by Erin R Flynn
They burst out laughing but still took me up on the offer.
“There is a reason the Alpha is beloved as even when she’s the boss her heart is all anyone can see. As long as there is coffee.”
The video ended with another scene that had to be bleeped out when there was no more coffee and I couldn’t make espresso, settling for regular and making the faces as to how much I hated it.
It was so accurate I couldn’t even get mad. Brats.
6
“It is very well done and light-hearted but informative while showing you have your act together more than most would think,” Zeno praised. “It would look too much like a PR campaign if you didn’t show she wasn’t perfect, but it’s handled well and very relatable.”
“The editing is amazing, Cory,” Eva praised. “Well shot as well. This looks completely professional grade, Alvin.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, blushing at the praise. “That YouTube guy taught me some really awesome tricks. Tommy helped flag the right footage and it really was a group effort.”
“You can tell,” I complimented. “I need to clear that FBI part with Monroe or Galvin but it wasn’t unflattering so it should fly.” I glanced at them. “So you want to do this for the Betas? Maybe other shifters and show other sides?”
They nodded but Alvin answered. “We didn’t want it to be too long. Twenty minutes is about the average YouTube show time. We do want to do it like seasons though and this be the first episode.”
I nodded. “What are your other ideas? You said you had other videos you want to do?”
“Yeah, not copy but like, there are channels who do the slow-motion stuff so that’s not a new idea that guy had. There are lots of channels that do like trick shots or competitions and we want to do some of that. I mean, people left more comments on how you guys acted as wolves in that video than anything,” Alvin said as Cory brought up YouTube and a list they had saved.
“People do love animal videos,” I muttered, giving Hagan and Reagan a curious look. “We have been trying to get into schools to show kids not to be scared of us or hate parents spew. This might be the lead-in.”
“That’s what we were thinking,” Cory agreed. “Do the slow-mo of how we change, or fangs come out.” He held up his finger and hit play on a video.
We watched as seven people were asked a series of questions that they had a lot of similar answers on and at the end, they revealed they were all different religions. Nice. They did the same before holding up the card what side of politics they were on.
“Yes, we should absolutely do something like that,” I agreed, smiling at them. “I get where you’re going.” We watched some others like they’d said and I had an idea. “Would you want to do an origins series? Like I was infected and so was Harris and they were publicized cases but not everyone has that, but I know Virgil’s talked about being born and how it was different when people didn’t know.”
“That would be really cool, but you’d have to be careful not to give away secrets,” Hagan agreed. “I think before any of the videos go up the other leaders should agree they want this message sent out.”
“That’s smart,” I muttered. “Yeah, we should have a united idea of what we’re doing.”
“You might want to do a vlog series,” Eva said, looking at Brian and nodding she meant him. “You are in a unique position where you had made the decision but it also saved your life. Milo’s press tour was seen as promoting infecting people to some instead of simply defending we weren’t a rabid illness when we can save someone from cancer.”
Alena nodded. “Leo and Alvin suggested we invite some prominent vloggers to our resorts, not sponsor them, but acknowledge it was free for the review. It hit new markets and we’ve never had lax occupancy as we’re high end but several made it clear we were the place to be for foodies and a good time. Bookings are filling faster and it’s done much better than the last ad campaign.”
“You’re a man of fact and fairness and any who know you would agree with that,” Zeno muttered. “You’d have to be careful as to what secrets you still keep but give the warts and all, just be honest, and that will win the day. The bad will pick out the soundbites they want but there are ways to fight back on that too.”
“Maybe,” Brian sighed. “Maybe. I would have to get approval with work and all of it.” He smiled at me when I flinched. “If I decided I was going to become a wolf do you think I’d risk them sending me to take over another office?”
“You’re not retiring,” I muttered, studying him closely.
“No, I would get bored,” he chuckled, shaking his head when I tried to push on the topic. Oh, I loved secrets.
“I think this a good lead-in to what else we must discuss,” Alena said seconds before the front desk called saying food was there. The twins went with the boys and the rest of us got everything set up in the dining room. What shocked me was when she told the boys and twins to head back to their apartment as this was private.
“But Dain stays?” Hagan checked, giving a worried look.
“He knows my holdings and estate better than I do and I think we’re back to that,” I told him. “He’s staying as my attorney.”
“I do know your holdings better than you do,” Dain muttered, shaking his head at me.
The others left and the tension of the group made Brian agitated and he stood with his plate, leaning against the wall. He sighed when everyone looked at him. “It makes it worse if you note it. I’m just being cautious like when Ashley paces.”
That binder came back out and Eva handed it to Grammy. “Now that they are engaged, we are at the point to talk about this and your family will become a target.”
“Shit,” Brian hissed, glancing around at everyone. I moved in a flash and took his plate before he threw it, putting my hand on his chest.
“Do you want your ring back?” I whispered.
“No, I love you,” he rasped. “I love my family too, Sera. I didn’t think about international politics on this because the Dorcuses adopted you.”
“It would have been more dangerous for her if we hadn’t the way she was infected, so be careful how you sound like you’re assigning blame there,” Eva warned, waiting until Brian nodded. “There are also perks and as the three of you are retired, vast perks.” She looked at Jimmy. “And you are desperately hoping we might offer you a job, so what is so wrong at your current employment?”
Jimmy winced and cleared his throat. “Nothing that I know for sure, but I get enough of the… You ever wonder if people do stuff because they want the scandal or get on the map with bad things? I just have that vibe and if my boss demands I put one more person’s portfolio in the risky bucket I won’t even put my own accounts in, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Alena slowly nodded. “And they are not a company that takes being left well.”
“As I’ve recently found,” Jimmy sighed. “I don’t know it’s anything criminal but it’s definitely not moral, and while I’ve made sure I always am, I’m at the point where they want me to get the secret handshake and in the big boys club and I’d really prefer the door but not flush my career completely down the drain.”
“Shit, Jimmy, why didn’t you tell us?” I whispered, wincing when he gave me a look like he doubted I cared. “Hey, I didn’t want you hurt or stuck in a bad spot. I wanted you to be less jealous and crappy to Brian. I love him too, okay?”
“Yeah, you’re right, but that look was more you’re fairly oblivious,” Jimmy defended. “And we’re not friends. I mean, I don’t even have your number.”
“I would have helped,” Brian cut in.
“You’re sort of busy saving the world, big brother,” he drawled, giving him a look of respect. “This isn’t your wheelhouse as a government employee.”
“But it is mine,” Dain interjected. “Honestly, Sera’s holdings are vast and complicated. I was relying on some of Queen Laila’s geniuses but more help would be absolutely welcomed as Sera is demanding
her companies offer retirement options.”
“Not all of us are immortal,” I reminded him. “Gayle. Jesse. Lillie. Lots of everyone are just normal infected wolves. Freddie and Jessica. You can also cash in your IRAs or whatever. Fine, education options. Adult stuff I hate but will give them better lives.”
“You just gave everyone raises after the club hit a year,” Dain chuckled. “Yes, yes, we could use someone in the family who knows the terrain and will be specific.”
“And we could always use another person to help us diversify,” Alena added. “It’s always smart to have trusted auditors look at the books and where we can change things up.” She nodded at my hand still on Brian. “He’s calm now.”
“Right, sorry,” I muttered, accepting a kiss from him before I handed back his plate and we sat. I glanced at Brian. “I did suggest already given how much trouble we started that you offer your parents and Grammy apartments here or in the new building. It’s safe and then Grammy can flirt with Jonik more.”
“I won’t even deny that,” Grammy chuckled. “I was hoping there was an invitation to visit some of these fabulous resorts.”
“There is,” Eva promised, tapping the binder. “That’s the full list and completely at your disposal as we’re to be in-laws.”
“I wouldn’t have thought that your answer, Ma,” Mr. Havers said to Grammy, looking a bit uncomfortable.
She shrugged as she opened the binder. “I’ve got a decade left at best and honestly, you lose the pride when you get older about being insulted that I would need the handout or blah, blah, blah. Brian loves Sera and we’ve always liked her well before she had money. Now she’s got boatloads of it and wants to make sure we’re safe. Fine, keep me safe at a resort. Poor me.”
“And you know that if you fight this and you’re hurt because of them being together it would ruin their chance for happiness, which would mean they’re bonded for eternity that way,” Alena added, busting her feelings but also why they were pushing this.
“Well, when you put it like that…” Mr. Havers admitted, glancing at his wife. “It seems silly to worry that was our family house where you all grew up.”
I shrugged. “No one said you have to sell it. We didn’t sell our place in Highland Park. They just have an apartment here too. Keep it and we can wire it up in case anyone goes looking for you and you’re really here now that we have empty apartments again. Or the other place is super swank in between trying resorts.”
“It would be nice for you to travel before it’s too hard to,” Brian agreed, looking ready to accept it and not just for his parents to be safe. Why not? It wasn’t like there was a hidden cost or whatever. Eva, Alena, and Zeno offered because they cared and it was nothing to them.
My phone rang and it was Shaw’s number as she had a special ringtone given she handled the dispatch calls. I inhaled the rest of my burger in two bites as I grabbed my phone and answered.
“What’s up, Shaw?”
“Dispatch called in a possible bomb and Chief Havers’s calls are being diverted to you as the ranking FBI available,” she told me. “The Catholic church five blocks north of your apartment. That’s all I know.”
“Got it,” I replied, already heading to my bedroom for real clothes. “Tell dispatch I’m responding and there in a few minutes. Call Carter and get all of the ancients available to that address. They’re evacuating?”
“Already done but there’s a grammar school there as well and they don’t want to evacuate the kids into the cold if it’s a prank,” she answered.
“Fuck, I’m running there. I’ll update you.” I hung up and dressed in a flash.
“What do you need?” Dain asked as I came back out dressed and going for my guns I kept on top of the fridge so they were easy access but the boys knew to leave them alone.
“A plan to evacuate a grammar school if this is a real threat,” I answered as I rushed to the door, now armed and grabbing my thick coat. “Get some numbers for the public buses even if it’s a Catholic school. Or an option close that can keep the kids warm.” I was out the door before I even finished, knowing he would hear me from the elevator.
The ride down was too long, but using energy to run that many flights when it wouldn’t save all that much time when I had to race five blocks was stupid. And apparently I hadn’t fully tied my boots, so that had to be fixed before I took off. But I was racing the moment I reached the ground floor.
I sprinted over to the scene, arriving in under five minutes from the time I picked up Shaw’s call, flashing my badge at CPD holding the perimeter.
“Bomb squad’s on the way,” the officer in charge told me, looking relieved someone higher up was taking over.
“Show me where,” I ordered. He nodded, not hesitating as he jogged to the front of the church, stopping about ten feet away from the doors and I didn’t need to ask why.
The large box wrapped as a Christmas present spoke volumes, not only with its size of at least a foot in height, length, and depth, but the shiny paper and large bow. I moved closer and saw the tag on it.
To: The Catholic Church
From: Those you didn’t protect
And I smelled explosives.
Fuck.
“It’s a bomb,” I declared, quickly backing away from it. “It’s not a prank. Call it in and get who you can down here but I want all the surrounding blocks evacuated. Divert buses that come near here and stop trains at the stations before.”
“Yes, Chief Thomas,” he said as he got on his radio.
My phone was already ringing with a call from Dain, letting me know he felt my upset. “It’s a bomb.”
“The Deep Slumber is two blocks west of there and I warned them the kids are coming,” Dain told me. “I’m sending whoever’s in the building who can help.”
“Good, yes, I forgot that was there,” I sighed, relieved that was an option and like Noah would care if we sent the kids to one of the hotels that were now his. “I’ll talk to the principal directly. Call Shaw and let her know the update and get us help here.”
“Got it. Love you.”
“Me too,” I said before hanging up, glad when I felt Carter there. “Stay here and help them push back the scene. One of you check every inch of the church just in case.”
“Got it,” he told me before I took off for the school.
“Evacuate the school,” I ordered the people standing at the main entrance. “Two blocks west is The Deep Slumber and they know the kids are coming. We’ve got people arriving soon to help.”
“We can’t take the children there,” one of the nuns hissed at me. “You want to take the children over to the vampires? We want those demons away from our school, not to take children there.”
“There is a fucking bomb not even half a block from where we’re standing,” I snapped. “They can keep the kids warm and safe. Do it, now.” I snarled when she opened her mouth to argue with me, letting my power flash. “They are not going to eat the kids, you bigot.”
She gasped when Alena and Eva arrived, never able to stay out of it when they were in town.
“Two blocks west,” I told them, pointing just in case they didn’t know. “Noah’s hotel is there and Dain warned them.”
“Got it, we’ll deal with the nun,” Alena promised.
“Pull the fire alarm and get those kids safely out of range and to where it’s warm and they can accommodate them, or I will arrest you for child endangerment and let who’s next in charge do it,” I ordered the nun as she tried to stop Alena and Eva from coming into the school.
More wolves showed up from the apartment and jumped in to help, teaming up with teachers to do head counts and others helping the police get traffic out of the area. They’d already blocked off the streets right there so that was one safe place for the kids to start heading and away from the damn bomb.
“Why are we not doing what we did last time?” Eva asked me as she joined me back by the church for a moment.
“We don�
��t know what the device is this time and we could risk blowing it by trying to open it. The bomb squad has the right equipment to scan it first.”
She smiled brightly at me. “Isn’t it fun that we have such excitement every time I visit?”
“No, I’d like some calm, thanks,” I drawled, rolling my eyes as she raced back off. I shrugged when I got several looks from the officers around us. “She’s a thousand years old and next to impossible to kill. Apparently that gets boring.” I nodded when several snorted. Yeah, I’d prefer the boring too.
Seriously, did Athens and Greece have like no crime rate?
I doubted that but more likely she just wasn’t ever involved like I was.
“CTA has informed all buses and stopped the trains that go by there, Chief Thomas,” the officer told me. “We’ve got the streets closed off for three blocks back and getting the traffic out inside the barrier.”
“Good job and fast,” I praised, glad when the CPD around me beamed. Hey, they took enough shit and often for when they fucked up or had someone dirty so yeah, I could give them the pat on the back when they deserved it too.
“Church cleared including the residence,” Sander told me as he came jogging over.
“Good, help CPD evacuate,” I ordered, pointing to the two apartment buildings. “They can’t hear the heartbeats of which doors to knock on. Get a few to help you.”
“We can help with that, Alpha,” Gayle said from behind me, several from the pack and more that worked for the club there.
“Take one officer with you and let them handle the doors that won’t open,” I instructed. “Do not break down a door without permission. People ignore the fire alarms all the time.”
“I would think not so many,” she muttered, able to hear all the ones people had pulled around us already.
“Yeah, I’ll be hearing that for days,” I agreed, wiggling my finger in my ear.
We moved back where we were set up to at least down the block and across the street once more help arrived. Besides the school and one apartment building, the closest buildings were actually restaurants, so it wasn’t too bad getting people out and locking the places closed so no one was misbehaving or just assuming it was a drill or false alarm.