by Jeff D Ellis
“I think I could sleep for days to get back to normal, but we don’t have time for that.”
“Right. I talked with Onyx and this building actually has a back way into The Second Circle. She gave me directions. When you’re ready, I can tell her we are on our way.”
Chloe left Onyx a message and they followed her directions to find the entrance into the underground.
Mark looked confused. “Chloe, how far is it?”
“She said it was several miles but should not be an issue for Coyotes.”
He nodded. “Let’s change. It will be much easier for me than as a Human in my condition. The shift will also help restore me to normal faster.”
Mark took his clothes off and put them in a small pile off to the side. Chloe put her clothes with his. They both shifted into Coyotes. Chloe noticed his Coyote form had similar color and markings as to his Wolf form, with only a slightly different build. Looking at his Coyote gave her a little thrill. Coh was obviously turned on by him.
Mark nudged for her to take the lead. She started off at a trot. It felt good to stretch out. She upped the pace into a run. The air was musty, but she could smell old traces of Onyx having passed through before. It made it easier to follow the directions in the low light. Her coyote eyes easily adjusted as well, but things looked different since she wasn’t seeing colors the same as humans. That and the fact that she was much closer to the ground.
She came to an intersection and lost track of how many turns they had made. She sniffed the air and something from the passage to the left smelled really strange. It made her shiver. She looked over at Mark and he cocked his head towards the other passage. She nodded and took off running in that direction. She soon picked up Onyx’s scent. A few more turns and they came to a dead-end. It smelled like Onyx so she knew they were in the right place. Mark and Chloe looked at each other.
Chloe heard something coming from the wall. With a puff of dust, the wall slowly opened and Onyx walked in.
“Here are my Coyotes. Why don’t you change back now.”
Mark shifted back, and then Chloe.
Onyx looked Mark up and down and smiled. “I can see what Chloe sees in you. Where are your clothes?”
Chloe looked at the floor. “This is all my fault. I should have made arrangements.”
Onyx covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t know. The only shifter I have seen change was David and his clothes changed with him.”
Mark stood with open arms. “Girls, it shouldn’t be such a big deal. Onyx, can you go find some clothes for us? I would think there has to be something inside that would work. Chloe looks to be about the same dress size as you. For me, even a towel would be better than nothing if I run across any of your clients.”
Onyx laughed. “It’s not a problem. I didn’t know you needed them. I was trying to decide if I should bring back some leather, a collar, and liquid latex or real clothes.”
“I expect someone seen in those would be somewhat normal, but remember I should be wearing something that would show Greta I respect her as a professional.”
Onyx turned and left and said over her shoulder, “Kill joy.”
Onyx came back with a black dress and shoes that matched her own and handed it to Chloe. “This is my spare uniform. Take good care of it.” She handed Mark some dress clothes. “These are John’s. He got them all bloody fighting a Vukodlak and never picked them up again after I had them cleaned.”
They quickly got dressed. John’s clothes fit Mark remarkably well.
“Thanks, Onyx! We owe you one.”
Onyx gave them an evil grin. “Chloe, I think more than one, but I will settle for one joint favor to be named later.”
Chloe looked over at Mark. She thought she knew what Onyx would ask for later. It would be hard to refuse letting her share their bed for a night after everything she kept doing for them. She would talk about it with Mark later in private.
“Lead the way.”
Onyx led them through The Second Circle’s back areas to Greta’s office. “Good luck.”
Greta looked up from her paperwork. “Please have a seat. It’s good to see such commitment from my people.”
Mark tilted his head. “I work for you now?”
Greta smiled. “I can see for myself you are no longer Pack material and you are in my office instead of hiding out on a reservation or something. It must mean you are accepting my job offer to be head of Clan security.”
“What exactly are you offering?”
“Normally it’s best to negotiate before accepting the job. I can see in your eyes you’ve already decided to side with the right side and do what is right for Chloe and the Clan.”
“I can still say no and leave you and the Pack to work things out on your own.”
“I take care of my people. I can understand your situation. I can provide suitable housing, a six-figure salary, and authority for you to hire outside people as long as they are Veiled and can earn your trust.”
“I can hire Wolves?”
“As long as they are bound to you as Alpha.”
“That is fair. I accept. What about Chloe?”
Chloe exclaimed, “I’m right here.”
“Chloe is Clan until I release her.”
“Mark, what Greta is saying is I will have my current position as long as needed.”
Greta nodded. “Now that is settled; Mark, please report.”
“I am almost certain Sam is working with the Vukodlak and is planning on changing out people here to those loyal to him. He tried to get me to do it already, but I was able to hold him off until he is made Alpha. Once the Pack knows I have changed, there will be nothing stopping him.”
Greta nodded. “I will use the escape clause in the contract and send your people home. You can bring back anyone that can prove they are loyal to you after the dust has settled. You will need to verify all systems are severed from the Pack and properly functional. Talk with John about getting some of his computer security consultants to verify the network.”
“How come I didn’t know he had computer security consultants?”
“It was on a need-to-know basis. You and Chloe did not need to know at the time.”
“What else are you not telling me? If you want me doing this job, I need to know everything.”
“Your father and I agreed it wasn’t time yet for you to know. Now it is.”
“Chloe, did you know?”
“She was given the same information you were. We are in a fight against the Vukodlak and unknown Pack members. Now that your Alpha is lost, we have to move to our endgame to drive the Vukodlak out.”
Chloe felt Mark getting upset.
Mark said in a controlled voice, “Is this a game to you?”
“Mark, this is not a game and if we don’t do everything right, people will die. Not just here in the Clan but Humans as well. Vivian Volk wants Seattle as her base of operations before she expands.”
Mark shook his head. “Why here, and why now?”
“She’s had an operation here for years, but was playing by the rules and limited the scope of her operation to the drugs and loan shark operations. Then she thought she could steal Clan and Sylph information to gain the influence she needed to move to the next level. Her mate, Pyotr, made the mistake of getting caught and going up again John. He killed him and his people looked to John for leadership.”
“So now it’s personal and she wants back what you took?”
“It looks like she is using Sam to replace Pyotr as her local crime boss and wants to take everything the Clan has.”
“Why do you think she went after Sam?”
“I think Sam had been working for Pyotr for a while. It makes sense that a Vukodlak would look to Wolf shifters to be allies.”
“I was told the Vukodlak are monsters pretending to be Human. It seems Sam wants to be like them.”
“If Sam as Alpha stays out of my business, I don’t care what the Pack does, but I am going to
defend what is mine. Mark, is that a problem for you?”
“It’s what I expected. I know, one way or another, I will have to face Sam. It doesn’t make sense to do it from inside the Pack where he’s built up a lot of support. I’d win the battle but lose the war.”
“Chloe, talk to Onyx about temporary housing and get the budget information for hiring. Mark, get your affairs in order and send the Pack home. You are now in charge of security for all of our assets including here in The Second Circle. Onyx can put you in touch with the Vampires that had been working security before you took over. Talk with John about the right network guys to use. Then see if you can find some non-Pack to add to the security staff.”
They found Onyx at the front desk.
Onyx looked up from her hidden computer monitor. “It looks like you need some housing.”
Chloe smiled. “Since we are camped out in your guest room…”
“I know, just teasing. There are some vacant apartments in my building but that might be more of a commitment than you want. John has the penthouse floor in a high-rise in Seattle you can borrow. We use it for VIP situations from time to time.”
Chloe frowned. “It’s been nice crashing in your guest room, but we really need a house in more of a forested area. It’s important we can sneak out and run in nature.”
“I will look for something like that, but it can take some time to acquire. It seemed like you needed someplace today to move your stuff to before you get kicked out of your house.”
“You’re totally right. Sorry.”
“Let me get you into John’s place. It’s free at the moment. Get your clothes and personal items boxed up and drop them off there. It’s fully furnished and will be stocked with food by the time you get there. Don’t worry about big stuff. When I find your house, I will get it furnished.”
“That would be so great. It would be hard to explain why a moving van shows up to take that stuff away without tipping the Pack off. Mark, are we overthinking this?”
“I don’t know how my brother is going to react. He might not give us any time to move anything. Heck, he could attack me as his first reaction. He could also give us a short time to move out. In the past, if someone did something bad enough to be tossed out of the Pack, they would be cast out with nothing but the clothes on their back. We don’t have an official Alpha until full moon, so they might have to wait until then to rule on what happens.”
“We better not chance it; I will go by the place alone and load up my car with clothes, and the stuff you moved from your room at your parents’ house.”
“Sam thinks you left me. It might not be safe for you.”
Onyx opened a drawer at the reception desk. “Here are keycards for John’s place. They work the parking garage, elevators, and the penthouse.” She pulled out some credit cards. “These are corporate cards. Buy whatever clothes or anything else you need and save me receipts so I can expense it. Is there anything at the house you can’t replace?”
Chloe shakes her head. “I mostly had clothes there. Mark?”
“I don’t have much that the Pack couldn’t claim as theirs. Mostly just clothes.”
“Then it’s settled; buy what you need and don’t worry about anything from the house.”
“I guess I don’t have any other choice. Chloe, do you have your laptop? I left mine at the house in my mad dash out to try and find you.”
“It’s back at Onyx’s place.”
“Great, then we still have a copy of the security plans. Onyx, can you give Chloe the phone numbers of all of the guys that used to work security?”
“I will, but I can do better than that. Most of them are right here at the moment. Greta wanted to keep them close by. Why don’t you go settle into the conference room and I will call in the few not on site and have everybody meet you there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Cutting the Connection
MARK WAS SURPRISED by the number of security people that filled the conference room. It was standing room only. It was more than he remembered. Greta must have been holding some in reserve when he started. He noticed the receptionist from the law firm in the group. He had not known she was actually working security. It was time to start the meeting.
“Thank you all for coming. I see some unfamiliar faces in the group, so welcome. I am Mark Blackthorn and the head of Clan security. You all now work for me. As you know, many of you were replaced by Pack members. You will be returning to your old jobs starting tonight. The contract between the Clan and the Pack died with the Pack Alpha. We also believe some of the Pack may be supporting a hostile takeover of the Clan companies. We don’t know if any of the men brought in support that or not, but we can’t take chances. Once we have driven back the Vukodlak, we might hire some of them back, but they will be in addition to yourselves. Any questions so far?”
The receptionist raised her hand. “When will this be take affect?”
“Good question. We don’t expect any major offensive for a few days. They will be waiting for the full moon ceremony where the new Alpha will come to power over the Pack, but we are switching back tonight. Does everybody have at least basic combat training?”
Mark was happy to see everybody raised their hands. “Are you all qualified to use firearms?”
Mark was surprised to see everybody was more prepared than he expected.
“I would think you normally are fast and strong enough to not need any sort of weapons, but if you are in a physical fight with Wolves or Vukodlak, you will find they are fast and strong as well. We are going to have a lot of ground to protect, including here in The Second Circle, so we will need strength of numbers. We need to make things look like business as usual but with instant backup. I know you are good at this since I never suspected some of you were actually security. You won’t fool some of the Pack’s elite though. They can easily spot the way you move and act. Any questions?”
No one had a question or wanted to speak up.
“Good, let’s get to assignments. Who was working in the porn studio?”
About six people raised their hands. Mark recognized two of them.
“Will and Adam, you were the face of security there. I want each of you to pick two people to work with you.”
Mark pointed at the guy he knew had worked nights. “Adam, you were on nights, right?” Adam nodded. “Good. I want you and your people to head over there after this meeting and take over security. I want you to go into the access control database and revoke the cards the Pack members were issued. Send any of them you encounter home, saying there is a Vampire-only event tonight. Then secure the building. The rest of you come in at your normal time and relieve them. I want there to always be at least two people on duty. The studio people are dismissed. I will be down later to check on the security systems. Go discreetly armed.”
Mark continued with the staffing assignments for B&K and Greta’s Place. That only left the staff for The Second Circle.
Mark looked around. “Are you the ones who have been protecting The Second Circle? Who is the senior person?”
“Hi, I’m Erica. I have been running things down here for quite a while.”
“Good to meet you. I want to talk more with you. The rest of you can go and Erica will give you your assignments later.”
Only the three of them remained.
“Erica, I expect this will leave you short-handed, but I would like you to pick two people that can look like a couple to blend in with the patrons upstairs.”
Erica nodded. “I was thinking the same thing and have just the people for the job.”
“Excellent! I know of the elevator and two secret entrances down here. Are there any others?”
“Those are the only entrances, but we do have a couple of secret rooms. What are you thinking of?”
“Besides wanting to make sure they are secure, I am looking for options.”
Erica seemed to light up. “Oh … I understand what you are thinking. I will see what w
e can do.”
“Have you ever run emergency drills?”
“Just evacuation drills to get the customers and staff out in case of emergency.”
“Great, what about tactical drills?”
“We never felt the need in the past.”
“I’ll put that on the list. Does Greta have a bodyguard?”
Erica and Chloe both laughed. “Mark, Greta is a killer and is more than a match for any Vampire or Shifter.”
“Does she use the hidden doors when she leaves? I don’t want someone to sniff out a secret entrance from tracking her.”
“She takes the elevator up and has a driver that picks her up.”
“I want him to have backup.”
“I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Erica, you’re the expert on this space, and now that you know the stakes, I want a full report on what you think we can do better to be ready. Let’s talk about it again in the morning.”
Mark went upstairs to check out the nightclub’s security room. He looked over the camera feeds and none of the Pack members were to be seen. A check of the security computer showed that some things were still connected to the Pack control center. It only took a moment to disconnect the DSL line that went back to the Pack. The system showed all of Pack security team members had their access revoked, and Mark changed the master passwords while he was there.
“Chloe, please tell Wayne he did a good job and I verified we are now fully independent here. I want to make sure they didn’t leave any surprises for us in the computer, and then we can head over to the other offices.”
Mark wished he had his own clothes and his USB system drive, to check for viruses and malware. The software came back clean, but he should check again with his own software later to be sure. Going through the security logs and didn’t reveal anything unusual, but the remote office could have tampered with the logs.
