by Erin R Flynn
“My parents have acknowledged him as one of her mating candidates,” Melicent explained, giving me a look to leave it at that. “And the dire wolf.” She smirked at me when I gave her a shocked look. “Yes, I know that was a ploy, but Father rather likes him. Though they’ve been clear that they will not have you mate anyone on or working for the council, but his friendship with them is welcome.”
“Uh-huh,” I sighed, glancing up at Brian when he hugged me from behind. “I didn’t know they officially peed on you for me like that.”
“Do you hear me arguing?” he chuckled, lowering his head to give me a soft kiss. “Did you have fun going undercover?”
“I miss it. It’s way easier with Nina’s lipstick and a lot more fun now that I’m scary.” I gave him another kiss. “Thanks for coming. Sorry the New York office is dirty.”
“I’m not all that shocked though,” he admitted. Yeah, we’d heard rumors and whispers for years that made it seem like things weren’t on the up and up and their IA in on it since they never found anything wrong. Ever.
Yeah, that didn’t happen with IA.
“You do need to name one to act as your mate or second,” she added.
I gestured to Brian, much to their shock. “There are a lot of problems here, and they’re deep and layered. He knows the legal terrain best and knows me best. Also, I want a detail on him at all times. He’s also in the most danger, and I don’t mean as a human among us. What we’ve got to do could get him killed and fast.”
“Sera,” he sighed, kissing my hair when I growled. “Okay, okay. I get it. I’ll wear my vest and take a detail of the ancients when I’m at the FBI office.” He shook his head when I went to argue. “No, Sera, you can get away with skirting lines I can’t. None of these guys have been cleared like Dain, Alok, or Tasar. I can’t bring them into the office.”
“Deal.”
“How are we starting this? Like with Milwaukee?” he asked, both of us glancing at Melicent when she cleared her throat.
Oh, right, greetings and all of that.
She introduced us to a few more of the group that she’d sirened, and others were enforcers from their pack Alena had assigned to guard her for as long as needed. I introduced Carter as the head of the ancients and my right hand when it came to them.
Then we got to the work.
By then everyone had arrived—not having the option to leave as the others handled that while we talked—and were giving me their full attention.
“Alpha Mario is dead,” I addressed the group. “I’m Alpha of New York now. I’m Division Chief Seraphine Thomas as well as Alpha of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids. This is council sanctioned, as your Alpha cheated and sent a hitter after me to take over. Let me be clear that I will decide on all cases what the punishment is as my role as FBI with their help. This is not a council clean up every shifter group fears.
“You will have due process as long as you don’t endanger my people or anyone here. People who acted under orders will be shown leniency. Anyone who provides information will be given reduced sentences. This is how the system should and does work in Chicago, and it is how things will work going forward. You have two choices. Get on board and help us, or join Alpha Mario. Any takers on that second option?”
I waited several moments to give them a real chance, which made a lot of them nervous. Good. They should be.
“Good. Who is missing? I want every shifter in New York here, and if you know of any not here, you need to tell us. Some of you need help, and we will give it. This is your chance to get help and justice for what’s been done to you.” I nodded to the FBI teams of my division that had joined us, DC and Miami already arriving and LA coming soon. “They will take down any information of other shifters to bring in and keep safe.
“Any FBI from the New York office, get your asses over here and we’re starting with you.” I stared down the few that I recognized. “Yeah, I got your regrets for our training. You didn’t think we’d do anything about that? Fuckers, you were the ones who joked it wouldn’t happen unless we invaded and took over. Good plan.” Only two came, and I rolled my eyes. “Who’s FBI?”
My ancients rounded up the rest in a flash, taking cell phones and any way to contact someone.
“Now, we’re going to start easy. You will speak to any of the two teams we have here. You are to give your name, address, list any shifters missing, and answer a few questions. We need to rule out the baddies before we get to taking reports and—”
Two of the New York wolves shifted and made a run for it. I went to move, but Melicent put her hand on my arm and nodded for me to look to my left. I saw two of hers and Eugene shift, and they took down the wolves before I could take my next breath.
“If you have to get involved in something so minor, you do not show control to the others,” she said under her breath.
“Thanks. I’m used to jumping first,” I admitted.
“As Mother warned me.”
“Don’t kill them,” I ordered when I saw one going for the finishing blow. I felt the shock of the group. “They will die, yes, that is the rule, but we need the information from them first. Carter, knock them out and get them on the first group heading to the council. Someone tell us their names so we can keep order.”
“Shift and make sure we have no other fools among us,” Melicent told her wolves. They undressed and shifted, patrolling and corralling the groups to get closer.
Brian headed over to the FBI teams from the other offices, along with the two he’d brought, and started setting up what was needed. He instructed others to grab the vehicles and bring them to the edge of the pack lands to start processing. The fear jumped when people saw the black SUVs pull up and the back doors open, and I decided to give them something better to focus on.
“After everyone is processed, one of the first things we will do is start work on the property I bought right off Central Park,” I announced to everyone. “We have found in Chicago that having a community apartment building has helped greatly with the bullshit humans do. Also, I’m told your pack has a construction company that hasn’t been able to get work. That will change.
“We’re tearing down the building, as it’s not a historical site, and you will be part of building one of the swankiest and best buildings in the world along with a vampire team I’ve worked with before. We are also opening another Siren’s Kiss here that will offer good paying jobs and a lot of fucking fun. We have a lot of fun in Chicago, believe me. Both places are bought and paid for and even some designs drawn up.”
Melicent shrugged. “Mother wanted some input.”
“Yeah, she gave it,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “There was a lot she added to those folders you gave me. She really—does she sleep?”
“Like a rock so she gets every moment, unlike those of us who toss and turn.”
I nodded I heard her. “Some of my wolves traveled to Japan to train as hosts. There’s ideas to send people to Vegas to train to work at a spa we might be adding. Several foreclosed buildings were bought for greenhouses and much else. So I know this is scary. I get that. But everyone in Chicago is glad we did it, so just keep it together and help us as best as you can.”
I was worried about Brian when we started with the top of the pack, as those would probably be just as dirty as the Alpha, but I saw Carter and several others guarding him and even the fairies watching over the human teams.
We were about a half an hour into it when I started to hear stomachs all over the place. I shared a look with Melicent and nodded. We needed to feed the shifters since they weren’t changing and hunting rabbits or whatever their lands had. Plus, stress ate through energy, and the full moon was enough to drive up our appetites.
“Did you bring my bags with my real stuff?” I asked Brian. He nodded to the backseat but gave me a curious look. “We need to feed them before hungry shifters get bitchy. I include myself in that.” He glanced out at everyone and sighed. “We’ll be smart. I’m not sendi
ng locals out. I’ll have the transport teams pick something up on the way back from the next load.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” he agreed.
I went to get my bag, but I caught a thought from a loud broadcaster as I reached the back door. I shifted into a wolf and leapt on top of the SUV before launching at the hawk and tearing out his throat before he even realized I was there. Snarling, I backed towards Brian, snapping at several people who were too close to him at the moment.
Jonik moved over to me and touched my head, nodding he understood. “The hawk was planning to kill her mating candidate to distract her and so the hawks could shift and flee.” Several of the fairies pulled out huge ass Lord of the Rings type bows with arrows appearing. “We would advise against that course of action. We never miss.” He glanced at me again. “I would advise the hawks or fast shifting species speak with your branch.”
I shifted back. “Yeah, that’s smart. I don’t know hawks as well as I do others. We’ve never had a problem with ours, and the only one I’ve dealt with professionally was young, weak. I don’t think the hawks here are.”
“I would agree,” he murmured, his eyes raking over my body. “I apologize, Princess. You deserve more respect than I have shown, but I am a man and you are maybe the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
Melicent burst out laughing when I flushed at the compliment. I flicked her off, which only made her laugh harder. I thanked Orson when he came over with my bag, using the hooker clothes and a bottle of water to clean up the blood, making sure all of it was out of my mouth especially.
The second I was done, Brian pushed me up against the side of the SUV and mashed his mouth to mine, blocking my body from others. “Tell her I owe her another date.”
“Her?” Melicent asked from behind us.
“He’s had a few dates with my wolf so she knows he likes her just as much as me,” I explained, smiling at Brian. “It might be silly, but we had fun playing in the snow, and he brushed her.”
“Your wolf is not a dog,” someone chastised.
I glanced at the Greek wolf. “No, but I love when he plays with my hair. I enjoy the same with my fur. He’s not grooming me like I’m an animal. I don’t need him to bathe me as a woman either, but it’s the spoiling. Dain’s done it too. He says it’s good for infected shifters to see how alike they are with their other sides. My wolf protected him. Why would he not thank her?”
Melicent held up her hand and silenced the other wolf. “She does not like rare meat or to hunt in her wolf form. That is how we would thank our wolves. Do not criticize her ways again, and learn as you were instructed. We have infected in our pack as well. That is something smart that could help another. And apologize for talking down to my sister.”
“I apologize, Alpha Sera,” he said, sounding it. “I made the assumption your human lover acted as some do like they adopt an animal when they take a shifter to their bed.”
“I was her lover before she was a shifter,” Brian informed him, his eyes not leaving mine. “I can’t run with her like her Betas do or understand the hunt. We do other things to give Sera as much fun as possible.” He gave me an evil smirk. “Now the fact I gave her a bunch of those squeaky balls for her wolf was just teasing her.”
“She still liked them,” I chuckled, giving him a quick kiss. “I think it was because of how hard you kept laughing more than anything. You’ve been too stressed too.”
“It’s the job, babe, not anything extra you put on me,” he promised, knowing I was always worried on that.
I went to my bags and pulled on the cheap sweats we bought just for the lunar cycle, as shifting was too easy and unlike the boys, we didn’t shift out of our clothes. I ended up giving my card to Neil, as he and some of his wolves were helping now that they’d been cleared. They knew a lot of information—and we would get all of that—but they weren’t being sent to the council.
“So you bought a building by Central Park?” Brian asked me quietly when I went back over to him. “And more?”
“Alena did under that corporation the other stuff is under,” I admitted. “She used the monies and all that extra stuff from Igor I had sent directly there and just did it. Laila helped, as it means more fae we can get out of tough places and will be protected. None have a problem paying into the tithe, and now we’ve got fairy enforcers for the pack too. But it’s smart to group together.
“Most wouldn’t think so, but if they tried for the building where we have ours or even near Central Park, they’d take out a lot of innocents as well. They may hate us, but they won’t go to those lengths. It’s why we bought up that neighborhood in Highland Park. If there’s a problem, there are a lot of us there.”
There was more I might have said, but I heard something that upset me, storming over to the group of foxes waiting to be interviewed. I grabbed their leader, squeezing my hand that was around her throat when she argued, and dragged her over to the transports that were heading out. I took the tranq gun from one of Axel’s guys and dosed her.
“Take her out of here before I kill her,” I instructed them.
“Alpha?” Axel worried when I didn’t elaborate.
“Make her at the top of the interrogations,” I told them before turning away.
“Sera, what’s she doing?” Axel murmured as he moved me away from the others.
“She’s intentionally infected over twenty gorgeous women, not only ruining their lives and taking them over, but forcing them to be high class prostitutes. She is a treasure trove of information and dirt, as she collects it all as she whores out her people, forcing them to serve the vampires like docile pets they can bite and fuck at will.”
I pulled away and went back to the terrified foxes, squatting down so I wasn’t looming over them. It took me a few moments to calm down, which eased their worry as well.
“You guys know a lot more than most of the others here, and there are a lot of powerful people on that list. I think it best we get you on a plane to Chicago where my pack and the others there I know are clean will keep you safe. You can work with my office and tell them everything, show them these servers she had secrets on and whatever else. That is the fastest way to get you out of the shit she put you in, and I promise I will get you out.”
“Whatever you think best, Alpha,” one accepted, the rest nodding.
“I’m going to get a couple of the human agents over here, and you guys give them your information and keys to your places so they can pack and send you some bags later. I want you out of range because this is just the beginning.”
When they nodded again, I waved over Corbin to come get their information. Melicent and Carter met me over by Brian, both of them probably sensing my upset.
“This situation with the vampires is worse than just running some guns and being jerks who treat all shifters like food and theirs,” I warned them.
“Help is coming, landing soon,” Carter promised.
I nodded but paced as I rubbed my arm. “I think we need to stash the wolves that get cleared. It’s sad, but most don’t have jobs to miss even, so let’s get a bunch of rooms at a few cheap motels around each other, as they tend to be around each other anyways.” I met Melicent’s gaze. “You and yours stay there, keep working on names and everything my people can get over Skype if you protect them and keep order.”
“Why are you leaving me off of this?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Because this is going to get messy and blur some lines,” I grumbled, pacing faster. Someone grabbed my arm, and Eugene kissed me. I got what he was doing and fed from him. “Thanks.”
“You are still new, Alpha,” he reminded me before letting go. “And I believe you know the answer of what you must do but don’t like it.”
“No, I don’t like it,” I sighed before turning around to face Brian. “The wolves are in with Russian mob. We knew this. They also have some Triad ties. The vampires are in everything. They’ve got cartel buddies and every group who doesn’t just
go after witnesses and law enforcement who try to nail them but their families.”
He studied me carefully and gave a slow nod. “You want to send them to whatever this Shifter Council facility is that holds humans instead of putting them in our messed up prisons.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to give me more than that?” he checked, raising an eyebrow.
“She doesn’t know much more than that,” Eugene interjected. “It’s not just anyone who commits a crime against shifters that go there. It’s special circumstances.” He shot me a look. “Though I will say there have been back talks to expand. While most of the council believe it’s so the American government can get more involved and find out secrets they can’t have, others think there is a true desire to expand the good we do.”
“There’s no corporate corruption at the prison,” I explained to Brian. “There’s none of this prison gang shit. They don’t get a chance to phone their buddies and order hits or any of that crap. The vampires don’t have that. This might be a lot of bad with the vampires, but I saw enough from that fox leader when I was touching her that she allowed all those groups to mistreat her foxes, and that gives us grounds for—”
“Foxes are endangered shifters,” Axel explained. “Smart. You bust this coven, and even if the vampire council would punish them, they won’t get all into the investigations. No, that will be left to the human FBI here, that is dirty, which you will clean up. That would put all the targets on Brian, as he’s lead on this mess.”
“Yes.”
“Sera,” Brian sighed, giving me a smile.
“Brian, please, let me protect you,” I whispered, giving him my best puppy dog eyes. “Bri, please? There’s so much dirt here that it’s not even funny. It’s not even our jurisdiction, and we’re helping because it’s the right thing to do. Let the Shifter Council be the ones the fucking Russian mafia is pissed at or Chinese Triad or two different gangs and at least one cartel. They’ll get it all out of them and not endanger you or your teams.”
“Fine, but I want us to take a trip for my birthday since Alena said we could use any of the Dorcus resorts for free,” he murmured, giving me a heated look. “Nude beaches, fun drinks, and you love being in water.”
