My Shifter Boss

They walked in together, and everyone was there waiting for them. Lucy stepped to the side when the council members and other attendees rose and applauded her mother. Maryann smiled and waved at them, mumbling her thanks modestly and quietly. She walked to the head of the table and sat down, gesturing for the others to follow her lead.

“I hope it’s not this formal every time,” she grinned at her peers, as she considered them equals rather than underlings and would make that clear the longer she led. “Welcome, everybody. I hope you’ll bear with me as I learn the ropes around here.”

“You’ll do just fine,” one of the werewolves said with a smile. “We’re all here to help you adjust.”

“First of all, I would prefer to be called Maryann rather than Head.” A few gasps caused her to raise her hand. “I understand that goes against tradition, but I’m not one to follow all the rules, as many of you remember.” Several of the council members snickered at the reminder of her recently abolished banishment. “Let’s get started. Sarah, do you have the itinerary?” Sarah handed it to her with a smile.

When she didn’t give one to the others, one of the werecats piped up. “Sarah, do you have copies for everyone?”

Maryann interrupted. “She does, but I have something I’d like to put on the table before you get your copies.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “We need a second in command, an official second, like a vice president, if you will, to prevent such circumstances as what happened when the previous Head was murdered. Marissa was his right-hand-woman, but did not have an official title. I think that’s important.”

Nathan, who was sitting in the back next to Lucy, arched an eyebrow at the discussion. He looked at Lucy, who appeared to be listening with interest but nothing more. His stomach clenched as Maryann continued.

“I would like to offer my choice as second. Nathan.” Maryann looked at him. All heads swiveled in his direction. “Nathan, do you accept my offer?”

Everyone was silent, staring at Nathan as he made his decision. He didn’t want to be in the office all the time, but as second, he would still have freedom to come and go, maybe not as much as he pleased, but still some freedom would be his. He looked at Lucy, who had gasped when her mother had said his name. She’d truly had no idea this was coming, he could tell. She grinned at him and nodded her head; she wanted him to take the position, but he knew she’d back him if he refused as well.

After several moments of silence, he returned his gaze to Maryann and nodded. “Maryann, I accept the offer.”

Cheers and applause echoed through the conference room, but Maryann quickly regained control of the meeting. “Nathan, I’m honored you accepted. We’ll discuss all that on our way to my home in the country this weekend.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows at her, then looked at Lucy, who whispered, “We’ll talk about it later.” He shook his head with a grin on his face.

“Sarah, please pass the itineraries out. First on the list, Belina. I believe you have some good news,” Maryann said, looking at the short woman who headed up the IT department.

Belina rose and made her report. “Yes, Maryann, I have excellent news.” She addressed the room. “After much digging and decoding and computer jargon, my team has finally found the location of Marissa’s headquarters.”

Nathan sat up. This was good news indeed. With that knowledge, they would be able to possibly capture Marissa, thereby ending this ridiculous siege the city was under. His brain worked the entire rest of the meeting, conjuring up plans and dismissing the ones that wouldn’t work.

Maryann ended the council meeting without a decision on what to do with the information about Marissa’s headquarters. She asked for another meeting the next Monday when she, Lucy, and Nathan would return from the country and expected to have a plan of action by that point. She and the council did agree, however, that Lucy’s press release was perfect and should be sent to the major newspapers and news stations in town.

Nathan stopped her in the hallway. “I have a handful of ideas about what to do with this information, Maryann. We can spitball them while we’re traveling.”

Maryann nodded. “This is exactly why you need to be my second. We can discuss on the plane, but not once we get there. This is my last weekend in the country for who knows how long. I plan to enjoy it.”