03-Strength of the Mate (12 page)

What the fuck was this? Werewolf mafia? Whatever Paul and Jason had done yesterday, it was because Dawson told them to. Whatever Dawson was up to, it was what Noah wanted, to hell with the asshole pack leader and his ass-kissers. Where did Carson get off, referring to Dawson as a fucking new guy?

“Tell the truth, you lying sack of shit!” Adam was surprised at how loud he sounded. He’d only meant for Carson and Murphy to hear him.

The room fell completely silent at the sound of Adam’s voice. He felt the weight of everyone’s eyes on him. For once, he didn’t care. At least Dawson looked a little less angry. Martelli and Reyes were actually biting back smiles. Murphy looked surprised, but that fuckwad Carson looked mad.

On second thought, he looked scared.

Fuck him.

“You need to be careful about how you speak in here,” the prick said.

“Or what? You’ll pin me against a wall and try to rape me?” Adam pushed away from the wall and stood, fists clenched at his sides.

“Madison!” Armando’s tone was hesitant and cautionary.

Adam ignored him.

“That’s a hell of an accusation,” the major said curtly from the front of the room. He glanced between Adam and Lieutenant Carson. “Somebody wanna clue me in to what’s going on here? Lieutenant Carson? What’s the contractor talking about?”

“The contractor is talking about violent, rampaging werewolves,” Adam replied with as much disdain as he could muster. “The True Alpha werewolf sent someone here to get control of things. Captain Murphy, if you want accurate information about the werewolves, you might wanna ask someone who hasn’t crawled up the ass of the lame-duck pack leader.”

Yep. Despite his reluctance, it was looking like Dawson was gonna have to Challenge for pack leader. Whatever that consisted of.

The room filled briefly with sounds of suppressed laughter, surprise, agreement, and confusion. It aggravated Adam that Dawson didn’t speak up for himself, but maybe it was a military thing, some sort of rank or chain of command issue. Adam couldn’t believe he was even having this thought, but maybe he should have taken more interest in Tim’s work.

The major exchanged looks with a captain who stood beside him, before turning back to Adam. “You need to check yourself, Homeslice. It’s unwise for a
pogue
to call out a Marine Corps lieutenant as a blue falcon.”

Adam didn’t understand half of what the major said, but he got the idea. Before he could reply, Carson stood and turned to face Adam. Like all bullies, he was braver with a group at his back. He launched an aggressive campaign to intimidate Adam.

“A fucking
pogue
and a human doesn’t know shit about being a werewolf in a combat situation,” Carson said with a sneer. “We’ve got a pack leader who lets warrior wolves be what nature made them. Who the fuck do you think you are? Pretending you even know what a True Alpha is.”

“All due respect, Major Aceves,” a smooth, calm voice interrupted with a humor-laced drawl. “You’re a smart man. You got a room full of combat-ready Marines standing by, letting a civilian challenge one of your werewolves—one of your officers.” Agent Reyes slowly pushed himself upright, from where he’d leaned a shoulder against the wall. He hooked his thumbs in the belt of his thigh holster. “If any of them thought your lieutenant there had any honor to defend, I’m thinking that civilian would already be battered and bloody.”

“Ooh-fucking-rah.” Sergeant Martelli laughed quietly. He leaned his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, legs crossed at the ankles.

Dawson glanced at Martelli over his shoulder, obviously struggling not to smile.

“As for who this particular contractor is,” Reyes continued into the heavy silence. “His name is Adam Madison. His older brother is Major Timothy Madison, commanding officer of TECOM’s Werewolf Training and Command HQ.”

Adam gave Reyes an open look of annoyance. He had no idea how the agent knew who he was, but he really didn’t need to shout it from the fucking rooftops.

The room filled with the subtle sounds of restless movements. There were whispered conversations all around them. Major Aceves looked at Adam with interest and grudging respect.

Carson looked ill.

“Fox and wolf shifters don’t like each other, so I don’t know a whole hell of a lot about the werewolf culture.” Reyes stepped back, resuming his slouch against the wall beside Martelli. He looked bored, despite having the attention of everyone in the room focused on him. “But all shapeshifter law prohibits the victimization of anyone, or anything, inherently weaker than we are. That would include pretty much all humans, and most of the submissive members of a were clan or pack or whatever. As for knowing your True Alpha and what his vision is for his pack? I don’t have to tell you, Major, that your most accurate intel is gonna come from the two men who’ve actually met him.”

Aceves regarded Reyes with narrowed eyes. He was silent for several long moments, like he was deciding whether or not Reyes was full of shit. “I assume one of those two men is our contractor with a set of steel balls. Do you know who the second is?” When Reyes nodded in reply, Aceves huffed a laugh tinged with dry humor. “Of course you do.”

Reyes shrugged. “I’m CIA. Information is what I do.”

Even Adam grudgingly snorted a laugh at that reply. It made sense that an intelligence officer would know who the key players were on his own team, as well as the opposing.

“Your new gunny, here,” Reyes nodded toward Dawson. “Dawson Rivers spent more than a year as Major Madison’s senior NCO. He’s the Omega wolf for the True Alpha, which is pretty significant. Noah Hammond himself arranged for his deployment to Camp Fallujah, so there’s something going on here he’s not happy about. My guess is, Gunnery Sergeant Rivers is gonna do more fixin’ than he is talkin’.”

“Duly noted,” Aceves replied. His expression darkened. Glancing around the room, he raised his voice and used that same officer tone Adam had heard from Tim. “None of this is germane to the purpose of this briefing. Everybody settle down and listen up. Agent Reyes has important intel that’s relevant to the security of the convoys for the foreseeable future.”

Men sat down in empty chairs. Others leaned against walls but opened the info packets they all carried. Adam glanced surreptitiously around the room, hoping there wasn’t too much interest in him. He caught Dawson grinning at him and couldn’t help smiling in return. A few of the Marines looked at him in interest; a few gave him encouraging thumbs up.

Adam was acutely aware that Carson had resumed his seat and was pointedly ignoring him. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Adam relaxed back against the wall.

He needed to email Tim and admit he’d lost his temper, so his brother didn’t hear about this from someone else.

“Agent Reyes and Sergeant Martelli, have developed relationships with high-profile locals,” Major Aceves announced. His deep, commanding voice filled the room. “They’ve compiled significant intel on Al-Qaeda operatives in and around Fallujah. They’re going to help us with planning and logistics for convoy security, as long as this current threat exists.”

Aceves, the captain with him, and Dawson all moved to the sides of the room as Reyes and Martelli stepped up. They stood on either side of a giant map of the town of Fallujah. That map was everywhere. It was referenced in nearly every strategy or planning session. This particular map was mounted on the wall, covered by clear acrylic. Reyes and Martelli each picked up a colored marker, ready to make visible notes for the group to see.

“I’m aware there are only so many routes for you guys to take,” Reyes said. “The size of the convoys themselves limits the types of evasive maneuvers you can make. What we’ll try to do is avoid known hot-spots. I also recommend that you delay a convoy’s departure on days we detect unusual movements in and around the town.”

Adam looked over at Mando, expecting him to share the information about additional gallons of diesel fuel that had to be transported. Instead, he found the man focused on the front of the room, like a student in a classroom.

He got Armando’s attention with an elbow in his arm. Mando looked at him, a confused frown on his face. Adam gestured toward the front of the room, hoping his silent hint would be enough.

No such luck. Adam wondered how they’d avoided losing entire convoys.

“Agent Reyes, we’ve got a logistical issue that’s going to be impacted by your intel,” Adam said.

“Oh, right,” Mando said hastily, flipping through pages of paper.

“An unusually high volume of fuel is staged for transport,” Adam continued. Armando could look up details if anyone really needed them. “What this means for security is, each convoy is going to include an additional number of full tankers. How many more is going to vary from convoy to convoy.”

“Well, isn’t that an interesting confluence of events,” Reyes mused. He looked over at Martelli meaningfully.

“It has to be coincidence,” Martelli replied. “Are we talking about something that can even be accessed and manipulated?”

“I say we find out for sure,” said Reyes.

Martelli looked at Major Aceves. “Sir, I’m thinking overall security should be increased,” he said, “made more visible.” He turned his attention to Adam. “And decoy tankers should be integrated into the convoy.”

“If there’s enough rigs available,” Adam countered.

“We might be able to help with that.” Martelli turned to glance at the other scruffy Marine. “Jackson, you take care of that.”

“You got it, Sergeant.” Jackson quickly retrieved his M16 and left the room.

Reyes and Martelli used the giant map and colored markers to show where they thought Al-Qaeda had established command and control. There were probably cells operating throughout the town.

“Gentlemen, keep your heads on a swivel anytime you’re outside the wire,” Martelli said, sweeping the room with his gaze. “Some of the cells have been mobile late at night, probably moving weapons and explosives. Expect an uptick in ambushes. We’re all suspicious of abandoned piles of trash and fucking road kill, but be extra suspicious from now on. If it’s even possible to be any higher than high alert.”

Aceves stepped forward. He addressed a group of Marines all seated in the front row. “Company commanders, push your werewolves out front for early detection of IEDs. Send detachments of werewolves ahead to sweep for kill zones.”

Adam’s entire body tensed. He darted his gaze back and forth between Aceves and Dawson. He’d swear Tim had mentioned that using werewolves as furry bomb robots led to way too many maimed and dead werewolves. It had been during one of their rare talks over a beer, but he’d bet his life on it. Dawson needed to speak up.

Maybe he couldn’t, since Major Aceves outranked him by a lot. Could he say something privately? Maybe Adam should step up, since he was a civilian.

In the blink of an eye, Adam found the whole thing funny. He felt protective of the werewolves, despite how pissed off at them he was earlier. It was Dawson’s mission to look after the weres, not Adam’s, but Adam would help if he could. He glanced at Dawson and saw him step forward.

“Begging your pardon, Major Aceves, sir,” Dawson said. His voice was smooth and friendly, his expression open and pleasant. “I’m still getting acclimated to the responsibilities of operations chief, as it functions here aboard Camp Fallujah.” Dawson stood with his feet planted, his right wrist grasped behind his back by his left hand. He had the relaxed look of a man who had things under control, but still managed to show respect to an officer. “Sir, who receives policy updates and procedural mandates from the Office of Werewolf Training and Command?”

Aceves’ hesitation was almost imperceptible. His expression was placid, but his tone was careful. “All communications are received by your pack leader, Sergeant Granger,” he replied. “He then disseminates the information to the appropriate commands.”

The major’s words were firm and confident. Adam respected the way Aceves committed, giving no sign that he might have doubts about Granger, or about the efficiency of the current system.

“Understood, sir,” Dawson said smoothly. “With your permission, I’ll consult with your staff to determine which critical TECOM mandates are missing, and obtain the updates ASAP.”

Major Aceves’ expression became severe. He frowned fiercely at Dawson, but didn’t seem angry. “What mission critical information do you believe we’re missing, Gunny? And why is that your belief?”

“I’m still settling in as operations chief, sir. I want to make sure we’re correctly detailing and deploying werewolves in combat, before we’re out of compliance.”

Aceves exchanged a quick look with the captain beside him. “I appreciate that, Gunny,” he said. His expression and his tone gave nothing away. “We’ll adjourn for now. You’ll consult with Captain Murphy ASAP to bring us up to date,” he indicated the captain who had been talking to Carson earlier. “When you’ve accomplished that, we’ll apply the new intel and formulate a mission plan.”

Dawson inclined his head in capitulation. “Yes, sir, Major.”

“Battalion dismissed,” Aceves barked.

The room filled with the sounds of Marines quickly getting the hell out of the room. The major conferred briefly with Captain Murphy, and a few other officers, before they all made a beeline for the door, as well.

Dawson pushed through the stream of Marines filing out the door. Most of the Marines deferred to him and he was beside Adam in seconds.

“You and I need to talk,” Dawson said sharply. He didn’t even try to keep his voice down.

Adam didn’t reply, but he knew there was no avoiding it. Better to just get it over with.

Adam felt a touch on his arm. He turned to find Armando looking at him with wide eyes, like he wasn’t sure what to do next. “You’ll let us know when everything is worked out and there’s a plan for convoy security?” he asked.

When had that become Adam’s job? “Sure,” he replied.

Mando ducked around them and slid out the door.

Adam was about to ask Dawson where he wanted to talk, when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He looked over to find Lieutenant Carson approaching them menacingly. He stared at Adam, his eyes swirling with different colors. His expression was filled with pure hate.