“Yeah, I guess that does make sense. I am worried about an attack here resulting in another base destroying explosion,” I said. “That’s a lot of people to evacuate.”
“Amy as given me the specs on this place,” Nick said as she joined us. “We are already working on a plan to harden this place and make sure that never happens again. I’ve also taken the liberty of having my equipment moved. It should be here tomorrow.” She turned to Andrea. “Can we let the guards up top know so they can offload the trucks?”
“We can. Get with Dris and give him the details. He is in charge of security.”
“I will, thanks.” Nick left the Dais and went over the the work station Dris occupied.
“What about the other kids? Are the parents not reachable?” I asked.
“Most were orphans,” Andrea said. “They all agreed to join us here since they didn’t have anywhere else to go. All except one. She wants out to go see her parents.”
“Why are we keeping her?” I asked concerned that we might be making a mistake.
“She is the one who’s parents want nothing to do with her. She is also one of the youngest at just ten, and one of the most powerful. I believe you and her danced in the warehouse.”
“You don’t mean the rhino horned girl, do you?” I asked.
“One and the same.”
“We’ll go get settled in. I want to see her before I head out tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” Andrea asked.
“Izzy and I are going to find out who was behind the attack at the compoud and make them pay,” I said.
“Do you want some wolves to go with you?” Andrea asked. From her frown I could tell se knew what my answer would be.
“No, I need to do this with just the two of us. We will call for backup if we need it.”
“I get that,” Andrea said. “But you should have some back up. Arnold has a lot of wolves at his disposal.”
“How about a compromise?” I asked.
“I’m listening.” Andrea crossed her arms over her chest and stared with a neutral expression on er face. I felt the anger ready to explode if I said the wrong thing.
“Have some wolves trail us and stay far enough away to not be noticed, but close enough to come in guns blazing if we need them.”
“I can get behind that plan,” Andrea said. She uncrossed her arms and the anger she was preparing fizzled out.
“Great. We can make arrangements for that in the morning. For now, let’s get settled in and relax,” Miranda said.
Chapter 6
“Pass me another beer,” I said
“Here you go, Sir,” Juan Carlos said as he dropped a cold beer wet from condensation into my hand.
“Thanks, Juan.”
“Juan Carlos,” he replied as he sat on the couch across from me.
“Huh?”
“Juan is a name that is meant to accompany another name. In my case, it's Juan Carlos. Some are Juan Gabriel, or Juan…” he rolled his hand around as he searched his brain for another name. “Fucking Beer has my brain going numb.” Juan Carlos laughed and the rest of the men from the wolf pack joined in.
“Well, thanks for the beer, Juan Carlos,” I said.
“Denada,” he replied. My spanish was almost non existent, but I knew the word was something like, your welcome.
“Excuse me, sir,” a tall and slender black man with an out of date high hair cut like something from the nineties said.
“What's up, Henry?” I asked.
“You really didn't know about this whole Tuatha thing until recently?”
“Yeah, really.”
“That's crazy. Being a wolf is something you can't ignore. Once a month you get a reminder of what you are. Not to mention the increase in strength, speed, and senses while not shifted. There is no way we could miss it.”
“Yeah, that is weird, Sir,” said the youngest member of the pack Ian Michaels.
“Okay,” I leaned forward and set my beer down on the coffee table. “Enough with this sir crap. My name is Terry, not sir. Please just use my first name.”
“I don't know about that,” Juan Carlos said.
“I get the whole, hierarchy thing with the pack, I really do. And I am fine with having to maintain an image to prevent being overthrown, but the sir thing is too much,” I said. “I'll kick ass all day long if it means not being called sir.”
That got a chuckle from most everyone. Juan Carlos looked at me with wide eyes and the scent of fear wafted off of him. Having been the one and only wolf who’s ass I had to kick, his reaction was understandable.
“Then it’s settled,” Dris’ baritone voice filled the room. “From now on the pack calls our Alpha’s Alpha by his name. Anyone have a problem with that?”He looked around at all the males of the pack. “Good. So, what’s on the agenda?” Dris’ gaze turned my direction with the question.
“I didn’t have any plans beyond hanging out and drinking beer,”I said.
“Not a bad plan, but I have an idea, if you’ll indulge me,” Aaron, another wolf in my pack spoke up. The man appeared to be in his mid twenties and sported blond hair with bright blue eyes. That was where the best parts of his face ended. His skull was thick and he looked like I imagined a neanderthal to look. He smiled and the bushy golden eyebrows resting on his thick brow ridge raised.
“What ya got for us?” Dris asked.
“I think you will like this. Everyone follow me,” Aaron said.
We followed the man to the rear entrance of the recreation room on the ground level of the main housing unit the pack occupied. He led the way outside of the building to what I would think of as the backyard. One by one, wolves stepped out and froze after moving past the wolf in front of them. Sitting not ten feet away was a line of thirty go-carts big enough for the giant of a man Dris to sit comfortably. Beyond the line was a dirt track complete with several jumps that looped around in a series of hairpin turns.
“Oh, that’s a pretty sight, ” Dris said.
“This was here?” I asked.
“Yup,” Aaron replied with a big grin on his face. “I went exploring and found it. Made sure the carts were gassed up and ready to roll.”
“Madre de dios, that’s beautiful,” Juan Carlos said.
“What are we waiting for?” Sven, a tall handsome viking looking guy from Germany asked. He was the first to run to a go-cart with everyone else hot on his heels.
While we ran a few wolves pushed others in an attempt to get a closer cart. I joined in, tripping Dris and managing to get close to the fourth cart before being shoved. Laughter broke free from me as I stumbled and rolled. popping back up, I managed to get to the fifth cart without being sent crashing to the ground. Engines rumbled to life as I strapped in. Sure I could heal, and faster than most Lycan’s if I pulled enough power from my pack, by why risk it when we are just having some fun?
The engine of my cart roared to life. Revving the engine sent vibrations through my chair and into my back and ass. I pressed the pedal a little conservatively and the cart lurched forward. The cart next to me, cart six, shot by with Dris shouting in glee. I gunned it and gave chase.
We drove wild wild animals. With the fear of death not a concern we pushed the machines to their limits taking turns too fast and never hitting the brakes. More than one wolf hit a turn too fast and took a tumble, go-cart and all. The wolf in question would have thier broken limbs mostly healed by the time they righted the vehicle and strapped in. Several wolves were forced off the track by another and all laughed with glee as they either pushed a cart off the track or were pushed. One three occasions, I had to pull from my pack to heal my arms and legs. It was painful, but momentary. The fun we had lasted much longer and the pain was a small price to pay.
By the end of the night all of the wolves called me Terry and smiled when they saw me. For the first time I had a group of guys I could call friend.
“As Alpha of Alphas, I decree that Tuesday nights will be taco night, and
Wednesday night will be boys night,” I shouted as I raised my last beer for the evening.
“Here, here!” My wolf buddies replied while raising their own beer. Glassed tinked as the necks were taped together and we all drank.
“We will have to go shopping to make Taco Tuesdays a thing,” Dris said as he leaned close to me.
I looked at the man like he grew a third head. “How could that not have been a thing already?”
Dris chuckled. “We haven’t reached that level of organization yet. Meal plans so far have been whatever the cook for the day felt like making. The number of mouths to feed make that a difficult task.”
“Maybe we should bring someone in,” I said. “We should think about a large enough staff to take all the menaial tasks away from wolves.”
“That is a good idea, and one that has been discused. The problem is it opens us up to security threats, nd possibly getting the staff hurt. Some of the kids are still having trouble getting thier animals under control. I think the miixing of genes may drive some of them insane.”
“That’s not good thing,” I said by way of stating the obvious. “We have to figure somethng out to help them.” A thought came to me and I turned to look at the big man. “What if we give the jhobs to the kids that we don’t have to worry about loosing thier shit?”
Dris loooked down at me and smiled. “That might work. We talked about it, but too many pack members felt like it was too dangerous. If you green light the project, no one will tell you no.”
“Let’s give it a shot. We can make them usefull and give them a sense of purpose at teh ame time. I want to find a way to integrate them into packs sso they feel like they belong to something greater than themselves,”I said.
“Due to the nature of thier animal parts, that might be difficult.”
“My existence is about bringing together different animal Lycans. If anyone can do it, it’s a Tuatha.”
“I won’t argue with your logic. I’ll have someone start grouping together the kids so we can arange work parties and possibly groups to form packs. Maybe something good can come from all of this.”
“I hope so,” I said.
“What do you hope?” Miranda asked as she came up behind me.
I turned away from the go-cart track to smile at my first wolf. “Hi, love.”
“Hi, yourself, lover. Are you boys done?”
“Done?” Dris asked.
Miranda pointed to the track which elicited a chuckle from the big man. “We are done.”
“Good, it’s our turn,”Tabitha said while leaving the building. The rest of the female population of my Tua followed her, all except Izzy. They all waved at me as they walked by, even the wolves I didn’t know yet. My Turtle was still in the building and as I felt for her I felt a pull, almost like a summons, but more a question of will I come.
“I’ll see you later, Dris,” I said to my large companion.
“Have a good night, Terry.” He clapped my on the shoulder with a massive hand.
“You too, Dris. See you tomorrow.”
I found my turtle in the quarters she claimed for herself. Miranda, Tabitha, Andrea decided to live with me in the penthouse, while Roo and Riley opted to share an apartment. Izzy chose to be alone, which hadn’t surprised me in the least.
“Hello?”I said as I knocked on her door.
“Come in,” Izzy sent the reply to my mind from her’s.
The door was unlocked, which was common here in the underground facility. The room beyond was dark with a small golden light that flicked shending shadows dancing on the wall. There was a strong smell of roasted meat that made my stomach sit up and take notice. I closed the door behind me and discovered the reason for the strange light and darkness. My turtle sat at a small round table with a candle sitting at its center.
“I figured we could finish our date,” Izzy said.
My connection to Izzy allowed me to glean what she had in mind for the evening and sex wasn’t it. That was fine by me, I wanted to know my turtle intimately, but that had to come after I won her heart and mind. I took the seat across the table from her.
“Are you hungry?” She asked.
“I’m always hungry.”
“Good,”She said as she chuckled. Izzy pulled a pan from the oven holding a pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and gravy. My stomach rumbled when the stronger scent hit me. She set the pot on the stove and cut large hunks of meat off. She set a plate in front of me with a good pound of meat smothered in gravy and veggies. She sat a similar plate down on her side then poured two glasses of red wine. “I thought we could finish our date and share a meal.”
“I like that idea. I have to say that I am surprised though.”
“Don’t make a thing out of it, okay? I felt bad we had to cut the last one short, that’s all.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “No big deals here. Thanks for the meal.”
Chapter 7
Izzy and I sat in a large black sedan while we waited for the elevator to reach the ground level.
“What did you have in mind for our first step?” Izzy's voice barely carried over the constant mechanical drone of the elevator.
“To be honest, I have no idea. That was something I hoped you could tell me, Detective,” I said.
“Let me say that I didn't need a psychic connection to figure that out. Let's head back to the safe house and see what the neighborhood saw. If we're lucky, someone willing to talk saw something useful.”
“Then we follow up on any leads?” I asked.
“Probably. We have to see what we learn, then go from there.”
The elevator ground to a stop. The noise echoed in the empty warehouse while we waited for the doors to open. Juan Carlos was the wolf on duty and he had a young man with him. From my seat in the car I could just make out the pair at the controls. The young man pressed a button and the warehouse doors swung open. Juan Carlos patted the kid on the back. It looked like Dris had already implemented our plan to have the kids work for us. I had a thought about child labor laws that I suppressed before the cop with me picked up on it.
Izzy drove all the way back even though I offered to help every time we stopped. She insisted that she drive and I accepted. I got the feeling that she still saw our relationship in a bad light. That accepting help from me would be the same as submitting to a master she doesn't want.
“Hey, Izzy,” I said when our city came into view.
“Yeah?”
“You know that I would never make you do something you wouldn't want to, right?”
“Why do you ask?” She replied.
“I just…” I wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't anger her. “No reason. I just wanted you to know that.”
“I never thought you could make me do anything I don't want to,” she snapped. “Pinche gringo.”
She talked tough, and I felt the heat behind her words, but there was more. The anger coming from her contained an undercurrent of fear. Somehow, I had to prove to my turtle that I meant what I said.
“We're here,” Izzy said.
My inner monologue came to an end as we pulled onto the street the safe house used to be on. In its place was a burned out husk of a house with a hole 8n the ground where most of the foundation used to be. The two houses directly next to the safe house suffered a good deal of damage. One even had a collapsed wall revealing a living room downstairs and a bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Izzy stopped the car in front of the house with the collapsed wall. A man stood outside the house looking up at the second floor.
“This guys should be pissed enough to want someone to pay for what was done here,” Izzy said.
“I would hope so. You want me to stay here?” I asked as I didn't want to step on her toes while she worked.
“No. You might see or hear something I miss. Stay quiet and observe unless you see or hear something that needs an immediate answer. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said.
When I opened the door I hear
d the man yelling. “Damn it, boy! I told you not to use that bathroom until we get the damned wall fixed!”
I looked up to see a kid around twelve pissing i to the toilet and laughing. “But this is my bathroom, pa. I want to use my bathroom!”
From their accent, the pair migrated here from the south. I knew there were different accents depending on where down south people lived, but I had no clue what they sounded like.
“Excuse me, sir,” Izzy said. The man spun and she flashed her badge. “Would you have a few minutes for questions?”
“I done spoke to the cops already. How many darn times do I need to tell yeah the house next door blowed up and took my damn wall with it?”
“I understand your frustration, but I need more information and I'm willing to bet you would like to see someone locked up for this. Am I right?” Izzy asked.
“You got that straight,” he replied. “I want to take my boy to the jailhouse and watch him piss on the low life that done this.”
“If you give me something that leads to the capture of the person responsible, I might just make that happen,” Izzy said.
The man's eyebrows rose and a small smile touched the corners of his mouth. “You should lead with that next time. Here is what I know. My boy, Roy, that's his name, were on our way home from ballet practice. And yes, my damn kids want to learn ballet instead of a real sport like a normal kid his age should. His ma, god rest her soul, would want me to encourage him and his weird ideas, so there we were.” He looked up and saw the bathroom empty. He leaned forward and put his hand up to block the view of his mouth from the house then whispered. “Truth be told, the little piss ant is pretty damn good. If I didn't have a reputation with the men folk round here I might be letting more people know bout him. Anyway, what did you want to know?”
“first things first, sir,” Izzy said as she flipped open a little black notebook and tapped the point of her pen against the paper. “What is your name, sir?”
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