Page 31 of Broken Wolf

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.”

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