“What about Alpha Chase? Colorado has winters,
or to Wyoming with Alpha Crimson?” Asia said looking at the
national map.
“Who are we sending to Alpha Samuel in
Pennsylvania?” Tyrese asked remembering Borian, Alpha Samuel’s
Beta. The three of them working together would form an interesting
triad.
Asia looked at him. “Hadn’t thought of him but
this might be a good match.” She wrote Blue’s name next to Alpha
Samuel. “I need to check on Bruce and the others from the
underground lab, he would be surprised to know I’m mated with my
own den.”
Tyrese recalled the janitor who saved Asia’s
memorabilia and showed them the secret passages to the underground
waterways, saving them a lot of time. The old man led the remaining
wolves who had been born and raised in the labs by the
Liege.
“Bruce always believed in you, that’s why he
helped as much as he did. I doubt he’d be surprised you finally
settled but it’d be a cool surprise to call him to say
hi.”
“Since Pennsylvania is in my area, I’ll plan a
trip and see him. Samuel sent a request for assistance a couple
days ago, La Patron talked to him about it. Since he didn’t pass it
on to us I assume it’s okay for now.”
“Only emergencies like the bombings last week
will be processed. He wants this group organized and in the field
as soon as possible,” he said.
Asia picked up the next folder. “That works for
me. After we make these assignments, the trainees return here to
learn the administrative part of the job and then the Alphas are
responsible for finding office space for each team,
right?”
“Yeah but each of these guys will hire their
administrators to run the office while they go out in the field.
I’m thinking each office should have three team members as a base
group, what do you think?”
“Three is a good number, larger populations
will have more. These KnightForce leaders will divide the state and
make assignments accordingly,” Asia said reading another file.
“Alpha Theron needs a bilingual team, do you have any Spanish
speakers in that pile?” She tipped her chin toward some files he
placed to the side.
“Yeah a few.” Tyrese grabbed a short stack and
passed the top three over to her. “Theron took on those breeds from
Mexico and is still having problems near the border with rebels.
He’ll need at least 10 people to start.” Theron had been attacked
by rebels when he brought the small Mexican pack across the border
into Texas. Tyrese wondered if those rebels had ever been
caught.
“Thanks, who are we sending to Alpha Jayden in
Maryland?”
“A trainee from Colorado, Ethan Mope. Former
Marine, high clearance, specialist in a lot of fields. Unmated.” He
passed her the folder.
She looked at the picture and read through his
credentials. “I remember this one, La Patron suggested this match,
looks good.” She placed it on the assigned pile.
“Have you heard from Meeks?”
“From the bombing case last week?” Asia glanced
at him and then back at the file.
“Yeah, I wondered what happened to the
neighbor, what was her name?” The ghost of Corrina Griggs rose
along with her creation of flesh-colored bombs in Maryland and
Virginia within the past two weeks, hundreds of lives were
lost.
“Mrs. Beeman. Meeks did not contact me, Agent
Day sent a message.”
“Oh, how’d that happen?” He wondered what
Hawke, her mate, thought about that but didn’t go down that
road.
“I gave him my email address.” She chuckled.
“They searched her house, found a lot of hate propaganda stuff.
Seems this wasn’t about La Patron after all, just more humans
unhappy with the government taking their opinion to the
extreme.”
“Such a waste, a lot of innocent people died
and since no one came forward to press their message, you gotta
wonder why they went that route. Did she have an explanation?” he
asked.
“When they took her in, it didn’t take long for
her to tell the whole story. She got involved in the radical “hate
the government” group five years ago. Seems they just wanted to
bring attention to the injustices being forced on them. I think
they had plans to take out government buildings or something like
that. That’s why they wanted the bombs. Xavier Rush’s name came up
quite a bit, not his new name so I’m assuming she knew him before
he went into protective custody.”
“So she implanted the bombs?”
“The first two, yes. The rest wanted theirs
attached to their skin on the outside, she was on her way to do
those when you took her stash.”
Tyrese thought back, running through the night
to their SUV and then calling the bomb squad. “That was pretty
awesome, wasn’t it?” He grinned.
“Yep considering the bombs weren’t armed, you
took quite a risk.”
He frowned.
She laughed.
“Funny.” Tyrese liked this chilled version of
Asia, she seemed more approachable, laughed and listened to people.
The deadly side of her hadn’t left but she seemed balanced in a way
that had been missing before she found her mate.
“Have you heard from Angus?” Asia asked
reminding him that she could only mind-connect with three people -
her mom, his mom and her mate.
“Not directly. Silas said he found the guy who
stole his blood. He’s dead.”
Asia nodded unsurprised. “Here’s another good
one for Alpha Theron. Lorenzo speaks, writes and reads Spanish and
practiced law in Arizona. Unmated.”
Tyrese agreed. “I’ll write his name next to
Theron.” He looked at her. These days she wore her hair long and
loose. “When are your parents coming?” Damian, in particular, was
excited with the impending visit of Lord Barticus and his mate
Amynta. He bragged of talking to them often and received quite a
few packages from them in the mail. Having exceedingly rich
grandparents wasn’t a bad deal.
“Next month, we’re going to take a small
vacation together in the Caribbean. Sarita talks about going to the
beach all the time. I’m surprised one of the kids didn’t tell you
about it.”
Tyrese smiled thinking of Sarita, Hawke’s
daughter. The little girl had been found by Cameron while searching
for rebels and the Liege. She and another boy, Tyrese couldn’t
recall that pup’s name, had been brought to the compound during the
Christmas holidays. His mom had a time teaching his younger
brothers and sisters about the meaning of Christmas.
“No, they’ve been keeping secrets again.” He
paused. “Sarita’s cute as a button by the way, definitely Alpha
material.”
“Alpha? Maybe, she does has a strong
personality. I watch her with the other kids and next to David,
they follow her lead. But she doesn’t tell them to take her
instructions, they just do.” Asia stared at him for a few minutes
and then shrugged.
“Lots of fireworks in her future.” He looked at
both lists. “Ten more and that’s it.” He split the small pile in
half and slid five across the table.
The door opened, Tyrone walked in with an
aggravated look, pulled out a chair and sat down. “What the hell is
wrong with people? A liaison is the person who helps half-breeds,
not full-bloods looking for mates. My program is not a damn dating
office.”
Tyrese laughed.
Asia frowned. She stopped reading her file and
looked at Tyrone. “Dating office? How’s that possible?”
Tyrone leaned forward, placing his arms on the
table. “It’s not, that’s the problem. I’ve hired 20 well-qualified
half-breeds as liaisons. Before they can set up their offices
they’ve had a rush of full-bloods asking about possible mates and
if there was a way to meet half-breeds.”
Tyrese stared at him for a few seconds. “That’s
not a bad idea.”
“Hell no,” Tyrone snapped, standing so fast the
chair beneath him fell backward and crashed.
“Hear me out. Wait! Let me finish.” Tyrese held
up his hands.
Tyrone didn’t answer.
“If you enter the status of the half-breeds as
they enroll, the information is already there. By playing up the
possibility of finding a mate among half-breeds, it may make it
easier for full-bloods to accept everything that’s happening. Fewer
rogues…maybe?”
“Or pour gas on a simmering fire,” Tyrone said.
“A lot of half-breeds are scared shitless as it is and you think I
should mention that their mate may be a full-blood?”
“Yeah, like mine is a full-blood. Or mom’s.
It’s a part of their reality and that possibility should be told to
them upfront. If they decide to go rogue and disappear off the
radar, at least they’ll know there’s a possibility of running into
a mate somewhere down the road,” Tyrese said and then
shrugged.
“He’s right. Better to tell them and explain
what a mate is, what happens when the connection is made. All of
that to equip them for life under a La Patron Alpha,” Asia
said.
Tyrone returned to his chair and then steepled
two fingers beneath his chin. “I see what you’re saying and, in a
convoluted way, it makes sense. Sex sells and would soothe the
beast. I’ll talk with Rose about it, see what kind of angle we can
work out. Mate status of all full-bloods is already in the
database, which makes it easy for the half-breeds to check them out
as well.”
“Glad I could be of help…daddy,” Tyrese said,
smiling.
Tyrone straightened. “Yeah, any day now.” He
met Tyrese’s gaze. “I’m ready.”
Tyrese nodded, understanding the commitment
Rone made to his den. “I know, whatever you need, I’m here.”
Although Tyrese and his mate Danielle planned to wait before adding
to their den, he understood and sensed the pride flowing through
his twin.
They touched fists and shared a quiet
moment.
“So, what’s happening in the world of
KnightForce?” Tyrone asked.
Chapter 4
“Renee,” Jasmine squeaked. Opening her arms
wide, she moved quickly and met her sister in the hall, embracing
her. “They told me you were at the gate.” They hugged again.
Jasmine noticed the dark rings beneath Renee’s eyes and how much
thinner she felt but didn’t mention it. Not yet.
“There was even more security to get through
this time than before. I didn’t see any armed guards but I wouldn’t
be surprised. Do all rich people live behind walls like this?”
Renee leaned back, waiting for an answer. The silky, soft fabric of
her lavender blouse caressed her figure and leant elegance to her
appearance. Jasmine met her gaze, her heart dropped at the sadness
in the depths of Renee’s stare.
“Can’t speak for all rich people but Silas
feels this is what he needs to do to keep me and the kids safe.
So…” she shrugged, threaded her arm through Renee’s and pulled her
toward her suite where she planned for them to eat a quiet meal
with their mother, Victoria. Between her and her mom, they’d fix
those shadows in Renee’s eyes.
“Tyrese will put your bags in your room. C’mon,
Mama’s waiting for us,” Jasmine said.
Renee stopped. Her dark brown eyes snapping,
reminding Jasmine of Adam when things didn’t go his way. “Where are
my babies?” She looked down the hall. “This place is so big I get
confused every time I visit. Where’s the nursery?”
“They’re taking their naps. Believe me you
don’t want to interrupt that. By the time we finish eating, they
should be almost ready to wake.”
“Okay, good. I’ve got some new games I want
them to try.” Grinning, she rubbed her hands together.
Jasmine groaned but appreciated the spark of
excitement building in her sister. “Where did you get these from,
the computer department at your school?”
Renee chuckled as they continued down the hall.
“Actually you’re almost right. I challenged my students to create
brain teasers for extra credit. The kids will test the projects and
I’ll give grades based on those results.”
Jasmine opened the door to her suite and
entered behind Renee. “You’re a mess. They’re babies, not test
subjects.”
“Maybe but they are the smartest –”
“Babies you’ve ever seen. I know. You tell me
that every time we talk.” Jasmine waved Renee toward the family
room where their mom waited.
“Mama,” Renee said moving quickly to hug a very
pregnant Victoria seated in the middle of a long sofa. “You look
beautiful! Seeing you glow like this almost makes me change my mind
to want kids.”
Victoria gasped and clasped her hands together.
“That’s wonderful news.” Her face lit up as though she’d received a
surprise gift. Luminous hazel eyes stared up at Renee with
pleasure.
Jasmine shook her head as her sister’s mouth
dropped open. Renee couldn’t have babies naturally. She had a
hysterectomy a long time ago and referred to adopting, something
she and her girlfriend Mandy considered at one time. Her mom
must’ve forgotten.
Renee jerked back. “Almost. As in not going to
adopt but allowed the thought to fly through my mind very briefly.”
She waited until Victoria toned down her excitement and then sat
next to her and took her hand. “Are you happy?”
Jasmine watched the two of them on the sofa and
her heart swelled with love and gratitude. All families had trials
but she could always count on Renee to be there for her as they’d
always been close. And more lately also her mom.