I swallowed and glanced painfully back up at my ex-partner.
“Rachel, in the event that we’ve reached the end of our lives, I just want you to know that—”
“I know,” she interrupted. “I know.”
I nodded and then fell over as exhaustion overtook me and Channel dissipated.
Harvey’s strength was no longer part of me.
Everything went black.
Chapter 26
I awoke to find that Rachel had been taken down and moved to be near Harvey and Leland. They were being flanked by wolves.
My chest was fully healed and my hands felt fine, but I still had a bit of a headache.
I’d live.
I glanced around again at all the muzzles in the room.
Maybe I’d live.
The master of ceremonies, Marissa, the wolf who had taken Boomy from me originally, stepped out and walked toward me. I didn’t move, but I got myself ready for another fight. Fortunately, she wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to end as Rex. The rest of the clan, though…well, that was a different matter altogether.
I looked around for a way out of this mess. Then I sighed. Even if I could find a way out, I wasn’t going to bolt without my crew. Yes, that included Leland. While he wasn’t a member of the Vegas PPD (thank the universe), he was still a fellow officer.
So I squared my shoulders and prepared for what I assumed would be round three.
“Mr. Dex,” said the wolf approaching me, “you have succeeded in besting our leader.”
I wanted to reply with something snarky, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be in my best interest.
Thus, I said nothing.
She came closer and closer until we were eye to eye. While she wasn’t the size of Rex, she was still pretty large. Think of a Doberman Pinscher on its hind legs and you’ll get the idea of it.
“I commend you,” she said.
“Thanks,” I replied coolly. “So who do I have to fight next to get out of this? All of you?” I swept over the room with my eyes. “I’m hopeful that you’ll be honorable enough to at least let me fight you one at a time? Either that, or let me use my crew…” I paused and looked over at them. “Well, maybe not Leland, unless you’re going to give him his gun back. He’s terrible when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.”
“I’m not that bad, old chap,” Leland argued.
“There will be no further fighting, Mr. Dex,” Marissa said. “Again, you’ve bested our leader.”
A revelation struck.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said with a look of concern. “This isn’t some deal where I’m now your leader, is it?”
The wolves all chuckled in response to that. Even Marissa was grinning in her doggish way.
“No, Mr. Dex,” she answered. “You’re not a werewolf. You can’t be our leader.”
I actually already knew that wolves wouldn’t let non-wolves run the show, but my head wasn’t fully recovered from Channel yet and I wasn’t given another elixir like I’d received after round one.
That was a relief. It was bad enough dealing with the responsibility of being the chief of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department; and I had zero desire to take on a bunch of puppies too.
“So, what’s the deal here, then?” I said, motioning to the flock.
“You are to select our next leader, of course,” she responded as if I should have known this already.
That was a new one to me. I’d never heard of this particular ritual. Then again, I’d never battled for the supreme spot in a werewolf clan either.
I grimaced and then pointed at myself. “Me?”
“It is our way.”
“But, uh, I don’t know any of you,” I said. “I mean, you and I have met…kind of.”
“Why does this matter?”
“Do any of you have jobs outside of being werewolves?” I asked the room-at-large. There were nods all around. “Right, and before each of you was hired for those jobs, you had to be interviewed, right?” More nods. “Exactly my point. How could I select one of you to lead the crew without knowing each of your strengths and abilities?”
Marissa nodded slowly. “I see your point, Mr. Dex. However, you must remember that our ways are different than yours.”
That was an understatement. Here we were, standing in the middle of an arena that was housed in the bowels of the Temple Church in London, and I was recovering from a fight with an uberwolf. I didn’t have any fellow amalgamites who were just like me. Rex had been the closest I’d ever met, but he was mostly wolf, so that didn’t count in this context. If there was another out there who was more like my particular strain of amalgamite, I doubted we would battle each other in order to see who was the alpha of our race. That was something that doggies, dragons, and demons did. Vampires, too, sometimes, but usually they went with cunning and deception as their primary weapons.
“So you want me to judge a fight?” I asked, seeking to clarify what she was looking for from me.
She shrugged. “It’s not for me to say how you will choose the leader. I only express that our rituals are different from yours.”
What the hell was going on? I wasn’t their current leader, but I was somehow responsible for picking the next person to be at the top?
Whatever.
The sooner I chose someone, the sooner I got out of here.
My first inclination was to point at the smallest wolf in the joint in the hopes that he or she would take the pups in a new direction. Then I remembered that the smallest ones tended to be the most vicious. And even if I got lucky and selected a more docile, peace-loving doggie, there’d be challengers lining up before we walked out the door.
“Why me?” I whined desperately.
“Because you removed our leader and you cannot be our leader,” Marissa answered. “I thought this would be obvious, Mr. Dex.”
“Well, yeah, it is and I knew you’d say that, but I just don’t like it, is all.” I kind of felt like I was whining at this point. So I took a deep breath and reset myself. “You have to remember that I didn’t even want to fight Rex in the first place. That was your doing, not mine.”
Her eyes flashed. “I had nothing to do with that bout, Mr. Dex.”
“I don’t mean you specifically, Marissa,” I assured her, “I meant the wolves of this court in general.”
“Ah.”
She was the most obvious candidate for the job. This was clear since all the other wolves were already deferring to her at the moment, and since it was obvious that Rex had selected her as second-in-command in the first place.
“Fine,” I announced, stepping past Marissa, “I will select from among you, but in order to do so I must first see you all in your human forms.”
“Why would you require this?” Marissa asked from behind me. “Our wolf forms are far more telling of our prowess, Mr. Dex.”
I glanced over my shoulder at her.
“Were I a wolf and could read other wolves the way you can, I would agree. But I’m not, as you’ve already pointed out, and therefore cannot judge leadership quality solely how how you all look.”
This would certainly have been the perfect time to make another dog-show joke.
I didn’t.
“But—”
“Marissa,” I barked, something I knew they’d understand, “it is my responsibility to choose the next leader, correct?”
“Well…yes.”
“Then I will do it my way,” I stated with such finality that she had no choice but to acquiesce.
“As you wish,” she said, bowing her head slightly. Then she turned to the rest of the room and said, “Everyone to human form, now.”
It only took a few moments for the transition to complete, but I have to say that their human forms were a lot less impressive. Well, except for a few of the ladies.
Especially Marissa.
“Well, hello,” I said to her with some swagger.
Don’t judge me; she was no longer in doggie form h
ere.
She still had the same blond hair and blue eyes, but she was quite a bit more curvy than when in canine mode. The jumpsuit she was wearing hugged those curves nicely, too.
Now, it should be noted that most shifters purchase enchanted clothing, which allowed them to morph without losing their outfits. This industry got set up because the shifter community was sick and tired of having to spend so much money on clothing simply due to rips that occurred when changing from their human form. It was also irritating for them to end up in jail for indecent exposure when they changed back. Another plus to this was that mages and wizards got to use their skills in yet another industry. Actually, it made me wonder if they could enchant my suits to be goop-and-tear resistant.
Also, I’d like to point out that among the supernatural community, it’s only considered freaky and taboo for two races to play a game of naughty with each other when they’re in their supernatural form. In other words, Marissa as a doggie equals not-on-your-life, brother, but as a human it equals here’s-my-hotel-key. Vampires and werewolves tended to avoid each other at all costs, but there had been a few Romeo-and-Juliet moments over the years.
“Unbelievable,” I heard the voice of Rachel say behind me. “Seriously, you’re just incorrigible.”
“Guilty as charged,” I replied with a smirk.
Then I reached out and gave her a hug. It was a business-like kind of hug, if that makes any sense. Basically, it was the kind of hug that one friend gives to another. Not a bro-hug, but just your standard run-of-the-mill hug.
It was awkward.
“Okay,” she said as I let go. “Thanks for that.”
I nodded lamely.
“Look,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I don’t…” She paused and then blew out a long breath. “Thanks for…this.”
“You’re my partner, Rachel,” I said, and then held up a finger at Leland, silencing his expected response. “You’d have done the same for me.” I looked sideways at her. “Right?”
“Of course, you pumpkin seed.”
It was nice to be by her side again, even if only for a little while.
“Mr. Dex,” Marissa said, “I hate to interrupt your little reunion, but if you could please select our next leader, we’d like to resume our normal duties, as a matter of course.”
She spoke a bit more eloquently in her human form. Actually, it was kind of hot.
“Ugh,” said Rachel, clearly knowing what I was thinking. “Seriously, you’re impossible.”
I shrugged and gave her a mischievous grin.
“I am what I am.”
“Yeah, a perv.” She crossed her arms. “Not something most people are proud of, you know?”
“I’m not most people,” I countered.
“You can say that again.”
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t great being beside her again. Harvey was annoying, sure, but he wasn’t constantly judging me. I knew why she did it, of course, but it was still aggravating.
“Mr. Dex?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered before walking over to study the selection of potential leaders.
Chapter 27
I ended up taking a seat in the third row of the arena and spoke with the wolves one by one. It probably wasn’t necessary since I was pretty certain that Marissa was going to be the next alpha here, but I figured if I didn’t make a show of it, she’d be challenged the moment I walked out the door.
“Name?” I asked as a burly looking fellow approached.
“Steve,” he said while wiping his brow with a handkerchief. “Steve Austin.”
I glanced up. “Like the astronaut?”
“If you’re referring to The Six Million Dollar Man,” he replied, sounding American, “then yes.”
It seemed there were more and more expatriates around these days, especially among the werewolves. It was tough to find an alpha position in the more concentrated areas and some people thought they could hold higher positions by having an accent in a different country. Now, if Steve Austin had been from the South, like Cletus and Merle, it would have been quite funny to see how the British wolves dealt with him.
“It only costs six million dollars to become an astronaut?” I said, not sure what he was talking about.
“Only on a TV show, I suppose,” he replied.
“Hmmm.” Again, no clue what he was referring to. I just remembered hearing a story about some guy named Steve Austin who was an astronaut in the seventies or eighties. He’d crashed and they rebuilt him with bionic parts and stuff. Maybe that’s what cost the six million? Still seemed kind of cheap. “Anyway, what makes you think you should lead this group?”
He cleared his throat and dabbed at his brow again. Obviously he was not ready for a position in command. Cool under pressure was imperative, especially around wolves.
“I’m great with trivia,” he started, “I know how to fix pretty much any computer around, and I’ve been a dungeon master at many AD&D events over the last twenty years.”
Harvey coughed the word “nerd.”
I glared at him and Rachel punched him on the shoulder.
“Owww,” he said.
“All right, Steve Austin,” I said and then realized that maybe this was that wrestler guy. Another look at his saggy midsection made me think twice about that possibility. “I’ve got your information. Next!”
Steve fumbled out of the chair, and up stepped an attractive woman with red hair and brown eyes. She had freckles, too, which I always found cute.
I could feel Rachel’s stare on me.
“Uh…name?” I said, going all business.
“Trina,” she replied. “Trina Hudson.”
“And why do you think you deserve to be the next head of the werewolves, Trina Hudson?”
In response she leaned forward and placed a finger under my chin, pulling my eyes up to meet hers. The stare she was giving me was rather hungry. Not as in she wanted to have my leg for an evening snack, but rather that she wanted to roll around with me in the sack for the evening.
“I don’t care about leading the wolves,” she said. “I just want to sleep with the man who killed Rex. You have to be something to manage that.”
I really didn’t want to look at Rachel at that moment.
“Well, I had help, you know,” I said lamely.
“You can bring your werebear too.”
“Ew,” I said reflexively. I had zero interest in bedding down with Harvey in the room, so I said the first thing that came to mind. “Sorry, but uh…he’s gay.”
Harvey’s head shot up so fast that his deerstalker hat nearly flew off his head. Leland gave Harvey an appraising look and nodded.
“What?” croaked Harvey.
“Nothing,” Leland stated. “I just wasn’t aware of your interest in other fellows. It has absolutely no bearing on anything, of course, I was just surprised.”
“I don’t have an interest in other fellows,” Harvey replied through clenched teeth. “He’s just saying that to get out of having to bone this chick.”
Trina gave me an irritated look. “Is this true?”
“I didn’t think he’d hear me,” I answered, wincing.
“Asshole.” Trina stood up and put her hands on her hips. “At this point, I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on Earth.”
Then she stormed off.
That stung, and it was kind of embarrassing since everyone else in the room hadn’t likely heard the start of her interview.
Rachel was grinning from ear to ear.
“Next!”
After another ten faces and names that had no business even bothering to attempt to be the leader of this pack, I wrapped up my interviews and strode down to the center of the arena.
All eyes were on me as I prepared to announce their fate.
Nobody here really had the wherewithal to run the clan, except for Marissa. Many were strong enough, but they were too ruthless. Others would back down at the first challenge, and some had serious del
usions of grandeur. I’d never understood why people tried so hard to become something they weren’t, especially when they knew they’d be miserable. Steve Austin, for example, didn’t want to be the head of the wolves. He wanted to be their main IT guy. That was it. But he couldn’t rightly say that because it’d be considered weak. Once he’d been bypassed in this little ritual, though, he’d…
I glanced up at the thought, wondering how much power I really had here.
Time to find out.
“Okay,” I called out, “listen up. I’ve interviewed all of you and I have to say that there are some pretty strong candidates in this crowd.”
I began pacing back and forth in front of the line of people.
“I’m sure most of you really want a crack at being the top dog, but I also know that you are bound to accept my final decision.”
Nobody said a word.
“Before I announce the final person, though, I would like to make a recommendation that Steve Austin be made the head of the IT department for the group.”
Steve’s eyes lit up, but I could tell he was fighting to play it cool.
There was no argument, so I went on, picking a couple of names from memory that stood out during the interviews.
“I’d also say that Clara Brown should run the weekly combat training systems, with Brett Poole as a second.
I then decided it was time to repay Trina for embarrassing me in front of all of them.
“And Trina Hudson should be in charge of janitorial.”
“What?” she shrieked.
I gave her a hard stare. It’d be the only thing hard she’d ever get from me, so I gave it to her good.
The other wolves turned to her.
Obviously, she had breached etiquette with her outburst.
“I mean,” she fought to recover, “janitorial has always been a dream of mine.”
“That’s perfect, then.” I left my eyes on hers for another few moments. “And that brings us to who should be the new leader.”
I placed my hands behind my back and surveyed them all. Marissa had to know she’d be the obvious choice, but I nodded at the main candidates a couple of times to make her feel a little less sure of her chances. By the time I had my eyes on her, I could see she wasn’t quite as confident as before.
The Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1 - 4 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department Box Sets) Page 57