8

I walked right into the emergency school board meeting like I owned the place. I didn't even give them time to have their normal outrage and bluster that I couldn't be there and trying to get me to leave.

Instead, I just played the recording I had of the head of the school board.

"You can throw that stupid slut in Chicago who licks herself every full moon in my face all you want, dog, but it won't do a damn thing. She has no authority here. The FBI doesn't even have an office in South Dakota and with good reason. We don't want them here. So instead of bothering me and my people, hear me that your rabid brats are never, not ever going to my schools.

"I might have to allow the fleabags who are US citizens, but I will be damned if I now have to allow immigrant dogs to sit with our poor kids and pretend they matter like humans! I would rather take you out back and shoot you all with my rifle and put you down like you deserve. Now don't call here again and waste my time unless you want that."

I smirked at him. "I do actually have authority here, South Dakota specifically even, and just because the FBI doesn't have an office here doesn't mean you're not still part of the United States of America and don't answer to the federal government." I tilted my head as I studied him. "For the guy in charge of making sure people are educated, you're pretty stupid."

"You can't record phone calls like that and—" he blasted.

"It's called a warrant and I had one," I purred. "But I love how you didn't even try to deny you said it all." I twirled my finger in the air. "Round them up. They were so nice to gather in one place for us like idiots always do, get the ones we need."

"Yes, Chief," one of the teams we borrowed from Minneapolis that would be working with mine to help with the remote office. They were going to get some cross-training before we put a supe team in their office. That was the temporary fix Galvin had decided on until we could get more trained up and in the field.

And even when we did, there would be too many newbies, so it was time to cross-train some humans even if they weren't in the field against supes. It meant more help and I was all for it. No reason they couldn't go after the humans committing crimes against supes after all.

It took next to no time to get the eight people we were there for—three of them board members, the rest support staff and lackeys. When they were gone and the team back outside as fast as they had breezed in, I stared down the remaining people.

"You're going to have less staff tomorrow too because this behavior trickled downward," I told them. "Do not leave here and warn people. I'm warning you because I don't want the kids hurt with the lack of leadership they're about to have. You warn people and I will come right back and arrest you for aiding and abetting, you get me?"

I was glad when they clearly did and that the shit had hit the fan.

Good, that would speed things along.

"This was all legal and will stick. We will find out more, and just so you know how bad it is, the head of your school board also stole a few million of the school district's money." I nodded when they all couldn't hide their shock. "Criminals rarely commit one type of crime. Monsters are monsters all around. So understand you are being watched going forward.

"Do better by all of the students in your school district and stop being bigots, allowing them, and all the bullshit. Or I will come back and you could be the one in handcuffs next time. Follow the damn law and let the refugees —the legal refugees —into the schools and protect them or I will throw you in jail and you will be caged like the animals you are behaving like."

I waited until they nodded or gave some sort of acknowledgment before walking right back out for what was next on the agenda.

It wasn't until we pulled up at the house that I realized I was a jerk. I shot Felix an apologetic look after we got out. "I meant to talk to you about this, but we got distracted about the house."

Yeah, sure, that was what we could call it.

"That was my fault really," he muttered, giving me a curious look before glancing towards where we'd arrived.

"I'm also confused why I'm here," Special Agent in Charge Rankin from the Minneapolis office said as he joined me from the other vehicle.

"You're doing me a favor to help me cover my ass, and I'm thanking you heavily after since I didn't ask you to do me the favor first," I told him.

"Whatever I can do to help, Chief," he drawled.

Yeah, well, I got that kind of shit all of the time. He would live.

Seriously.

"No one else is in the house and they let us clear it," one of the ancients told me as I arrived to the front door.

I nodded that I heard him but focused on Marc Swan and his wife. "I apologize for all of this, and thank you for making time to meet with me. I have to be ridiculously careful with how many hate me. I hate to intrude, but your husband said he preferred it at your house."

She accepted my hand and gave a firm shake. "Our youngest gets a bit overloaded after her speech therapy, so taking her out—she needs to decompress. Please, come inside."

"I feel the same way after events," I told her. "Thank you, and again, I'm sorry to push this on you and so last minute. I'll try to be as quick as possible."

"You're a busy woman with about ten different full-time jobs from what even I hear and a team that juggles it all, so it's understandable you'd have to throw your weight around to get things done," she forgave… And shot her husband a look. So clearly, he had a bit of bur stuck in his fur about this.

Yeah, that was fair.

I introduced, Felix, Carter, and SAiC Rankin, admitting two of them had no idea what this meeting was either because of how crazy everything had been. I simply shrugged when the Swans couldn't hide their shock.

"To start, you are in no way in trouble with the FBI. You are not on their radar or even a person of interest in anything," I said firmly. "I am here completely and totally as Alpha Sera." I bounced that around a bit. "And maybe adopted daughter of the Dorcus family. They might want in on this eventually."

"Then why am I here, Chief?" SAiC Rankin sighed. "I really don't want to be—"

"Because I'm above you, and you go where I say you go," I said super sweetly but with an edge to remind him to shut it… Which amused Mrs. Swan. "He is here to make sure later no one says I used my badge to pressure this meeting. I'm not saying either of you would." I focused on Marc Swan. "But you have people under you that don't like supes and we know it.

"We could come to an understanding and one of them runs their mouths and I'm in front of IA or an ethics hearing that I used my badge for personal. So forgive me, but I cover my ass always and brought a man who doesn't know me and isn't even a fan of mine to witness this so nothing can be turned around later."

Carter snorted with SAiC flinched.

Yeah, he hadn't hid it well.

"It's fine, Chief Thomas," Marc forgave, studying me closely. "It's odd and a bit worrisome that you have to go to those lengths, but it's fine."

I swallowed a sigh when I scented bad things from him like I was a paranoid kook. So now I had to go another way. "You cannot be shocked that hate makes people lose their heads, can you? I don't know either of you and you might hate shifters or supes." I glanced between them and saw they still didn't believe me.

Fine, time to overshare, but at least the reason the SAiC disliked me gave me what to use.

"A lot of people in the FBI think I'm a homewrecker," I told the Swans. "Hell, I had to address that on national television at the director's confirmation hearing."

"Chief, I don't think—" SAiC Rankin started to cut in.

"You get she's paygrades above you, right, idiot?" Carter growled. "You're just making her damn point that people lose their heads and don't show the respect they should because she's a werewolf."

Yeah, he really was making the point. I kept my focus on the Swans and continued.

"When the rumors started that I had been having an affair with then-Deputy Director Galvin, I had met him twice. Twice and never alone. Gobs around." I frowned. "No, sorry, three times. He was there when I graduated from Quantico and I shook his hand I think. I don't even remember him. So three times. Big cases and I was never alone with him.

"And I had never met then-Mrs. Galvin. The woman who ran her mouth that she saw how I flirted with her husband. How I was so loose and horrible." I gave them a moment with that because Marc also thought the rumors were true along with Rankin. "I didn't meet her until I saved her life and was shot in the process.

"Damn woman never thanked me. Just screamed at me for bleeding in her house and then accused me of flirting with her son when he got me a Gatorade. It was so ridiculous that I just about told my boss to fuck off when he gave me some lame apology later that it was just her upset." Everyone was shocked I said that. "She hates supes.

"Hates them. That's what it is. Hell, she hates women. She's a conservative prude who is jealous of any woman smarter or prettier or anything more than her. We're all competition, and she's ready to tear us all down." I smiled when Mrs. Swan snorted, clearly knowing the type. "But her hate twisted everything she saw, everything she felt and thought.

"She swears up and down still that I was at events flirting with her then-husband when I have proven I was on assignments. One where I was on a deep cover op and out of the damn country. But she cannot let it go, and it's to the point my attorney is going to sue for defamation because it's still affecting my career and it's all complete bullshit."

And I was staring at Rankin when I said that.

He didn't meet my gaze but swallowed loudly. "I apologize, Chief."

Carter snorted again. "You better do better than that later and at least be the unbiased witness to help her like she wanted. She gets shit on enough."

"Clearly, you're not paranoid, but prudent," Mrs. Swan praised. "And smart. The question I have is what do you need to speak with my husband for, Alpha Sera? If you have students who want to apply to the college, you don't need a meeting with him for that."

I nodded that she was right. Normally, one didn't push for a meeting with the president of a college to have someone they know applied… However, I was in a position to make it happen.

"Very true. But we have problems as supes. You might have heard about the city council—" I smiled when they both burst out laughing.

Yeah, I figured it was all over already. Probably the nightly news was playing clips and—it was hours ago already, and now that it was after dinner, everyone knew about it.

Speaking of which… I glanced at Carter.

"I've heard your stomach growl three times. Yes, it's distracting. Food is coming for when you finish this."

"You are more than welcome to eat here and we can have this meeting in the dining room," Mrs. Swan offered, her politeness refreshing.

I smiled at her. "Anything you or the kids want? Any cravings?"

Apparently, she could be won over by some fries and even her husband wanted a burger. The kids some ice cream.

Done and done.

"I'll be blunt because it's one of my best qualities," I told them. "There are tons of technical colleges. Yours is ranked well and has a good program from what I've been told. You run a tight ship and don't deal well with bullshit. You've turned the place around and made it respectable across lots of states even if it's in lowly South Dakota to some."

I nodded when he adjusted his neck, clearly having to hear that too often and hating it.

"So yes, anyone can just apply, but I want to have a frank discussion if you want us. We had assurances from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and then some of the basketball team were groping and sexually assaulting my wolves in front of faculty and no one was stopping it. Hell, the faculty was outing wolves and tanking their grades."

"I heard and was disgusted."

"I know," I chuckled, nodding when he couldn't hide his shock. "I saw you went on the record saying it. It was the main reason I picked you from the options brought to me."

He hesitated a moment before sitting back in his seat. "I don't have a problem with supes, Alpha Sera. People are just people. Do you guys scare me a bit? Yes. I don't have any experience with you, and as you have said before, claws and fangs are validly scary. But you are all far from rabid and monsters. If your people apply, they will be given a fair shot."

"Good. And they will be treated with respect and not screwed with?" I pushed.

He snorted. "Not by my faculty or they'll be gone. I can get new instructors fast with what I pay and the reputation of the school now." He searched my face. "But you have something more that you are planning."

"She always does," Carter chuckled.

"I want to start a program with my packs that I will pay the full tuition and everything for their education at whatever trade school we partner with if they complete it. Take it seriously and commit to this for real."

"That's very generous of you," Mrs. Swan whispered as Rankin whistled.

"Again, something you can do without…" Marc started to say and I saw the lightbulb go off. "You have refugees who won't have the normal requirements. You need exceptions."

"We need consideration," I clarified as I gestured to Felix. "They were chased out of their country."

Felix picked up the thread of the conversation seamlessly. "There is no chance we could get access to our schooling records. In the end, most of our children were not allowed any sort of accreditation or real schooling. We wouldn't have your normal anything."

"Or the ones who could have produced it, it would be fake." I shrugged when Carter sighed and the others looked at me like they couldn't believe I admitted that. "They were hiding , President Swan. You think they had legit records and papers? No, they had fake everything to hide why they weren't aging and to keep them safe.

"To keep them alive . So I understand your normal requirements, but there has to be some sort of summer class they could take to pass and make it so they are eligible to start in the fall. And they'd be late to apply probably. I bet you already have your registration and applications done. Schedules set."

"But you had lower numbers than last year," Carter said, pulling out the ace we knew. "You're down about three hundred and fifty from last year through no fault of your own. You've been making improvements to accommodate more and then numbers are down."

"It's not your fault, and we're not trying to take advantage of that," I reiterated. "Everyone wants to be a YouTuber or social media star. They don't want to—it's all over the news that interest in ‘real' jobs is down. But the world needs more plumbers. Electricians. I agree. I have some willing to learn if they're given a path and a real chance."

"And you own a construction company now in New York that—" he muttered.

" I do not own it," I cut in, my tone brisk. I toned it back when he seemed confused. "Too many believe I own all the pack does like a fucking dictator or they're my slaves."

"I don't believe that, but I thought you bought it to bail them out," he hedged, frowning. "No, you did construction materials or something?"

"Yes, I did that, and I gave the construction company a loan to pay off their debts to get them out of water, but the businesses my people own are theirs. But yes, there is a large construction company now thriving in New York that is helping my other packs. They could use people. Well trained people and some of them want their certifications."

"And plumbers, electricians, HVAC, and welding certifications transfer very easily in most states," Carter said for Felix. "So learning in South Dakota is no problem for pack members in Illinois or New York, not just those coming into your pack."

I pulled up what Brett had sent me on my tablet. "And we'd want some to take the construction options. I'm not against the engineering or computers. I'd pay for that as well as both would be useful to the packs. But we could not be in any of the healthcare programs. Clearly."

"How many could you possibly be talking about?" he asked, already putting on his professional hat. He winced. "My main concern is housing. I could promise you the faculty, but I cannot control the students, and while I'd like to say—I want to keep things from exploding. That would mean a bunch of wolves not suddenly in the dorms. That wouldn't be smart."

Not in South Dakota. He was right, and that was fair to say.

"I'd prefer you be honest and let's avoid issues," I told him before glancing at Carter. "Talk to Brett if we do this then. We need an apartment building or complex. Short term get a block or full floor of rooms from some extended stay hotel and make it clear that if they let their guests fuck with our wolves the FBI is here now."

Rankin snorted but then cleared his throat.

Oddly enough, it was Mrs. Swan who defended me. "She was just all over TV for running those boys over the coals who were in the car with that drunk driver. They all got in trouble for the whole summer as they should when few punish their kids. I don't think any of them will be the problem."

Her husband chuckled. "No, I don't think they will be."

"Mine won't be, but none of us is perfect," I told him firmly. "And kids can be asses. But I won't get involved with packs I don't know. Seattle's Alpha is a good guy and we're on the same page. Boston. Memphis. A bunch we know. Florida? Nope. I'm not vouching for any pack there. They've made it clear I'm a blonde bimbo and…" I simply sighed.

"Her security wants to gut them," Carter drawled. "That should say a lot."

"Understood," Marc accepted. "So we really did need a conversation about this then. Got it." He looked at Felix. "And my understanding is your refugees are coming in from Estonia?"

"Austria," Felix corrected. "Most of us learn English early, but I have some who aren't the best who would want to be trained."

"We could have a fairy in classes to interpret for a bit while they brush up better," I muttered, glancing at Carter before focusing back on Marc. "And I mentioned Greece because of the temps in Europe—"

"And they're scrambling to train more people who know HVAC," he caught on. "I'll talk to my instructors. The ones teaching HVAC classes specifically are pretty laid-back. I can't see having translators there to help being a big deal. There are a few who won't like the extra hoops. The engineers for sure."

Fair enough.

Food arrived and we moved the conversation to the dining room. I rolled my eyes when Rankin snagged a burger. He hadn't asked for one when we put in the extra, but now he wanted one. Whatever, he could be petty.

We talked more details while Felix asked some good questions to talk to his people about. He wanted some to have a GED class first but could get involved the next year. Plus, we were planning on expanding on the businesses the pack had as well.

Oh, and the college had a mechanics division. Truck driving and everything. Brett hadn't even listed that and I'd missed it. This was a great find if we could make this work for real.

"How many students do you really think you could have for the fall semester?" Marc asked me as he walked us to the door.

I shrugged. "I could get you a rough number of who is interested before the weekend. I would think a hundred now that it's automotive too." I nodded when he couldn't hide his shock. "Supes get screwed over a lot, President Swan. Working closely with people outs us. That means we don't get the training and education we want or need to survive.

"My people will jump at the chance to get that. I'm more worried about getting their current roles filled in since we have more jobs available than people. I'd love to hire outsiders, but the last time we tried that they wanted to poison the greenhouses to destroy everything and the shifters who worked there. So, you know, we turned that person down."

"And hopefully arrested them," Mrs. Swan worried.

"I can't arrest someone for their thoughts or desires, only their actions," I reminded her. "We did however add her to the list of humans banned from all supe businesses and establishments. She's on the watchlist for our events and unfortunately, that list is rather long. It's why I have to hire so much damn security." I gestured to Carter as if that said it all.

It probably didn't. If people knew that I spent six figures a month in salaries to protect me, the people I loved, the pack, and our businesses they'd fall over.

Or maybe stop calling me an idiot all of the time. Who really knew?

I caught a flash of something from Mrs. Swan, asking to speak to her privately, which her husband didn't like. I pulled out my phone, a pen, and the notepad I always carried for work.

"This is the manager of the club in Chicago. If you give her a call and tell her where your head is, Beth will get you set up and have it shipped discretely."

"You really can see inside people's minds," she chuckled nervously as she took the page I'd ripped off.

"No, not remotely. I get an image here and there when people are agitated or excited." I gave her a knowing look. "Thank you for your help. It's not a bribe. Your husband is already on board, and this could help his school, but we both know he didn't like me before and especially now pushing this meeting. So from one woman to another—take this as my offering you a hand as well."

She smiled. "Thank you, Alpha Sera. I will." She called after me when I was halfway to the vehicles. "And I am a fan. I never believed that woman. She never said her husband cheated on her. She said you were a homewrecker and seduced him. It's never the woman's fault. It's the man who made the vow.

"So she hated you so much she would throw insults at you, but so full of herself that she couldn't see that he might have cheated on her since she's so fabulous. It can't be both. Either he cheated or not. You cannot be his cheating partner and he did nothing wrong."

I smiled at her. "You wouldn't believe how few people caught that. She never accused him of cheating. Only I was a homewrecker."

I left there with a little more faith in people that at least some caught the hypocrisy and bullshit. Some could truly see it.

And it gave SAiC Rankin some humble pie to see he wasn't one of them.