of the back seat and pulled her satchel out just before the car door slammed shut.
As Maribel joined Ms. Wilson, she caught a look at Jacko over the top of the luxury sedan. He had his hands in his pockets as he chewed on a toothpick and let his eyes wander around the street they were standing on. She knew he was casing the area, preparing for a band of ninjas to leap off a rooftop or whatever it was security guys thought about. Was he flexing his muscles or did he just always look like that? Why did his veins pop like caterpillars crawling under his skin? Even his musculature was unsettling.
“Is Mr. Sokolov out of his damn mind?” Ms. Wilson asked as she shook her head. “This town is half-abandoned and it smells like wolf shit. How can we expect to build anything out of this place?”
“To be fair,” Maribel said, knowing instantly that she should just keep her mouth shut and agree, “Sojourn, Louisiana was in much worse shape than this place when we looked at it two years ago, and the city’s annual income has already risen an astounding forty-two point five percent while the population has grown by thirty-eight percent.”
“Just let me have this, honey,” Ms. Wilson said, glaring at Maribel over her black-rimmed glasses. Somehow the glasses made her look even sexier. “I know we’re miracle workers. We’re going to turn this place around. But that doesn’t change the fact that I think it’s a shithole, just like every other town we’ve gone to. Why can’t he build a casino on the Vegas strip?”
“He has a sixty-seven percent chance of failing in his first year. Oh, wait. He’s not established in that sector. The chance goes up to seventy-three percent.”
“Well, without you I guess Mr. Sokolov would just piss all his money away, wouldn’t he?” Jacko said, walking around the front of the car to stand by them. “You’re the real brains behind this operation, aren’t you?”
“Brains aren’t anything without muscle,” Ms. Wilson said, winking at Jacko. “We never would have been able to do it in Sojourn without you clearing out that wild den of wolves who were eating and raping the town’s residents.”
“Just doing my job, Ms. W,” he said with a leering smile.
Maribel wanted to gag. This was how Ms. Wilson generally got her way with men; it was why she was sent to close any deal with a man. If the job called for a man, Mr. Sokolov had plenty who made Brad Pitt look like a hobo, but Ms. Wilson was top amongst his female executives. Still, she wasn’t so sure Ms. Wilson’s feminine charm would work on Jacko. There was something about him, something that told her sex wasn’t a big motivator for a man like him.
“Alright, numbers girl,” Ms. Wilson said, turning to Maribel. “Give me the numbers on this shithole one more time.”
“Yes, okay, then.” Maribel was having trouble opening her bag and pulling out the dossier she had on this town. She could feel her hands begin to sweat as their eyes burned into her, raising her internal temperature to a number on the dial she thought would cause her to spontaneously combust right there on the spot. Of course the chances of that actually happening were .0004 percent. “Here we go. This town was just a small, nothing town until the 1980s. Then a band of five werewolf packs descended out of the national park surrounding the town and bloodily conquered it. They left no humans alive. After that they established a government and a booming tourism sector. The town has only ever had two mayors: a man named Luke and another man named Aster. Luke died under mysterious circumstances and it appears Aster vanished two years ago. As a matter of fact, fifty-two percent of the town’s population vanished around the same time. The tourism sector was devastated and the town’s population never recovered.”
“That’s because the wolves won’t allow humans to move into the town,” Ms. Wilson said. “You’ve seen the reports. Plenty of humans have tried to snap up real estate out here, but they were turned down every time.”
“The town has a new mayor named Seth,” Maribel continued. “He hasn’t done a whole lot in his first two years. Quick research shows no new social programs, housing initiatives or urban renewal enacted under his administration.”
“Until now,” Ms. Wilson said with a sadistic smile. “He’s made the best decision of his career.”
“Why do you move into small places like this?” Jacko asked. When Maribel gave him a questioning look he just smiled. “Oh, come on, honey. I’m just the trigger man in all of this. The hired muscle, right? But this place is going to take a more… how do I say? Special touch. I might as well know what I’m getting into.”
“Research, and our own experience, shows towns like this are prime real estate for a casino and hotel. Most people in bigger cities don’t like a place like this so close and there are too many other things to compete for the entertainment dollar, anyway. But we’ve found citizens, especially in the Bible belt, love a weekend trip to the casino. The farther out from anything it is, the more hotel rooms we sell. Plus there’s a decent-sized city, Cedarville, that’s not far away. Those people would be willing to make weekday trips too. Sojourn isn’t the only town we’ve resurrected. There are countless other examples that have helped Mr. Sokolov build his fortune.”
“And it’s a sizeable fortune,” Ms. Wilson added.
“Of course I can give you the numbers,” Maribel said, feeling her excitement level rise as she dove into them. “The income of rural casinos like this is twenty-three percent higher than casinos in more densely populated areas, while they pay basically a third less taxes.”
“That’s okay,” Jacko said, laughing. “I don’t need you to peel back the curtain too much, girly.”
“And you won’t find everything in a report, either, dear,” Ms. Wilson said. “Jacko, why don’t you give her some inside information on this place? Let her know what really happened to Aster and all his citizens.”
“You see, honey,” he said, putting one foot on the bumper of the car and leaning forward to address Maribel directly. “This place was the victim of a pretty vicious gang attack.”
“There’s nothing about that in any public record,” Maribel started to protest.
“You won’t find it in a report or on a police blotter,” Jacko said. “You see, there was this band of hooligans called Satan’s Angels. I had a run-in with one of their chapters a few years back, real nasty bastards. Everyone in the gang is a shifter. The leader of this particular chapter was a werewolf named Abaddon. He wasn’t a normal wolf, no. He had demon’s fire running through his veins—lite
rally. He was possessed by the spawn of Satan himself. He took a liking to Luke’s daughter and he kidnapped her, after killing Luke, of course. But then a funny thing happened. His son’s best friend, Aster, became mayor. He was mated to Luke’s daughter, but not anymore. Luke’s son became the town’s top enforcer. Nothing happened without Rowan knowing about it. Satan’s Angels returned and one of them took a shine to a local waitress. Being the chivalrous type, Rowan couldn’t let that stand and he killed the guy, igniting another war between the town and the gang. There was more to it than that, some intricacies and stuff that I won’t get into, but that’s the gist of it. In the end Aster defeated the demon, rescued his lost mate and decided human life wasn’t for him anymore. He and your fifty-two percent abandoned this place and moved into the forest to shit in bushes and never wear clothes or whatever it is werewolves want to do.”
“So you’re saying the national park is filled with werewolves who used to live here?” This information was unsettling to Maribel. She hadn’t run scenarios for this. Panic was flooding into her chest and she could feel her face tightening as she began to freak out. “We have to postpone the meeting. I have to rerun every number. No, this won’t do at all. This is dangerous. I have to do a risk analysis.”
“What are you prattling on about?” Ms. Wilson asked.
“A wild wolf pack this close to human civilization has a thirty-four point seven percent chance of harming humans. Those factors go up exponentially when you add in the fact that this place was their home a very short time ago and they might have some sort of instinctual love for it. This is terrible.”
Jacko’s laugh wasn’t something she wanted to hear right now, but there it was, filling her ears. This was serious and he was too cavalier about it. They couldn’t do this right now.
“That’s what I’m here for, honey,” Jacko said. “There’s not a wolf alive that I can’t take down. You know how many of these monsters I’ve killed? You’ll need your special super calculator to figure that out.”
“This meeting still isn’t a good idea. I have incomplete data.”
“Calm yourself, Maribel,” Ms. Wilson said sternly. “We’re signing these contracts and getting to work. But if it’ll make you feel better, I can get you a meeting with the mayor. You can interview him, compile a new report and send it to Mr. Sokolov to see if we need to beef up security.”
Jacko snorted at that notion, but Ms. Wilson’s death stare caused the strong, assured man to recoil and nod in agreement.
“We’re going to be late for this meeting,” Jacko finally said.
“Then let’s go,” Ms. Wilson said, giving Maribel one last disgusted look. “It’s time to make some money.”
Who are you, Jacko? Maribel wondered. There’s something not quite right about you.
Maribel vowed to keep an eye on him this entire trip. He wasn’t the sort of man she wanted to trifle with. Hopefully the mayor would be able to provide her with more information. Hopefully, he wouldn’t view her as a tasty snack. She hadn’t exactly interviewed a lot of werewolves.
Chapter 3
They’re late, Seth thought as he leaned back in his chair. The other councilmen had busied themselves on their cell phones or by thumbing through the pages of the Wall Street Journal. But Seth wasn’t able to peel his eyes away from the door, which he expected to open at any minute.
What the hell are they doing on their phones, anyway? And why are they reading that newspaper? They aren’t businessmen and they don’t have constituents to keep happy.
Since he’d been attending more and more meetings he had begun to wonder what exactly most of these councilmen actually did and where their income came from. The town was nearly dead and the townspeople were just scraping by. More than half the town had left with Aster, but even more had left to strike out on their own or move to a bigger city in the prior two years. Whoever remained either had some sort of strange pack loyalty, had nowhere better to go or just plain loved Bucklin.
The meeting was supposed to start at nine. It was five past nine. Was this a business tactic? Were they making Seth and William sweat this out? He’d read about this tactic plenty of times. Seth would begin to grow fearful that the deal was off and he’d be more willing to agree to less than equitable terms. No. This might have been his first actual meeting, but he wasn’t going to be intimidated into something he didn’t want to do. No way in hell. William had prepared him too well for this.
“Are you okay?” William asked.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Seth said, taking a long drink of water. “I just wish they’d get here so we can get this show on the road.”
“You’re doing what’s right for your people,” William said.
“I know I am,” Seth said, glancing down at the table. “I don’t think Aster would have made the same decision. This is how I know I’m already a stronger leader than he was.”
“I don’t think he had to make this kind of decision,” William said. “But you’re probably right.”
“I know he wouldn’t have.”
“Did you talk to him about it?” William asked.
Seth was caught off guard by the question. Of course he hadn’t talked to Aster about it. In all likelihood Aster was a hundred miles away from Bucklin, deep in the forest. “No. That’s a silly question.”
“But you have spoken to him, haven’t you? Since you took over?”
What the hell was William playing at? Was he trying to draw some sort of scandalous confession out of Seth? He worked in mysterious ways; Seth knew that. “Once, right after I first took the job. It was a nothing conversation.”
“Did you tell him about your lineage?”
“Why would I do that? He was none the wiser.”
“Good,” William said, straightening up in his seat. “You have to be careful around Aster. One conversation is too many. He’s a wild wolf who doesn’t know what it’s like to be human anymore. The town will thank you when we’re done.”
“I know they will.”
“You will finally break the last bonds of that wild nature. The ones who remain are the ones who want to be human. Once they see what a strong leader you are, they won’t care what your bloodline is. Realistically that’s the only reason they’ve allowed you to lead, but once you show them your strength you’ll usher in a new age of prosperity in Bucklin. You’ll be rich beyond your wildest imagination and you won’t have to do this gig forever. Humans will move into town, we’ll start a general election and you’ll be revered as the one who took us out of that 1950s ideal way of living and into the twenty-first century.”
Seth could only smile at the thought. He hadn’t wanted to be alpha at all, but now he was proving his worth as mayor. Before too long there wouldn’t be a need for an alpha and he could move on with his life as a private citizen who had anything he could ever want. He was loving this boardroom intrigue, even if his suit did bother him and cause his skin to break out in certain areas. But nonetheless he’d had a taste of it and he might move into corporate America after taking Bucklin to new heights.
But all of that was him getting ahead of himself. He had to stay firmly grounded in the present. He couldn’t be a hero and save his people without signing the contracts and breaking ground on the casino. The last remnants of the pack system still permeated through the remaining residents of Bucklin. Sure, they could play at being human all they wanted, but their instincts would still take over when it came time to look for a strong leader.
Seth chuckled and shook his head. “You know, it’s funny, William. I’m trying to prove to them what a strong leader I am so that they don’t need me to lead them. So that they can move on to someone not of my bloodline. Isn’t that funny? I’m trying to lead my way right out of the leadership position.”
William gave him that kind, fatherly smile that he had given so many times over the years. “And you know what, my boy? The fact that you realize that shows me how much you’ve grown. I was right to put my trust in you.”
Seth sprang into action as the doors of the conference room flew open. In no time flat he was introducing himself and shaking hands with the triumvirate who had entered the room. The first one he met was the leggy and beautiful Ms. Wilson. He knew immediately that every man in the room was growing stiff at the sight of her—that was why so many of them weren’t willing to jump up and shake her hand. They were content to watch their mayor exchange pleasantries.
“I pray your trip was safe?” Seth asked.
“Easy enough,” Ms. Wilson said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mayor.” She looked him over, sizing his large frame up. “All of you, at that.”
I have to keep my eye on this one. He could tell just by the look on her face that she wasn’t someone to be trifled with. She tried to flirt and be nice, but Seth could smell the bitchiness in the air. It was hard to hide your true colors from a wolf, especially an alpha wolf whose senses were heightened beyond that of any normal wolf.
Behind Ms. Wilson was a man; at least that’s what he was playing at being. Seth had him pegged the moment he walked in. He didn’t smell like a human; he was more animal than anything else. He was like a wild beast wearing a human’s skin as a disguise. The hair on Seth’s back was standing up as he shook hands with the man. The power he had inside radiated through the handshake and almost forced Seth to shift. The wolf inside of Seth was furious with this intruder. Seth was using all of his concentration to hold the beast down and keep this meeting from devolving into an orgy of blood and violence.
Seth had never met a man like this, one who exuded such raw power and bad intentions. He was a shifter; there was no doubt about that fact. But what was he? He wasn’t a werewolf. Seth had never smelled this kind of creature before. He wasn’t a wolf, he wasn’t a bear and he damn sure wasn’t a big cat of any kind.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mayor,” he said. “I’m Jacko, head of security.”
“Nice to meet you, Mister…” Seth trailed off, waiting for a last name.
