My Shifter Boss

Only Jay nodded. “I agree. This is war.”

Katrine had sat back and remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Marissa or Jay. The young were had nodded his head once, his face a passive mask showing no thoughts. Bobby only stared at her.

Marissa cleared her throat when she looked at Bobby, seeing his displeasure. She rose, indicating the meeting was over. “We’ll come together again and set the date of attack. Jay, you’ll handle the roof and entrance. I’ll speak with Carl about how the training is going downstairs before I make a decision about when we’ll do it.”

The weres stood in unison and walked out, except Bobby. He stood next to Marissa, an unhappy frown on his face. “Marissa, killing everyone there? Is that really the answer?”

Marissa cocked an eyebrow at him. “Bobby, you’re going to have to change your mindset. Jay’s right. This is war.”

“Marissa, there are innocent people who work there, men and women with children at home. They aren’t soldiers who knowingly put their lives at risk in battle.”

“They are the enemy.” She walked out of the room before he could reply. He stared after her, uncomfortable with her behavior, her power lust. A year ago, she would never have given an order like this one, to slaughter innocent people. She had changed, her priorities had changed. Her idea to create a were-only city had become an obsession that had slowly sucked away her humanity.

Bobby didn’t like the new Marissa, the one who planned to proclaim herself Queen once she’d won the city. Her idea wasn’t progressive, as she claimed; she wanted a dictatorship. He looked at the phone he held in his hand. He had some calls to make.

*****

Frank drove Maryann, Lucy, and Nathan to the airport that evening. Sarah had arranged a private plane to fly them back so they didn’t have to wait for a scheduled flight the next day. Maryann spent the entire time on the phone, as did Nathan, handling business as best they could from several states away. Lucy twisted her engagement ring around and around on her finger; she’d chosen to sit up front with her dad so Maryann and Nathan could talk about whatever they needed to talk about.

“Dad, are you sure you can handle the movers and all that?” Lucy asked, not because she didn’t think he could, but because she didn’t want to sit in silence listening to her mother and her fiancée make what could turn into war plans.

Frank looked at his daughter. He took her hand and squeezed it, forcing her to stop the fidgeting. “I can, honey.” He whispered, “You and I have chosen people who are natural leaders to love. It will be hard on us, there will be times, like now, when we’re terrified for them, but we’ll love them anyway and do what we can to help them.”

Lucy smiled at her father’s wisdom. She was terrified. Marissa was insane, and insane people don’t worry about the effects of their choices. She had killed the Head in cold blood, a man she’d worked very closely with for more than a decade, as if he hadn’t mattered to her at all. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone, as far as Lucy was concerned.

She looked back at her mother and her fiancée and sighed. Her father squeezed her hand again, and she smiled at him.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said to him. “You can expect a lot of phone calls this week,” she laughed.

“I’m sure.”

When they reached the airport, they said their good byes to Frank, who promised he’s be there by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll have all this nonsense handled and we can relax into our new life,” he said to Maryann as he held her close.

She leaned back and looked at him. “That’s my plan, handsome man.” They laughed together.

Nathan shook Frank’s hand and Lucy hugged him tight, then they boarded the plane while he waved from the tarmac.

On the plane, business continued thanks to the Wi-Fi the airplane boasted. Lucy chose to nap while listening to the buzz of Maryann’s and Nathan’s voices, speaking to each other or on their phones, planning for every contingency that might come up. She slept fitfully, her fear a tangible thing in the pit of her stomach.

Maryann called the council members, explaining the situation briefly and promising more details at the meeting that needed to take place at six that morning. She glanced at her watch. It was 3:30 right now; the plane would land by 5:30, so they’d have plenty of time to get to headquarters since Sarah had also arranged for a car to meet them on the runway.

When she hung up, she looked at Nathan for what information he’d gathered from one of his many spies.

“I have a spy in Marissa’s group, as you know. She’s actually in her inner circle, so to speak,” Nathan informed Maryann. “She’s been sending me details off and on all day.”

Nathan outlined the plan for her, giving every detail he had. Marissa planned to send someone in through the roof, who would let the army in. She wanted her army to kill as many as possible. Maryann gasped but didn’t interrupt. Nathan nodded at her horror and continued.

“Marissa hasn’t settled on a date yet. She wants to see how the training is going before she decides, but my person tells me she wants to attack by the end of the week.”

“The end of the week?” Maryann repeated dully, shaking her head. “That doesn’t leave us a lot of time to strategize. And we have to warn everyone who works in the building. And security.”

“I’ve already been on the phone with Matt. He’s beefing up the security, calling in extra guys, everything we need to be doing.” Nathan paused before telling her Matt’s idea. “Matt thinks since we have the location of her base, we should attack first.”

Maryann raised her eyebrows in surprise. “An attack? Do we have the manpower for that? Defending is one thing; attacking is something else. We don’t have an army.”