Chapter 2 - Rick
“And so,” the obnoxious male concluded, puffing out his chest as if any of the drivel that had just come out of his mouth was worth the oxygen he’d expended saying it, “it’s obvious that separation of military powers between humans and shifters is essential to our continued autonomy.”
The corner of Rick’s lip twitched. Autonomy was an awfully large word for the oafish brute facing them from the other side of the enormous table.
Felix shifted in his seat, the almost imperceptible movement designed to catch his eye. He flicked his gaze over, raising an eyebrow.
Now?
Felix’s eyes didn’t move from Carter’s form as he shook his head, the motion subtle enough to evade all but Rick’s keen senses.
Not yet.
Rick settled back into his chair with a smirk. He was a patient male. He could wait.
There were a few agreements, a few murmurs of questioning, but nothing substantial. After all, Raph was sitting beside Carter, daring anyone with his sheer presence to speak out against him.
Rick’s nostrils flared slightly. Since when had the alpha of the Black Claws allowed another to speak in his place? He scented the air again.
Ah. It seemed Carter was his whelp. Well, that explained the embarrassing display of inadequacy. The boy was green as fresh grass.
Someone cleared his throat, and Rick glanced over. John Heath stood, adjusting his tie, tapping one finger against the table.
Rick cocked his head. Of course, he’d noticed the Green Mountain Pack alpha was in attendance. He had noticed everyone in attendance.
But he had paid special attention to this particular male. Firstly, for the boon he held over Felix’s head, payment had not yet been given for aid during Red Teeth’s attack on Silvermist.
Secondly, for the female he had stupidly brought with him.
If he was hoping to gain favor by dangling her like some shiny distraction in front of the other alphas, he had better be damned sure of his security. A tasty little thing like her wouldn’t last a second unprotected in this seething cesspool of alpha testosterone.
John smoothed his hair back, nodding to Carter. “A fine argument, sir. I commend you.”
A few other alphas snickered as he spoke, elbowing each other with a mocking glint in their eyes.
John was hardly even a player on the board.
A no-name nothing pack from the craggy foothills of the Appalachians.
Well, not quite a no-name. There were some ties to an ancient French bloodline, if Rick was remembering his history correctly, but it was hardly the sort of thing worth remembering.
Not with the current insignificance of his pack.
But still he continued talking, “The human threat is not to be underestimated. I would second your opinion that we keep our fighting forces separate.”
“Only because you don’t got no opinion of your own,” a young bear shifter hollered. “You gotta ass-kiss your way up to relevancy.”
John’s eye twitched, the only tell of a loss of composure. As he battled back and forth, Rick found himself almost admiring the way the older alpha held his ground. But when childish sniping turned to more vicious insults, Felix sighed, glancing over.
Rick let a feral grin carve its way across his face.
Felix considered him, expression tense with familiar concern. Rick was a weapon that the other packs were getting more and more frustrated at him using. And Felix did love his diplomacy.
But not, apparently, more than he wanted to avoid any bloodshed.
John had sat, allowing the buffoon Carter to exchange unpleasantries with the bear shifters, his voice rising enough to rattle the chandeliers. Teeth were baring. Scents were spiking.
Felix nodded.
Now.
A spark of excitement ran up Rick’s spine.
The thrill of preparing for war.
“Tell me,” he said, his voice only loud enough to capture the room’s attention, no louder.
He paused as every head turned to him, voices fading away, anticipation building for his attack.
He let them stew in it for a moment before continuing, “Do you really fear the humans so much that you think they would ever want to remain our commanding officers in a joint military body?”
A few shifters turned to each other with confused whispers. Even more remained silent, waiting with bated breath.
Rick always set up a perfect trap, waiting for his opponent to wander blindly inside before he struck the killing blow.
Carter scoffed, a great, inelegant motion that rocked his meaty shoulders like some ungainly dinghy caught in a storm.
Rick’s smile grew wider. Let him feign incredulity. It did nothing to disguise the fear in his eyes.
“Come on, Rick. What sort of argument is that? They’re humans. Of course, they’d wanna be in charge. Or maybe you’re just not used to interacting with humans who aren’t on your payroll!”
There were a few nervous chuckles that quickly faded away, leaving a heavy, uncomfortable silence in its wake. Rick didn’t reply, his breaths slow and even, his eyes unblinking as he took in Carter’s twitching form.
The male coughed, clearing his throat. “They’re cocky, right? That’s the way I see it. I’m sure you’d agree. Ever since they built their bombs during the conflicts. I mean, surely you agree, Rick?”
Rick tilted his head. It was incredible. All he had to do was remain quiet, and weaker males wilted before him.
“Enough of this,” Raph snarled, slamming his hands into the table, his chair clattering against the tiles as he jumped to his feet. “If you’ve got something to say, Reinhardt, then fucking well get on with it!”
He felt Felix tense beside him, scented the sharp spike of anger from his alpha. But Felix wouldn’t intervene.
He didn’t need to.
“Did it work?” Rick asked, crossing one long leg over the other, adjusting his cufflink absentmindedly.
“Did what work?” Raph snapped as Carter sank back into his chair with a thunderous expression.
He might as well have been a pouting child, for all Rick cared.
He raised a sardonic eyebrow. “The human attempt to eradicate us during the conflicts?”
Raph’s jaw worked. “No, it didn’t, but you can’t try and tell me that—”
“And why didn’t it work?” Rick interrupted, addressing the room.
When nobody answered, he rolled his eyes and stood, buttoning his jacket.
“It didn’t work, because we are not the mindless brutes that the humans mistook us for.
They underestimated us. Their anti-shifter weaponry lasted only as long as it took our scientists to develop counter-measures.
As it stood, a single shifter could reliably wipe out up to fifty humans. More, if they were an alpha.”
There were a few murmured agreements.
“And as for the present day,” Rick continued, “while Accord regulations prevent shifters from reaching the highest position of government, I’d ask you to kindly name me the shifter that answers to any human bar the president himself.”
Raph shuffled, his scowl turning murderously dark. “Careful, Rick, you’re in danger of sounding like a supporter of the human administration.”
“He does throw a wonderful cocktail party,” Rick said, earning a few chuckles.
“I’m going to one next week. I’ll be sure to give him your regards.
Or perhaps, I’ll not waste my time and instead talk to the only humans that really matter in this conversation—the Generals.
The ones practically begging us to throw our weight behind them against the increasing Eastern threat. ”
“Just because some flashy general asks us to get involved,” Raph snarled, “doesn’t mean we have to roll over and show our bellies.”
“So you’d foster bad will with the very same human army that Carter reckons is a real threat to us?”
Carter fidgeted in his seat, baring his teeth. “I never said they were an actual threat—”
“Which is it, Raph?” Rick interrupted, ignoring Carter entirely.
He was done with the squealing small-fry.
If the Alpha of the Black Claws wanted to go head-to-head, then he’d be only too happy to put the rabid dog back in his palace.
“Either we’re scared of the humans, so we don’t join the armed forces in an official capacity, or we’re scared of the humans, so we automatically acquiesce to their demands for us to join? ”
Raph’s fingernails dug into the wood, leaving great gouge marks where he was physically restraining himself from shifting and launching himself at Rick. “You’re twisting my words.”
“I’m revealing your fear,” Rick said.
Carter had to physically grab Raph’s arms to restrain him.
Rick tutted, turning his head, making sure to capture the gaze of each and every alpha assembled before him.
“Gentlemen. In an increasingly globalized world, it would be incredibly short-sighted to cut off routes to power for the sake of appearances. This argument has already been decided. Our forefathers accepted a branch of power at the White House. The expansion to the military is nothing more than a formalization of the reality we already live in.”
There were a few nods of agreement, but Rick wasn’t content with mere acceptance.
He wanted to win.
“Think of it this way,” he said. “Our military might far outweighs that of the humans. We have the opportunity here to shape the way global conflict plays out. To pursue our own goals. What are the humans going to do? Try and stop us? They’ve already failed to do that.
And it’ll be so much harder for them to try and kick us out when they threw a welcome banquet for us in the first place. ”
The murmurs turned to growls, claws drumming against the table in a steady, violent rhythm. Rick’s gaze swept the room, every alpha meeting his eyes, some defiant, most eager, none willing to break the spell he’d woven.
“And just think,” Rick said softly, “how quickly we could put them down if we were already organized into a single fighting force. The humans don’t stand a chance against us.”
That was all it took. The room erupted in savage laughter and low battle cries.