Frank grinned at Clay and said, “Sure! We can help with that.” The two of them had already discussed with Ricardo’s pimps how it might be fun when some of the girls Jiang had talked about were brought in.
“Excellent! You will like. All girls very clean. No diseases. Guaranteed!” Jiang was fully aware of how interested Ricardo’s guys were. Obtaining girls from China had always been a big part of the success Zhu-Gung had had. Drugs were still first but trafficking and prostitution also played a large role in their operations. “We go now!”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tuesday, Apr 7, 2020
Missy had told Karen she would be away that night. Since this was not the first time, Karen merely nodded and said goodbye moments later when Marty knocked on their door. After Karen left with Marty, Missy undressed and put everything away. Then, in a shimmer of light she disappeared and teleported up to the bedroom in her new home. While the home was new to her, this large estate bordering on the state forest in Plymouth, Massachusetts was actually very old.
Her friend Alice was there in the room, alone, waiting for her. She materialized in a burst of energy and said, “Hey! Thanks for being here, Alice.” She could sense Mike and Mark, Alice’s husband, were downstairs. After looking around, noting the way the room was now furnished and decorated, obviously Alice’s work, she grinned. “And, thanks for making my room so nice!”
Alice smiled and said, “Here, put some clothes on. Then, come over here and give me a hug.” She handed Missy the clothing items she’d selected for her.
As Missy donned the sexy black panties and bra, she said, “You do know I’ll be stripping in front of my pack later, right? With Mike watching?”
“Relax. Fred assures me werewolves don’t pay much attention when they’re getting ready to Shift. And, as you said. Mike will be watching. I’m sure he’ll appreciate the lingerie.”
“Oh, he’ll appreciate it, all right. But, why torture the poor guy? There won’t be any opportunities for us to have any sex during this visit so my looking so spectacular in my underwear will only result in a bad case of blue balls for him.” Missy pulled on the pair of black slacks and then the green sweater, finally stepping into the strappy black heels. As usual, after Shifting, her hair was perfect. She didn’t really need any makeup so, after giving Alice a hug, she led the way out and proceeded downstairs to join the others.
Fred hailed her as soon as she entered the large living room, already crowded with people. Linda Rayburn was there, chatting with Mike and Mark off to one side. Most of the others there were werewolves. Now that she was in close proximity, her mindspeak ability with her pack was apparent. As was her ability to sense everyone’s emotions, which she quickly tuned out in order to not be overwhelmed.
There were some humans, with whom she could not mindspeak or sense emotions, and she guessed these were the spouses, lovers and potential mates. A striking female was standing next to Fred and she approached her first, saying, “You must be Anya. I’m really pleased you are here tonight.” Pulling her into a warm embrace, she continued with, “Welcome to our pack!”
After returning Missy’s hug and then stepping back, Anya blushed. “Wow! Missy, I can’t thank you enough. Fred has told me so much about you. Being here is so exciting. I truly am overwhelmed.”
Missy continued going around, embracing each of her pack members and letting them introduce anyone they’d brought with them. Since the living room was not large enough to hold everyone, she soon worked her way outside and over to the arena where the pack usually congregated. It was also where she had defeated Brody.
She made it a point of seeking out every one of her packmates, making sure they all understood she was aware of their presence, sending each a mental message. This got quite a reaction, since she and they were in their human forms. They had experienced her mindspeaking to them during their last run but everyone had then been in their werewolf form with her in her werecat form. Brody, their former Alpha, had never had this ability which most had only heard about; there were a few, however, who had experienced it with other Alphas.
Finally, returning inside and back to where Fred was standing, she embraced Gene and Amanda Tremblay who were right next to him. She said, “I’ve saved greeting you two until now since you both were the last to join the pack.” Then she turned to Fred and said, “Attention everyone! I’m gonna give my Beta a hug and a kiss, now, since he’s been doing such a great job. But, my soulmate Mike is watching and his soulmate Anya is right here as well. So, this is merely a pack thing. At least … it’s how I do things in my pack.” Then she hugged and kissed Fred. Everyone cheered.
Fred was very pleased and Missy sensed his strong emotional reaction. Then he gestured to three men who had been patiently waiting off by themselves, away from any humans. Missy knew they were werewolves but were not members of her pack. Without quite knowing how she knew, she was able to sense each of them were Alphas. Well, she had agreed Fred could bring a few to this full moon celebration.
Fred led her over to the three Alphas and introduced everyone. One was from a pack in Maine, another from a pack in New York and the third from a pack near Chicago. While two of them were sincere in wanting to get to know the Alpha who had replaced Brody, Thomas Turek from the Chicago pack had a different agenda.
Thomas was a large man, almost as big as Brody had been, and was quick to assert his dominance, stating, “I’m here because I heard about you, a werecat, somehow killing Brody Billiscombe and claiming to be Alpha of his pack. Some of us are not happy about that, Ms. McCrea. I’ve been asked to verify whether this claim of yours could possibly be valid.”
Fred quickly came to Missy’s defense, saying, “That is not what you told me when you asked to come out here, Thomas! As Beta for this pack, I can assure you Missy’s claim is one hundred percent valid. Our lawyers have prepared all the official paperwork, as appropriate, but the true validity of her claim … which I am sure you realize … is because of her defeating Brody in combat, after challenging him for the Alpha position in front of our pack, as called for by our pack laws.”
Missy moved closer to Thomas and looked up into his scowling face, now looming above her. “My challenge was considered to be correct, when I made it. And, Brody accepted that challenge. My pack … yes, I am saying my pack … bore witness to my winning that challenge. As for you, Thomas. Are you an authority whom I must answer to? I acknowledge that this is all quite new to me.” She stared directly into his eyes, letting her cat energy bring forth gold specks, sparkling and blazing as only would happen when her emotions were in an extreme state. The atmosphere surrounding her was suddenly pulsing with energy which everyone in the room could sense. They knew it was somehow coming from her.
Thomas tried to stare her down. Dominance amongst werewolves was typically established by such eye contact. None of those around them made any attempt at intruding on this and for two long minutes, there was complete silence. Gradually, Thomas realized the girl staring back at him was not backing down.
Finally, the Alpha from New York came to his rescue, recognizing Thomas needed some way of saving face. He asked, “Fredrick, doesn’t your pack have a video showing the contest?” He had heard the New England pack had a tradition of documenting all such challenges; it was a tradition which Brody had insisted on.
Fred said, “Yes, yes of course! If watching that would help Thomas validate Missy’s claim, then why don’t I play that for everyone.”
Thomas looked over at Fred, thus breaking eye contact with Missy but not doing so in a way which was at all submissive. He said, “Yes, I would like to see such a video. Would it be correct to ask all your pack members here to assure me this video is a true and accurate portrayal of the actual fight between Brody and this … this cat girl?” The derision in his voice towards Missy when he referred to her as a cat girl was very clear but those around them chose not to make an issue of that. After all, they did have the video and many in the pack had already watch
ed it several times, marveling at how Missy had proven herself and defeated Brody.
Missy moved away, willing to let Fred handle things for the moment. She smiled at the Alpha from New York, appreciating the way he had stepped up.
Fred said, “Our pack was present for the contest, as you will see on the video. And, we all pledged our allegiance to Missy McCrea after her victory, as you will also see. Come, let’s gather around the television and I will connect up the video.”
There was a huge flat screen TV mounted on the wall, opposite the marble-framed fireplace, and those in the room now gathered around that. Fred explained to everyone what they were about to watch, saying, “If any of our guests are squeamish about witnessing the violent death in this video, that’s quite all right. Please step outside. We have some visitors from other packs and it has been suggested watching this video would be an expedient way of satisfying their curiosity concerning our new Alpha. This should eliminate all skepticism with regard to her claim concerning the leadership of our pack.”
Alice had seen Missy in action and did not care to have Mark witness the video. She excused the two of them and led Mark away. When Linda looked at Mike with raised eyebrows, he grinned. He told her to stay and watch. So, she did.
As it turned out, there were many there who, like Anya, had not previously been allowed to attend a pack gathering. They had been shocked when they’d learned Missy had not only defeated Brody and become the new Alpha, but that she had invited all of them to join the pack, provided they were willing to be mated to a werewolf and obey pack laws. Since she had abolished all the onerous pack laws which Brody had been responsible for and, according to Fred, was openly encouraging them to participate at this full moon celebration, they had come tonight. Being greeted by Missy, who openly accepted them the way she had earlier, had been a wonderful surprise.
Now, hearing there would be an opportunity to witness how Missy had replaced Brody, every one of them insisted on watching. They had accepted the fact their loved one was a werewolf and, since the leadership of the pack was such a huge thing for werewolves, they all wanted to see the video. They also were finding it hard to believe, after meeting Missy in person, that such a beautiful young girl who was so warm and welcoming could possibly have won. Brody had been such a bastard, terrifying their loved one and running his pack using fear.
Twenty minutes later, after they’d all watched how Missy had bravely stood up to Brody in the arena, first standing before him naked as a woman and then, after they both had Shifted, fighting his wolf in her mountain lion form, they all were in shock. Brody had been almost twice Missy’s size but she’d held her own, right up until the moment when she’d ripped out Brody’s throat, defeating him. Her triumphant cougar scream after doing that was very impressive.
Also impressive was watching as each member of the pack came forward afterwards and bowed in submission, swearing their allegiance to Missy as their new Alpha. There was no doubt Missy had earned the right to lead their pack. Somehow, after watching how she had done that, few would ever look at her as they had before, thinking of her as that warm and wonderful, beautiful young girl again. No, their respect and admiration would always temper those feelings, in spite of how warm and wonderful Missy would continue to be towards them.
Thomas came over and this time, as he extended his hand and stared into Missy’s eyes, there was respect in the way he looked at her. “Ms. McCrea, you indeed have earned the right to stand as Alpha for your pack. I will be assuring all of the other Alphas the things which your Beta Fred here has been saying about you are, if anything, gross understatements.”
The other Alphas joined in congratulating her as well, welcoming her into their world. There were no longer any doubts concerning her dominance. They also would be telling others about the way she had greeted her pack when she had first come down that evening. That, and how her pack had welcomed her.
There was more and more conversation as they all went outside, gathering in the arena as dusk settled and the lights came on. Yes, images of that arena and the battle which had taken place there were still very much fresh in everyone’s minds, thanks to the video they’d just watched. Then, as the full moon rose higher and higher, the werewolves all felt the need to answer the call. Soon, they were all shedding their clothes and Shifting. Then they waited for Missy.
Missy kissed Mike and said goodbye to the other humans there who were not Changing. Then she too stripped down, handing her clothes to Alice, and Shifted to her mountain lion form. She was able to communicate with her pack, using her mindspeak ability, and she did. Then, she let out an especially joyous cougar scream and dashed off into the woods, leading her pack for that night’s run.
Linda looked at Mike, Mark and Alice. “Wow! That was really something!” Then, all four of them went over and joined the other humans who had remained behind, most having just witnessed all this for the first time as well. They had all come prepared to stay up all night and they did so. They found they had lots and lots to talk about while they waited for morning, when the pack … and their loved ones … would eventually return.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Friday, Apr 10, 2020
Salvatore D’Amato and Ben Marchitto watched as Robert Ulrey entered the restaurant and made his way over to their table. As usual, their bodyguards Billy Martin and Donny Delgato were seated at a table nearby. The restaurant was in Connecticut, not far from where Sal’s daughter went to school, and he’d been visiting with her earlier that day. That visit had made an excellent excuse for him to arrange this meeting with Robert.
After Robert sat down and they got all their preliminary greetings out of the way, Ben called for their waiter. They each gave the waiter their order and waited until he left them alone. Finally, Robert said, “I understand you want to discuss what the Zhu-Gung organization is doing. My team has been watching them and we realize they’ve managed to infiltrate the other organizations.”
Sal nodded and said, “Yeah, everyone except for Morelli and me. I know those bastards are planning to cause trouble between the families. Funny how Morelli and I are now aligned against the other three families rather than competing with each other. But nobody’s breaking the truce yet. Nobody’s attacking anyone else’s businesses the way Morelli had them doing against mine.”
“That may only be a matter of time,” countered Robert. “They were successful against your places because their witches used their supernatural abilities. They’ll eventually do that again. Of course, it will always look like normal accidents or mishaps. They don’t want the world to know their organization is actually led by a coven of evil witches.”
Sal grimaced as he looked over at Ben but then he looked back at Robert. “Evil witches. Yeah, that’s what we’re dealing with now. Unbelievable. Nobody else believes in crazy shit like that but, thanks to our mutual friend … should I call her the Good Witch from West Point?” He chuckled. “Whatever. Thanks to her, Ben and I believe. We’ve actually changed a lot of things in our business because of her.”
This was somewhat of a surprise for Robert. Of course, he hadn’t focused much on the various criminal activities being conducted by any of the families. He said, “That’s interesting. I’ll have to have a conversation with Missy about that. But, getting back to Zhu-Gung. Like I said, my team is watching them. We don’t see much we can do as yet. I’m sure you know about all the drug dealer arrests the FBI made. We had some reliable information on who we could get and where to get them. But that didn’t get us any of the Zhu-Gung people.”
“You got some reliable information, huh?” asked Sal. “I’m gonna guess that came from Esteban Aparicio‘s people. You know who he is, right?” Noting that Robert recognized the name, he continued. “Esteban can’t be too happy about losing business. Maybe he and his guys will start making some attacks.”
Robert said, “Is that why you asked for this meeting? Or, is there another reason?” He was pretty sure Sal had something else on his a
genda.
“Well, there is another matter,” replied Sal. “It’s about all the Chinese girls Zhu-Gung has been bringing in. My girls aren’t too happy about losing business. Only, unlike Esteban, they can’t make any attacks. So, they’re complaining. To my people.”
Robert had not heard anything about trafficking. “Your girls? Now I see. If they’re losing business, then you’re losing business.”
Ben finally spoke up. “Actually, Sal’s girls are all entrepreneurs now. They pay our organization for providing them with support. In their business, they need protection and lots of other services. I won’t bore you with the details but this is one of those changes Sal mentioned. Missy doesn’t want anyone being forced, you know? We don’t have any pimps running girls like in the old days. Turns out, we don’t need to. There’s lots of girls who want to be doing this, making good money, ‘cuz they can. But they need the infrastructure which goes along with it. And, they’ve been coming to our organization for that.”
Robert was finally getting it. He said, “It’s that Roseanne Fund with Missy’s friend Alice.” He chuckled. He’d heard how there was a perception amongst working girls that if they worked in Sal’s organization, maybe their friends and relatives might get taken care of. Alice Mathews, aka the crazy mob lady, had worked some miracles. Of course, everyone thought she was working for Sal since he had established the fund and was providing the muscle to enforce all the protection the Roseanne Fund girls were getting.
Sal grunted in agreement. But it was true. “Look. This is just between us, okay? But yeah, not only have I made changes to how I run things because of Missy, but I now want to share my business with my daughter Alessandra. I want Sandy to share equally with my son someday. I’ve moved more and more into legitimate enterprises, avoiding many of the criminal activities which may have gotten me my millions. I don’t need them anymore since my huge empire is now making me more millions, most of which are legally earned.” Nonetheless, he still maintained a balance with the other families on how things were run.
Missy Goes to Hong Kong (Missy the Werecat Book 8) Page 18