by Sonja Bair
Although I probably looked like a pile of wet rags after our relatively short airplane flight from SLO, Alrik strolled in looking as put together as an IKEA shelving unit assembled by a pro. He was slightly shorter than David, but still taller than average. His sandy blond hair was styled to that perfect nexus between careless and fashionably coiffed, but without the gobs of product that most hipsters need. I swear the hair on his head was afraid to disobey his will. He filled out his expensive suit well, and either the suit was woven half of starch or Alrik himself forbade the suit to gain a single wrinkle during the transatlantic flight. He turned most women’s heads, and more than a few men’s, as he walked toward us. But Alrik didn’t notice, or more probably, didn’t care—he was on business now.
David stood to shake Alrik’s hand. There was no love lost between them, but this wasn’t the first time they were forced to work together, so they would behave themselves for the time being. I gave Alrik what I hoped he would interpret as a friendly hug. Our relationship was a shady shade of gray, and hugs were a tricky beast.
We all ordered drinks from the hovering waitress and got down to business. Alrik pulled out a small notebook, clicked an elegant pen, and proceeded to fire off questions at David.
“Have you ever met the Alphas?”
“Once, about five years ago.”
“What were they like?”
“Amir and Julia lead the pack less like a dictatorship than Robert and Maria. Their word is still law, but they will let the others speak their mind up to a certain point. The pack overall seems to respect them and follow their leadership. Amir was born in Spain but was adopted by the Colorado pack in a werewolf exchange when he was ten. European and North African packs are much older than American packs and are slightly less rigid. From what I have seen, Amir has instilled some of that attitude into his leadership.” David paused to take a drink and consider his next words. “Julia was born and raised in the Colorado pack. Her father was the Alpha before her. She’s a more traditional American leader and less likely to accept change. The pack itself consists of a mix of traditional, change-averse werewolves and free-thinkers more likely to accept Freya. Honestly, packs aren’t much different than your average cross-section of people.”
“What strategy would you suggest for approaching them?”
“Packs aren’t like your Flock. We aren’t one cohesive group and don’t have a written code. What we do in San Luis Obispo isn’t going to affect them much, if at all. My suggestion is to show them proof that Freya is Alpha and then tell them to leave us alone.”
“How do you show them that Freya is an Alpha?”
David turned to study me for a moment. I felt like he was trying to judge how convincing of an Alpha werewolf I would be. To me, the answer was obvious: not very convincing at all. I hoped he saw something more.
“Werewolves can feel pack bonds, even from another pack. Getting close to Freya will be enough to feel that she is the Alpha of the California pack.”
Now it was Alrik’s turn to study me. I imagined that he was now trying to figure out why in the world I would be chosen to be pack leader. He wasn’t getting any suggestions from me; I had no idea. But the fact was that I was an Alpha, and I didn’t want to die. Therefore, I was heavily invested in tomorrow’s meeting. I turned to David.
“What should our initial impression be? Aggressive or placating?” I asked.
David considered my question for a moment. “Both and neither,” he answered. “We should come in confident but understanding. This is a big change for them to make and we need to respect that. But let’s also show them that they don’t have a choice unless they want a world of hurt coming their way.”
A delicate balance for sure. Tomorrow was going to be tricky, but looking at David and Alrik, I knew that I had good support. And through my experience working at the USN, I had dealt with more than my fair share of angry supernaturals. In fact, that was my specialty at the USN. I took a long sip of my chardonnay. Tomorrow wasn’t going to be a problem… I hoped.
Denver’s City Park claimed to be the Central Park of the West, and looking over the huge expanse of wooded and grassy acres, I could see the resemblance. There was even a science museum and a zoo within its boundaries. If this meeting went well, I was going to visit the science museum. If it didn’t go so great, well, maybe a zoo visit would be a good thing. I could hide in the bird cages.
We were to meet Amir, Julia, and their one companion near the City Park Pavilion. Alrik would hang back and let David and me do the talking, contrary to the Elders’ orders. We all agreed that the meeting would get off to a hostile start if The Muscle did all the talking. Thankfully, the Elders weren’t like the Alphas, who could physically and mentally force their subordinates to do their will. Besides, Alrik was intimidating enough just by standing off to the side, arms crossed, granite face, and biceps and triceps pushing the limit of his polo shirt’s sleeves.
The three of us gathered at the park benches by the Pavilion well before the designated meeting time. I scanned the area. Morning joggers, Canada geese, and the inevitable Canada goose poop surrounded us. The image struck a chord, and a chuckle bubbled out of me. Geese and their inescapable poop would survive long after us humans and our silly foibles. Those ridiculous birds were supposed to migrate back to northern climes during the summer, but in modern times, they settled in places they were never supposed to live and wouldn’t move despite all of humanity’s irritation and intentions. They were indestructible. I would keep the image of an absurd, non-native, pesky Canada goose in mind today. Like it or not, I was planted in the werewolf world, and I wasn’t moving.
David placed his hand against my shoulder and gently turned me so I looked down a sidewalk. I followed his gaze.
“Amir and Julia,” he said, nodding toward a couple purposefully striding toward us.
I studied the pair. Amir was shorter than Julia, but what he didn’t have in height, he made up for in width—all of which was muscle. He had the stance and bearing of a wrestler. He walked toward us shoulders first, each stride purposeful and direct. Julia was an unlikely companion. She was tall, willowy, and graceful. Her hair was cut to a bob, which emphasized her killer cheekbones. Her face was serene and she surveyed the park as if she were a tourist out for a morning stroll. I didn’t know exactly who I was expecting, but it wasn’t this pair. I tried to peek behind them to see who their third chosen werewolf was, but I didn’t have enough height.
“Who’s with them?” I asked David.
He didn’t answer me immediately but used his added inches to peer over them. I felt the hand which was still on my shoulder tense. I looked up at him. There was no obvious emotion on his face, but knowing him as I did, I could read displeasure by the slight wrinkles around his eyes. He sighed. “Maria.”
Maria. Wonderful. She wasn’t Alpha of a pack anymore and she didn’t have direct authority over David, but I would bet that she could cause almost as much trouble by being the voice behind the current Denver throne. Had she been feeding Julia and Amir lies and twisted half-truths to poison any chance of reconciliation? I sighed too. We would soon find out.
David greeted the two Alphas and motioned toward a nearby picnic table. Amir and Julia sat on one side, David and I on the other. Maria moved toward the table, but her new Alphas didn’t provide any room for her on the bench. The subtle maneuver eased some of my fears. Maria wasn’t going to be part of the ruling party. Alrik, on the other hand, made no motion toward the table. He stood about ten paces behind us, stock-still, legs slightly spread, arms crossed, surveying the park. He reminded me of pictures I’d seen of the president’s Secret Service guards—all-seeing and definitely not to be trifled with.
David started the conversation. “Thank you for meeting with us. It shows a great deal of understanding and tolerance to even consider talk before action.”
“Not much of this meeting has to do with tolerance. It has more to do with the blatant threats we received from your
Alva Elders.” Amir’s voice held hints of his early childhood in Spain, but mostly the flat tones found in the Western states dominated. “I assume you set them on me?”
Amir glowered at me, his neck muscles bunching tight beneath his shirt.
“Yes. I did,” I admitted without any hesitation. “After being almost killed by the last Alphas who discovered my werewolf connection, I wanted my back fully covered. Although it’s fair to say that I have no interest in going against the werewolves in general, I’m not going to let them push me or my pack around, either.” My voice was firm and unwavering.
Julia, who so far had merely gazed off into the distance, a dreamy look on her face, turned from staring at the duck pond to calmly focus on me. “But you never asked our opinion on the matter before threatening our pack. How do you think we felt when we were threatened with war or worse before having an opportunity to say our opinion on the matter?”
The air in my lungs whooshed out and I was momentarily speechless. The last few days spun back through my brain rapidly. Did we never ask them what they thought of the situation? I couldn’t think of a single time we didn’t just assume they were out after us. The whole meeting, our whole response suddenly was reframed.
“I guess we didn’t,” I admitted sheepishly. My hands opened palm up onto the picnic table and my shoulders dropped. “I apologize. That was a mistake on our part. Could you please tell us your opinion on my becoming Alpha?”
I didn’t look at David but felt him stiffen. Perhaps he didn’t want to retreat from our aggressive stance, but that was too bad. Because of Julia’s question, I realized we had made a classic blunder in negotiation, one that I should have recognized and stopped long before this point. We had put the Denver pack on the defensive, and now they were merely reacting in a way to protect themselves. And we had done all this without asking what they thought in the first place. My years at the USN should have taught me better. Why had I slipped so badly?
The silence, heavy with pent-up emotion, permeated the air—it felt almost as if a thunderstorm was rolling in. Based on my brief encounter with Amir, he seemed the shouting type, but Julia seemed to be the opposite. I wondered which would prevail.
Julia reached out first and placed her hand in my outstretched palm, smiling serenely. “Two years ago, we probably would have piled a crew of werewolves in a van, driven out to California, and killed you and your family.” The words were spoken in a drifting, conversational voice, but they chilled me to the bone. She gently squeezed my hand, let go, and leaned back. “But today is a different world than two years ago. How much has David told you about the current werewolf situation?”
I only barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “Information has been slow to reach me.”
She nodded as if she understood. “Werewolves do not like to talk about it, even to friends and family. We are experiencing a crisis within our packs because some of our packmates are having…” She gazed up at the sky as if it could beam down an appropriate phrasing. She settled on a word, “breakdowns.”
“Breakdowns?” I repeated, confused.
Amir answered gruffly, angling his whole body toward me. “There have been werewolves that have broken down and lost their rationality. With us, it’s always been a battle between animal and human nature, but as long as we are in a pack, werewolves have been able to find a balance. Now we are seeing our packmates going insane, threatening people, and hurting other werewolves. Strong leadership hasn’t helped, getting away from civilization hasn’t helped; nothing has stopped these werewolves from becoming uncontrollable and vicious. I’ve killed good friends because of their breakdowns.”
“Were these breakdowns happening in the Santa Fe pack, David?” If he had kept this from me as well, I was going to do some breaking down on him.
He frowned, his forehead wrinkling. “This is the first I have heard of anything like this, but I left the Santa Fe pack nearly a year ago.”
Julia spoke up. “According to Maria, she had to put down two people in the last three months because of breakdowns.” I looked up at Maria, standing two paces behind her new Alphas. Her eyes burned in anger as she stared me down.
A puzzle piece clicked into place. “Is that why you were going to kill Gina? Was she having one of these breakdowns?”
Julia, who had returned to staring into the distance, whipped her head toward me and focused in like a laser beam. “No. Werewolves who have gone through breakdowns deserve sympathy and understanding. Gina did not have a breakdown. She fully understood her treachery.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Perhaps if I had not killed so many worthy werewolves, she would be dead right now, but I am tired of death. It was easier to get rid of her.”
“Excuse my question, but didn’t you raise her as your own daughter?” Perhaps I was treading on thin ice, but this “treacherous” girl was living in my house.
Amir growled so loud, the table vibrated. “She is no longer our daughter.” A scraping across the wooden picnic table caught my attention. Looking down, I saw that his fingers had curled into a distinctly paw-like shape and his fingernails were thickening and lengthening into claws. Deep gouges scored the table under his hands.
Alrighty, perhaps the ice was thinner than I had guessed. A glance over at David revealed his granite face.
“Gina is now our packmate and no longer a concern of yours. Any interference would be considered an attack.” David’s tone was smooth and calm, but the deep timbre of his voice held hints of threats.
Julia waved her hand dismissively. “She is your problem now. Good riddance.”
David nodded, leaning forward onto his elbows. “Freya is also a packmate. Any negative actions would be considered an attack as well.” Now his voice was deeper, rolling with bass.
Sighing, Julia tapped her long, manicured pink nails on the table and turned to Alrik. “Ah, yes, the Alpha who is not a werewolf and has an army of muscled, flying freaks to enforce her will.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I snuck a look at Alrik. He didn’t seem upset by the insult. In fact, a small smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Yup, that’s me,” I said recapturing her attention. “The least fangy werewolf leader ever. But here’s the thing: I didn’t choose the role, and I don’t want the role. What I do want is to make sure that the people depending on me stay healthy and don’t go nutso. So we’re stuck here. I can’t get out of the Alpha role and you can’t get rid of me or else you’ll risk more werewolves with breakdowns.”
Julia rolled her eyes to the sky. “Or we could kill you and your entire pack and be done with the whole thing.” Alrik took a step forward. Julia turned, winked at him, blew a kiss, and returned her focus to David and me. “Honestly, it would be my first choice, but call your hawk off. We aren’t going to. We have enough problems as it is. So here’s the plan instead—it’s time for a nationwide werewolf assembly. All the packs are suffering and we need to find a solution as soon as possible. While we are trying to save our packs, we can figure out what to do with you.”
Okay, I thought, I could work with this plan.
Julia continued, “All the Alphas and any necessary supporting members will be coming to San Luis Obispo in two weeks’ time.”
“Whoa, whoa. Wait a second. Everyone is coming to San Luis Obispo?” I asked, panic rising.
“Explain your reasoning.” David’s leg pressed against mine under the table. I guessed that he was trying to reassure me, but I could barely breathe. Why would they want to descend on my sleepy little town?
“You asked for it,” Amir said. “You want the werewolf packs to accept Freya. Therefore you will get all the packs to come to you and decide. And in return, you will accept any trouble that may result in your backyard. You can’t cherry-pick which troubles you want if you are to be part of the werewolves.”
“I see your point,” David said smoothly. He did? Mouth open, I gaped at him. He continued, undeterred, “Therefore, we accept the responsibility and hono
r of hosting the assembly and will arrange for housing and meeting space. The San Luis Obispo pack looks forward to your visit. I assume that you will contact us with details?”
Amir nodded. This was all moving way too fast—how did we go from telling them to leave us alone to hosting a nationwide werewolf convention?
“Good. Please send my regards to John, Amber, and the rest of your pack.” David stood up and extended his hand to the Alphas. Amir shook it brusquely, while Julia only lightly placed her hand into David’s and barely moved her arm. Rising to stand next to David, I offered my hand as well. Both Alphas ignored it, turning their backs to leave. My hand dangled awkwardly in the air. I felt like extending a finger of non-courtesy at their retreating backs but decided not to stoop to their rudeness level.
When the Alphas were out of earshot, I turned to David and placed my hand on his forehead. “How are you feeling this morning? Do you feel feverish? Perhaps a little under the weather? Because you just did something only a sick, sick man would do.”
David grabbed my hand from his head and kissed it, a twinkle in his eyes. “Nope, this turned out better than I could have hoped for.”
“Are you serious? If so, you really are a few sandwiches short of a picnic.”
Laughing, he released my hand and put his arm around my shoulders. “All sandwiches present and accounted for. Let me try to reframe the situation and maybe it’ll sound a little better. The werewolves are in crisis right now. Of course, that by itself is bad news, terrible news, and one that the packs will be trying to get to the bottom of as fast as possible. But our pack’s more immediate concern is your acceptance. So we slide our issue in under the radar while hopefully solving the nationwide problem. Based on energy I was getting from Amir and Julia, if we help figure out the source and solution to these breakdowns, or at least how to deal with them, they would welcome you with open arms.”