Page 23 of Broken Wolf

“No, our business here is far from done,” I chuckled darkly. “I’m too busy to come all this way for one city council meeting to block one of the stupidest plans I’ve ever come across in my career.” I did my best to swallow a laugh when steam practically came out of all of their ears again. “Why are you getting so offended? I didn’t say it was your plan.”

“Just wear a sign saying you’re guilty as you’re on live TV,” Carter muttered, shaking his head. “Seriously. And they thought they could outsmart you?”

Glad someone had faith in my intelligence.

“And before you tell me this isn’t the forum for what I’m about to speak on next, I’m not an idiot, and I’ve reviewed the recordings of previous meetings and agendas. This is exactly the place. My only rudeness is that I didn’t get on the agenda first. Oddly enough, I wasn’t allowed and was blocked when I shouldn’t have been as Alpha of the pack here.

“It’s actually explicitly illegal to pull that crap.” I smirked at the mayor. “I expect someone’s ass held to the fire for that. I’ve spent over a year filing requests and following the rules before we got to this point.” He gave a swift nod and I glanced around, deciding to gloat a bit. “I might not be able to take you all down for this, but I’ll make it clear you can’t protect your pawns.

“No one in their right mind will be willing to help you hurt supes after I’m done. They will see that you will hang them out to dry and let them take the fall just like corrupt people committing crimes always do. So I apologize for not having all of this on the agenda, but it’s past time there’s a come-to-Jesus moment with the good people of Sioux Falls.”

While I’d been talking, my people had set up behind me. The presentation was loaded and I gave the other camera guy a look.

“Don’t pull anything if you like your job and don’t want to upset me,” I warned him as I tapped my badge. I waited until he nodded, one of our guys even checking the live TV coverage and everything was in the correct spot. “Now, someone is going to speak for me because I’m not involved in all of the numbers and figures. But it’s the same as me speaking.”

I stepped aside and let the fairy we’d borrowed from Laila’s court to handle this part take over. He was well-spoken and charismatic. He was going to talk economics and boring numbers but would make them sound fascinating. He was one of their spokespeople and handled PR a lot, so some might even recognize him.

He talked for the next five minutes about the economics of the areas I’d been involved in, starting with Memphis. People tried to bury that too much, but Memphis’s economy was doing better after I’d fought all the corruption there. Not a ton, but it was very noticeable in the area of the pack.

One pack couldn’t help a city as big as Memphis.

He showed the same in Chicago. Milwaukee. Grand Rapids. Even NYC.

I thanked him when he was done and looked right at the camera. “I don’t have an economics degree and even I find a lot of that tedious when I’m directly involved. The bottom line is if you stop fighting us, we’re an asset. When we’re accepted we thrive, and as all of you know, when one part thrives, it spreads.

“Just like when one part gets rotted, that spreads. I’m asking that you stop treating us like the rotted part you need to get rid of. We’re not, and we’ve done nothing for you to have that opinion or treat us that way.” I gestured towards the council. “We’ve done nothing to be treated this way. Most of my wolves were born here. They’ve lived here all of their lives and some very long lives.

“They don’t have any warrants, have served their country, and tried to help their community. Would help their community if they’re allowed. Just give us a damn chance. Grand Rapids is better for it. So is Milwaukee. We shop your businesses and buy your food. And most importantly, there has not been one real instance of a member of this pack hurting a human here.

“It’s all crap. Even I heard the rumors that the pack was out of hand and practically mob-like with the residents. It was all crap.” I shot a dirty look at one of the reasons for that, but he practically flipped me off with his eyes. “I became Alpha because the pack was mistreated here and they were desperate.

“They were so buried in bigotry and corruption by the people who were supposed to protect them that when I was abducted they came to take my pack and leave here. That was how desperate they were.” It was good the humans couldn’t tell a lie like we could because I was full of shit and my nose might grow soon. “But taking that risk came with a cost and they lost.

“So the pack became mine. Remember that the next time you’re looking for someone to blame that I’m here and forcing people to follow the laws and treat supes fairly. The bigots who live here did this. The ones who harass the supes in Sioux Falls went too far and brought me here, the loudmouth blonde from Chicago apparently you all hate.”

I shrugged as if to say I didn’t give a shit.

“I’m here, and it’s my job to protect supes. I do my job well, so if you don’t like it, you can leave.” I snorted. “I don’t know where you’ll go that will allow you to behave as some of you have in the US. You’d probably have to leave the country to be honest. And if you have to go to those lengths just to keep hating people you don’t even know personally—you think you’re on the good side?

“That’s really what you want to teach your kids? You think you have a moral stand to take with whatever god you believe in? It didn’t work for the churches in Memphis. It won’t work here. And just so we’re clear on that, the FBI is setting up a remote office here to handle all the issues we keep finding. So I suggest you understand this is real before you end up in prison.

“I signed up for the job of protecting my people when I took over the pack in Chicago. I knew this fight could mean my death, but I’ve always been willing to pay that price. I still am. Know that if you think to brush this off or I’m just being a loudmouth again. Instead, listen to what is coming out of my mouth, and let’s all work towards a prosperous Sioux Falls.

“That’s what we’re offering and what we can bring to the table.” I gestured to the folders with all the titles. “These are houses supes will now live at. That’s a hundred more families that will live among you. We pay our taxes. We fix up our houses. We take care of them and the neighborhood. Start giving us a chance—a real chance and you’ll like what you find.”

“Are you done?” one of the councilmen demanded.

“One last thing,” I said as if he hadn’t spoken. “Some of you hate us because you are scared of us. I would be too if I watched some of the news and that was all I knew. None of them are supes. They don’t know about us. They don’t have access to the FBI records like I do as they throw out statistics and more.

“I heard some crap that last year there was a 33% rise in supes infecting humans from the year before. I have no idea where they got that from. I couldn’t even get some sort of number like that as an Alpha who talks to my council and as a division chief of the law enforcement agency policing supes. We have no numbers like that at all.

“That’s like throwing out how many people hurt their knee and head last year from falling down the stairs. It’s crazy specific and not all reported. It doesn’t have to be. It’s not like a gunshot wound. So that number is crap. It’s really crap when it comes to my wolves.” I gave them a moment with that. “Since I have taken over, we’ve had one. One accidental infection. One.

“I took over Chicago a few years ago. Other packs since. That’s thousands and thousands of wolves, more prey shifters we protect. I know there were none in Chicago from any shifter in those years because I talk with those leaders weekly. We work together, and we tell each other any problems. There was one accidental scratching in another group in those years.

“And luckily, they weren’t infected. Before someone blames the guy, he was being mugged and got scared. Yeah, don’t mug shifters and you won’t risk being scratched. How about just don’t mug anyone?” I rolled my eyes as if to say that would never happen.

I could hope.

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