The Alpha 9: Protect. Procreate. Prevail., page 13
“Let’s just hope it stays that way,” I said as I ate the last of my toast. “We could do with a vacation right about now.”
“You’re all good, Alpha.” Rhett patted my shoulder supportively. “We won’t let a single soul get past us.”
“Yeah, and your patrol groups are only going to get bigger now that your pack’s increased in size again,” Christopher added as he pressed his foot lightly on the brake. “I can’t wait to meet everyone, and your new omega, too, of course.”
“From what Harry and Raina have told us, Azalea is a fucking machine,” Rhett chuckled. “Apparently we don’t want to get on the wrong side of her.”
“They weren’t lying,” I laughed. “Azalea could potentially beat you to a pulp if you tried anything. So any other threats out there should be careful with her around.”
“This is something I need to see.” Christopher grinned.
It took about an hour to reach the remote town where Hazel said to meet her. From first glance, the town was about half the size of Monroe, which said a lot, and I spotted a small scattering of run-down houses and a cafe which didn’t have a single soul inside it apart from a waitress.
At first, I thought an empty cafe would have been the worst place for us to meet, but according to Hazel, this town was so small that SDD agents never ventured here. I’d only seen one other person in this town, so it certainly wasn’t teeming with shifters.
Hazel also told me that she was going to rent a car, just in case any agents spotted her driving around in her BMW i4 and decided to follow her.
Christopher, Rhett, and I sat in the Mercedes as we waited for Hazel to turn up, and given the lack of cars we saw on the roads leading to this town, it didn’t take a genius to spot her, even in a rented car.
The royal-blue Ford Fiesta pulled up into a spot outside the cafe, and Hazel Wise briefly looked over at me as she walked across the lot.
I hadn’t realized until that very moment how much I’d missed Hazel in the time I’d been away. Her mahogany hair was tied up into a knot, her heart-shaped face held a light and understated coating of makeup, and her combination of black leggings and white oversized hoodie looked much more comfortable than her normal office attire.
I also noticed a sweet, floral scent that drifted from Hazel’s skin. She didn’t often wear any sort of perfume, but she did today, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she wore the perfume just for me.
A small smile curled across her lips as I exited the car, and I started to think that perhaps she’d missed seeing me, too.
It was just a shame the circumstances weren’t any different.
“Hello, Jessica.” I smirked.
“Hello,” she replied.
We’ll stay in the car, boss, Christopher informed me. We’ll be able to notice anyone arriving, so there’s no reason to run laps around the place.
“That sounds good to me,” I replied.
“What?” Hazel frowned. “I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but my security in the car did,” I chuckled.
“Shit,” she hissed. “I always forget that bit.”
“Maybe I was wrong when I said you’d get used to it,” I laughed as I held open the cafe door. “Because it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.”
“Yes, well…” she mumbled. “Speaking of cases, shall we start discussing yours?”
“I guess so,” I sighed. “As much as I want to get these answers, it still bothers me to think about everything that’s happened.”
“Trust me, I’m trying hard to stay calm.” Hazel rolled her almond eyes. “If I didn’t love my job, I’d probably be handing in my notice.”
“Don’t,” I said soothingly as we chose the first booth we came across. “Use your powers to get back at the SDD, not the other way around.”
“You’re right.” She smiled. “I’m so pissed right now that I don’t quite know what to think.”
“I know how you feel,” I said with a light nod of my head. “But that’s why we’re here today. To understand what’s going on and what to do next.”
Our conversation was briefly interrupted when the waitress came over to take our order. I asked for a black coffee, but when Hazel asked for a peppermint tea, the waitress said they were all out of tea. So the agent went for a black coffee, too.
“Anything else?” the waitress asked as she curled a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
The fed-up expression on her face made me think the waitress didn’t enjoy her job, and she’d probably been cleaning the same spot over and over, just to find something to pass the time.
“Do you have any pastries?” Hazel queried.
“We only get pastries on Thursdays,” the woman sighed. “Anything else?”
“Uh, no, just the coffee is fine, thanks.” Hazel smiled.
“If you really want pastries, we could go somewhere else?” I whispered once the waitress had turned her back.
“Believe me, this is the best place to be right now,” Hazel replied. “Also, I’m not actually that hungry. But a croissant or something would have been nice with my coffee.”
“I’ll give you some money to buy some donuts on your way home.” I winked.
Hazel hated it when I offered to pay for things.
“You won’t be giving me anything but answers,” she said with a pointed finger.
“I thought that was your job?” I frowned. “You’re the one with the information, remember?”
“I… You… You’re…” Hazel flapped her hands in the air as she searched around for her bag.
“Yes?” I snickered. “Were you going to say I’m unbelievable? Because I don’t think we can have a conversation without you insulting me like that.”
“Shall we get started?” Hazel asked as she brought out her laptop. “Or are you going to sit there and throw dollars at me like a damn stripper?”
“Why, Jessica Henderson, I didn’t know you had a side job,” I snorted. “I bet you’re very impressive on the pole.”
“Are you finished?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I laughed. “But I see you’re ready to get started, so I’ll have to hold back my remarks until later.”
Instead of replying, Hazel opened up her laptop and typed in the password, and I sat back in silence as the waitress brought over two black coffees. She slid a small cup of sugar packets into the center of the table, and then she walked off without asking if there was anything else we wanted.
It was also the weakest black coffee I’d ever had in my life. It was like someone had diluted an espresso until it was virtually just water, and then they’d poured it over more hot water and added some coloring to make it look like a fresh espresso.
Perhaps the waitress had walked away so quickly because she knew we were going to complain about the state of our drinks.
But what the bored waitress didn’t know was that Hazel and I were here for much more important matters.
“Okay,” Hazel mumbled a moment later. “Did you bring the ID?”
“I sure did.” I nodded as I handed over Samuel Norris’ ID.
Hazel stared at the driver’s license carefully, and then she typed the information into her laptop as she handed the card back to me.
“And you said you found this in a car?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “It was the only thing we found apart from the cars.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you did,” she snorted as she turned her laptop around to face me. “Because it’s the missing puzzle piece.”
It took a second for me to scan over the spreadsheet, but then I spotted Samuel’s name four rows down on the left-hand side.
“He was a werecat beta,” I whispered as I took in the information.
“He was.” Hazel smiled. “And his alpha was a guy called Corey Ryan. Here, I’ll show you his details.”
Corey Ryan was the motherfucker with white paws and black tips on his ears.
The asshole who’d ordered his betas to attack us for no apparent reason.
I was able to see that Corey had been an alpha for just under ten years, and like the ID said, he lived in a wooded area in Modoc County. His pride was made up of ninety-seven betas, and there was a simple zero in the column that said “omegas.”
“Okay, so he doesn’t have any omegas,” I muttered as I took another sip of the awful coffee. I winced at the taste.
“No, not a single one,” Hazel replied.
“And if he had ninety-seven betas, and we killed about…” I paused for a second to think. “I dunno, maybe seventy or eighty of them? Then I still have a few betas to locate.”
“Eighty?” Hazel gasped. “In that short amount of time?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “My pack knows what they’re doing.”
“Clearly,” Hazel scoffed.
“But what I don’t get, is if Corey had been an alpha for ten years, then he should have known the risk he was taking, right?” I asked. “I mean, his betas were pretty easy to destroy, so that also makes me think he wasn’t a very good alpha to begin with. It was like he ran into action without thinking, but he also hadn’t spent much time training his betas.”
“Yeah, that’s what it sounds like.” Hazel shrugged. “I don’t quite understand, to be honest.”
“Maybe that’ll be one of the answers we find out along the way,” I said.
“Hopefully,” she agreed. “Now, let’s dive deeper, shall we? I’m ready to overthrow this fucking organization.”
“I… Okay,” I chuckled.
“I’m not going to be acting like the good little schoolgirl anymore,” Hazel informed me. “I take my work seriously, and I’ve worked my ass off to gain a position I can be proud of, but this shit lately? This is not what I stand for. The SDD have pissed me off, they’ve pissed us both off, and now it’s time to take some action.”
“Fuck, you really are a boss bitch.” My eyes widened. “Blair was right.”
“I know how to put on a fake smile.” She winked. “But I also know how to get back at those who hurt me. I’m also famous for holding a grudge. I’m not proud of that last part, to be honest, but what can I say? I’m human.”
“Are you sure you’re not a shifter?” I whispered with a laugh. “Because that sounds like something I deal with, too.”
“There’s nothing but human blood in these veins,” she giggled. “Now, let’s work this out as much as we can.”
I hadn’t seen this other side to Hazel before, and she was usually so sweet, reserved, and delicate. But I wasn’t going to complain. I loved this feral side of her much more than the innocent agent who was new to the job.
“I think my main question is whether these attacks happened because I was in California?” I asked. “Nothing like this has ever happened before, at least not in this strange way, yet the second I step foot in a new state it’s like everyone is out to get me.”
“It could be a California thing.” Hazel shrugged. “But you haven’t caused them any issues before, so I wouldn’t see why that would cause so much trouble.”
“Maybe it’s something to do with the SDD itself?” I questioned. “Is there corruption going on in that branch or something?”
“Honestly, it’s hard for me to know what’s corrupt in this situation,” she replied. “You see, until today, I barely knew anything about the California branch. The SDD is such a huge agency, and it runs all across the country, so every regional branch works differently.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, the main regional hub for the entire Pacific Northwest is based in Seattle,” Hazel explained. “But there’s also the smaller offices like in the city where I work, and several others, and we of course report back to our regional hub. But because of the size of the state, California has a few offices, and their own main hub to themselves. Their main office is in LA, but there’s also a sizable one in Sacramento. The whole U.S. is mapped out like this. So you have places like Nevada and Arizona, for example. Even though they’re two different states, they all report to the main office in Phoenix, since their shifter population isn’t as large as California. For every office within our department, there’s a regional branch we’re a part of.”
“Okay, and these main regional hubs are where all of the agents pass over their information to?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly.” She nodded.
“Right…” I mumbled as I considered all this, and I narrowed my eyes in thought. “What about Utah? Do they also report to Phoenix?”
“No, there’s no need when it comes to Utah,” Hazel chuckled. “Shifters rarely venture into Utah. The area’s too heavily populated by the LDS followers. They were highly suspected and demonized back in the day, almost like witch hunts and trials, so others of your kind grew to avoid the state completely.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I chuckled and shook my head.
“Most southwest states don’t actually have a huge amount of shifters living in them,” she continued. “The drier desert environments and extreme temperatures don’t cooperate well with your higher body temps. That’s why Nevada and Arizona are lumped together. However, New Mexico actually has the largest population of shifters throughout all of the southwestern states, which is one of the best kept secrets of the place. The higher elevation offers cooler temperatures and seasonal shifts, but there’s also a lot of open land out there, so they make up a substantial amount of shifter population. They’re lumped into the same regional branch as Texas, and the hub in Austin keeps track of that area of the country.”
“Damn, here I was thinking the SDD was some small town police station,” I laughed.
“It’s quite a big agency.” Hazel nodded.
This also made me think of potential land I could take over, but if the agents covered every inch of each state, then it was probably best for me to stay where I was.
For now.
“So…” I frowned. “If every regional branch is different, then how did you manage to get information about Corey Ryan?”
“Because I work for the SDD,” she replied in a somewhat haughty tone. “I’m in the system, Jesse. The spreadsheet you just saw is a brief overview everyone in the agency has access to. It tells me who’s part of that pack or pride, but I can’t see any more than that. I’d need to really snoop around if I wanted to find out who the alpha had fought against in the past, or how much land he owns. That info is exclusive to his regional branch. However, I’m tempted to do that now after everything that went on…”
“So, would California know that I was marked as a threat on the system?” I asked.
“They shouldn’t be able to,” Hazel sighed. “It’s incredibly dangerous and risky to break through those walls and get into another state’s files. But they must have gotten knowledge somehow, and they clearly knew you were a threat because it seems like you’ve been marked in other files, not just my own. Otherwise you probably would have had the vacation you were looking forward to.”
“Well, shit,” I snorted. “I didn’t realize I was that dangerous.”
“Neither did I.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “I mean, it’s a great thing if you’re liked by the SDD, but we’ve realized that’s not the case.”
“No, clearly not,” I grumbled. “I think that’s also a reason why you should keep your head down instead of snooping around, though.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t mess this up for you.” She smiled.
Both of us were silent for a second, and we chugged down the last of our dreadful coffee as various thoughts ran through my head. It was a good thing the waitress was busy on her phone, and she clearly wasn’t paying us any attention, because this wasn’t the sort of conversation I wanted her to overhear.
“What about the Jansens?” I asked a moment later. “Maybe California is angry that I killed them, and then I was living in the Jansen house, so they wanted to get revenge?”
“I wouldn’t have thought so.” Hazel frowned. “The Jansens were a big family here in Oregon, but there’s no reason for the other hubs to have known about them. Apart from their properties, the Jansens didn’t actually have any territory in that state, so the family wouldn’t be on their databases.”
“Maybe Theo Finch?” I shrugged. “This all started after I killed that son of a bitch, so that’s something we should think about.”
“Again, he was a big name here, but not in California,” Hazel sighed. “I know he was a protected alpha here, and I have to admit, I’m not sure if he had the same sort of status in California, but I don’t think he did. I’m almost certain his death wouldn’t have caused all of this.”
“Then why did this start in the first place?” I asked. “I can’t remember the last time I was even in California, and it was certainly before I was given this life promotion, so I haven’t done anything to annoy the agents over there.”
“It’s a hard one to work out, that’s for sure,” Hazel said with a soft smile. “But don’t worry, Jesse, we’ll get the answers we’re after.”
“I’m certain we will,” I replied. “But if I didn’t have you on my side, then who knows where I would have started looking?”
“I’m not just a pretty face.” She winked.
“No, you’re much more than that.” I smirked. “You’re quite the boss bitch, too.”
“You don’t need to tell me that twice, Mr. Rafe,” Hazel giggled.
“I certainly won’t forget it,” I laughed. “And you know what? If you’re the one to crack the code and free me from all this bullshit, I’ll even stop offering to pay for your coffees, too. Despite how bad they taste.”
“Well, now I really want to get working,” she chuckled. “But in all seriousness, don’t worry. I’ll do my best to sort this out.”
“I know you will.” I smiled.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to assist you with this challenge, Jesse,” Hazel replied. “I told you, I take this job seriously, and–”
“Why?” I asked as my curiosity got the better of me, and Hazel frowned in confusion. “I don’t mean that in a rude way. I’m just wondering how you became so passionate about this job. About cataloging and protecting shifters, when you’re a human.”
