Page 31 of The Alpha: Part Three
“It's a good thing, Seth. We're all supposed to take care of each other, right? You'd do the same for us.”
I nod even though he can't see me and clear my throat. “I would.”
Jasper ends the call and I'm left sitting between a set of twins trying to stare holes into me. “That was Jasper.”
“Uh-huh,” Ben says.
“He wanted to talk about the things I may or may not have seen in his file.”
“Uh-huh,” Michael repeats.
“He says the house behind the distillery will be finished before winter.”
They look at each other then back at me.
“So we won't be trying to move in during shit weather,” I continue.
“He said he wasn't going to hate you anymore,” Michael says.
I nod.
“Good.”
Chapter thirteen
Michael
I don't think I'm going to enjoy going to all these meetings. Ever since Seth was appointed to the WCC it's been a steady stream of meetings, appointments, and phone calls. He's assured us multiple times that there are so many right now because of the newness and that they'll slack off as soon as everything gets more settled, but I think it's still going to be a lot.
The meeting we're in right now has been droning on for about forty-five minutes. I know shit has to get done, but all this talking and making lists and asking follow-up questions doesn't seem productive. I hope we can get to main points soon because I want to go back to the hospital. Desie is at work and Seth needed a second for this meeting. Ben and I did rock-paper-scissors to see who got to go to the hospital and he won, so here I sit watching all these community leaders talk about how important everything is and how much money it's going to cost to get the important things done.
It's apparently going to cost quite a bit of money to get the WCC COT program off the ground, especially since there doesn't seem to be a hearty supply of trustworthy people to fill the teams, much less people to train them.
“Tell me again why you can't train them, Alpha Pratchett. You obviously understand how they'll operate, “Alpha Estrada says for the second time.
Seth rubs his jaw. I would feel his frustration with the people at this table even if I didn't share a bond with him. “I am not COT trained. I just know how they work and what they do. We'll need to get a few units over here to train them. There are probably several solid units who would come over without being paid just for the opportunity to live on the West Coast for a while. I'll reach out to Thaddeus and see who he'd recommend. That's the best we're going to be able to do for now, but let me remind everyone again, the COTs are not typical enforcement teams. They're not community peacekeepers. They will be at the WCC's disposal for council operations. Alpha Minos would have to sign off on every dispatch.”
“I would,” Minos interjects. “Or Alpha Pratchett would. He will head the COT operations.”
This is the perfect time for me to ask a question that's been eating at me for years. “I have a question. I'm not on the council, but I'm here, so I want to ask it.”
Minos smiles. “I can't wait to hear it, Michael.”
“Why hasn't the WCC had an official military presence before now? I think we wouldn't have half the problems we do if we'd had something like this all along.”
Minos drops back against the back of his seat and sighs up at the ceiling. “They didn't want it. The councilmen before me didn't want the WCC to have that much control over what happened in their individual Provinces. Nothing I said would sway them, and after I became the head of the WCC there was even more push back. I've tried to maintain diplomacy and fairness, but over the years it has become obvious that I was one of only a few interested in those things. I don't want to control the Provinces, I've got more than enough to deal with without all that. But what happens in the individual Provinces affects the whole territory. There have been too many bad people going unchecked for far too long. This awfulness with our omegas could have been stopped, or at the very least slowed if the WCC had a formal way of addressing the situation.”
“I think you misunderstand,” Seth interrupts. “I know your intentions are honorable, but you need to really understand that the COT units aren't going to be running around keeping everyone in line.”
Minos raises his eyebrows in Seth's direction. “I'm not stupid, Seth. I wouldn't want military units marching through the community. All I'm saying is if I had the authority and ability to stop what I knew Flores was doing there would be significantly fewer missing omegas and broken packs and destroyed families.”
The corner of Seth's mouth lifts. “I don't think you're stupid. Not at all. I only mentioned it because I know for a fact the other territories think the East Coast has COTs everywhere watching the people. The people who were against implementing something like the COT program likely didn’t want it because they didn’t want anyone watching whattheywere doing. But the reason they're so effective is because no one but certain members of the council and the other teams know who is part of a unit. There is no list of names. There are only two people on the East Coast Council who know how many units there are and where to find them. Outside of that they blend into the community. I just don't want anyone here to get the wrong idea about them; and only the people in this room know that the COT program will be implemented so it's important that everyone understands why and how it's such a successful program.”
“You don't know how many units are active on the East Coast?” Alpha Linnux asks.
“I have no idea. I was never encouraged to join the program and all my father knew about them during his time on the council was that they existed.”
“Right,” Minos says, sitting up straight. “We understand how they'll operate and I believe we have a good handle on it at present. Are we ready to move on to the next bit of business?”
