Page 32 of Broken Wolf

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.

9

After a shower, I was ready for bed, but instead it was one more meeting with all of the “Betas” Felix was bringing in and his trusted inner circle. Including his enforcers and advisors, some born wolves with a lot of years. He had brought in about a quarter of the pack, and now it was time to bring in more but only those he trusted.

But I wanted to talk with the major players first so they could hear a lot directly from my mouth.

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