Page 99 of Wulf's Pack
I preen on the inside when Agent Johnson calms down too. She may not be a shifter, but even she can’t help responding to Skylar’s soothing presence. The frown stays on her face, but the nasty glare disappears, and she unclenches her hands, opting instead to fold her arms across her chest. “Even wild animals have to be controlled,” she says coolly.
I almost lose it again. She thinks we need to becontrolled?I’d like to see her try.
Skylar squeezes my arm in a gentle warning, and I take a breath.
Agent Johnson lifts her chin a fraction. “It may be a lion’s nature to be a predator, but you can’t just let it run wild. If it starts attacking humans, we’re going to put it down.”
I growl again. There is a big difference between what my pack did and a feral beast going to town on a bunch of innocent people. “Did my pack attack any humans? Did werun wildwithout regard to public safety?”
Agent Johnson huffs, and Ralston tries once again to play the good cop. “Look. We agree with you that Victor Santos needed to be stopped. No one is saying otherwise. But you should have let the proper authorities handle it.”
I close my eyes and count to five. “You don’t get it. You’re still thinking like a human. Underworlders, shifters especially, think in terms of dominance and strength. I am a new, untested alpha. My pack is small. And we have something that every other pack in the world wants.”
I glance at Skylar, and she gives me a soft smile. I calm even more as love washes over me, sweeping away my anger. “Omegas are precious, powerful, and highly coveted. It’s bad enough that someone was able to take Skylar from us. If I sat back and let the cops deal with my problem, I would be seen as weak. Every alpha in the world would come to challenge me for Skylar. My mate—my entire pack—would never be safe. A show of force was necessary.”
Agent Ralston frowns, and Johnson purses her lips, scowling so deeply she looks downright constipated.
“He’s right,” Gorgeous says, jumping in to back me up. “About all of it. He had to act in order to avoid more bloodshed. It’s just the way shifters work. You’ll never getthem to suppress their instincts and conform to human laws. That’s why underworlders have always been allowed to police themselves. It’s the reason the FUA exists in the first place. Underworlders are not human. They need to be governed by other underworlders.”
Johnson throws her hands up in exasperation. “You can’t just allow underworlders to disregard human safety!”
I smirk when Gorgeous rolls his eyes. It’s Nora who responds next. “No one is doing that. When underworlders threaten humans, we step in.Youstep in. But no humans were threatened tonight.”
“No humans were even involved,” Gorgeous adds. “Youknowthat.” He pushes off the wall and steps closer to the group with his chest puffed up and his thumbs hooked casually into his belt. “This incident isn’t a human matter at all. It falls completely under FUA jurisdiction. We’re allowing you to be here and question these guys as a courtesy, but whether or not he gets charged with anything is up to us.”
Fire flashes in Johnson’s eyes hot enough that if Gorgeous weren’t a fireproof dragon, he might be incinerated on the spot. He cocks a brow in response. The dragon looks harmless enough, but I can feel the aggression beneath the surface. He’s radiating smugness and silently challenging the FBI agents, daring them to disagree.
Johnson shakes with rage and looks seconds away from exploding, but she says nothing. Technically, Gorgeous is right no matter how much she hates the fact. Ralston sees the futility of the situation as well and sags back in his chair. He lets out a weary sigh. “Well, I suppose we’re done here, then.”
Agent Johnson scoffs. Ralston climbs to his feet and grabs the woman by the arm. “Come on, partner. We’ve got everything we need for our reports. Let them deal with the cleanup. I’m starving.”
He drags Johnson to the door, but she glares over her shoulder at me and then Gorgeous. “I’ll be speaking to my superiors about this.”
Gorgeous shrugs. “Go ahead. I’ll happily ignore any ignorant humans you send my way.”
Nora groans. “Nick, stop antagonizing them.” She stands up and gives the FBI agents the diplomatic smile she’s so good at. “It seems we still have a lot of work to do with human underworld relations. Let’s schedule a meeting with whatever human officials are needed to sort through this.”
Nora subtly starts leading the humans out the door, talking as they go. “We can discuss the individual needs of the different underworld races so that the humans are better informed and more comfortable with how underworlders need to run things. I’m sure there can be some concessions made on both sides to make sure everyone feels safe.”
Gorgeous opens the door for them, and as they exit the security office, Nora glances over her shoulder, shooting Skylar and me a smile. I mouth a thank-you and she winks. Once they’re all gone, I sink back down to the couch and scrub my hands over my face. I’m exhausted. “Ugh.” I groan. “Humans are such a pain in the ass.”
“Especially that one,” Bree mutters, referring to Agent Johnson.
Skylar sighs. “It all turned out okay. No sense in stewing over it. Let Agent Gorgeous and Director Jacobs worry about them. We need to take care of our pack. We should get them all home, where they can rest and properly mourn.”
My shoulders slump, and I drop my hands to my lap, slapping my thighs. “You’re right.” I smile at my mate. “As always.”
She smirks at my obvious brownnosing. I grin and steal a kiss before pulling myself up again and holding out a hand to Skylar.
Outside, we find Easton, Isabella, and the woman we’d found in the holding cell directing the FUA cleanup crew. Brett is here as well, having brought the children back so they could be with their families now that the danger has passed.
The compound is bathed in red, and the coppery stench of blood saturates the air, but at least it no longer resembles a battlefield. The cleanup crew has taken away the bodies of Victor’s pack, and there are only nine remaining bodies enclosed in body bags laid out in the courtyard. I assume the extra two are the alpha and beta coyotes Victor killed when he arrived. My gut twists at the sight. Nine lives I was responsible for. Six of them were people who died because I led them into a fight we had no chance of winning without casualties. I knew going in that people would die, but seeing it forces me to feel it.
Skylar squeezes my hand and murmurs, “You didn’t command them to come. They made a choice, knowing the risks. Their deaths are not your fault.”
I’m not sure I agree with her, but I will accept that they fought willingly, and I will respect their sacrifices. I won’t dishonor their choice by brooding about their loss and making it about me. Instead, I’ll move on and take care of the family and friends they left behind.
I hold my hand out to the coyote woman. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Alpha Winters. I’m very sorry for your losses.”
