Jade (2 page)

“Food,” I said. “Yes to that. Where can we get a good, thick steak?”

* * * *

We had headed away from town back towards Mount Pilot and the edge of Pack territory. A few miles away, I could smell the steaks grilling and my stomach started growling. Rolfe said this place was a favorite of the Pack. As it came into view you could tell it had started as a small log cabin and it looked like someone had added a huge dining hall onto the front of it. As we entered you could see everything was made of wood–tables, chairs, floors, and walls, even wood beams across the ceiling. A lonely couple of pictures (of woods) adorned the bare walls. Not even a tablecloth covered the solid wood tables. They had certainly spared some expense on decorating costs knowing the Pack came here for food and not the décor. A sign at the entrance said, “Sit yourself. Somebody will be along shortly.”

It was pretty well packed at this hour, nearing early evening. In the corner there was a family of three sitting with a few empty tables between them and the rest of the crowd. That appeared to be our choice for seating ourselves. As we approached, the man, long lean and powerful acknowledged our presence with a wry smile.

“Rolfe,” he said, “been awhile.”

Rolfe, dipped his head in a slightly submissive nod. “Alpha, may we join you for dinner?” As we sat down at their table, Rolfe made introductions. “Smith,” this is the Pack leader, James Grayson.” I also dipped my head in a slight nod just like Rolfe, showing my status as an Alpha as well, with acknowledgement of Grayson’s status as head of the Pack. “This is his wife Lily, and their daughter Emily.”

Lily was a beautiful woman, full of grace and you could tell she was happy to have some company but seemed worried at the same time. Emily was a young girl, on the verge of puberty, who looked nervous and put out. I shook hands with all three. James had a firm handshake. I could feel his alpha magic, deep and strong, steady and tireless. With Lily I just felt welcome, she would be a mother to all the Pack that needed mothering. Emily’s magic was spilling out of her in waves, causing her discomfort and pain. As I shook her hand, I instinctively grounded her magic, giving her relief. She then smiled, looking at me in bewilderment.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “Whatever it was you did, thank you.”

“This is Smith,” Rolfe said. “My partner.”

James and Lily were now staring at me, a mixture of relief and suspicion on their faces.

“Yes, thank you,” Lily said. “I’d be very grateful to know what you did and how?”

Ooops, was this mistake number three on day number one? I hoped not. I sure had a lot to learn. I could tell they had no clue what was up with Emily and her “magic”. I decided it would be best to tell them.

“Emily is special. She is an Alpha’s Alpha, on the verge of change. It’s very rare to see an Alpha of Alphas at all, much less in a female. Her magic is overflowing, causing her great pain. She is but two days away from her first shift.”

James and Lily looked at each other. I could see understanding dawn on them as they recognized the truth of my words. Emily looked at me as if I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

“Many things happening in the last few months are now making sense to me,” James said. “It was a great stroke of luck that we meet today.”

Rolfe, quiet until now, felt compelled to explain my insight. “Smith is a bit of a mix and a mystery. I am still trying to make sense of some things with her and this is just our first day as partners.”

James looked at me with his Pack magic. “Have you registered with the Pack yet, Smith?”

“Not yet, Alpha,” I said. “I just moved into town yesterday.”

Shifter packs are somewhat picky about new shifters coming into what they perceive as their territory. Especially those that are independent like myself or Rolfe. Always wanting to know who might be a threat or an asset.

“You might want to consider separating Emily from the rest of the pack for her first few shifts. Her first instinct will be to establish her place in the pack and any wolf that will not accept her dominance is going to be torn to shreds.”

Size and strength in a shifters beast shape is a direct result of the amount of pack magic they have. In Emily’s case she was going to be huge, probably three or four times larger in mass. Most pack members keep just a slightly larger mass when they shift; it is different for Alphas. Most shifters are wolves, somewhere along the lines of ninety-five percent. Rolfe was one of the other five percent, a Kodiak bear, eight feet and nine-hundred pounds of muscle when he shifted. Wolves also dominate most packs, being more numerous and often inclined to want the pack life. A lot of the indies were other animals.

“Yes, that will need to be avoided,” James said. “She will have to adjust to her instincts and learn control before I let her run with the pack.”

I could see Lily was already thinking along these lines. “I will need to be there with her, and I will bring several of the less dominant females with me. I am thinking of the eastern section of the territory, but it may be difficult to keep her from seeking out the rest of the pack.”

“I can probably help you with that,” I said. “I could set some wards marking a line that should keep her contained in a certain area.”

“I’ll help Smith with that.” Rolfe said. “She is unfamiliar with the area and I can show her where to set the wards.”

“It is settled then,” James said. “Rolfe, take her up to Butler’s cabin on Friday morning and get started. Lily and those she selects can meet you there Friday afternoon.”

“We will do our best.” Rolfe said. “Smith might have landed us in a bit of trouble today. The good news is we have had our first major break in the case.” He went on to explain what had happened and I could see that the Pack Alpha was very interested in the day’s events. Shifters and vamps don’t care for each other and maintain an uneasy truce in most areas. Shifters are fast but not as fast as vamps. Vamps are strong but not as strong as shifters. They generally hate each other.

“It is probably time I got you that audience with Luca,” James said. “Let me see if I can get you over there tomorrow morning. I will make the call tonight after sunset.”

Luca was one of the vamp leaders, controlling the smallest vamp territory in Winston. Still, Winston being the provisional capitol of the Southern Territories (after Raleigh was leveled a few decades ago in the fae wars of the seventies), that was an indication of great strength in a vamp. Luca was also one of the more reasonable vamp leaders and generally tried to work with both human and supernatural factions in the Capitol area.

“Sounds like a plan,” Rolfe said. “Call me tonight if you can get this done.”

“There is still the issue with Emily,” I said. “I can feel her magic building up again and she might be dangerous to others. It will only get worse as her first change approaches.”

“She beat up two boys at school today,” Lily said. “If James had not been able to force the change in them, they would be in a hospital for weeks.”

Shifters were great healers, as were vamps, but a shift pretty much wiped out any damage immediately.

“She could stay with me at my place until Friday,” I said. “I have plenty of room and I can keep her magic grounded.”

“Those boys were getting a little too friendly,” Emily interjected.

“You didn’t have to beat them to a pulp. Where are you staying?” Lily asked me.

“The Portmeirion,” I said.

They all were staring at me now. “What?” I asked. I wondered what I did wrong, yet again.

“Nobody but bazillionaires live there,” said Rolfe.

Jeepers, and so what?
I wondered. I had picked the Portmeirion because it was walking distance to the station. I hated driving. My one experiment in driving had resulted in major damage to several vehicles, traffic signs and mailboxes.

‘Let’s eat,” I said. “Is anybody going to take our order?” I started digging around in my purse for one of the dark chocolates I had stuffed in there this morning.

“Emily will need a bodyguard from the pack,” James said.

“I will go with her,” Lily said. “Besides, the security there is the best and you forget that the twins are in charge of that security.”

The twins were Markus and Hans. I had met them briefly yesterday when I had arrived. They both insisted on calling me Ms. Smith despite my insistence on just Smith. I would describe them as dangerously handsome bookends, almost striking. My brief visit to the bar on the fifth floor the previous night showed me they were the subject of much talk and gossip among the female residents. Hans was said to have some connection to the giant PR conglomerate that made up the entire tenth floor and they stayed there in one of the suites the PR folks maintained there for visiting dignitaries to the capitol.

“I will feel better if I call ahead and confirm Smith’s status there–no offence intended,” James said, looking at me.

“None taken,” I responded. I knew he would find that my place, the fiftieth-floor penthouse, was the most secure floor of the building. It had become available a few years back and I had purchased it in anticipation of my future employment.

James stepped away from the table, cell phone to his ear and the waiter finally came by to take our order. I was becoming a bit agitated from hunger and the spot of blood on Rolfe’s (now completely healed) neck was calling out to me, becoming a distraction.

Lily said, “Our treat, Smith. Order whatever you want.”

“I will take the biggest steak you have, seared on the outside and red and juicy on the inside.”

“All they serve here is big steaks,” Rolfe said. “It is a shifter restaurant.”

“Are we off the clock?” I asked Rolfe. I needed red wine to go with my steak, that and blood were about the only liquids I could hold down and even though alcohol had only a momentary effect on a shifter it was the same rules for all the members of the police force.

“You are,” he replied. “I still have to go in and file our report. You are going to owe me for this one.”

He almost seemed a bit pleased by this. Interesting, and exciting in some ways. There were more than a few reasons I had wanted him as a partner.

Lily ordered for James before he returned. I was so glad nobody ordered their steak really cooked very much. It should not take too long to prepare.

“Do we need to bring sleeping bags?” Emily asked. I could tell she was excited about the adventure ahead.

“I have plenty of room,” I replied. If I remembered correctly from the remodeling plans, I had three bedrooms, fully furnished. I had hired the best shifter designer-decorator in the business, sparing no expense, telling her to go for shifter comfort above everything else. I had just taken a brief walk through yesterday before exploring the rest of the building areas. The Portmeirion had everything, self-contained. Restaurants, bars, shopping, services. All running twenty-four-hours a day. Not having to have a car, perfect for me.

The meal finally arrived and I thought the steak, and three glasses of red wine, were exceptional. James had eventually returned, saying my place would be secure, giving me a curious look. “I will take Lily and Emily back home to get their things and then have one of our teams drive them over to your place,” he said.

“That will work,” I said. “Rolfe is dropping me off on the way in to the station.”

Chapter Three

I enjoyed the drive back into Winston. It was a pleasant evening and Rolfe had rolled the windows down. For a shifter, the smells this time of night were fantastic, better than just being able to see the surroundings. Rolfe seemed pretty calm, not upset with me as he had been earlier.

“Don’t worry about the Captain,” he said. “I have friends at IA, they know you couldn’t have held those vamps down and shot them at the same time and they also know me well enough to know I wouldn’t help with something like that. They will want your gun to match the ballistics, however.”

“Remind me to leave it with you, then. I have three more just like that one.” Guns were not my favored weapon as I preferred edged weapons. I had become proficient with this model during training, so I decided to have a few backups.

“Of course you do. Why am I not surprised?” He smiled, I could tell he was enjoying himself.

We pulled up in front of the Portmeirion. I was surprised to see Rolfe hand one of the attendants his keys. “I am going to have a look around before I head back to the station,” he said. “Just to make sure Emily is going to be safe here.”

Sure,
I thought,
but day one, and Rolfe is going to be in my apartment. Not everything is going wrong today. It does seem as if things are becoming rather crowded, however. Can’t have everything, I suppose.

As we were escorted through the big double doors into the lobby, I could see both Markus and Hans waiting on us. My understanding is they split their shifts and only worked together when something big was happening or to meet new residents, as when I had arrived yesterday.

“H&M,” I said. “Good to see you both again so soon.”

“It’s no problem, Ms. Smith,” Markus said. I could tell it was Markus only because of a slight difference in the smell of shampoos they used, not by their looks. “We understand you have some company tonight and we take the security of that company very seriously.”