Warming The Cold One - 17. Building and Promoting

Much to the dismay of both George and Jose, Tala and Jay found a moderately priced motel for themselves and the guards from Alpha Peter’s pack. All the rooms were able to be close to each other with guards on both sides of Tala and Jay’s room. The pair wordlessly staggered in their room and undressed and plopped down on the queen bed. Both fell asleep within seconds of their heads hitting the pillow.

Bjorn exited the airport in Portland and walked to the all-night car rental area. He rented an inexpensive compact car and drove toward the pack lands. A little over an hour and a half later, he pulled up to the gate area. The guards looked him over and verified who he was since they had never actually met him before. He continued up to where the guards had told him to find his house. He marveled on how good the house looked for a second and then quietly went inside.

He was looking around the living room when Lisbeth came around the corner with a loaded shotgun. She saw her husband and ran to him. “You scared the crap out of me. You should have called, and I wouldn’t have almost shot you!”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Bjorn stammered. “Why do you have a shotgun? There are more guards the rabbits out there.”

Lisbeth shook her head at her husband’s description. Her face turned serious again. “We don’t know if they are still going to try to attack us. Tala almost got blown up today!”

“What?” Bjorn looked panicked. “Is he okay? Why didn’t anyone call me?”

Lisbeth tried to keep him calm. “He is fine. The device was found, and no one got hurt. Plus, I did call you. I tried calling you about an hour ago too.”

Bjorn pulled his phone from his jacket and saw it was still on airplane mode. He turned it off and the phone made more noise then he thought possible. “I guess it would have helped if I had remembered about that.” He looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry I missed your call and I am extremely glad everyone is all right. I’m exhausted and it is 01:00. I need some sleep.”

Dawn broke in the Arizona desert about 05:30 and the cleanup crew was already out to break down the event space. The last three members of the honor guard collected the bones of the late alpha and put them in a small cardboard box. That box was going to be taken to the county crematorium to be properly processed and they would then spread the remains in the desert. One of the men turned to the others. “I never realized just how disrespectful he was to his father. Why didn’t he do this for him?”

One of the other guards answered. “I agree. He got more then he deserved being treated to this by Jose. I’m not sure I could have risen above it all.”

Around the same time, Tala and Jay arrived at the pack jail to meet with the captive. They were led back to the holding cell and recoiled when they saw it looked like a cell for the 1820’s in how vile it was. The guard saw their look and laughed. “It’s not the prettiest but it is strong. Not even a drugged or amped up lycan can break those bars or walls.”

Jay nodded his head. “Makes sense, but, yeah, not pretty.”

Tala walked over to the bars and saw the man lying on the cot asleep. “Wake up! It is time to answer some questions.” The man stirred and grumbled. Tala turned to the guard “Secure him and then lock me inside with him.”

The guard opened the cell and secured the man. When he was done, Tala entered behind him and the guard locked the cell. “He is secured.”

“After you lock the door, I want you to leave for the front.” Tala turned to look at the guard. “It’s best if only Jay and I hear his answers. When we are done, Jay will come out to get you.”

The guard left and Jay came up to the bars. “Do you think he will talk?”

Tala smiled. “You know he doesn’t have to. It takes me about two seconds to know the truth. I want him to tell me so he can be free of it.” Tala turned to the man. “So, are we going the easy way or are we going the nasty for you way?”

The man spat at Tala. “I’m not telling you anything because you don’t know anything.”

Tala sighed. He walked over and touched the man’s shoulder. “I see, I’d try to stay quiet too. How is Taj paying you?”

The man went pale. Jay spoke up at the name. “Are you saying Master Taj is doing this?”

Tala shook his head. “I’m not actually. The Taj this man is dealing with is Master Taj’s nephew. His name is Tajsin in respect for his uncle. None of the other men in the pack knew this though. Only this guy knew the truth.”

The man finally started to stammer. “How? What did you do to me?”

Tala turned to him. “They didn’t tell you the whole truth about me. They don’t want the word to get out that there is an ancient lycan resurrecting the American Clan.” Tala waited for that information to sink in. “Ancients also have powers above and beyond normal lycans. An example is that I can tell what is in a lycan’s heart and soul with a simple touch. It gets stronger if I’m angry and then I can read a whole room.”

“Then you know how I got to working with Tajsin already,” the man asked.

Tala nodded. He turned to Jay to explain. “Tajsin is his uncle once removed. He lived with Tajsin when he was younger.”

Jay looked over to the man in the cell. “I think that tells us a lot of what we needed to know. Was there anything else?”

The man nodded. “They won’t rest until the American clan is wiped out again. I see now that they are running under a false thought. You are already too powerful to stop. My life is forfeit.” He started to cry. “Please, kill me fast. I don’t deserve the torture your clan is known for.”

Jay looked at Tala confused. “Torture?”

Tala turned to the man and put his hand back on his shoulder. The man tensed and then calm spread over him. “See, my clan did not do this. Your clan spread false rumors about us so they could justify killing us. I will not be killing you.”

The man sighed in relief. “What are you going to do with me?”

Tala smiled tightly. “Jay and I will do nothing but leave with what you have shown me. However, you are not going to be let go. I do believe that Jose will have to decide what happens when you try to blow up an alpha.”

Jay saw the nod Tala gave him and went out to get the guard. They let Tala out and he and Jay left the jail. They got in the car and drove toward where the jet was. They called Alpha Peter and thanked him for the guards and told him that the rooms were already paid for. They also called Jose and let him know that they had what they needed and to call if he had any troubles.

In the late morning, Karla and Hank dressed and went out to the kitchen to find a basic breakfast being made. Sitting at the counter on a bar stool sat Toby when a lovely older lady was cooking. Toby saw them approach and stood up. “Good morning. I want you to meet Ann, she is my mate.”

Karla perked up. “It is so great to meet you. My son said you were a great cook. I’m Karla and this is Hank.”

Ann pulled the pan off the stove and went around to them. “You must be Tala’s mother.” She gave Karla a hug. “That boy of yours is the most mannered person I have ever met. You raised him well.” She went back and dished up the food for the four of them.

They finished eating and went into the living room. Ann turned to Karla again. “Toby asked me to come by this morning because he wanted me to fill you in on some of the details of your new task. I kept all the records since Toby took over this pack and the clan. I have maps and information in binders so that you can keep everything straight.”

“That is wonderful!” Karla smiled. “I wondered how I was going to tackle all of that.”

“It is a lot to handle. I would recommend hiring a few people to work at the council so that all the calls do not have to go to you. In the front of the first binder is the name of the team lead for the Celtic Clan Land Board. They act as the place for people to call if they have land issues and it saved me from being on call 24/7.”

Hank turned to Toby. “Do you ever feel like you have nothing to take care of sometimes?”

Toby laughed and motioned to Ann. “The ladies always decide what they will let us do and think we control.” Ann slapped his shoulder. “See, she knows I can’t get her in trouble for assaulting the alpha.” Ann smacked him again. “Ouch! You will have plenty to do. There are a lot of people that will want to stop Karla and you have to make sure they don’t.”

Tala and Jay touched down on the private airstrip and one of the guards drove them up to their newly finished home. They took their time looking around the outside at the landscaping and then went in the back door. Tala’s phone beeped and he quickly texted the security company since they had just set off the alarm.

“It is good to know that the alarm is working,” Jay laughed. After they disarmed the panel by the back door, they went into the kitchen to sit down. “It turned out just like we planned. Do you love it?”

Tala beamed. “I do love it. I can’t believe you designed this while I was working with Toby. I think this will such a wonderful place to relax. That is if I ever get to relax.”

Jay looked over at Tala and frowned. “It’s hard having to get everything going. I have seen my fair share of business try to get off the ground. You have to see all your work is already starting to spread to others. Maybe we need to see if we can get some assistants to help you out a bit.”

Tala sighed. “I know I do. I think we have to start with a beta for here at home. Then I’ll call Bjorn and Rolf and see how many applications we have to go over. Having more packs will help spread out the load on Bjorn and Hawk out in Ohio.”

Jay thought for a moment. “Well, I can think of three people for a beta. The first is Edward Montley, the second is Sean Freeman, and the third isn’t eligible right now but will be in the future.”

Tala laughed at the mention of the third reference. “I don’t think we could handle her as a beta. I agree on the first two people though. I think we need to talk to them both and see if they are even interested.”

Jay nodded. “Agreed. Now, the next thing on my list is to check in with Lisbeth and see how plans are going for more houses. I also need to find out on where we are on supporting our pack with supplies. We need a grocery store, a basic dry goods store, and a motel.”

Tala shook his head. “We need people to run them too. We don’t have a big population yet.”

Jay shrugged. “We will. We are creating good jobs in a time where jobs are hard to get. No one goes without and no one should get too far ahead either.”

Tala jumped a little when there was a knock on the front door. He walked over to the window and saw Edward and Sean on the porch. He opened the door and motioned them in. “Please come in. Jay and I were just talking about you both.”

Tala led them to the kitchen. Jay looked up at the visitors. “That is some timing. Did you hear us talking about you or just chance?”

Sean laughed. “No, it was just chance.”

Jay got up from his chair. “Here, let us go into the living room and sit down.” Jay and Tala went down a short hall with their guests following them. “Please sit down,” Jay said as they entered the well-appointed room.

Edward whistled. “Very nice! I hope that my new house looks like this when it’s done.”

Tala looked over to him. “There is no reason why it can’t. However, houses and furniture is being handled by Lisbeth. We,” Tala pointed back and forth between himself and Jay, “have to find someone to handle the land when we have to be away.”

Sean looked over at Jay and Tala. “You mean you want one of us to help? What kind of help?”

Edward looked over at Sean. “Sean, they mean they want one of us to be their beta.”

Jay pointed at Edward. “Bingo! You win our game. So, you get first choice. Your choices are as follows. Yes, no way and I must think. If you both say yes, then Tala and I will have to choose. If you both say no, then you need give us some ideas. If you both say think, then you have to think fast!”

Edward quickly answered. “Think!”

Sean took that as his que and said “Think!”

Tala chuckled a bit. “Here is how I see it. One of you will be the beta and the other is going to be chief enforcer. I hate the term ‘gamma’ and ‘delta’ because they seem weaker. Neither of you are weak. As you think, remember both of you could have positions of power.”

Sean turned to Tala. “I want to change my vote. I know that I do not want to be chief enforcer. That is not my passion. I joined the FBI because I wanted to help people make things right.”

Edward turned to Sean. “As soon as Tala said the backup was chief enforcer, I knew you would not want that job. You are a fixer and someone I want to see do more than that. I always was good at the being the bad guy and having to do the hardest things. I never shied away from bringing someone down.”

Jay turned to Tala. “Well, I guess that decision is made.”

Tala smiled and got up and walked over to Sean. “Stand up for me.” Sean stood up. “I officially promote you to pack beta. You are in charge and will enforce my decisions anytime the alpha pair is not available. Do you accept this honor and responsibly?”

Sean nodded. “I accept.” The air around Sean changed and the room spun for a second. He took a couple deep breaths and the room settled down. “What happened?”

Tala put his hand on his shoulder and instantly saw the answer. He looked at Jay. “Call Toby and ask him if they know anything about the powers that ancient betas could have.” He turned back to Sean. “You will be fine. I think I did the right thing and the wrong thing at the same time. Lycans in ancient packs had more power than they do now. I think I unlocked something in you without knowing.”

Sean looked around. “It’s like some of the perception changes I get when I’m in wolf form have carried over. My eyesight is better, and I can feel the things around me differently.”

Edward looked to Tala. “Is that going to happen to me too?”

Tala turned to Edward. “Yes, I believe it will. Are you having second thoughts?”

“No,” Edward answered. “I just want to make sure I’m ready, so I don’t turn as green as our beta did.”

All four men chuckled. Tala looked to Edward. “Please stand up.” Edward stood. “I officially promote you to chief enforcer. You are tasked with the guarding and protection of this land and the people, lycans and animals on it. Do you accept this honor and responsibility?”

Edward nodded. “I accept.” Now Edward got a rushed feeling and everything around him seemed to slow down. Even the clock seemed to slow almost to a stop. A few seconds later everything went back to normal feeling speed. “I am guessing I just became able to speed up and slow down my perception of time.”

Tala put his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “Yes, you are right. I can feel that too.”

Sean turned to the others. “There are two people I don’t know come into the driveway.”

Tala put his hand up. “Stand down. It’s my mom, Karla, and her husband Hank.

Tala walked out to the door and met them as they were about to knock. Karla jumped back. “You scared me. How did you know we were coming?”

Jay came up behind Tala. “It’s a long story. Please come in and meet a few people.”

They walked back to the living room. Tala started to point at people. “Mom and Hank, this is Sean. He just accepted the role as pack beta. This is Edward. He just accepted the roll of pack chief enforcer. Edward and Sean, this is Karla and Hank.

They all shook hands and sat down. Hank looked over at Tala. “So, Tala, about this long story?”

Jay answered first. “Being that Tala is an ancient, when he promotes someone to a position of power in the pack, it seems to unlock something in them.”

Tala picked it up from there. “Sean gained some of his wolf form perception. When someone is around so far but I’m sure it will develop other things in time. Edward gained an ability to mess with his perception of time and speed. All things that will help them fulfill their new rolls.”

Hank whistled. “Wow. Congratulations to both of you.”

Both Sean and Edward said thank you. “Tala, Jay, we better go and let you talk to your mom. We need to talk to our wives. When are you going to announce it?”

Tala stood up. “Go ahead and have Lisbeth send it out in the next pack update. I’ll show you out.” Tala, Sean, and Edward left the room and headed for the front door.

Hank quickly turned to Jay. “This is getting big. You know that there are people that going to hate this.”

Jay sighed. “I know but what can we do. We must live our lives and do what is right for everyone. Did Ann show you the books this morning?”

Karla turned. “Yes, she did. I thought I was uptight about stuff, but she has everything filed and indexed. It puts me to shame.”

Jay laughed. “You get used to it. I spent many a night having to fix things I sent her because she wouldn’t pay me until my invoice had the typos corrected.”

Tala came back in the room and sat down across from Karla. “I’m sorry you had to be ripped from your home so quickly. Things got out of hand.”

Hank nodded. “It was a bit fast but from the little we heard, it was better to be safe and overreacting then ignore it and loose our lives.”

Jay looked over to Karla. “Did you have any idea on where you want to start?”

Karla looked over and shook her head yes. “It starts in Amidon, North Dakota. That was the site of the Red Pack homestead.”

“Gloria! Get in here!” The head of the Southern Arizona Pack yelled out his office door. On his computer screen he was looking at thirty-five different job requisitions opened that day for office staff in areas he had never heard of.

Gloria walked in the office and closed the door. “What can I do for you Allan?”

Allan pointed at the chair in front of his desk. “Sit down and explain to me what I am seeing.”

Gloria looked at what was on the screen and sighed. “Allan, I emailed you last night that I was helping out Sir Hawk with getting the hiring started for the American pack support staff.”

“I assumed you meant like one or two people. Who is going to pay for all these people?” Allan’s face was a strange shade of reddish-purple. It was the shade he got when he was both mad and confused.

Gloria put on her fake smile. “Sir Hawk is managing the entire American Clan Operations center on the 17th floor by himself. He needs a lot of staff.”

“What are you talking about Operations Center?” Allan’s expression showed his frustration. “He gets a crappy office just like the rest of us.”

Gloria continued her fake smile. “When I worked with him yesterday to plan out your new office, I emailed you some ideas. Did you get to look at them? I wasn’t sure if you wanted the window office but no real extra space or if you wanted the center office with room to grow.”

Allan looked at her like she was nuts. “Window office? There are no window offices.”

Gloria sighed and let her smile fall. “Allan! I keep telling you to read your emails. Our new clan is building out all of the 17th and 21st floors. When all is settled, the Celtic Clan may give us the 18th floor as well since they are not using it but for storage. Do you want the window, or do you want more space to grow?”

Allan finally grasped what she was saying. “New clan, you mean George was serious?”

Gloria shook her head. “Yes Allan, we are part of the American Clan now. Next week I’ll get you set up with your new login. It will be one letter different and everything else will stay the same. We are also supporting the Boise Pack and Sir Hawk until the staff is hired. By the way, the listings you see are just the first phase on the 17th floor. Once the 21st floor opens, we will need even more staff.”

Allan started reading through his emails and saw the plans Gloria sent him. He clicked through the ideas and stopped when he saw the one named ‘Window on Garden’ and admired it. “Um, I’m sorry I snapped at you. You really think we can get this set up?”

Gloria smiled for real this time. “Yes Allan. I do. I made the plan choices for you. We can have whatever you think we should have. By the look in your eyes, I was right that you would want the garden and forest view.”

“What is this smaller office with the same view?” Allan was looking frustrated. “Who will be next door to me with a slightly better view then mine?”

Gloria smiled and got up. She started to leave without answering, but before she closed the door behind her see finally answered. “That Allan is where MY office will be located. My doctor says I need more natural light every day.” She closed the door and went back to her desk to let Hawk know that they would want the window area and the plans Allan selected.

The knock came on the door. Bjorn walked over and opened it. “Can I help you gentlemen?”

Sean looked at Bjorn, trying to figure out who was answering Lisbeth’s door. “I hope so. We are here to see Lisbeth about some business. Is she available?”

“She is not actually.” Bjorn was being cautious since didn’t really know who these men were. “Maybe there is something I can help you with instead.”

Sean didn’t look happy. He could sense that Lisbeth was just in the kitchen cooking food. He knew something wasn’t right. “No, I don’t think so. I need to talk to Lisbeth about this and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Bjorn could tell things were about to escalate so he quickly formulated a plan. “I think we are getting off on the wrong foot. So how about you tell me who you are, and I will let Lisbeth know you stopped by.”

Sean was starting to really dislike what was going on. “Not going to happen. I know she is inside, and I need to talk to her right now.” Sean started to walk towards Bjorn to get in his face.

“Stop!” Bjorn’s face turned firm and stone-like. “Get off my porch. Don’t make me call the alpha.

Sean and Edward backed up and stayed on the grass next to the path. This guy had some power behind his voice. Lisbeth came to the door hearing her husband shout. “What is going on? Oh, hello Sean. Good morning Edward. What is all the shouting about?”

“You know these men?” Bjorn turned to look at Lisbeth and keep his eye on the two men.

“Do I know them? They are two of the men that moved here from Arizona out of the Alpha Boehler’s pack.” She waved the men up. “Come on in. Don’t mind my husband.”

Edward turned to Bjorn. “Oh my god, your Bjorn, aren’t you?”

Bjorn turned to him. “Is that all?”

Lisbeth had all of them sit down in the living room. “Sean, Edward, I want you to meet Bjorn. He is my husband and he sits on the Circle at the Council. Bjorn, this is Sean Freeman and Edward Montley.”

Sean quickly apologized. “I am so sorry Sir. I did not know that you were here. I didn’t know what to think when someone was answering Lisbeth’s door and blocking us from her.”

Bjorn was now all calmed down. “I’m sorry I was so protective. Let’s kinda start over.” Bjorn cleared his throat. “Good morning, what can we do for you two fine gentlemen?”

Edward and Sean laughed. Sean was first to speak up. “Well, Tala told us to come over and have some news put in the next pack update.”

Lisbeth looked interested. She grabbed a small off-brand mini-tablet and opened her notepad app. “Okay, shoot.”

Edward chimed in. “We need to announce the promotion of Sean to pack beta and my promotion to chief enforcer.”

Lisbeth jumped up and gave them both a hug. “I am so proud of you both. I’ll send out a special edition update later today.”

Bjorn got up and shook both of their hands. “I am sure Tala picked the best people for the job. He has a talent for that.”

Lisbeth cooed. “That he does.” She pinched Bjorn’s cheek. “Can I offer either of you some tea?”

Sean and Edward shook their heads. “No, we just wanted to pass on the good news. We need to get home and let the wives know before they read it in an update.”

Lisbeth showed them out and came back to sit with Bjorn again. “I can’t believe you were going to kick the beta off our lawn.”

Bjorn tried to look like he was the victim. “What did you expect me to do when two younger men come knocking on our door looking to talk with you?”

Lisbeth chuckled. “Thank you for the protection.”

Bjorn could smell the smoke even before the alarm went off. “Honey, I think the toast is burnt.” The fire alarm sounded. “Never mind, I know the toast is burnt now.

“I told you this needed to stop.” The elderly man paced around his lushly appointed villa. “Cut your losses and keep yourself from getting killed.”

“I will not.” This voice was more middle-aged. “You have done so much for this world and all they do and hold us back. You deserve to rule all of this.”

“No! You must stop this.” The older man’s voice filled with anger. “Stop trying to kill him, stop stealing money, and stop making me out to be a hero.”

“I deserve the spoils of war. I almost had everything taken care of and then he showed up and ruined it all.” The middle-aged voiced raged. “I will kill him and his clan along with him.”

“I cannot stop you,” the older man spoke softly. “I will not save you either. I have been keeping my books clean, so when Master Tobias wins, I can still keep my wealth I earned.”

The middle-aged man laughed. “With the reports I had PWC cook up for him, he’ll be lucky if it doesn’t come back on him as the thief.”

The older voice sighed. “I pray you are right, Tajsin.”