Endangered Species

Cole was gone when I woke up. It was probably a good thing; I couldn’t handle talking to him now, and his wolf didn’t deserve my anger. I showered and dressed, putting on a knee-length blue dress I found in my closet and a matching set of low heels. There was a small jewelry box on the dresser now. Opening it up, I found a strand of pearls and matching earrings. I put them on, knowing I was the hostess now and guests would be coming.

Was I happy about the Alpha Conference? Hell, no. Cole had done some shitty things, but facing trial and execution wasn’t what I wanted. I might kill his furry ass, but nobody else got to touch him!

Too many bad things could happen to my females with Council involvement. The worst-case scenario running through my mind was this; they would see how many of the group were mates, then kill the rest. Just because you could turn a human who knew your secret didn’t mean you HAD to. If enough hard-core Alphas agreed to eliminate the extras, it would happen. If they agreed with Alpha Edward, mates would be fine. The others? “Join us or die.” Some choice, huh?

Then there was the Pack. I couldn’t deny that I felt responsible for them, even though I wasn’t officially their leading female. Did they fuck up? Absolutely. Did people die? Lots of them.

And the hard truth is that they would have died anyway. Military, civilian, it didn’t matter. All humans faced an impossible choice; use the daylight hours to find food, and risk blindness and death. Stay underground during the day, and starve because you can’t function.

The military hunkered down and took care of themselves. Long term, the Navy wasn’t ready for the new reality. The military didn’t have stockpiles of food; after a few weeks, they would have to search the surrounding areas for supplies. When they went out, the Marines weren’t bringing relief supplies to the survivors. They didn’t have food or medicine, and none was coming. The solar storm was a worldwide catastrophe; the supply lines didn’t break down. They disappeared.

The military DID have organization, functioning vehicles, secure bunkers, and overwhelming firepower. They were IMPORTANT, and that meant doing what was necessary to survive. No, the troops would be like a swarm of locusts, picking clean every remaining supply and bringing it back to keep their people alive. The ones who get in the way? Collateral damage. He who has the guns makes the rules.

The base got overrun by werewolves who are far better suited to the world as it now exists. The sad reality was that our best chance at survival came with joining the Pack as full members. Healing, eyesight, hearing, smell, strength, communications? In every area except fertility, they were better suited than humans for survival.

I couldn’t do a damn thing about what happened before I arrived here. Hell, I couldn’t help anyone from the moment I made it ashore until the moment Cole discovered I was his mate. Only then did I have any power or influence.

I looked down at my hand, the B287 tattoo still fresh. I couldn’t let my girls down; I had to save them all. I tapped the knife sheaths under my dress, then headed out.

I opened the door to find Lois and my guards waiting for me. Lois walked alongside as the armed guards flanked us in the hallway. “I need to speak to the Alpha. After that, I need to speak with the women who plan to leave before breakfast,” I told her.

“The Alpha will meet you in his office,” she replied after linking with him. “You have your knives?” I nodded. “Good. Don’t think about using them on him. I have to protect my Alpha, even from you.”

“Oh, I won’t gut him until everyone is gone,” I replied. It didn’t take long to get there. The guards stayed outside while Lois took a position just inside the door. Cole was doing paperwork; he smiled and stood up as I walked in. “Don’t apologize; I’m not ready to hear it,” I said before he could say something stupid. “I need to know about the Council and how it affects my women.”

Over the next ten minutes, he laid it all out. “We are most vulnerable to punishment in two areas: holding humans for breeding and giving Pack membership to those who have not taken the change. Both are against the law, but I will argue extenuating circumstances due to the breakdown of civilization. An Alpha seeking to expand and strengthen his pack is understandable; the other Alphas will secretly wish they thought of it first.”

“They aren’t bringing humans in?”

“Edward isn’t. I have no idea how the other Packs have reacted. Hell, I don’t know if they survived. Werewolves heal fast, but you’re probably dead by now if you don’t have an underground shelter.”

“What is our play?”

“For now, we don’t do anything stupid with other Packs around. I don’t want our humans around the other Packs.”

“What about mates?”

“Controlled interactions for mates like last night. Otherwise, they are Brinnon Pack business until the Council decides.”

“How many returned last night?”

“None,” Cole replied.

I pushed my anger down, taking a moment to calm down. I didn’t miss Lois getting closer as I rubbed my arm over my knife sheath. “I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked. After the women who returned the first night gave their reports, everyone knew what to expect. The women choosing to leave weren’t going to change their minds.” I looked at him, focusing on his shirt button because I didn’t trust myself looking into his eyes. “What now?”

“We wait,” he replied. “I need my warriors here to patrol our territory, watch the visitors, and guard our supplies and people. Until the Council leaves, we cannot send out our gathering parties.”

It made sense. Don’t divide your forces. “What about the women planning to leave tonight?”

“Would you let them go, knowing what will happen if they leave?”

No. No, I wouldn’t. I’d be a knowing accessory to murder. “You’re right. We can’t break the law in front of witnesses, can we?”

“Use the Council meeting as an excuse. Everything is on hold until we see who mates with who.”

I rolled my eyes. “Some of these women will reject their mates to be free.”

“It is your responsibility to educate them, Angela. Tell them the truth if you must. It won’t make them hate me more than they already do.”

He’d left me a shit sandwich, and there wasn’t enough ketchup to get this one down. I couldn’t tell them the truth about their upcoming choice without telling them what happened to their friends. If I didn’t tell them the truth, they would die. “We could have avoided all this shit if you’d been honest with me from the start,” I said as I got up. “I’ve got a long fucking memory, and I can never forget or excuse what you have done to my people. I don’t have a wolf, and I don’t plan to get one anytime soon. I don’t want to be stuck with a lying bastard like you forever.”

“Lying destroys trust, doesn’t it,” Cole said evenly.

“You’re damn right! A relationship founded on lying cannot become strong. It’s like a disease eating at your relationship. You admit the problem, take your medicine, and build trust by what you DO, not what you SAY.”

He nodded, which just made me madder. “What is worse? The fact that I had those women killed when they left? Or is it that I let you all think we’d release them?”

I had to think about that. “Both piss me off. Since you can blame the deaths on werewolf law, I’d say it is lying to me about it. If you had told me the truth, we could have worked together. Maybe some of those women would be alive now if you had trusted me just a LITTLE!”

“You are right. A little bit of trust up front would make a big difference. I’m sorry about that, Angela. I lied to you because I knew how you would react. It’s how I reacted when you lied and betrayed us.”

What? “Don’t you DARE try to turn this into something about ME, Cole.”

“Why not? You lied and endangered the Pack before I had the first female killed.”

“I did no such thing!”

“Really? ‘Two of the women wanted to go to Whidbey Island. Since you can’t travel there by land, they are using the kayak I arrived in.’ Who said THAT?”

Oh, fuck. “I did.”

“You lied to my face, Angela.” He opened a desk drawer and took a piece of paper out. “You betrayed me, and you endangered the Pack. I AM the one who should be furious at YOU! Yet, somehow, I’m still trying to make this mating work!”

I looked at the paper he slid across the desk, and my heart almost stopped. I recognized the handwritten message I’d given Lieutenant Mary Connolly and Ensign Anna Natchez. I could see a bloodstain on the corner, and it was stiff like seawater had dried off.

My “message to Garcia” hadn’t gone through.