Reorganized Wolf (Seraphine Thomas Book 12)

by Erin R Flynn

  “As I was saying—and please don’t interrupt me again, I am your elder and councilman—I realized what I could have cost Eugene. I jumped the gun by announcing he took over.”

  “He will never take over.”

  “So you say but let’s be honest that your position as Alpha Bitch is—”

  “I’m Alpha. Not Alpha Bitch. I have never been mated or—”

  “I told you not to interrupt me.”

  “Then get your facts correct and stop talking out of your ass,” I growled. “Your apology sucks and I don’t care if you’re an elder or councilman. You talk down to me again and this conversation will be face to face and Eugene will be the least of your problems. Are we clear?”

  He let out a long and heavy sigh. “Clearly you will be irrational about this. This is why bitches cannot lead a pack. I understand you have not been mated. I understand you have kept the pack because of who backs you. I’m saying that cannot last forever without being mated. The council would condone the alliance of you and Eugene and him taking over.

  “Many have wanted that alliance for a long time and even if you are an adopted and infected Dorcus, it’s better than no alliance at all. Now we can get around your infertility so you’re not completely useless as a bitch, but your standing with your family is the draw for him. If we hurry you can take over more packs and strengthen your position.”

  I stared at the phone and could not believe my ears. I texted Melicent as he spoke and warned her I was conferencing her in on some bullshit, glad when she could take the call.

  “This is what’s best for you, Seraphine. Women simply cannot be Alpha. They will always be bitches and while it’s unfortunate that you are not a whole bitch and unable to bear Vasiliev’s pups, you’ve pulled off a miracle and seem to have won over his wolf and his heart. You must act now and make this alliance with the council’s blessing.

  “It’s what’s best for your family as well as they will certainly not continue to care for an infected and adopted daughter that brings nothing to the family. If you can bring him and an alliance with the council, that will secure your position with them. It’s the job of bitches, after all. Surely you have seen that’s how paranormals are by now even with your limited time and your abduction.”

  “No, my younger sister has an American and human upbringing, Councilman,” Melicent cut in, her tone polite but I heard the edge and knew she was fuming. “I can tell you’ve thought on this at length though. Why do you not fly out to New York right away and lay out this proposal for me. I will speak with my father as he very much approves of the last Vasiliev but not an alliance with the council.”

  “Oh, you conferenced in your sister without telling me?” the councilman demanded.

  “You said not to interrupt and this is all going over my head,” I answered, trying to keep the mocking out of my tone.

  “Yes, of course it would,” he sighed. “It’s why I told everyone he already took over as he should have done it.”

  Melicent was going to so kill this asshole.

  “No more of this cold phone call,” Melicent insisted. “You did risk my little sister’s life in Russia and spoke for our family in a way you should not have. Come to New York and apologize to me as the eldest. Then we will speak on your plan and I will arrange the next steps as she is hesitant.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’re open to this. I thought you’d be as obstinate and illogical as other bitches who think they can lead like your mother and grandmother,” he muttered.

  Oh shit. There was going to be a line to kill him.

  “The world is a perilous place and we are the most prudent type of wolves who take out threats and make the right choices every day,” she about purred. “You will see this firsthand when we meet.”

  They talked for a while longer and Melicent handled it like a pro. She had him eating out of her hand, promising to send the family jet and treat him like royalty to get him to her.

  And women were stupid? Idiot. He was the mouse in her trap and he didn’t even have a clue. She promised to call me later before we all hung up and the moment we did I burst out laughing. I mean, I was dying. I couldn’t stop, holding my stomach I was laughing so hard.

  Well, that elder was dead. How many was the shifter council seriously going to go through? Fuck, I had to warn Councilwoman Haton. This was going to be another mess.

  “It’s been a rough fucking day, Seraphine, and I’m only answering as your friend as I’m half a bottle of wine into my night,” she greeted and I about dropped the phone I was so shocked. It was the first time I’d seen Haton’s perfect calm and control crack.

  “I guess that depends if you like the new wolf elder or not,” I hedged.

  “Fucking asshole is a pain in my side and pushing the other assholes to stop hiding that they’re sexist fucking assholes,” she grumbled. “Instead of being scandalized at what he says and hiding their feelings, the fucking morons are starting to rally around him as if thinking he’s the leader they’ve needed to push back progress and return back to the better old ways.”

  “When women never had power and shut up and let the men lead?”

  “Yes, something like that.”

  “Oh, yeah, I got an earful of that tonight.”

  She didn’t respond at first. “He called you?”

  “Yes, because apparently Eugene threatened him for risking my life.”

  “Oh well, of course, because it upset another male, not anything us damn females have said. They had to pick an asshole with fucking connections and—”

  “He’ll be gone soon.”

  “I only wish,” she sighed.

  I snorted. “No, I mean, I’m warning you.” I filled her in on the full call and that I conferenced in Melicent and how she played him. “I give him about two minutes after he’s in New York that he insults her to her face and loses his head or she does something completely befitting to humiliate him first. I’m thinking of a glass of wine of my own to debate my suggestions after I get the work done I need to. What an asshole.”

  “Shit, it’s my turn to send you a gift basket,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t allow this and warn the others.” She burst out laughing and I could have sworn I heard her mutter “fuck it” but I wasn’t sure.

  Yeah, I felt the same way. A man like that was toxic and while I normally didn’t think death was the right punishment for someone’s sexist views, his bullshit could have gotten me killed. He was riding that line of undermining my position as Alpha pretty damn hard and should pay the price. My having breasts didn’t negate that rule because he believed bitches didn’t count.

  Fuck. Him.

  “Have any other good news?” she asked when she stopped laughing.

  “I have no idea how much you’ve been caught up on but I forgot to ask Brian if he’s meeting with you on his visit to Laila.”

  “I’ve been unreachable for several days. What has happened?”

  That was also a lot to fill her in on and she shocked me again.

  “Are you okay?” Her genuine sympathy touched me.

  “I am. He… Brian means well. I wouldn’t love him as I do if he didn’t. He sees the world in black and white and trusts our side so much. Everyone on our side aren’t the good guys though, and he needs to include me more. I think he finally gets that.”

  “I hate to sound crass and I will blame the wine for this, but I think he’s damn lucky he almost died or you wouldn’t be so quick to forgive him this. It’s a big fuck-up.”

  “It is and I agree. I thought I would die when I saw him shot,” I rasped. “I thought I would die when I knew I was losing him. I felt him slip through my fingers and I knew part of me would never recover or be the same. Knowing that, seeing how much that would kill part of my soul, makes you able to forgive a lot of what seems important but isn’t.”

  “I really need to speak to your therapist. I know you’ve put in the work but that woman truly knows how to reach emotionally closed off people becaus
e you sound like a different person than who I met in Vegas a year and a half ago. I have hundreds of years of baggage I need help with and you give me hope maybe we can all find a way to let people in.”

  “I’ll text you Phobie’s number. She is a goddess.” I thought about that a moment. “Thank you for saying that. I know you might chastise yourself later that you were picking on me but it’s hard to see I’ve made progress. This time I saw it with the help of Simone and Phobie. I did put in the work and my foundations held to handle this problem. That was what I wanted most. The rest… Well, it’s always a new day.”

  “With more shit and shit on us,” she finished for me. “Yes, and unfortunately that never changes as a woman and a woman in power. Though maybe this time we’ll pick a wolf who deserves the job instead of one connected. Otherwise I might just send all of them to Melicent until we do. No one will risk Alena or Eva’s wrath.”

  “Not if they’re smart.”

  “I will make sure to put Havers through his paces and introduce him to a few of the good council members since we’ll be working with him now too. Thanks for the heads-up.”

  “It’s good progress if the fucking director doesn’t try to blow it all to shit.”

  “I assume you’re working on that too?”

  “Trying to.”

  “Let me know if you need help. Off the record.”

  “I have off the record help but I’ll let him know you might be an ally.”

  “Oh good, I could use some fun,” she purred.

  Yeah, that didn’t sound like fun to me. I only liked going undercover to get the bad guys. This was a bad person running the FBI to shit on good guys. That wasn’t fun to me.

  It hurt my heart and soul to know and upset me we worked for the same place.

  We finished our call and I got back to work… Because I would always get back to work. That was the job and I loved it. Even if it was too many hours, too much stress, and too much bullshit. Hell, I even accepted it meant reheating my food that night.

  And cold, reheated fries sucked.

  I focused on work, taking a break to put Topher to bed and checking on things over there. I wanted to handle more, but Dain had it in hand and the situation was serious. Two of the names I ruled out fast. Not to be ageist, but the likelihood an eighty-four-year-old and a ninety-three-year-old living in a retirement home were leaving bombs around Chicago was probably nil.

  The other two could be likely but my gut was telling me no.

  My other “break” was to talk to Brian, but I was still comparing lists as I did as it wasn’t hard to see the lack of matching names.

  “Is my advice welcome?” Brian asked when I was done.

  “Yes, always. The problem is mine doesn’t always seem to be,” I snapped, clearing my throat and cooling my temper. “Sorry, that wasn’t all you. The new wolf elder is a fucking prick.”

  “Oh good, that will be fun.”

  “He won’t be a problem long. Melicent’s handling him.” I sighed when he went dead quiet. “This is the part you’re going to start needing to get used to, Boy Scout. I know it’s hard, it was hard for me too. The guy risked my life in Russia with his lies. There are laws against undermining the authority of an Alpha as it’s a death fight for leadership. He doesn’t get to ignore that because I’m female.”

  He still didn’t reply right away. “I think I need to start looking into these laws and understanding them better. I said I never cared if it kept you safe but I wasn’t directly involved then. I will be now.”

  “Call Dain. He’ll lead you down a very gentle path and the logic of them.” I chuckled darkly as I sat back in my chair. “Unlike how I was dropped in the deep end and a whole other world that seemed on crack. Once he made me back up and walked me through a lot of it… I get it now. I don’t always agree, but I don’t always agree with human laws. But—you’ll see the logic and fairness.”

  “I always did but yeah, time to get down to the details.”

  “What was your advice?” I asked when he was quiet several more moments.

  “Leave what you said to the director and don’t push it again,” he answered. “I’ve found even with my rare times talking to him that pushing him makes him push back or shut it down. Giving him the information and leaving him to handle it the way he wants normally leads to the best outcome you’ll get from him.”

  “Yeah, I could see that about him,” I sighed. “Thanks. And yeah, I wasn’t going to bring it up again or harp more. I really don’t talk to him. I think it’s only my second time ever and he wasn’t director the last time. You, Monroe, and Galvin have blocked me before this. I’d like to go back to that. It did feel good to make it clear that I would go to the mat on him telling Murray about my ring though.”

  “I still want to know how he found out about that.”

  I shrugged even if he couldn’t see it. “People talk. Everyone wants the leg up and I’m sure lots heard us say this or that in New York or since. It just crosses such a line. I know being clairvoyant isn’t a disability but I was always raised and treated as if it was. So to me, I’m framing it like…”

  “As if he told people you had a bad ticker or something that can be exploited, which is confidential and over the line.”

  “Yeah, exactly like that.”

  “I don’t disagree and I never thought he would go there.”

  “Hate is funny like that and he hates supes, Bri. Sorry.”

  “I’m not. Fuck him. I still would have made this choice to be with you and our family. You saved my life and I don’t regret this for one second. I know things were different for you but Theon was great and I have a lot of support. I don’t resent him and I’m glad I’m one of you.”

  Something healed in my heart, a fear or worry I didn’t realize I was carrying around, because I rubbed my chest and nodded even if he still wasn’t seeing me. “Glad to hear it. I gotta go and get to work on this.”

  “Be safe, babe. I’ll make you proud with this consort training and show you I’m serious about this—about us.”

  I was glad to hear it and relieved as we hung up. I got back to work and crawled into bed when I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. At least I had several more names to give to the archdiocese and DCFS that I needed files from.

  My phone ringing woke me and I heard a grunt as I reached for it. I blinked down to find Enzo there staring up at me. I’d been snuggled up against him and someone was behind me.

  Carter. My wolf knew him immediately even if I was still waking up. I shook my head, not even asking the questions I probably should, and grabbed my phone before I missed the call.

  “Thomas.”

  “Chief, we’ve got another bomb,” Shaw greeted me.

  “Fuck,” I groaned with feeling. “Seriously? Is this asshole going to do this every business day until one goes off? Where did he get this much C-4 from?”

  I might have said more but she cut me off. “Chief, it’s at CPD headquarters on Michigan.”

  “Oh fuck,” I breathed. “I’m there as soon as I can. Same orders as before. See how much help you can get us. This is going to be a nightmare.”

  “On it.”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” I growled as I hung up and leapt out of bed.

  “What am I missing?” Carter asked.

  “It’s on CPD turf. This is going to be a pissing match nightmare with every fucking anyone who thinks they’re important trying to take over the show and getting in our way if we don’t handle things first. And it’s the South Side when we’re a North Side office.”

  “That matters in Chicago?” Enzo asked.

  “More than you would think,” I drawled. I took the world’s fastest shower, not bothering to remind Enzo there were a few other bathrooms he could have used when he joined me. I did give him a look there wasn’t a chance in hell he was getting whatever he was wanting.

  Yeah, I was ever going to have sex when there was a bomb in Chicago and a situation I was in charge o
f. Was that like an ancient vampire thrill thing to experience the danger and rush of?

  I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.

  The right calls had been made as people were ready to go in the lobby and vehicles already pulled up out front. It was too far to run over to and not cause trouble getting in the way through that many busy areas.

  “Hit the sirens,” I told Orson when I saw he was behind the wheel. He did and off we went. Luckily it was still pretty early so it wasn’t normal horrible rush hour traffic but it was pretty bad. At one point Emilio blew his temper and jumped out.

  It was hard not to laugh when he caught up to us a few miles later with bags of McDonald’s breakfast. Hey, I never objected to food or using time wisely like that.

  I made calls and got updates as we went, glad when I got word from Oswalt he was on the scene. Part of me had to swallow my annoyance that he was always on the scene before me.

  Which meant he was informed well before me. Fine, CPD got the calls first and they jumped through hoops and around a bit. I couldn’t even blame that first one as people wouldn’t have known to contact me first with what happened with Brian.

  But I had a feeling this time was intentional as it was CPD turf and I was a fed. Because I was pretty sure Oswalt lived on the north side of Chicago and I was downtown so… Yeah, he would beat me to the scene if he could fly.

  That was the bullshit and politics of law enforcement and something I could get upset over another today. Today there was a fucking bomb.

  The circus was in full swing when we arrived. I took a deep breath and got out, ready to get talked down to and ordered around by people who had no right to tell me shit. It was always the way when big men with tiny dicks tried to assert their authority and completely lose focus of the problem.

  “I don’t care who she thinks—” someone was yelling at Oswalt.

  “It’s the same damn case and that doesn’t change because it’s CPD property this time,” Oswalt yelled back.

  “You’re both incredibly pretty and popular but I think we need to focus on the bomb,” I cut in. “Oswalt, can Carter borrow your X-ray thing?”