Page 154 of Drama Queen

The Owl and The Lion – Jade Thorn

Charlotte

Grace Diaz was an absolute bitch.

"Well, of course I want to eat you, you're a fucking moron!" The woman in question snarled. "And you're pissing off my wolf."

Internally, Charlotte winced. This was absolutely going to blow up in their faces. She wanted to cover hers with her hands. Or maybe tackle her boss to the ground and gag her.

In the end, she did neither. She simply stood there, cool as a cucumber. A fixed, if slightly manic, smile on her face, as camera shutters rattled like quiet gunfire, and the press watched the approaching train wreck with avid glee.

"The difference between you and I, is that I have the higher reasoning to understand when to fight and when to bite."

Correction, she wasn’t a bitch. She was a raving fucking lunatic.

That comeback didn't even make sense. Which was good in a way, because it gave Charlotte the room to turn things around a little, but at the end of the day, her boss had just willingly put the noose around her own neck. It wouldn’t matter which way Gracefaced when the ground fell out from beneath her. She would still hang for this.

Unless Charlotte could turn this around.

It was the same old problem Charlotte faced every day in this job. Grace, the elected representative for shifters in the human government, would be verbally attacked by some small-minded person who was after a good sound-bite and easy votes. Then, instead of using intelligence and reason to make the other side look stupid, Grace would open her mouth and fire with both barrels.

The resulting media storm would take weeks to settle and by then the original point of contention would be long forgotten.

The thing that really baked Charlotte's noodle was that Grace wasn't stupid. She also didn't blow up every time, proving she was more than capable of tact and diplomacy. Surprisingly, the woman got things done. Like, a lot. Which was the only reason Charlotte stuck at her job, despite the ulcer forming in her stomach.

Grace might be a drama queen, but she achieved more than anyone else had before her. It made her insanely popular amongst shifters, and a political target with the humans. Charlotte just wished her boss would wield her intelligence with a little more finesse.

Okay, a lot more.

“No further questions,” Charlotte called loudly, stepping into the fray before Grace bit off more thanshecould chew.

Not Grace. Charlotte.

Her boss would walk away with a smirk, heading to whatever disaster she had planned next, and Charlotte would be left with the clean-up. Why did her job have to be so hard?

“Ms Bailey, would you care to expound on the representative’s last comment? Uh, when to fight, and when tobite?” The man was practically frothing at the bit, dying for her to fuck this up.

No, she wouldn’t care to expound on it, she just had to.

“Certainly, David,” Charlotte replied with a smile, demonstrating an inner calmness she didn’t remotely feel. “Representative Diaz is a wolf shifter, as we all know. While many have likened them to little more than rabid animals, they have, in fact, a higher level of intelligence than the average human being. There are numerous scientific studies documenting this fact. I would refer you to one of those.”

If held under oath, Charlotte would be forced to admit that nothing would please her more than shifting her hand into a claw, and cutting the jugular of David Carlington-Jones. The man Grace had threatened. If he could even be called a man. Snivelling-rat-faced-bastard would probably be more fitting, but highly insulting to rats. He probably thought the hyphenated surname gave him some legitimacy, or at least street cred. In her opinion, it just made him sound the twat he was. A thought which almost made her smile.

Or rat shifters. Did they exist? She’d have to ask Grace. The idea of shifting into her owl and hunting down assholes like the one in front of her, gave Charlotte enough peace to continue without losing her temper.

“She said more than that—” the man protested, speaking over everyone else. However, it wasn’t a question, which meant she didn’t have to answer it.

Instead, Charlotte turned the conversation back to the talking points, the ones Grace had been very excited to announce, even if there was a lot of pushback from the humans.

“Yes, she did indeed,” Charlotte interrupted, before he could continue. “Shifters across the country are thrilled with the latest court ruling, declaring that a national registry is against the constitution. The idea of requiring us to declare our shiftspecies is abhorrent to shifters everywhere. This should be done voluntarily only, and even then only in specific situations, such as when a human accidentally comes in contact with shifter blood.”

The reporter, and she used the term loosely, tried to speak again. His paper certainly was known more for its page three spread rather than its unbiased reporting of events. Grace called it a waste of natural resources, even if it comprised poorly edited and mostly online reporting. Ignoring him, Charlotte simply kept going.

“This is a step forward in shifter rights, a protection for our children, and a clear declaration that we are not up for scientific examination or experimentation. Shifters are a sovereign and sentient species, with our own internal politics, yet still following the laws of the land we live in. Governments across the world are avidly following this court case, and today’s ruling is pivotal in the future relationships between shifters and non-shifting species. No longer will we be hunted, enslaved, and tortured for our abilities. At least not in this fabulous nation. Across the planet, people are cheering for the justice meted out today. May this ruling be the harbinger of a new age of peace. Thank you for your time.”

Men and women alike clamoured for attention, shouting questions and demanding answers. Then there were the protestors, held at the back by the human police, they chanted their slogans, declaring themselves more important than anyone else there. Nobody listened, but a few film crews were getting footage.

Thankfully, it wasn’t her job to manage that. No, she just had to mediate the shitshow about to happen between the US council of shifters, and her boss, who was basically their PR representative.

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