by Sydney Addae
“Do you believe them?” Silas asked wondering what was really going on. Over the years, dissatisfied pack members often left the country seeking a place to live without rules or structure. Being armed raised several questions, who provided the weapons and why? Pack didn’t use weapons against humans, there was no reason. Unless subterfuge was the goal.
“I don’t know,” Alpha William said. “It’s definitely strange but I didn’t sense they were lying. Should we hold them longer or release them?”
Silas wasn’t sure. There was something odd about the whole thing. “How many have crossed your land into Canada this month?”
“Thirty males, a few bitches. No pups that we know of.”
“What do you think?” he asked Jasmine.
“Is that a high number? Who’s leaving? Full-blood or Breeds? I’m not sure I understand the root of your anxiety.”
“Full-bloods. No, the number isn’t high, it’s surprising for so many to leave together, with some kind of structure. Normally they migrate one or two together.”
“I see.”
“Maybe it’s nothing.”
“No, it’s something otherwise you wouldn't be concerned. Hold them overnight, sleep on it. Talk to the Goddess if you can. You need to have a peace about your decision,” she said.
Silas instructed Alpha William to hold them until he gave the word for their release. He also contacted Alphas Giovanni, Edin, Armando, Godfrey, Amos, Hollister, Jayden, Lathem, and Alfredo, all of their pack lands were near the Canadian border. They were to keep a record of pack leaving through their lands to Canada and to investigate what they were carrying with them. He also informed them Alpha William seized weapons from a group migrating to Canada when they crossed his borders.
Once he sent the warning he sat back and stared at the blank monitor for a few seconds.
“What’s bothering you?” Jasmine took his hand.
“Weapons. That smacks of a plan to harm humans and blame it on other humans or worse, pack gets blamed.” He kissed the back of her hand and covered it with his other hand. “Should I cancel David’s trip?” he looked at her.
Jasmine frowned. “What do you mean? I thought you were sending a group, Cain, and Knights, a lot of people. Why are you saying David’s trip?”
“Calm down, Sweet Bitch. I'm not comfortable with all this migration to Canada now that I’m thinking of moving into that area. Word’s gotten around, packs have been questioned, they know I’m thinking of expansion, so why are these rogues moving there ahead of me? To fight? A civil war? Do I want my son caught in the cross-fire?”
She leaned against him. For several seconds neither spoke. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you have to let him go. David is a born Alpha. This will be good for him. If he’s caught in the crossfire of a war, he has several tools at his disposal. If not you, then his siblings, and his mother of course. This is one of those times we have to let go and allow them to walk their own paths.”
He looked down at her. “I can’t believe you said that either.” He kissed the top of her head and then rubbed his chin against it. “But I’m happy you did. I won’t coddle him, neither will Cain. They’ll all be briefed by what’s going on, so they’ll have an idea what to expect.”
Jasmine pushed away from him. “Have you heard from Jarcee? I can’t wait to meet his mate. I’m so happy for him. Will he invite us to dinner? Or maybe we can go to a restaurant or something, take them out. Jarcee’s special. I want to meet her.”
Silas agreed. “I entrusted your safety and the safety of my pups to him. He’s a good friend and loyal pack member. It’s good the Goddess has blessed him with a mate.”
“A human mate, a breeder,” Jasmine said grinning. “He’s in for it now. You think she has any idea what he is or about mates?”
“I don’t know, yet.” Silas looked at his mate, her eyes glowed with speculation.
“I can help her.” She met his gaze. “She’ll need some help. Being mated to a full-blood takes getting used to and time. Ask me how I know?” She winked at him.
“How do you know? I was good to you, very kind and understanding of your human phobias.” He grinned when she rolled her eyes.
“Good thing this isn’t about you, it’s about Jarcee and his human mate. We need to find out what we can about her to help with her transition,” Jasmine said with a determined glint.
“You’re sure she’ll accept him? She can turn him down, you know,” he said.
“Only if she’s into pain, not necessarily physical because there’s some of that. But emotionally and mentally she’ll be in a world of hurt.” She stared at him. “It's like nothing you’ve ever experienced. The more time they spend together the harder it is to break the strings or bond.” She shook her head. “I could never leave you.” She blinked several times and looked up at him. “Not that I’d want to, you own my heart completely.”
“Thanks for that clarification,” he said in a dry tone.
She chuckled. “It’s just... Jarcee’s always been here for us. Always. I want this to be perfect for him.”
Silas rubbed her arm and pulled her close. “It will be. Whatever it takes, we’ll make sure they’re together. Now smile and kiss me.”
Jasmine grinned as she moved closer and kissed him. They broke apart on a gasp.
“I love you,” she murmured outlining his lips with her fingertip. “You’re my heart.”
“I know and I love you. You own my heart.” He patted her on the butt.
“Silas you need to see this,” Jacques said.
“What is it?” Silas didn’t spend nearly enough alone time with his mate and wasn’t ready to let work intrude.
“A message, more like an order from the White House. You need to see this on a secure channel,” Jacques said.
An order? His beast rose to the surface.
“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked.
He told her what Jacques said.
“Patch it through to my office, Jasmine and I will look at it,” he told Jacques.
“Done.”
The monitor flicked on. A letter on official letterhead filled the screen. He and Jasmine read it.
“He wants a count? A census of all pack members,” Jasmine said, disbelief apparent in her voice. “What’s this about a land dispute? Are they threatening to take pack lands? Plus a penalty of $100,000 dollars a day after 30 days? What the hell’s going on?”
Silas read the letter again and again. Each time he fought down his beast to remain calm so he could think. Did this Administration think he’d allow them to take land from the pack? Penalize him for not jumping through their hoops?
“I’m not sure about the land disputes. It’s possible the government will challenge some of our purchases or rights to ownership. As far as the penalty, I’ll get Lyle on it.” He tapped his finger against the table while looking at the letter.
“What happened to the Liaison Office in the White House that was supposed to work with the President and us?”
“It’s there in name only, it’s not staffed with pack,” Silas said.
“This is about the Knights isn’t it?” she asked sounding disgusted. “Retaliation of some sorts. We won’t give them our people to experiment on so they order a census, next they’ll ask for names, addresses, and social security numbers so they can single them out. It won’t matter that our people are citizens of this country. We won’t give them any numbers or real information about the pack.”
Silas agreed and appreciated how upset she was over this issue. “Why now?” he looked at her. “Why are they playing this hand now? They know I’m not going to do this, and I’ll never let them take our land or pay a damn penalty. We’ll win in court, so what’s the real end game here?”
“Hurt feelings because we didn’t go to dinner? Never accepted their invitations?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Can’t we ask someone?”
Silas nodded and reached out to General Miller.
“Sir?” Ge
neral Miller answered.
Silas told him of the contents of the letter.
“What? A census? Penalty? They can’t be serious,” Miller said. “On the other hand, maybe they are. Things have changed in the past year.”
“Are our people in any kind of danger?”
“No. But there’s talk about some kind of an identification system. Several companies, some with our people and some without, have been ordered to some kind of testing. I didn’t give it much thought until now.”
“What kind of tests?” Silas asked.
“I don’t know, Sir. But I’ll find out. Since they cannot determine pack members by blood, they may have developed something else. No one’s talking, which means this goes to the top.”
“Find out what’s in the tests. I won’t have pack members treated as guinea pigs,” Silas said aggravated they constantly had to revisit the same issues over and over again.
He sat back in his seat staring at the blank monitor. What are they up to this time? He didn’t think the President had the authority to do this. He’d reach out to the Senators and Representatives in Congress to get an idea of what was going on. They would shed light on the matter. In the meantime, he was concerned over the safety of his pups. Renee’s wedding was on the horizon. Adam would be leaving the country again, this time without Jarcee. In the next week, David would be heading to Canada, and the twins and Cameron were going on vacation to Jamaica with their mates.
The timing of this order concerned him as well. Granted, he hadn’t accepted any of the invitations to dine and meet with the President at the White House. With the Knights being kidnapped and the addition of Storm and Razor to the pack, his plate had been full. He should’ve expected some kind of push-back but a 30-day mandatory census surprised him
“I want a meeting with all the Alphas,” he told Jacques.
“When?”
“Now, as soon as possible.” Silas looked at Jasmine. “There has to be a connection. Mass migration to Canada, a ridiculous demand for a head count in 30 days and an underlying threat to steal our land. What’s the common thread? What am I missing? There’s something going on here.”
She placed her hands on his shoulders and massaged them for a few minutes as she thought through his question.
“That feels good,” he murmured and dropped his head as she continued.
“Maybe they simply don’t know how big we are, have no real idea of our numbers and want to know. I can think of several reasons why they’d want to know, but fear is right up there. Even though our pack is roughly 10% of the population, one-person commands 100% of their loyalty. One word from you will activate a cohesive army to rise up against them. Whereas, even if they were in agreement to fight against the pack, they’d never receive 100% cooperation as you can.” She sighed. “Not to mention we’re much better fighters and more difficult to kill. I can see why they’d want to know.”
He looked at her. “Good points, I’d want to know if I were in their shoes. Here’s the thing, we need our human counterparts. As large as we are, there are not enough of us to hold this Nation against a foreign threat like Russia or China. I have told the Joint Chiefs over and over we have no interests in taking over or rising up. We simply want to live in peace.”
She kissed the top of his head. “I know but they don’t believe you because they’d never be satisfied if they were you. Understand, you’re being judged by their moral compass and personal barometer. They can’t believe you don’t want everything because they do.”
He sighed, knowing she was right. “I’d never trust or expect an honest accounting unless I had my own people verifying the data. So why bother? I’ve worked with the Joint Chiefs long enough that they know I won’t give numbers or allow the government to take our land. We’ve been here longer than they’ve been alive.”
She bent forward and kissed the top of his head. “When you put it like that, none of this makes sense. Why send such a letter when they know you won’t agree?”
“I don’t know and that pisses me off,” he said.
“Are you going to answer the letter?” she asked.
He released a stream of air. “I don’t know. Lyle’s our attorney, I’ll see what he says first and then wait to hear from General Miller.
“Alpha conference in ten minutes, should I contact Angus, the twins, Hawke, and Asia?” Jacques asked.
“Yes. I want Cain and Abel here as well.” He thought about it a few seconds. “Storm and David as well. I’ll contact them.”
“Yes, Sir,” Jacques said.
“Meeting in ten,” Silas told Jasmine. She headed to the bathroom. Silas contacted the others. Storm seemed surprised but agreed to attend.
Jasmine walked toward him, they left and headed toward the main conference room. Tyrese and Tyrone met them in the hall. Each kissed Jasmine on the cheek.
“You doing okay, Mom?” Tyrese asked.
Jasmine nodded. “Let’s go inside.”
The twins walked behind her and Silas. Angus, Cain, and Abel stood around the large table while Jacques prepared the equipment. Moments later a blank screen appeared.
David and Storm entered the room together, looked around and sat next to each other at the far end of the table. Silas nodded at them both. “I’m ready,” he said to Jacques. The screen flickered, one by one Alphas appeared on the screen.
“Full accounting,” Silas said.
Each Alpha greeted him with their name and territory. “Alpha Theron, the great state of Texas, Sir.”
Silas smiled but didn’t say anything until every Alpha spoke, then he linked with all of them to gauge their thoughts on the information he would share with them.
“Within the past hour, I’ve received troubling information from the U.S. Government. Jacques will read the letter.”
Jacques read the letter.
Silas absorbed the shock of every Alpha and those seated in the room. He allowed them to argue, state their outrage and anger before calming them down. Pleased by their reactions he raised his hand.
“First, there will be no census,” he said. Truthfully there was no reason for a census, Silas already had the information.
The Alphas cheered.
“We will not share any data on any pack member with them now or ever. So be at ease over that issue.” He looked at David and then the others at the table. “Next week I am sending a small exploratory group to Canada and Mexico. There has been increased migration to Canada recently, I suspect something is going on but have not discovered a plot or direct mischief toward us yet.”
“Have they recruited rogues or rebels to the Military?” an Alpha asked.
“It’s possible and another reason to be vigilant, watch your borders. Asia and Angus,” he looked at those two seated at the table, “will inform KnightForce of possible threats and prepare them for whatever is necessary for an added layer of protection.”
“Why are they doing this?” an Alpha asked.
“We’ve never had this problem before,” another Alpha said sounding as confused as Silas felt.
“The only reason to want to know our size is to prepare a defense against us. My mate made a valid point if we gave them a number, then they’ll want names, addresses, Social Security Numbers. I won’t do that,” Silas said.
More cheers from the Alphas and the people in the room.
“They change leaders too fast. It seems as soon as things settle they play musical chairs. The humans could learn a lot about governing from us,” Alpha Theron said.
Silently Silas agreed with him. But their Nation was led by the Goddess and they all believed in her. He glanced at his mate, well most of them, which made it easier to lead.
“I don’t know what their next move will be,” Silas said into the heated debates flying around. They all quieted.
“But a gauntlet was tossed at my feet, I have no choice but to pick it up on behalf of my pack.”
The Alphas cheered.
“Keep this in your inner
circle for now. I want everyone on alert, there’s a good chance they’ve sent spies among us. Rogues, rebels, those disloyal to pack.” The very real notion that a pack member could betray them sent a shaft of pain through his heart. Granted, Silas could eventually find and destroy them, but the damage would be done.
“Death to the betrayers,” an Alpha shouted. The rest took up the chant until Silas held up his hands.
“I would have them interviewed first by a member of my team, is that understood?” Silas glanced at Asia and then Angus. He would have them use the chameleon bracelet to sift through memories to find out the nucleus of the plot against them.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“This warning is for you to be more vigilant. I believe the Government has all of your names and the lands you own. They may track members by addresses, that cannot be helped.”
“Most pack don’t live on our lands, but they do shop at our stores on pack land. If they recorded license plates, that’s another way to identify pack,” another Alpha said, drawing others into agreement.
“What should we do for those who’ve already been identified?” an Alpha asked.
Silas looked a Jasmine for a few seconds. “Good question,” he said to her. “I hadn’t thought of that. There’s no telling how long they’ve been watching and identifying our people.” The idea pissed him off but this wasn’t the time to allow his beast freedom, he needed a clear plan of action.
“Tell them. Tell the pack so they’re aware. They need to know there’s a threat to our way of life,” she said. “I’ll pass the information to the women so they can be on alert for more humans in the area, although a lot of surveillance is done by satellite. A lot depends on how bad they want the information and how much they’ve already done. Also, this could be a ruse to hide something else.”
He thought it over, calculated the damage from the fallout and faced the Alphas and the others in the room.
“Change of plans. Since we don’t know how long they’ve been documenting pack members or if they have started, each of you will inform your members of this new threat.”