Chapter 22
Over the past two years Stacy had become accustomed to people whispering and talking behind her back, she was different from the rest of the pack, even she didn’t really understand it, when the witch bound her wolf spirit to the powers of her Demon lover she had no idea of the consequences, no one did, it had never been done, more importantly, the demon in question had never been removed from the Earthly realm while bound before, it didn’t just change her wolf, it changed everything, her memories were mixed with Mal’s who had lived for nearly ten thousand years on Earth, her body was stronger, faster, more nimble, she could even teleport, well she could shimmer, teleportation was a thing of science fiction, though they are kind of the same thing, and her wolf? Well she had grown in size, her fur was as pitch as night and she had the ferocity of a demon, that is what scared people, Hellhounds were a myth until Stacy became one, and she was still learning what it meant to be one.
Stacy entered the kitchen where Amber, her best friend was busy making breakfast for the Enforcers, a group of Wolves, Vampires, Panthers and Dragons, who acted as a security force for the rest of the pack, they were the strongest, bravest and most resilient of the pack members, and Stacy was their leader, a role she inherited when Tyrone died of lymphoma a couple of years back.
“Hey hunnie!” Stacy said as she patted Amber’s ass and grabbed a cup from the sideboard, she moved to the coffee machine as Amber answered.
“Hey yourself, how are you feeling today?” Amber loved Stacy like a sister, Tyrone was Amber’s lover and Stacy’s mentor, after the fall of the Riverside packhouse the two bonded over the loss of Tyrone and Mal,
“I’m Ok, I think,” Stacy paused and sipped at her coffee, “Yeah, I’m good, your coffee makes the world turn.”
Amber smiled and pecked Stacy on the cheek, “Flattery will not get you extra bacon, now go sit, the boys will be here soon,”
Stacy sighed playfully and took her seat at the head of the table, well it was her seat when Dominic wasn’t around, she was his beta, and Amber was his mate’s beta, together they kept the pack together while the Alphas did the hard work, politics.
“They better not be late today, I have an assignment for Micky,” Stacy griped as she played with her cutlery.
“Oh? What kind of assignment?” Amber asked while placing the first plate of bacon on the table, closely followed by sausages and hash browns, all preternatural creatures had very healthy appetites, but the Enforcers could eat 3000 calories per meal.
“He is going to train the newbies, Zara and Kendra,” Stacy couldn’t help but pull a devious grin across her face, no matter what type of smile it was, it always suited her, she had a face that could never look wrong, she had a youthful beauty that most shifters didn’t have, it probably had something to do with not reaching her peak before her aging froze, shifters and most other preternatural age from birth but when their body reaches its peak, usually around 30 for males and 35 for females, they stop aging, some wolves are hundreds of years old and don’t look a day over 30, Stacy however stopped aging at 19, she was a mature 19, her body was fully developed but she hadn’t lost the youthful look in her eyes.
“Oh, that is going to go down well, he has slept with both of them,”
“I know, that is exactly why he is going to do it, maybe it will teach him to not fuck every non-human piece of ass that walks through those gates, I don’t want to be head Enforcer forever, one day I am going to pass the torch, and Micky needs to step up.”
As soon as the words left her mouth the Enforcers arrived, they were like frat boys, all bundling into the room in a gaggle, Micky was at the lead, clearly the quarterback, Charlie, Micky’s younger brother was beside him, but dwarfed by the rest, he would soon leave the Enforcers to become the head medic alongside Grace, then there was Boon, a Dragon shifter from Europe, Anton who was a member of Valaria’s pride before the fall and the two new girls, all of them were dressed the same, black combat pants with hiking boots and isotherm T-shirts, they looked the part but they needed to learn how to work as a team, the wolves didn’t like to mix with Panthers, that is a rivalry that spans generations, and the Dragon was a bit of a rogue, he did things his way, that was going to change.
They all took their seats and waited for Stacy to address them before they ate,
“Ok, today, Micky will be training the newbies, Anton and Boon you are on guard, and Charlie, I believe Dom wants to see you about transferring to medical, just remember, you will always be welcome at our table,”
The others cheered their approval, each of them had Charlie to thank for something, and most of them owed him their lives twice over.
“Ok, dig in!” Stacy swiped the first pile of bacon and aloud the rest to begin their morning feast, she could hear Dominic talking to her in her head through the pack link, a psychic connection between all the members of the pack, the Alphas and Betas connection was so strong they could communicate, Stacy replied with a ‘sure thing boss’ and returned to her meal.
“So are you really leaving us?” Boon directed his question to Charlie as he crammed an entire hash brown into his mouth.
“Yeah, I have done enough Enforcing, its time I did some healing,” Charlie smiled as he spoke, he was with Valaria when the packhouse was attacked, they returned to see the aftermath and Charlie never forgave himself for not being there when the pack needed him.
“We’ll miss you bro,” Micky slurred while swilling down coffee and ploughing another fist full of bacon into his mouth.
“Nah, you will just be fighting over who gets the position of second in command,” Charlie replied gesturing to the empty seat next to Stacy.
“No need for fighting, I have already picked my second,” Stacy said, “I might be kind enough to let them know at lunch, if they prove to me that they can do the job,” she looked at Micky then to Boon, hoping to create a friendly rivalry between the two that needed to up their game.
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