by Erin R Flynn
“I don’t know how.”
“No, you don’t, but I do, and Phobie will help. She’s got you emotionally, and I’m going to walk you through what you need as a new shifter, what I do for any new cat who asks my help or to become clan. You may be Alpha, but you are new. So we start from the beginning.”
“I thought I had with the food and stuff?”
“Yes, in part, but Dain’s not a shifter.” She guided me over to the couch, and we sat down. “Tonight before bed, you’re going to talk to your wolf and see what she needs, giving it more priority. You take care of human stuff, your morals, the way you think of life, and your siren because she can fuck with you. But you neglect your wolf that way, and she needs you too. She is your foundation now.”
“I don’t—” I started, but she waved me quiet.
“When life knocks me over, like when I had all those problems at the bistro and humans screwing with me, with my people, my panther was how I made it through. Your animal is grounded. Yes, she runs on instinct, but that’s not bad. It’s hard for you as you were trained by the FBI and that logical, that calm side with all the rules conflicts and confuses her. You’ve basically put your wolf in the corner.”
“For work stuff,” I argued, sobering up and fast with the water and serious topic.
“Sera, your life is one long case and fight for justice,” she sighed, running her fingers through her long hair. “That’s who you are, and you let the work Sera, the human Sera lead. That’s how you coped, and I’m telling you that it was a temporary fix because of you getting a wolf and siren. You need to backtrack and start again. Set the foundation.”
I sat with that a minute, finishing the water before giving a slow nod. “How?”
“Let me talk to your other side,” she said after a moment.
I sort of mentally shrugged at my siren, and she took the driver’s seat. “You speak of taking care of her wolf and want to speak with me?”
“Yes, because you’re also Alpha, and while her wolf will take the backseat, you tend to throw fits,” Simone explained, giving me a look to not even try and argue. “This blow to Sera is horrid enough you’re scared she’s going to revert and neglect you, yes?”
“Yes.”
“You agree things need to change, yes?”
“Yes.” I was a bit shocked she agreed so easily, but she mentally gave me that same glance she normally did, sort of reminding me that if I crack, they do too.
“You understand she cannot just quit work or stop being Alpha, as that would crumble too much of everything. As much as you want the attention and the club fun, you understand it’s a part of her life and cannot be if the other parts are gone, aren’t stable?”
“Yes. I even agree with the need for her to build a better foundation. What is your idea?”
“That you guys start over. What is the one fundamental thing you want from her for now that can be what you always get and add to later?” She waved my siren to hold off when she immediately went to answer. “Besides feeding. Sera has that as the braces for this new concrete foundation. She needs more food and to feed, as it will keep her going. She has worked hard on that and seen how much it will help her, save her, so that’s set.”
I felt my siren hesitate, understanding everything wouldn’t be Thanksgiving feasts with me as the meal until we handled our lives better. “Desire. It’s not only the energy of the feed but the desire from the show, the energy of the act and people. I need that just as her wolf needs the hunt, the chase, the play. If we need a bit of a cleanse or time out on sex because of what happened, I understand. That is what I need.”
“Good because I was going to suggest more runs for her wolf as the foundation too,” Simone replied, nodding it was acceptable. “Sera, you need to settle them more, and you will be settled.”
“How?” I muttered, searching her eyes and asking my wolf too. “Give them one run and one club feeding a week as a promise and try to find time, make time for two as our foundation? Knowing that out of town assignments put it all on hold, but I will do my best?”
“Yes, exactly that,” she agreed, and I felt both my wolf and siren happy with the idea.
“That’s it?” I asked them more than her.
“Yes,” Simone chuckled, my other sides sort of nodding as well. “They feel what you do, Sera. They’re hurting as you hurt. When something like this happens, stop everything and sit down with them. The moment I do that and my panther reminds me I’m not alone, that she is there with me, I feel better. Don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I agreed after a moment, a small knot of tension easing. “So that’s the plan for the next however long until we get a foundation? Just that?”
“Yes. You have more in place than it seems, Sera. While you’ve been running all around, you’ve set up stable floors and a lot. You just need to start putting yourself first and solidify in your new life.” She waited until I nodded. “What is it you need? What do you want?”
I nodded again, getting what she was saying, and pulled out my phone, calling someone she probably wouldn’t have thought of, but the one thing that weighed on me most was when others were in limbo because of me, and I had a bunch in limbo.
“Alpha, what can I do for you?” Remus asked, his tone nervous. Normally he called me Sera, so I guessed he was with Vlad.
“Some things happened that I’m sure you’ll hear about, but some vampires might come work for the FBI.”
“Not twenty new ancients for her coven?” Vlad drawled, maybe not thinking I had good enough hearing to catch it.
So I ignored it and his pettiness. However it happened, if the situation were reversed, I wouldn’t have been thrilled either. “Noah’s slammed with FBI stuff and our training of already employees. I was hoping you could run these hopefuls through some drills and timed trials? Get a feel of whether they’re worth the hassle or if I’m getting conned. From there I might be able to swing some other tests for them, but I need a starting line.”
He was quiet a moment. “Does this have something to do with Noah asking to crash with me a few days so you could go home and not have him there?”
“I didn’t know about that, but I’m staying with Simone,” I admitted, knowing he’d hear about that soon enough. “Lyon’s witch lover attacked anyone she thought had ties to me or who was important to me. Some were able to not fall for it. That’s all I know until Nina has a chance to learn more. Tell Vlad I’m sorry she went after Tristan because even if he’s not mine anymore, hurting him would hurt me.”
“That explains the shock Tristan was in earlier and didn’t want to talk about it.”
I snorted. “Yeah, good times. Can you help, or is the schedule full?”
“Right, sorry, let me check.” He sighed, and I heard a few beeps like he was looking on his phone calendar. “I can do something at eleven through lunch break with them tomorrow. I’ve got a couple of hours only, but I’ve got half a day Tuesday where I could do more.”
“I’ll take it,” I said after a few moments. “A couple of hours is enough to know if they’re duds and not leave them in limbo if I’m taking them. That’s good because we have the dominance fights this weekend too.” I sighed, shooting Simone a look like so much for that foundation, huh?
“Vlad says he would like to discuss this catering you agreed to,” Remus muttered, and I hadn’t heard Vlad say it, so he was probably writing notes there.
“Crap,” I sighed again. “Simone, I made a deal to protect a FBI agent the cartel is actively looking for to take out, as they’re a witness. And until my office and the council can wipe out the cartel for trying to purchase the boys as leverage over Brian, the agent and their whole family is in danger, along with the agents guarding them. So I said our hosts can cater one of Vlad’s parties and use our blood.”
“As I said, your whole life is one big case,” she sighed, scrubbing her fingers over her forehead. “When does he want this, Remus?”
“He’d very much like to do an o
wner’s box party at the casino this weekend, as we’re now entertaining Councilman Papadopoulos we didn’t invite to town.”
I winced, and Simone’s eyes went wide, remembering what I’d said earlier. So Vlad wasn’t busted yet because he would not be so nice if he was in trouble.
“I invited him for work, not to stay forever,” I defended, not sure how it was my fault, but it would absolutely be my fault.
“Tell Vlad we can cater blood at the last minute, but pulling people allowed to serve it would be the problem,” Simone said. “The license is very specific, and it has to be someone of our company to dispense it, meaning bartend, so if he had servers, that’s fine. Let me make some calls and I will get with him.”
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s fine. We’re going to be there anyways, so I’m not worried. Beth is handling the club, and Gayle’s got the shows covered. We just can’t pull people from that if we’re not there.”
“Vlad says he’ll await your call and thank you for trying to juggle this for a good show.”
“The reasons you break are very valid, Sera,” Simone whispered after I hung up the phone, coming over and hugging me. “We’re just going to start doing better so you don’t, which means you have to become more selfish, okay? You have to. You can only be a good Alpha, division chief, and siren when you are taken care of. Please believe me.”
“Okay, we’ll try it your way,” I agreed, having seen improvement and felt better after working with Dain and Phobie. Simone was right and now was the time to let another Alpha show me the basics and find my way.
No more fucking running on ice.
15
The next morning Simone and I went for a run at the pack lands, my wolf needing it after not getting a full moon run and all the stress lately. It wasn’t just the exercise but the challenge of keeping up with a panther, another Alpha. When we finished, I shot Simone a knowing look, and she didn’t rub in the point or say something like of course she knew it would help.
She wasn’t petty like that.
I dropped her off at the club and headed to the office, taking a spare key from her so I could get back into her condo even if she was still working. It would probably be late, as Hestia was working with the three new sirens who were going to help us temporarily at the club—or more if they worked out—so she could head up to Milwaukee.
I shook my head as I pulled into the parking lot. It had only been days since Alpha Lyon and his attempted invasion, and it seemed like weeks, months ago even with the amount of shit that constantly hit us.
After talking to Remus, I made a bunch more calls and set up what came next, getting the right parties involved. Axel met me at the door, giving me a worried look.
“Where are we with the interrogations we sent you?” I asked in way of greeting, making it clear only work was on the docket.
“The first twenty have been completed, video evidence sent to SAiC Harris along with final sentencing. He has a team ready to fill out the required reports on your FBI end, and I was told a few from Chief Havers’s office was helping as penance for something they did.”
I bit back a smirk, guessing it was a newbie who had run her mouth about us and her friends. “Good. I would like someone from the council to give a quick list so Chief Monroe and I have a reference for when it comes up as it always does. And I mean quick, as I don’t have time for full interrogations or to read that many reports that will come. Name, pack, basic bio, and list of admitted crimes along with sentence. That’s it.”
“Those were included as the cover letter with all the evidence sent,” he told me. “The councilwoman figured that was how it was handled with the terrorists, so it was something you actually used in the packaging of cases and files.”
“Yes, thank you. Tell Harris I want those twenty.” I took the tablet he offered me, raising an eyebrow.
“He had them scanned and waiting for you. They won’t carry out sentencing until you have a chance to review and sign off there’s nothing else you need.”
“I trained him well,” I muttered, glancing over the list. My gut twisted when I saw several had intentionally infected women for the pack… While raping them. That was about the only way it could have gotten worse than what Engle was doing. “These are recent. It seems people didn’t take what Engle did as a warning but as a suggestion.”
“The council is in agreement and making a very clear and official proclamation to every Alpha that this is against our laws and the punishment. Also that the Wild Salvation statute has officially become unlawful for all shifter species.”
I shot him a relieved look. “Good. You should visit more often if we get this much done.”
“I appreciate the compliment, but I prefer my normal job instead of such duties.”
“Oh, we get more than paperwork and files,” I drawled, hearing him clearly that it wasn’t exciting enough. Right, because most every day I prayed for a little less crazy.
“Thomas, you’re joining me for dinner tonight, right?” Deputy Director Galvin greeted, sitting in my office using my computer.
“I didn’t know I was invited, sir,” I muttered, wondering what he was up to.
He glanced up at me and smiled. “Thomas, would you join me for dinner tonight? And drinks after, as I invited some people who have been against your division and getting the budget you need.” He chuckled when I raised an eyebrow. “Congress is on recess for the holidays.”
“Oh boy,” I sighed, realizing we were going to play politics, but then I smiled. “And who else did you invite, sir?”
“Yes, Councilman Papadopoulos has also accepted my invitation understanding the game afoot. Your business partner is astounding. She set up a private dinner on the club level before it opens so I could invite as many as available.” He shot me a worried look. “There is a part I need you to play.” He nodded when I sighed.
I was to be the arm candy that would be just the airhead they didn’t behave around so I could get intel. I’d played that role many times undercover to help someone else’s cover or whatever. I glanced over my shoulder. “Who can make a run over to the regular office? I need an undercover outfit. They know my size.”
“Simone said she had that covered from the assortment Queen Laila sent as possible designs,” he interjected, giving me a look that he didn’t understand all of that and didn’t really care. “And some extra ‘pretty fillers who will keep their mouths shut,’ she told me.”
“Oh boy, she’s hunting,” I worried. Then another thought hit me. “Sir, how did you swing this so fast?”
He shrugged. “A few I already planned to have the dinner with, and the others want my ear after the bust, as it’s about to become something incredibly political, and the rest just want my ear for something else. I said I was here working on this and if they want me, I arranged for a night off and they can join me.”
“Playing to the egos of powerful people that you would roll out the red carpet for them but show strength you won’t go to them,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. “Sir, you’d make a good vampire.”
He snorted. “If you don’t think politics isn’t about sucking people dry half the time, then you’ve not played enough of it.”
“I try not to play it at all,” I reminded him. I turned when I felt powerful vampires, glad the councilman was coming to see how we were testing his people. Well mine, if I wanted them. “They’re here.”
Galvin closed out a few things, and we went to greet them. Since it was business, the big dogs went first, but then Apollo waved to someone and they gave him a box.
“A gift for Mistress Seraphine Thomas, recognizing you as one of the few non-vampire Mistresses or Masters by the International Vampire Council and in thanks for what you have done in service to our council,” he said formally, giving me the box.
I opened my mouth and then closed it, shooting Monroe a worried look. He seemed to be holding his breath as well. That seemed like something awesome but somet
hing that also made me more available and less protected against vampire games.
“You wear many hats,” he added, his eyes dancing with mirth at my hesitation. “It doesn’t make you no longer a shifter, but not just another Alpha among the vampires should problems arise.”
“You’re protecting me,” I whispered, shock flooring me.
“Yes, as you have taken many personal hits and as your own government seems to be a threat to you some days, we find you a valuable asset to help vampires and thus, giving you official status that will add a layer of protection.”
“Thank you,” I accepted, completely touched when some of the shifter council seemed to want me dead or subjugated. I preferred respected and protected.
Didn’t everyone?
I opened the box and gave a polite smile at the bland looking crystal that was about the size of my palm. “This is lovely, thank you.”
Apollo’s eyes went wide before he burst out laughing, being way more open and expressive than I’d seen him in a professional setting, or any not sexual actually. I realized I was missing something when everyone in his party got tense.
“Thomas, for the love of…” Galvin whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Suddenly Goran was at my side, and I hadn’t even realized he’d come in or joined us. “Sera, that’s a diamond. That’s an uncut diamond.” I thought my eyes might pop out as I slowly looked at him, swallowing loudly when he nodded. “It’s at least five hundred carats.”
I hurried to close the box and tried to give it back. “I can’t accept that.”
“Oh, so once you understand the value you want to return it?” Apollo teased me, laughing all over again.
Galvin took pity on me when I shot him a look. “It’s because of the value she cannot accept it. It’s considered a pre-emptive bribe.” He took the box from me and looked at the diamond. “A twenty-five million dollar bribe on the conservative side.”
“May I speak with you in private?” I asked Apollo when he instantly lost all amusement and looked scary at the accusation. “Please?” I hated the begging in my voice, but honestly it was there from the need to not have anything else blow up at the moment. He gave a firm nod and let me lead him towards the stairwell to the basement we used for storage… Or the occasional holding pen as we had in the past.