Endangered Species

The other humans were starting to eat, and I didn’t want them around for the next part. I asked Melanie if we could meet somewhere more private while I inhaled my breakfast. She agreed, telling one of the guards to escort me to the conference room when I’d finished.

Their conversation stopped when I arrived at the door. I closed the door behind me, taking a spot at the opposite end of the table from Alpha Cole. I was not ready to forgive him, not by a long shot. I winced in pain when I sat down, and he noticed. I hoped his wolf was harassing him constantly. I placed my hands in my lap and smiled at the others in the room.

“I don’t know all of you, so we should start with introductions,” I said. “I am Midshipman First Class Angela Summers, on temporary assignment from the USS Maine when captured by hostile forces who had taken over a US Naval Base. I am currently the highest-ranking naval officer held in this facility. For some reason, Luna paired me with your Alpha, but I have not accepted him as my mate or rejected him as of now.” Cole bristled at my description; I’m sure he thought I should lead with being his mate, and the rest didn’t matter anymore. “If you could tell me your names, ranks, and responsibilities within the Pack?”

I looked to my left. “Lois Fulman. I’m in charge of our security detail for the Luna, under the Lead Warrior’s supervision.”

A tall and dangerous-looking man looked at me. “Ted Fulman, I’m the Lead Warrior. I am responsible for training and equipping our fighters. I command them if the Beta or Alpha is not present.”

I looked at the two. “Are there female warriors?”

“No, but we have female trackers and guards,” Ted replied. That figured.

“Kelly Chapman, Beta Female. I am responsible for the day-to-day running of the Pack and supervising the adult females. The Gamma and Delta females report to me. I am second in command to the Luna.”

Her mate looked a lot like Cole; big, dark, and brooding. “Mark Chapman, Beta. I am second in command. I am responsible for Pack security and supervising the adult males. The Lead Warrior and the Gamma and Delta males work for me.” I looked back and forth between him and Cole. “I’m Cole’s cousin.”

“Ah,” I said. “Wait a minute, if the Alpha is gone, who is in charge? You or the Luna?”

“The Luna’s responsibilities remain unchanged. I carry out the Alpha’s orders.”

Wonderful. The Luna wasn’t truly second in command; they probably didn’t think her to be capable of leading in place of a man, only at his side. “I know Alpha Cole and Luna Melanie, so let’s continue on the other side with Doctor Pine.”

“I am responsible directly to the Alpha for medical care and facilities.”

The male next to her was not holding her hand but that of the wolf to his left. “Where is your mate?”

“He’s a Pack Warrior. I am not a ranked wolf by dominance, but I was a human doctor before I met my mate. Pack Doctors carry a Beta rank by tradition because they are direct reports to the Alpha.”

I nodded to the next man. “Gamma Sean Mason. I’m responsible for Pack finances, businesses, and facilities maintenance.”

“Gamma Sally Mason, I am in charge of Pack services. The kitchens and dining staff, cleaning staff, and administrative staff report to me.”

“Delta Alan Turner, responsible for the training and education of adults, except warrior skills.”

“Delta Betty Turner, but you know that,” she said. “I’m the equivalent of the supply officer. I work with the other leaders to ensure we have everything we need. Right now, I’m focused on the inventory and storage of the supplies our Warriors are bringing in.”

She was the last one at the table. No one had claimed the three hundred some breeders in captivity here. “Who is responsible for the humans?”

“They are female, so the ultimate responsibility is mine,” Melanie said. “I work with the Lead Warrior and the Gamma and Delta females on this. I want to see them adapting to their new life and contributing to the Pack.”

“Uh-huh.” I looked between her and her brother. “Who is running the breeding program?”

“I am in charge of the program,” Doctor Pine replied.

“The guards monitor the women’s fertility, then bring them to Medical for the insemination when donated sperm is available,” Melanie replied evenly. “This gives us the greatest chance of pregnancy.”

“And the milking of the males? Do their mates jack them off into a cup or spit it out?”

Cole stiffened at those words. “Mated wolves collect the excess immediately after sex and have it delivered to Medical.”

“I’m sure they love the tender afterglow of the creampie collection,” I said with a snort. “You didn’t think this through, did you?”

“What do you mean,” Melanie replied defensively.

“You are taking on breeders because human fertility is five to ten times greater than werewolf fertility, correct?” Nods around the table. “And you hope that by using sperm from ranked wolves, you’ll get children above Omega rank? More nods. “Would you agree that werewolves are protective of their mates?”

“Without a doubt,” Beta Mark replied as he held Kelly’s hand.

“Do you have any children, Beta Mark?”

“Not yet, but it’s only been three years.”

Right into the trap I set. “Beta Kelly, how will you feel when a human female presents Mark with his first-born son?” Her eyes flashed, and her wolf came forward. “Hell, he might get five women pregnant at once since there’s enough of his baby batter to inject multiple women! He might have a dozen of his pups running around before you can give him just one!”

“You BITCH,” she said as she jumped out of her chair. Her mate held her back, nuzzling her neck as he calmed her down.

I raised my hands and smiled, sitting back in my chair. “And that’s just one problem. We saw the other a few minutes ago.”

“What do you mean, my mate?”

He had to throw that in just to piss me off. “I’m human, and I have a mate. Two other humans found their mates in other Packs, and one of them may be pregnant with the son or daughter of a mated wolf in THIS pack. How did that go over?”

“Like a turd in the hot tub,” Delta Betty said softly. “And that’s not our only problem.” She looked at her Alpha. “The Quinalt Pack knows we have hundreds of healthy, fertile human females under our control. After the ONLY two unmated wolves in the group find mates, how many other unmated males will be here in the next few days? They will come in numbers to rescue them.”

Beta Mark looked at her quizzically. “Rescue?”

“Before their forced impregnation,” I said. “Before the night is over, the Quinalt Pack will hear everything from the two women. The families you killed, the tattoos, the enslavement, and the inseminations will all come out. Their mates and families will be rightly outraged. I can’t imagine slavery falls under Werewolf law.”

“It doesn’t,” Gamma Sean says. “If a human learns of our nature, it’s a voluntary change or death.”

“So let me review the HUGE lapse of operational security you had here tonight,” I concluded. “Wolves from another Pack saw your new home, which can hold thousands of wolves beyond the hundreds you’ve got now. They saw operational vehicles, electric power, storerooms of supplies, and hundreds of potential mates between your unmated females and the human females. You’ve fought and worked hard to claim this territory, but what now? It’s far easier for another group, human or wolf, to attack and take over than to do something like this on their own.”

Alpha Cole scoffed at this. “We are impregnable here. Not only is our Pack large and strong, but the facility itself can survive any attack.”

“And whatever remains of the US military will figure that out sooner or later,” I replied. “What will they do when they realize a hostile force has taken control of a Trident facility with nuclear weapons? You just became a high-value target. If you’re lucky, they’ll send troops once they can operate in the daytime. If not, there are multiple ballistic missile submarines out there. Each is capable of vaporizing this base dozens of times over.”

“They wouldn’t nuke their own country,” Beta Mark said.

“There aren’t many American citizens left out there,” I replied. “Don’t assume anything.”

“She might be right, but I’m more worried about other Packs right now,” Beta Kelly said. “The Quinalt Pack knows our weakness, and she’s sitting right there.”

She was looking at me. “Me?”

Kelly nodded. “The best way to change the leadership of a Pack is to kill the Alpha, and the easiest way to do that is to kill his mate. That’s why the Luna has guards. You are human and weak, and others know this. If they can kill you or convince you to reject him, it’s only a matter of time until the Alpha dies. If they challenge and defeat my mate, the Pack would be theirs.”

I had more power than I thought, but I was in more danger at the same time. I stared into Alpha Cole’s eyes. “Your punishment already has you on Rejection Cliff, Alpha Cole. I’ll need an apology and immediate concessions from you, or you might fall off the edge.”

“What kind of concessions?”

“The humans go under MY command,” I replied. “Their welfare and their treatment is solely MINE to decide. This power is not subject to negotiation.”

The meeting dissolved into chaos as I sat back and watched.