Page 3 of Waiting for Fate
“This is the life, isn’t it?” I sway to the music and pack away the picture frames we had decorating our walls.
“Me, you, and music? Yeah, it is.” Omen beams at me, quoting the promise I made her at our first concert together.
She skips the part where I promised an endless supply of musician knots, but I know she isn’t ready for that. Her fear of her family finding her is still too strong for her to pursue a relationship. Maybe my being gone for this tour will help break her out of the shell she’s chosen to live in.
CHAPTER TWO
RUNNING IS Ahabit I picked up to help exhaust my mind after a night of restless sleep. One that no longer helps after so many years. The short walk to my second-floor apartment helps me cool off. I need a shower, and I should probably eat something before diving into my next distraction.
My phone chirps with a message as I walk into the bathroom. Turning on the water to heat, I strip the sweaty clothes from my body and check the alert. It’s a message calling us into the office for a meeting.
My roommate, Ridley, and I both work for the DAU. The Designation Activist Underground is a private organization who focuses on advocating for equality and freedom for people of all designations and pack dynamics. They fund scientific research for affordable, safe suppressants and birth control, as well as organizing peaceful protests to combat anti-pack, anti-designations laws being proposed in courts across the country.
Privately, the DAU works similarly to a federal intelligence agency. They monitor anti-designation territories and perform rescue operations to free at-risk citizens from the clutches of extremist organizations. Ridley and I work on the agency side, often taking missions that require us to provide security for refugees until threats against them are mitigated. Occasionally, we step in to assist with extractions or raids on discovered illegal operations.
Several days ago, we finished a security operation for a small pack who escaped one of the extremist anti-pack territories in the Midwest, so it’s odd for us to be called back this quickly. Not that I have any complaints about staying busy. Sitting around our apartment is the perfect recipe for ferality.
After showering, I knock on Ridley’s door, pounding hard enough to startle him awake. He just laughs it off. “Mornin’ Lex!”
This asshole is far too damn chipper all the time.
“We’re being called in,” I tell him, heading into our kitchen to start breakfast. Eating is a priority if we are going to be briefed when we get to headquarters. He nods and hurries into the bathroom, reemerging fifteen minutes later with wet hair.
“Donovan rarely gives us back-to-back missions,” he comments as we rush to my car. Our boss, Donovan Griffith, is a leader of the DAU. He’s an older alpha, in his 60s, with tenure in the political field and a short military career to back him up. He’s overprotective of every single person we rescue, regardless of their age and designation, but that’s what makes him the best. Donovan genuinely cares about making the world a better place, and isn’t pretending like a lot of the other assholes out there.
I grunt my agreement, and Ridley rolls his eyes. He is used to my surliness after working together for four years.
When we pull up to the former warehouse the DAU has turned into their headquarters, we’re both on alert as we notice the nearly full parking lot. Something big must have happened.
The large meeting hall is full of hushed voices as we enter. Donovan immediately spots us and waves us to the front where he and another DAU leader, Lukas Dromir, are waiting for everyone to arrive. Ridley is chatter happy as he follows behind me, saying hello to nearly every agent we pass. I exchange terse nods with the few agents I’m friendly with, but I mostly keep to myself.
“Thanks for coming in,” Donovan says, shaking my hand and turning to do the same to Ridley. “I know you only returned last night from your last case, but I have another urgent mission I’d like to assign you.” He gets distracted when the doors open again, his eyes flickering over everyone in the room. Once he’s sure no one is missing, he turns back to us. “I’ll fill you in after this.”
Nodding, we move to stand against the wall, away from the crowd. My muscles feel tense as I cross my arms over my chest. I’ve already clocked every upper level DAU agent in the room, as well as a few of our undercover agents who aren’t currently on assignment. The unsettling feeling I had upon arriving only grows in intensity.
“Okay, let’s get settled in.” Donovan addresses the room, the weight of his alpha presence commanding attention even from the strongest alphas here. A gift he refuses to use for his own gain. “I know you’re all wondering why we called you in, and I won’t sugarcoat things. Hell is trying to descend upon us.”
“As of eight this morning, we have confirmation that New Hampshire Senator Adam Pierson, known follower of anti-designation cultist Grant Montgomery, is announcing his run for presidency.” Dromir clarifies, pressing a button to show an image captured of both men outside of Montgomery’s church.
The anti-designation movements still sweeping parts of the country need to be dismantled. It’s been nearly a hundred years since the first designations presented. Years of research have determined there is no ‘cure’. This is what humanity looks like now. It’s time they accept it too.
“Pierson will announce his intention to the public within the next twenty-four hours, followed by the launch of an aggressive campaign tour. Which will kick off next week.”
A hush falls over the room with this news. It isn’t shocking to hear the Pastor is making moves to claim a position of control over the government, but it is unsettling to hear it is happening sooner than we expected. Insiders in New Hampshire have been giving us information about the questionable activities within the Montgomery cult for years. We cannot do much to bring the group down without tangible evidence, which is something we haven’t been able to find.
A candidate running with the backing of a man known for an unethical, sadistic approach to dealing with designations within his community spells catastrophe for us all if he is successful. Many of the people in this room have seen firsthand the horrific things the Pastor and his followers have done to those who don’t fit his image of perfection.Brutal beatings, maimings, and deaths from neglect are the most severe of his sins.
“We got our hands on the full roster of his campaign stops for the next several months. A joint task force is being formed with the FCDA to ensure these rallies don’t turn into riots.” Dromir flips the screen to a map showing all the stops. They’re evenly split between anti-pack states and sanctuary states, with stops in all the anti-designation territories.
I understand why they called us all in. Ensuring the safety of the communities at each of these locations will take priority over our regular missions.
The FCDA—Federal Criminal Detection Agency—can make arrests, something the DAU cannot do legally. When we find evidence of criminal activity, we pass the information on to their task forces. Where they can make arrests and announce investigations to the public, they cannot make moves to rescue at-risk citizens in anti-pack territories. Technically, bonding as a pack is illegal in those areas, so they would have to arrest the pack instead of helping to get them to safety the way we do.
It is likely Ridley and I will join the task force, as we both have worked with the FCDA in the past. A friend I toured with during my stint in the military suggested me to the DAU after my enlistment ended seven years ago.
“Welcome home, Ferguson.”
A hand claps on my back as a body slides into the seat next to me at the bar. Creed Barrett’s after rain scent fills the surrounding air, settling my anxiety with its familiarity. It’s been a long time since I was in New York. Hell, this city isn’t even my home. It’s just the place I settled in after leaving my hometown in Virginia.
