Endangered Species

Angela Summer’s POV

I woke before Cole did, but not before his morning wood. I could feel his hot length pressing against the crack of my ass, straining to escape the basketball shorts he was wearing. My T-shirt had ridden up during the night, and his big right hand was cupping my right breast under the bunched fabric. I hadn’t fought him off while asleep; no, my hand covered his. Hell, I probably put it there.

It felt wonderful, and I felt safe and loved. I smiled, feeling my mate’s breath on my neck. I wiggled my hips a little, making him moan in his sleep. It would be easy to pull the shorts out of the way and do what my body wanted right now. Cole was far bigger than the other men I’d been with. He’d have to take things slow, but it would be amazing.

And I couldn’t let that happen just yet. So far, Cole had kept up his side of the bargain, but I needed to see some run time on his new cooperation with me. I moved his hand from under my shirt and slid out of bed. Cole pulled my pillow closer, burying his nose in my scent, and stayed asleep.

I grabbed clothes out of the dresser and headed for the bathroom. I emerged four minutes later, fully dressed and ready for the day. The Academy trained me to go from asleep to inspection-ready in under five minutes, and the habits died hard. Cole’s eyes looked at me. “You’re up early,” he said.

“I couldn’t sleep. I need to check on the women who are turning and talk to the women leaving tonight. I’m hoping they listen to the ones who changed their minds.” A total of nine out of thirty had come back after seeing what the outside world had devolved into.

“I’ll summon your guard. I should talk to the warriors leading the teams today before breakfast.” He closed his eyes for the link, then rolled out of bed. Damn, he had a great body. “What are your plans for today?”

“I need to be with the women when they get their fevers, and I need to work with the leaders on work assignments and schedules,” I said. “I don’t see what I’d accomplish outside the fence again. I feel like a liability out there.”

“You wouldn’t be a liability if you took the change,” Cole said as he put his hand on my shoulder. It migrated to the back of my neck as he pulled me in for a good morning kiss.

“I’m not ready for that yet.” I looked down at the tent in his shorts. “Put that thing away before it pokes an eye out.”

“It can’t help itself,” he replied with a light smack on my ass. “Go. I’m going to take a cold shower. I’ll meet you at breakfast.”

I opened the door to find Lois Forman waiting. “You’re up early,” she said.

“Force of habit,” I replied. I gave her my goals for the day, and she led me to the room where the women making the transition were sleeping. It hadn’t been twelve hours since Cole bit them, meaning the fevers wouldn’t start until late in the day. A few were awake, the others still sleeping. I was up thirty minutes before the Pack usually started their day. “How are they doing,” I asked Nurse Theresa Manning.

“We’re all good,” she replied. “Doc cleared us to work through lunch, and I’ll ensure everyone eats the right things before the fevers hit.”

“Good.” I pulled her aside. The euthanasia of Breeder 84 shook my faith in our medical personnel. “You’re Pack now. I am in charge of all the human females. Nobody gets ‘put down’ without my express orders. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Doctor Pine made that clear after your meeting yesterday. That wasn’t my idea,” she continued. “I understood the reasoning, but the order came from the Alpha.”

“The Alpha is my concern now.”

She smiled teasingly at me. “I’d be concerned if my lover was wielding that baseball bat. You’ll need the accelerated healing after your mating night.” I flushed as she started to laugh at my reaction, then she got serious again. “We will need you here for the changes in two days. Not all go well, and it may be merciful to give us that order.”

“I know. I’ll be here for the shifts.” I spoke to some of the women, encouraging them and promising I’d be checking in regularly. I joined the thirty women heading out after breakfast as they packed their go bags, then we went to breakfast.

The eyewitness accounts of the nine women who changed their minds about leaving last night had a ripple effect on the others. Those nine plus twelve others joined the Pack over breakfast, and six more Pack humans chose to take the bite. I stood with them as Cole bit them to start the change. They would slide in with the others, just twelve hours behind them for their milestones. I was disappointed none of the groups found any families or males to join us, but maybe tonight’s expedition would have better luck.

The mood at the head table was almost festive; the Pack was growing, and their Alpha couple was getting along. Cole was very affectionate in public. I put up with it because it seemed authentic and was part of our agreement. At one point, Cole pulled me onto his lap and started feeding me. The others said this was his wolf’s influence. It showed me he could take care of me and my pups, and the Pack loved it.

I kept an eye on my people, especially the group of women determined to leave. The changes in their treatment, plus the start of the releases, had brought the tension level down a lot. The ones heading out today ate as much as possible, not knowing where their next big meal would come.

I joined them as the meal broke up, and Cole went off to brief the team leaders. He wasn’t heading out with them today; Beta Mark would be in charge of those five groups. The chosen thirty grabbed their bags and followed Lois and me to the armory.

The stories from last night changed the selections; three groups selected M4 carbines, one a scoped bolt-action rifle, and one a Glock pistol. They asked for more, but the Alpha’s limit was firm. I couldn’t argue since he was doing me a favor just letting them leave armed. We headed out from underground, joining the groups of vehicles near the gate. “Take care of them,” I told Beta Mark.

“I’ll protect them until we reach the dropoff points, ma’am. After that, they aren’t my problem anymore.”

I nodded, knowing that was all I could ask. “Stay safe out there, Beta. Good hunting.”

“Thank you, Luna.” I waved at the girls in the backs of the trucks as they drove off. I didn’t feel good about it; they were MY responsibility now, and they were going where I couldn’t protect them anymore. I hoped they’d realize in a day or two that joining the Pack was better than starving out there. If they returned to the base, I’d promised they could return.

I spent the rest of the morning with Acting Luna Melanie, Beta Kelly, and her direct reports. Gamma Sally needed the most people to help with cooking, cleaning, and serving food. Delta Betty needed almost as many to sort and store things in the warehouses. Warrior Lois owned drivers and vehicles, so she needed people to run forklifts, operate trucks, and maintain vehicles. All of them wanted to free up werewolves for other tasks.

The wolves hadn’t cared much about backgrounds and desires when assigning the human slaves to jobs. Now that they were Pack, we had to do better. We also had to adapt to the losses from those leaving and taking the change.

We didn’t have a consensus on how to make the assignments. Melanie wanted the women to sign up for spots. Kelly preferred to assign them based on education and experience. Naturally, I had a different idea. “I think it is more important for them to learn how the Pack works than to settle into a job,” I told them. “I’d like to see a rotation, maybe a week in each area. It gives them a chance to get to know new people and for your Pack to see and appreciate them.”

“That seems inefficient,” Kelly said.

“It works in the Navy. Junior sailors spend time in the mess halls and deck division. They get an idea of how things work before they ‘strike’ for the rating they want. After that, it’s on-the-job training.”

“How would it work,” Melanie asked.

“What is the fewest number of people you would need in any one place?” It turned out that number was five. “We divide the girls into groups of five. That makes it easier to set up a weekly rotation. Say they spend their first week in the kitchen. Later weeks are in the warehouse, garage, dining room, then cleaning staff. They have a ‘core’ group to bond with, but they get to go everywhere and work with everyone before a final assignment.”

“Not everyone has the skills to drive a forklift or change the oil in a truck,” Lois objected.

“Do you know if any of them do?” She shrugged. “You never asked, did you? When we put the groups together, we’ll look for things like that. If we don’t have the critical skills, we can make that assignment right away. If we can find ten, one works with you while the other works elsewhere, then they alternate,” I said.

“It’s a lot more work to train them,” Gamma Sally said.

“Most of the stuff is basic skills, and you can pair them with experienced wolves. It is easier to schedule resources as numbers change or jobs shift. Current people leave, others arrive, or are out of action during the change. You keep the base number at five and change the number of groups.”

“Then what? Do they pick their jobs?”

“Nope. It’s competitive. They sign up for their first, second, and third choices, and we leaders, with input from our teams, choose the ones we want. You learn about them as they learn about you and the job. We have hundreds of new Pack members to integrate, and this is the best way I’ve seen.”

“I’m convinced,” Melanie said. “You don’t need my permission, Angela. The humans are yours to direct. Kelly and I will leave you guys to make up the schedules.”

“I’ll leave Sally and Betty to make up the rotation. Don’t forget to put a group with Medical to assist with caring for the ones taking the change. I’ll take Lois and Kelly with me if that’s all right. ”

“What are you going to do?”

“We need to interview everyone,” I said, “including those whose fevers will soon hit. We get their names, backgrounds, education, experience, licenses, hobbies, and skills. We get to the ones taking the change before the fevers hit. Critical skills like truck drivers go on the same teams. We can group the others to get an even split of age and talent.”

“That makes sense,” Lois said.

“Oh, one more thing,” I told them. “We need everyone to wear nametags.” They looked at me quizzically, so I rolled my eyes. “You people only have to learn a few HUNDRED new Pack members. Some people like me didn’t know ANYONE before I arrived! And we don’t remember people by scent, and we can’t link someone to ask. They aren’t Breeders anymore, so I don’t want to hear anyone referred to by number ever again.”

“I agree,” Melanie said.

Sally nodded. “I’ll get my Admin people to come up with something, even if it’s a Sharpie and those ‘Hello My Name Is’ stickers.”

“Thank you. Anything else?” No one had anything. “Let’s get busy.”

Kelly volunteered to get the changing group interviewed, while Melanie tagged along with me as we headed for the others. “Luna knew what she was doing with you,” Melanie said. “You’re not just a good match for my idiot brother; you’re a natural leader. Everyone else was looking to complete the task while you were looking out for your people.”

“I’m so over my head it isn’t funny,” I replied. “I didn’t ask for the job, but I can’t refuse it either.”

She patted my shoulder. “In time, Cole will see it too. Make sure to get some spectacular groveling before you give in to the inevitable, Angela. He needs to realize you’re his equal, not his plaything.”

She was right. Cole couldn’t take his actions back, and I wasn’t going to accept anything more than a heartfelt apology. He wasn’t close to getting my neck.