Wedded to the Pack Ch. 06

Another attack on the wolves is dealt with. The President holds another news conference, saying he made a mistake the first time, and wolves aren't a threat to humans. He asks to meet with Jessica or Gretchen to help come up with a new treaty or laws to deal with shapeshifters. The CEO of Firebrand is kidnapped off the street. There isn't as much sex as I've had in other chapters, but there is lesbian sex, interspecies sex, interracial sex, and oral sex in this chapter. This is a copyrighted work and not to be copied, altered, edited or published in written or any other format, including audio and video, without the author's express permission. © Copyright 2025

Wedded to the Pack, Ch. 06

The President Admits His Mistake

Gretchen and I were crouched way low, ready to spring into action. The charges went off and the doors blew open, or in the case of the vehicle door, a huge hole opened up in it. As expected, flash-bangs came through first and I closed my eyes. Two seconds after they blew, I scented bodies coming through, and shot forward growling and slashing at everything I could. Tearing hamstrings, legs, ankles, staying low, hoping that center mass shots would mostly miss me. I could hear a multitude of shots coming from across the street into the mass of people bunched outside of our door, and the rich scent of blood.

Our enemies were taking fire from front and rear and didn't know which way to turn, and they were confused by the furry, fanged bodies tearing at them right in their midst, sometimes too close to get their rifles trained on us. I knew I got hit at least twice, but I could feel my flesh knitting back together, so I assumed lead or copper bullets, not silver. The noise was awful for ten minutes, and then it was silent, except for the moans of the wounded. There were lots of bullet holes in the van some of the men had hidden behind, and some of the concrete pillars within the warehouse were pockmarked.

"Anyone you bit," Brigitte said, "rip their throats out now. We don't want them as wolves."

Gretchen and I took out four more that way, finishing the job that our teeth had started. There were ten dead inside the warehouse, and the rest were dead outside, or guns dropped and hands raised, or lying wounded and moaning on the pavement. There were at least ten sirens shrieking in the distance getting closer. I decided to remain as my wolf, since I'd otherwise be naked. Gretchen apparently felt the same. Armed men appeared across the street, and started walking forward, Edgar among them. He and five others started to zip-tie the ones still alive on the outside, even the wounded, and collecting their hardware.

"Anyone need any medical attention in here?" Edgar called out.

Gretchen and I both woofed we were okay, and all of the enemy inside were now dead. Conor reported that news to Edgar. Brigitte had suffered a silver bullet wound to her thigh. Raphael and Connor were not hit, but one of the other two van guys had taken a bullet to the arm. Once again, Manuel was there to start applying first aid, along with another medic I didn't know. He stitched up Brigitte's leg, and we'd added another permanent scar to our total.

Squad cars and ambulances began pulling up, and Edgar went outside to talk to them. He had his rifle slung and his hands raised.

"Are you the officer in charge?" Edgar asked.

"Until someone more senior shows up, I'd expect at least a sergeant and maybe a lieutenant before this is over. Jesus, what a mess."

"I'll start with you then, and when someone more senior shows up, you can brief him on what I gave you already."

"That would be a good start. What the hell happened?"

"After the first assassination attempt, my boss, Joshua Greenbriar, began assisting the shapeshifters. He provided this warehouse as someplace they could stay and hide out for the time being. As reported by the news folks already, they were brought here blindfolded and given the opportunity to interview the other wolves so their story gets out to John Q. Public.

"About forty or fifty minutes ago, one of the wolves inside scented the assassin who first shot Jessica six days ago. At the time, we didn't know if he was getting set up for another attempt on Jessica or the other wolves, so we started moving additional security here and looking for the assassin. Our guys saw other guys in combat gear setting up outside the warehouse for what appeared to be a full-blown assault, who were not only our own people who'd driven the news crew here, but the newspeople themselves and the four shapeshifters we were sheltering. That caused us to bring in more security staff. When these bastards blew the doors on the warehouse, we began firing on them from the inside and the outside, catching them in a crossfire.

"We also had a counter sniper positioned a couple hundred yards away, and when the enemy sniper's rifle was made ready to shoot, we took him out. These folks surrendered before they got killed, and we started to apply first aid to the injured, starting with ours. At the very least, these zip-tied mercenaries can be charged with armed assault on a property owned by Joshua Greenbriar, destruction of personal property, and attempted murder or kidnapping of the people inside.

"I think I can safely say that they're all members of Firebrand Security, and the lies those fucking bozos told after the attack on the morgue were all a bunch of bullshit, because so far, they've dedicated what looks like thirty-five or more members of the company to armed assaults on government and personal property, and they can no longer claim that they're dealing with rogue elements in their ranks. Someone high up approved this bullshit, and we'll be seeking criminal and civil penalties on the top brass of Firebrand, swearing out complaints for their arrest and prosecution. As for us, we were merely defending our personal property, our staff, our guests, and members of the New York press. I'd appreciate it if you'd haul this garbage away and put them in the hospital, the morgue or the jail, whichever seems appropriate for their current status."

"Where is the news crew?"

"Raphael, where are they?"

"We zip-tied their hands to the bathroom sink out of the way of flying bullets. I'd also like to report that Channel Eleven news reporter, Fred Jones, seemed to be responsible for leading Firebrand here, as he had a Tile purchased at Fire For Your Home on 47th Street hidden on his person. Since he seemed instrumental in leading these criminals here, negating the security precautions we'd been taking to safeguard our guests, I'd like him to be charged as well. His cameraman, William Smithers, can substantiate what he told us."

"Why don't you get them and we'll question him and Fred?"

"Yes, sir. Jesse, why don't you lead one of the other officers back to the bathroom and cut their zip ties off."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Jesse and an officer headed for the bathroom.

The officer looked at Gretchen and me sitting calmly beside Connor and Brigitte, our tongues out, panting, blood around our muzzles. "Are these two shapeshifters?"

"Yes, sir," Connor said, "this is Gretchen Shriver," pointing to her, "and this wolf is Jessica Hagerty."

"Why are they still wolves?"

"Because if they shift to their human form, they'll be naked," Brigitte said. "They're standing out in the open and might like a little privacy for shifting back, but they're waiting for you to release them from questioning."

"Can I question them?"

"If you use yes or no questions, otherwise you might want to wait until they can speak."

"Fine, let them get dressed."

"It's okay if you send a female officer with them. We don't really care that much."

"Daria, follow these wolves to the back and keep an eye on them until they get dressed."

Daria stepped around the bodies still lying in the hole in the door and followed us back to the bedroom section, where Gretchen and I shifted, and we didn't even make that much noise, and we put on some clothes. I think I was under ten seconds for the first time.

I asked Gretchen, "Did you get hit?"

"Once. A through and through lead or copper bullet."

"I got hit twice, once in the leg, once in the arm. Same thing. Probably friendly fire."

"How do you know?" Daria asked.

"The attackers were using silver because they knew they were going after shifters. Our defenders weren't trying to hurt us, but we were attacking the ones trying to kill us, so we were in the way. They told us they were using lead. We tried to stay low so we weren't getting in the way for shots on center mass, but we were moving fast, and it's hard not to hit us accidentally when we're in the middle of a melee."

"So both of you were shot, but you're not bleeding now, or in need of medical attention?"

"Yes to the first part, no to the rest," Gretchen said.

"Is it even possible to kill you?"

"Sure, shifters die all the time. I've seen some deaths and killed several myself when rogues attacked our home. We got lucky this time."

"Criminy."

"Would you like some water?" I asked the officer. "I'm going to get some myself. I'm thirsty."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll have one too," Gretchen said. "In fact, let's bring several. I'm sure everyone's mouth is a little dry."

"Great idea."

We grabbed several bottles, giving the officer three to carry and holding the rest ourselves. When we rejoined the others, we started handing out bottles to everyone. I saw Fred sitting in handcuffs, though I don't know what he'd be arrested for; incompetence? Stupidity? There now seemed to be a higher-ranking officer getting briefed by the first one. We sipped our water, waiting to be asked questions.

They finally got around to me.

"Your name?"

"Jessica Hagerty, shapeshifter from Maine, the New England pack."

"In your words, what happened?"

"My bodyguard, Brigitte, scented the sniper that first shot me. We called to inform Joshua's security team that we might have been located. We questioned Fred, and when we did, his adrenaline shot through the roof, indicating he was lying about some tracking equipment he had brought with him. We prepared for a possible attack. Since Gretchen and I are the worst shots, we shifted to our wolf and took positions to the sides of the entry points, giving the others updates on the number of men we could scent massing outside.

"Raphael warned us flash-bangs would probably get tossed through the doors when they were breached. As soon as the breaches occurred, I closed my eyes, and as soon as I could smell men coming through the door, I opened my eyes and attacked, staying low to the ground to hopefully avoid being shot by our friends shooting at the attackers, trying to cause turmoil and confusion, going for their ankles, hamstrings, and knees. We kept biting and tearing our attackers until the shooting stopped."

"If you were attacking low, why were there a lot of throats torn out?"

"Anyone bitten by a shapeshifter will turn into a shapeshifter at the next full moon. These shifters would have been undisciplined rogues answering to no pack or alpha. We did what the wolves have always done with rogues to protect humans. We killed them. It was our responsibility under the treaty to deal with anyone who'd harmed humans or gone rogue. These men were armed and attacking humans as well as shapeshifters. They would already be considered rogues, even before their first shift. That's why no one knew about shifters before the President said something. Packs cleaned up their own messes."

"Medical treatment couldn't have stopped them from becoming shifters."

"Never in recorded shifter history, no."

"Then why weren't you killed when you were bitten?"

"I'd already accepted the leadership of the pack's alpha when I became a breeder, and been accepted as a member of the pack through my breeding. I'd seen and participated in pack rituals and accepted my role. I was never going to be a rogue. Additionally, the pack could never accept wolves who had been hunting us down for whatever purposes these men attacked us. They'd forever be outcasts, outside pack law. You can't have shapeshifters who didn't conform to the dictates of the prior treaty. They'd already be considered as rogue shifters, who we're obligated to protect humanity from. There's nothing else in place set up for what the President cancelled. As far as shapeshifters are concerned, the former provisions remain until something else replaces it. Our mess, our trash to clean up."

He had a few more questions which I answered. It was starting to get late.

"If you're done with us, we need to eat," Edgar said, "and we need to get our guests moved to a new secure location. This one isn't safe anymore. You can always contact us for more follow-up questions. We can either bring them to police headquarters or you can go through the same safety protocols we were putting the news people through. Call me if you need to get in touch with any of them."

"Yeah, fine. You can't keep having huge gun battles on New York streets."

"If you arrest the ones responsible, and can guarantee the safety of everyone, we won't have to. We're just protecting ourselves. Thirty-one armed individuals were involved in this attack, and nine in the last one. If you can figure some way to stop attacks, we won't have to defend ourselves. I'd certainly like to see some arrests made for the attacks so far."

"Where's the thirty-first one?"

"The sniper a couple blocks down the street. Roberta can show you where she dropped him."

The head man had another officer follow Roberta down the street.

A new van was brought in, and we were supposedly loaded into it and driven away. Our phones were driven away. In reality, we left the warehouse through the tunnel and went to our safe house. We couldn't use the warehouse anymore, but the apartment was still good and the tunnel still hidden.

A group shower was held and we ate some raw steaks, needing the protein. We all looked at Brigitte's new scar. She had such beautiful skin and long, perfect legs. What a bitch that she'd now have a scar to mar her perfection. I kissed it lovingly, then went higher to perform obeisance to the senior wolf. I gave her one orgasm, then Gretchen gave her another while I extracted Conor's cum. We turned on the news and watched coverage of the attack on our supposedly secret warehouse, location now known. The other attackers had also been identified as personnel employed by Firebrand Security. Hard to claim ignorance anymore.

"In similar news, we're reporting that Channel Eleven News Anchor, Fred Jones, has been accused by Greenbriar Enterprises and his own cameraman, William Smithers, of leading the Firebrand Security attackers to the shapeshifters' secret location, endangering numerous lives in the process. He's been fired by Channel Eleven and possible criminal charges are pending if the District Attorney can determine if the act was intentional. In addition, all living members of Firebrand Security who attacked the Greenbriar warehouse, will face criminal charges, and the DA announces they're looking at possible charges against the management of the company."

Finally. Something else caught my eye after the wild details of the battle.

"In related news this evening, Firebrand Security CEO, Arthur Savage, was abducted outside of his offices this afternoon as he left work. The unknown assailant appeared out of nowhere, wearing a mask and loose clothing. The unknown attacker shot three of his security guards, cuffed him and drove him off in his own vehicle. Was this a kidnapping for ransom, or something else. Firebrand officials seemed befuddled, and the victim's wife of two years was asking for any information regarding his whereabouts."

Accompanying the description was a blurry traffic cam photo, showing a single figure dressed in flowing robes and a hooded mask, walking towards Arthur's limo, two men already dead on the ground and the third crumpling, smoke wafting out of the end of a gun, Savage scrambling for the car, looking terrified.

We looked at each other, wondering if the wolves would get blamed for this. God knows we'd called out Firebrand more than a few times in the last week. At least the anchor didn't make that accusation, letting their audience reach their own conclusions. Speaking of befuddlement, we were definitely confused. While a wolf might have shot the guards for safety's sake, they would have killed Savage as well, not driven off with him, and most likely have shifted to their wolf to rip out is throat, making it personal. Had he pissed off other people? We went to sleep with a lot of questions on our mind.

The morning news had more of the same, with a few more details as facts were revealed. Arthur Savage was still missing, presumed dead, since no ransom demands had come in.

We got a call from Edgar saying that interviews with the media were being curtailed for now, as they didn't want to give away our hideout and hadn't obtained a secondary location that would work as well as the old one had. Edgar said that Joshua would make a press release giving the reasons for our lack of contact.

The next day, we were notified we needed to go to police headquarters to sign our statements. We were picked up in another unmarked van, given more body armor and escorted by a half dozen of Joshua's security, including Edgar.

We each read over our statements and signed them. At the conclusion, we got questioned about the disappearance of Arthur Savage. They knew we hadn't done it because we were still being questioned at the warehouse when he was taken. They questioned us each individually.

When it was my turn, the detective asked me, "Do you know who took Arther Savage?"

"I don't."

"Could it be wolves?"

"I doubt it."

"Why?"

"First of all, we're still hoping the government takes action. We police shapeshifters. We don't police humans. If no action was taken or arrests forthcoming, I suppose wolves might have felt they had to get involved, but it appears the DA is now looking into prosecuting Firebrand. Besides, wolves wouldn't have taken Arthur Savage. They'd have killed him where he stood, and probably as a wolf. We wouldn't have anything to gain by taking him. We certainly wouldn't want ransom, and we've got enough problems without anyone thinking we were engaged in criminal acts. All we've done so far is protect ourselves. Most humans support self defense, but I'm not sure we could claim self defense by kidnapping someone."

"Could you scent who took him?"

"If we had access to the car, perhaps, although I doubt any wolf would want to apprehend the kidnapper. Arthur Savage is not considered one of our friends or allies."

"What if the car was burned up?"

"No. The scent would have been destroyed, burned off, although maybe if it weren't completely burned. Has his car been found?"

"It's still an ongoing investigation. We can't release details at this time."

"I'd say probably not if the car was found totally burned."

"Besides you four, are there any other Maine pack wolves in New York?"

"Not to my knowledge. I haven't seen or scented any. There could be Eastern New York pack wolves around, but I haven't scented any strange wolves either. I would imagine most wolves are lying low right now, waiting to see what else is going to happen. They wouldn't want to be anyone's targets any more than we want to be, and we generally don't like city environments. I doubt they're hiding in the city."

"Would you still fear for your safety if Firebrand Security was out of business?"

"I would. I think someone hired Firebrand, and there are a lot of other companies similar to Firebrand out there. Unless we know who's behind it, we're still at risk."

"When do you intend to go back to Maine?"

"When our work here is done. I don't want to quit until they've pulled the warrant on my fiancé. I need to persuade the public to demand that justice be done. Additionally, I want to head off any possible government actions detrimental to shapeshifters and prevent a possible war with humans. It's a war we as shifters can't win, but tens of thousands will still die on all sides unnecessarily if we don't find some way to live peacefully."

"You're not giving more interviews?"

"I will when it's safe to do so. Find out who's behind the attacks on shifters, and maybe I can."

"Okay. Thanks for your time."

I was the last one of my group to get questioned, so we could leave. Since we were seen entering One Police Plaza, and our vehicle could have been identified, Edgar arranged for us to switch vehicles in a parking garage, with us leaving in an SUV instead of the panel van we arrived in. I'll have to say this, Joshua was doing everything possible to keep us safe that he could think of. While we were out, our stores at the apartment had been replenished. We went down into the tunnels and ran them for two hours before returning to shower and eat. Having nothing better to do, we had sex again after supper, me with Gretchen and Conor with Brigitte.

At 10:30, we'd had a nice interlude and feeling nice and mellow, I scanned the news feeds on my phone, trying to check the temperature for the public's love or hate of shifters. We'd had close to another week of interviews, but we'd also had the big gun battle on the street. Thankfully, when the Firebrand soldiers showed up in force, the civilian populace had scattered for safer environs. There hadn't been a single civilian casualty, although a few of the buildings in the line of fire had lots of bullet holes and broken glass.

Despite the brouhaha, I'd have to say that we hadn't lost any ground to the haters, and some of the neutrals had shifted to our side. The multiple attacks on us were helping some folks see that we weren't the threat, but there were lots of others out there who could be. Some editorials were calling for the end of the large security forces or private armies. That couldn't be too good for Joshua's team, but on the other hand, he didn't hire them out to potential assholes. The country still remembered all he'd done to fight human trafficking, and what he was still doing.

I got an alert of a breaking story on NBC. Arthur Savage admits that Firebrand Security attacked shapeshifting wolves. Details at eleven on WNBC.

"Turn on the TV quick, NBC," I said.

Gretchen grabbed the remote and turned it on. They were just doing the intro to tonight's news cast, doing blurbs about the top story, which wasn't more than I already knew, Arthur Savage admitting to attacking werewolves, a blurb about tomorrow's weather, and that the Yankees won and the Mets lost and to stay tuned, before they cut to a commercial.

"That must mean he was found, right?" Gretchen said. "Shifters won't be blamed for his disappearance?"

"Found alive or dead?" Brigitte asked.

"If he admitted attacking wolves, doesn't it mean he's alive? Wouldn't they say that he's dead if he were dead?"

"Maybe they don't know yet," I said. "Maybe he phoned the story in and they still don't know where he is."

We had to sit through two minutes of commercials before they came back with their lead story.

"In our top story tonight, just fifteen minutes ago, a courier dropped off a thumb drive with a shocking story. It contains a video confession by Arther Savage, that he sent his Firebrand operatives on three separate occasions, to kill or capture shapeshifters. We haven't even had time to view all of the confession ourselves as it goes on for over an hour. Here's a brief excerpt from the beginning of his confession."

Appearing on screen was Arthur in the suit he'd been wearing when he was taken. He didn't look like the tough, decisive executive he portrayed in most of the commercials for Firebrand. He looked like shit, honestly, beaten down and like he'd have to look up to see the bottom of a toilet bowl. He was seated on a chair behind a table. It didn't look like he was reading anything on the table, just talking to the video audience.

"Hello, my name is Arthur Savage, CEO of Firebrand Security, and I'm reporting to you that I took a great deal of money, and was promised millions more if I could kill or capture shapeshifters, so that medical experiments could be conducted on them. I was first approached by Senator Jenkins," I gasped. That rotten motherfucker. "who gave me an initial payment of one million dollars if I would do so. As of 10:30 this evening, just prior to all major news organizations in New York receiving a copy of this video, a warrant will be served on my home on Long Island, where the police will find a computer with a taped conversation with Senator Jenkins. That conversation will detail his promise that I'd be receiving ten million more dollars from each of three major bio-research companies, if I brought them shapeshifters, either living or dead, for them to do research on." Our worst fucking fears.

An electronically altered voice, sounding almost robotic asked, "Was President Duncan in on this scheme?"

"If he was, I didn't know about it. Senator Jenkins was the only one I dealt with. He had proxies from the CEOs of the biotech companies promising me the additional funds."

"Continue."

"My computer will also contain files with the account numbers of the secret accounts of banks in the Cayman Islands where this money was paid, and would be paid, upon delivery of dead or alive shifters. Additionally, I, and other agents hired by Senator Jenkins and others interested in shifter research, began launching verbal and media attacks on shifters, such attacks being totally false and without any real foundation, declaring them to be dangerous monsters that humans should fear. As far as I know, there is no reason for any human to fear shapeshifters. Whereas we didn't know about them, they mostly ignored us. My computer will also show my complicity in many of those attacks against innocent beings that never harmed me, or anyone else I know.

"Through my greed, I have sent many of my best employees to their deaths, I have turned wives into widows, and children into orphans. I have endangered the rest of humanity by nearly igniting a war between shifters and humans, all for money. I apologize to my wife and family for the shame I'm causing them by admitting to my part in this nefarious and illegal scheme between some government officials and some corporate interests. I've arranged for the payment of reparations to the families of my employees who now grieve the loss of husbands and fathers I sent to their death, plus others now looking at a prison sentence.

"I know that money won't make up for what I've done, but I hope it helps. I apologize to everyone."

The electronic voice again. "For your honest confession and attempts to atone for your sins, Arthur Savage, you are sentenced to a quick death."

A gun appeared on screen aimed at Arthur's head, then the screen went black as a shot rang out. You could hear the newscasters gasp. When the blackness ended, Arthur was slumped over the table, blood pouring over it.

"Damn!" Conor said.

The electronic voice continued, though no one else appeared. "Senator Jenkins, if you are seeing this broadcast, you should seriously consider turning yourself in to the police for the crimes committed at your instigation, whether or not you were the only one involved. If there were others complicit in this crime, identify them to the authorities. If you do not, the death you face will be much worse than the one Arthur Savage endured. You would beg to die that easily. You have been warned. Justice will come for you."

The screen went blank.

The news crew came back on. "That shocking video was Arthur Savage confessing to being paid and promised huge future payments of money to kill or capture shapeshifters, and the most shocking part to me, was his confession that Senator Jenkins was involved, and that he has proof of his involvement which the police should have at this time. As far as we can tell now, the rest of the tape is the naming of all of the employees who died or were arrested, and the names of the loved ones affected by those deaths, including his own wife, and children from a previous marriage."

"Agreed, Alan, not to mention that some biotech firms were also complicit in the attacks on shapeshifters. The very things that Jessica and Gretchen warned the public about, really happened. They were right all along."

"Janine, I also have to wonder about President Duncan. While Arthur's confession didn't directly implicate him in these attacks in our great city, he did purchase stocks in biotech companies, just like Senator Jenkins."

"You're right, Alan. Was he just told so he could profit from buying the stocks in return for abrogating the treaty, or did he also play some part in Firebrand's recent mayhem in New York City, leading to the deaths of several people?"

"I really have to wonder at the value of those stocks with this story coming out now. I wouldn't be surprised if they all tanked."

"I agree. Perhaps our wall street guru can discuss that when we get to today's stock market report."

"What isn't clear is who kidnapped and killed Arthur Savage. While his confession does give the why he was kidnapped, it doesn't give the who. It wasn't another private security group hoping to be included in the bounty on wolves, or at least it was only a singular person who took on three armed bodyguards in order to take Mr. Savage. Police have confirmed that all three were killed from the same gun, all shots to the head. The killings were very efficient, all three men dead in less than a second."

"The photo doesn't give much information. All of the street cameras around Firebrand Security were out. The one photo we have is from a camera so far away, it had to be blown up several times to see the blurry detail we do have, so the kidnapping seems to have been meticulously planned."

"You're right, Alan. All eyewitnesses said they didn't see anyone approaching the limo before that person miraculously appeared, almost as if they materialized out of thin air. Our experts believe, based on the numerous press reports given by Jessica, Gretchen, and the two shapeshifter bodyguards who showed up, is that if it were a wolf, changing to a human right before their eyes, they would have been naked, and unable to carry a weapon with them. Everyone is mystified by the details."

"I have no answers, Janine. Once again, our top story tonight, Arthur Savage, taken as he left his office the day his security personnel went after four shapeshifters, admitted to purposely and criminally attacking them for large sums of money from Senator Jenkins and unnamed bio-research companies, just before he was shot to death. While promising reparations payments to the families of those who died and were arrested due to this Machiavellian plot, it will be small comfort to the loved ones they left behind. At the end of his confession, he was shot for his crimes."

They shifted to more news and we turned the TV off.

"Is this good news, or bad news?" Gretchen asked. "I wish I paid more attention in classes other than art in high school."

"I think a bit of both," I said. "All the bullshit spread about us before, is now shown to be lies and fabrications. The bad news is, we now know that some big money is arrayed against us. They were promising thirty million bucks for shifters, dead or alive. Hell, every asshole with a gun might think there's money to be made there. Plus, there are plenty of Firebrands out there for them to hire. They may keep coming, even now, knowing what we know, what everyone now knows."

"I'd have a agree with Jessica," Conor said. "Even though it's not an open bounty on shifters, people knowing they were willing to pay thirty million for our bodies, does not bode well. That's the bad part of you speaking up for us. Everyone knows your name and face now. 'Kill Jessica or Gretchen, get thirty million. We'll be happy to pay you.' When all is said and done, you two will need to disappear."

"You and Brigitte too. You've been on TV sufficiently long, everyone has seen enough of you to know what you look like. And what if women sign up to be breeders just to find out where the werewolves are living. We won't be able to conduct wolf breedings at Wolf Central anymore. No one can find out where wolves are living.

"Not to mention the ones who already know. I'm reasonably sure none of those we've bred so far would ever purposely say where we are, but what if they were kidnapped and tortured? My parents know where Wolf Central is in Maine and Northern Wisconsin. They could be compelled to say. Even if women are not bragging that they've been werewolf breeders, some family members know they were. All it takes is one rotten apple out of all the ones who do know, and someone would learn," I said. "With the President ensuring the general public knows about shapeshifters, have the NDAs been rendered null and void as well? Is there anything to keep anyone from shooting their mouth off about what they know? A big can of worms has been opened, and they're crawling everywhere."

"At least it won't be open warfare," Gretchen said.

"It could still turn into it," I said. "If we have to fight for our existence against greedy bastards who want to cut us up, it could still turn into us against humanity. Innocent people can die in the crossfire and inflame public opinion about the danger of shifters."

"We've been lucky no civilians were killed so far," Brigitte said. "Even that asshole Fred Jones didn't die. Some three year old toddler in a nearby restaurant gets shot while we're protecting ourselves, and people might wonder why they need shifters around at all if there's going to be warfare whenever they show up. They need the fucking drug companies because they get sick. Hell, if big pharma withheld a really critical drug off the market, perhaps they could even force humans to give up wolves. As long as some people believe, falsely or not, that we might hold the secret to long life and health, we're at risk. It will never end. You'll never be able to tell the parents of a nine year old child dying of leukemia that it's not worth the risk."

"We could save that child, if the parents were willing to have their kid changed to a werewolf," Gretchen said. "As long as we're known already and the child could remain with her parents for the rest of their life, it might not be so bad."

"Could it remain with the parents? Isn't that why we took puppies away, because it was too dangerous for humans to raise them? And if they are changed, do they become the next target for the greedy bastards looking to make a buck off shifters. Instead of dying of a disease, someone wants to take their kid and turn them into a lab rat," I said. "Brigitte is right. As long as a single person believes shifters are a magic elixir, this doesn't ever really go away. Even if we volunteer to be research subjects for rational people like Joshua, who won't turn us inside out to discover if there's something they're missing, there's still going to be someone who thinks they're lying, and if they had us, they could figure out the secret. Life as we knew it is gone. There is no going back. We're stuck with whatever this is. Hiding in safe houses, unable to go out and roam freely."

"I keep thinking of all of the military vets out there who've lost limbs in battle or who are in wheelchairs now," Conor said. "What they wouldn't do to grow an arm or leg back like Gretchen did, or to walk again, or make love to their wives or husbands normally. No, this isn't going away. Everyone is going to want what we have, and they might be willing to do anything at all to have it. We're fucked."

That pretty much said it all as far as we were concerned. We were fucked.

******

The news in the morning was still as focused on Arthur Savage's confession and death as the night before. Senator Jenkins was refusing to speak to anyone, although he hadn't disappeared yet. President Duncan had scheduled a news conference for that evening at nine, with most of the news outlets speculating that he was planning to deny he had anything to do with what had happened. Claiming he was an ignorant dupe wouldn't help him much more than saying he wasn't complicit in what had happened so far. People expected their president to be smarter than they were, not dumber.

What was he going to say about his stock purchases? They'd happened. They were in the public record. He couldn't deny he'd hoped to profit from whatever the hell happened.

Checking social media showed a large shift in favor of shapeshifters, reducing neutral to almost none, and if there were negatives out there, they were keeping their mouths shut at the moment.

We ran the tunnel for a couple of hours, and we were feeling some cabin fever. We wanted outdoors. Being cooped up, even for our safety, was making us edgy and surly. I missed Quinn. My sexual needs were being addressed, but not all of my emotional needs were met. I was a submissive, who wanted to submit, and not just to anyone. I needed my Master.

The noon news was filled with the police confirming the contents on Savage's computer with the actual recording made between Savage and Jenkins. A New York Judge had issued a subpoena for Alabama Senator Jenkins to appear in New York to be questioned by the police. The three biotech firms Savage had mentioned were now known, and warrants and subpoenas were also issued for the three CEO's, two of which were US companies, and one of which was European, none of them headquartered in New York, although one of them was headquartered in Boston, territory of the New England pack. I wondered how Rene was looking at that news.

At three that afternoon, we got some more food delivered to us with a welcome surprise, Beth and Sahar came with the food. There were a few hugs delivered to both of them considering all they've done for us.

"I want to thank you and Joshua for all you've done for wolves so far." Brigitte said. "To what do we owe the honor of a visit?"

"President Duncan called Master to ask if he could speak to Jessica or Gretchen," Beth said. "No one knows where you are but he knows Master is providing a hiding place for those two at the current time. I think he'd like you to be at his press conference this evening, but he didn't specify what he wants, only that he wishes to speak to one of you."

"Not if it allows him to pinpoint where we are," Brigitte said. "I don't trust the man at all considering what we know."

"I don't blame you," Sahar said. "He seems as slimy as Senator Jenkins to me, but Edgar thinks we've got a way to make it happen, although it won't be until tomorrow."

"How would that happen?"

"Using a voice over internet protocol with rapidly shifting ISP's as the starting point for the call. They're setting up the technology now. You could call him tomorrow around this time and he wouldn't know where in the fucking world you're calling from, and since the call won't be made until tomorrow, you could be anywhere in the world by that time. We figure we'll have the initial ISP as somewhere in Beijing, then start ISP hopping."

"That could work," Brigitte conceded. "Tell him we'll call him if he issues a Presidential pardon for Quinn Whelan at his press conference tonight, for any crimes real or imagined that Quinn has been accused of committing."

Beth laughed. "Yeah, we'll make that happen. Is there anything else you need?"

"For now, we need to get out in the woods and run. We're wolves. We're used to being outdoors all the time. Being cooped up in here is making us all a little batshit crazy," I said.

"We can make that happen too. Where would you like to go?"

"It doesn't have to be far. Maybe the Hudson Valley or the Catskills. Someplace we can run."

"When we leave here, climb in the back of the SUV and we'll take you to a helo pad nearby and fly you someplace in the woods. How long do you need?"

"A couple hours as wolves would be wonderful," I said.

Beth made a call. "We can leave in fifteen minutes."

"Do you think Savage's confession is going to help you?" Sahar asked.

"We talked about that last night," I said. "We don't think so."

"Why not? I would have thought your problems were over," she said.

"Because people now know that biotech companies were willing to pay thirty million dollars for shifters, dead or alive. Anyone with a gun can hope to kill a shifter and expect a huge payday for our bodies. For sure, we four will never be able to show ourselves in public again, because everyone knows what we look like. We decided we're all fucked."

"Shit! I thought for sure your problems were fixed."

"That was you, wasn't it?" I said, with sudden clarity. "Three men dead in less than a second, all shot in the head. You took Savage."

Beth turned to Sahar and slapped her. "Fuck! That was you. Why the hell didn't I know that? You can't do that, love. What if they figure out it was you? I can't lose you. I'd die if you were arrested. You know there's a federal investigator in Orlando who keeps an eye on you."

"I don't think anyone else will figure it out. I didn't remove his cock and balls. The prosecutor would have no reason to think I did it."

"You can't know that. The wolves are under Joshua's protection. That automatically makes him think of you. You can't commit crimes in this country that make the fucking news. It's all over the fucking news. Are you sure you left no evidence that can be found?"

"I think everything has been destroyed, burned up, even his body. Shit! It's even worse that it didn't solve the problem."

"At least most people are more favorably disposed to us and there's less negative chatter on social media," I said. "For now, it's better. I'm not sure it will stay that way, and I want to thank you for thinking of us. How did you do it? Everyone said you just magically appeared?"

"Rolled out of the opposite side of a slowly moving car from where they stood."

"So you involved others in your cockamamie scheme?" Beth said.

"A couple of people," Sahar admitted.

"Can they keep their mouths shut?" Beth asked.

"You couldn't pry their jaws open with a jack hammer. They were involved in the Mexican thing, and you know no one's said a word about that."

"So, Edgar?"

"Among others. I had help disabling nearby traffic cams too, plus the driver and another guy in the back seat to close the door."

"Does Master know?"

"He suspects, but he won't ask, just as he never asked about Rio."

"I don't want you in my bed tonight. I'm so fucking pissed at you."

"I had to do something."

"Then let us figure it out together."

"I had help figuring it out. You can't be involved any more than Joshua is. Deniability. No one knows about me. You're the famous one."

Remember when I said there would come a time when I appreciated how hard Sahar worked at her deadly skills. Now was the time.

"I know Beth is mad, Sahar." I hugged her again. "And I hope it's not permanent, but I'm grateful you tried to help shapeshifters. You will always be welcome in my bed."

"I won't be able to stay mad long," Beth said. "I admire her too much for that. This is the kind of thing she does that makes me so proud of her. I just wish she didn't take so many risks with her life and her freedom."

"You'd have been there with me if you could," Sahar grinned. "I know you too well."

Beth smiled ruefully. "Probably. Did you torture him?"

"No, although I threatened days of torment if he didn't confess. I told him in excruciating detail what would happen. I needed something more than a forced confession. I needed proof that he'd done it. He gave up his computer almost immediately. Once someone called the police and got a search warrant for his house, the rest could proceed. We all knew the asshole was involved. No one believed those guys were operating on their own."

"Did you force him to make reparations?"

"No, he thought of that on his own after he knew he was going to die. It's why he went so quickly."

"I'm still pissed. Let's go. The helicopter should be landing about now."

We hid in the back of the SUV when it left. There was a fifteen minute drive and we were hustled into a helicopter with the engines already cranked, the soft and slow, whop, whop, whop, as we buckled in. Sahar and Beth stayed behind at the SUV. A woman was at the controls, and then the blades spun up and we were flying low, over New York Harbor, gaining speed first, then altitude, heading up the Hudson River valley.

I don't know where we touched down, except it seemed like a deserted field, currently lying fallow.

The engine shut off and the woman turned to us and said, "We'll be leaving again at sunset, about two and a half hours from now. There are some houses around, so I'd stay away from them. Most of the wooded areas are to the north of us. You can leave your clothes here. I won't be going anywhere. Have fun."

We stripped off and shifted, Conor and Brigitte having to wait for Gretchen and me to get to our wolf. Four lupine figures loped across the field, headed for the woods at the north end. We ran and frolicked to our heart's content for over two hours. It was amazing to be out again, stretching our legs, our hearts pumping, our lungs breathing in the warm, fresh air.

Just before we needed to return, Conor scared up a rabbit which we made short work of. As the sun kissed the horizon, we switched back to our human forms and dressed as the pilot did her precheck.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked.

"Wonderful. Thank you," Gretchen said. "What's your name?"

"Farah."

"Thank you, Farah. How did you come to be working with Mr. Greenbriar and his company?"

"I was a freed slave, rescued in Buenos Aires after Beth saw my former Master beating me with a stingray barb, and recognized the brand on my buttocks. She even allowed Joshua to hit her twice to blood her with the same barb so that they could buy the barb and get it out of my owners hands. Then they helped train me to fly so I'd have an important job to do. It was something I could never have done if I'd remained in Morocco. There's not much I wouldn't do for them."

"What happened to your owner?"

"Theoretically, he just disappeared. I believe he's dead. Let's get you back. I'm guessing you want to watch the President's address tonight?"

"We do," Brigitte said.

We took off. After a few minutes, Brigitte said, "They're like a pack, ridding humanity of rogue humans."

"Damn," I said. "You're right. They don't really go looking for them, but if they run across any, they tend to disappear."

"They ran into some nasty rogues," Conor said. "Worse than ours."

"And now we're facing human rogues, and Sahar made one disappear," Gretchen said.

"I told you I wanted her on my side," I said. "Heaven help us if we have to fight her."

"Just leave her people alone, and I think she'll leave us alone," Brigitte said. "I don't think she cares what we do to protect ourselves as long as her pack is okay."

"I think you're right," Conor said. "She's a wolf with a human pack. Leave them alone and she's fine."

After relatively short flight, and in the low visibility of the looming darkness, we got into the same SUV, although with a different driver this time, and no Beth or Sahar. Twenty minutes later we were raiding our fridge for more meat, nude and beginning to cuddle. We turned on NBC to watch the presidential address at nine, in the White House press room.

President Duncan looked a little haggard, as if he hadn't had much sleep for the last couple of days. I was pleased to see Congresswoman Susan Marciano standing behind the President near the podium. She looked pregnant, roughly three months by now. Was she going to speak tonight? Was she going to admit she had sex with wolves? I was certainly curious.

"My fellow Americans, I'm speaking to you tonight about a horrible mistake I made, just a few short weeks ago, when I ended a treaty that this country had made with shapeshifters over a hundred and forty-five years ago. I apologize to you, and to all shapeshifters for the harm done to them by my actions. I admit to you that I listened to one man, and one man only, Senator Hank Jenkins, regarding the hearings they were holding on renegotiating some aspects of that treaty. I believed him because he was the head of the joint committee and a member of my own party. I didn't speak to any of the other committee members, nor did I speak to any shapeshifters myself, much to my regret. The spirited defense of shapeshifters given by Jessica Hagerty and Gretchen Shriver have helped me to realize how mistaken I was to listen to one man, given how venal he proved to be.

"This is especially true given how incontrovertible truth has been provided showing that Jenkins was taking money from biotech companies in order to facilitate the murder or capture of shapeshifters for illegal medical research. I will be seeking to have Senator Jenkins impeached by the House, and then judged by his colleagues. If he's removed from office, he'll be delivered to New York authorities to face charges for the deaths his actions have wrought on the people of the city.

"A lot of you are maybe wondering if I had anything to do with the attacks on shapeshifters. I categorically deny I was involved in any way with the cabal formed by biotech companies, Jenkins and Firebrand. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, I urge them to bring it forward. I know that my purchase of stocks in those same biotech companies would appear to make me look guilty. I didn't realize why Jenkins made his recommendations to me to buy that stock, but it did look like an excellent financial opportunity, so I had the administrators of my blind trust buy those stocks. There's a reason it's supposed to be a blind trust, and I violated the reasons for putting the money in one.

"I am extending an invitation to Jessica Hagerty or Gretchen Shriver to come to Washington, and meet with me personally. I realize now that I ruined her forthcoming nuptials, to someone she dearly and justly loves. I have found out a great deal about the shapeshifter she was about to marry, and everything I've heard indicates he has done nothing but good in hunting down those rogues who had harmed humans. The US Marshall's Service speaks very highly of the work he's done for them. I've been informed that Senator Jenkins issued a warrant for his arrest, causing him to have to flee before his pending marriage, and that it might have been intended that he die, the first of the wolves to be killed for medical testing. I hereby rescind the Senator's Warrant and grant Quinn Whelan a Presidential pardon for any and all actions he's taken to this date. I further extend to him and his fiancée an invitation to get married at the White House, perhaps as an ambassador of the Wolf Shifter Nation.

"I have been informed by people I respect a great deal, that the threat to werewolves will not end with my Address tonight. The fact that companies were prepared to pay thirty million dollars for any wolf, dead or alive, likely means that more than just Firebrand would be tempted to collect on that bounty. To deter this prospect, which I consider likely from the facts, I hereby order that any company, in any country in the world, that pays any bounty for any shifter, dead or alive, will forfeit all copyright, trademark and patents they hold in the US, and those patents, copyrights, and trademarks will be given to their competitors, ensuring the financial penalty for paying such a bounty, hoping for some medical miracle to profit thereby, will be far exceeded by the losses they will incur as a result. I will also urge that other countries around the world reach some sort of agreement with their own shifter populations.

"Second, as wolves have served as law enforcement agents for the federal government in dealing with their own populations, any attacks on any shifters in this country, will be considered an attack on a law enforcement officer and treated as such under the law, including the death penalty, which will be administered by the shifter society that suffered the death. If you kill a wolf, the wolves will kill you in the same way they deal with their own rogues, which as I understand it, is being ripped to shreds.

"I realize that we can't go back to the old treaty. Weres do not exist in secrecy anymore, and I think we need to recognize their uniqueness. We pretty much left each other alone before, which is part of the reason very few people knew about shapeshifters. I would like to enter into a new treaty, or enshrine into law, new rules governing how humanity interacts with shapeshifters. I would invite shapeshifters of every kind to enter into a new arrangement, setting up new rules for behavior on both sides of the new equation in our country. I believe we can all benefit from this new arrangement, but it does have to benefit all.

"I hope that Jessica Hagerty, who fought so hard for the wolves before, will help form this new strategy. I understand that even before she was changed to a werewolf, she was known as Wolf Daughter. As Wolf Daughter, she will find my office open to forming this new partnership. The White House switchboard will be waiting to hear from her, and interrupt almost anything in order that I may speak to her.

"One of the people that I should have consulted with prior to my former address, were other members of the Joint Committee. One of those members is Congresswoman Susan Marciano. Mrs. Marciano wished to address everyone tonight, and given the reasons she wants to do so, I willingly surrender the podium to her. Congresswoman, the soapbox is yours."

"Thank you, Mr. President." She cleared her throat. "What I'm about to tell you, will be somewhat embarrassing to both me and my husband, Rocco. My dear husband is infertile. Like many couples who experience this problem, we explored many of the possible avenues we had available to us, including adoption, IVF, or other science based possibilities. An option we hadn't considered until I heard Jessica Hagerty speak to our committee, was having a werewolf provide us with a child.

"I discussed it with Rocco, and the reasons we considered it were these. I didn't have to worry about disease if I had sex with a wolf. They don't get sick. I didn't have to worry about a genetic abnormality from that side of the union. Their genetics are perfect. I didn't have to worry about the father interfering in my marriage, or the lives of my children. Wolves don't want long-term relationships with humans, and they can't raise human children, for a multitude of reasons. Some of these reasons may have disappeared with the end of the treaty, and I sincerely hope that Jessica can remain a mother to her own child as long as that child lives, even though it may not be as long as she will now live. Wolves will not seek to have sex with me without the permission of my husband. He needn't worry that I'll ever have an affair with one. After discussing the alternatives, Rocco and I decided to have a child with wolves. I am currently three months pregnant with our first child, courtesy of the New England pack."

There was a huge gasp from the assembled reporters. Yes, she did it. She was coming clean.

"I can report to the American public that werewolves are excellent lovers. The older they are, the better the sex, because they are so well versed in sex. I was not raped, or brutalized. I was treated like a queen, and I blush at how enthusiastic and aroused I was while having sex with one. Because I agreed to have sex with a pack member, my husband was also allowed sex with a female wolf, and he reported that the sex with a female was as good as mine with a male, and the same rules apply. They're not interested in my husband as a mate, and wouldn't have sex with him, without my permission, so we both benefited equally from the exchange.

"In return for the pack providing my husband and myself with children, we have agreed to give the pack one puppy for each child we have. I intend to have two myself. While I have not yet had sex with the wolf form needed to have a puppy, I have witnessed the sex, and it appears to be the same loving sex they had with me in their human forms. I am not scared or apprehensive about having sex with a werewolf. I believe I will enjoy it almost as much as I did in their human shapes. The only part I'll miss is what they can do with their hands in their human form. The pack bears all costs of the pregnancy and delivery for their puppies, and they raise the child, so we don't bear the costs of having additional children except for the nine months of pregnancy for each puppy.

"I understand that the same is true for other shapeshifters. The sex is remarkable in their human forms, and nearly as good in their animal shapes. I hope that one of the results of the changes in relations that President Duncan talks about, is a complete rethinking of the concept of sex with shapeshifters. I will not consider it as bestiality when I provide my puppies to the pack. They are intelligent, warm, loving and kind, and they treated both my husband and me as we wished to be treated during our undertaking. I know what they look like, but they are not a real animal, unthinking, unfeeling, and beastly. As long as you're willing to speak in such a way that they can answer with a yes or no, you can talk to them, even then, plus they understand every word you speak, so if you're uncomfortable, all you need to do is say you're uncomfortable and they will try to accommodate your needs.

"If there are other people in the same circumstances as Rocco and myself, I would ask that you consider shapeshifters as one of your options. I would hope that all kinds of shapeshifters will find it easier to have shifter children as we move forward, so that no shifter population becomes extinct. I don't believe that you'll be disappointed if you do. We certainly weren't, and we're looking forward to the birth of a brand new, human baby boy, in six more months.

"An added benefit of the new cooperation between humans and shifters might be more research. I would hope that we might be able to help them with their reproduction problems, as well as find some way for shifter females to have and carry their own children. Any research that shifters will voluntarily provide, as opposed to kidnapping or killing them, that might help humans live longer and healthier lives, may be of benefit to all of us. Thank you. Back to you, Mr. President."

They exchanged places again. "I won't be taking any questions tonight. It's already late. My apologies again to everyone who may have been hurt by my previous actions. Jessica, if you're out there listening to my broadcast, please call and speak to me. Thank you, and God Bless America."

We turned off the TV, in stunned silence.

"Will that do it?" Gretchen asked after several moments. "Do you think we'll be safe?"

"Holy hell, I'd like to think so," I said. "I think Joshua might know better than we do what the financial penalty would be for losing all patents, trademarks and copyrights if you pay a bounty on a wolf, but I have to think it would be substantial."

"Do you think Joshua was responsible for that recommendation?" Gretchen said. "We told Beth and Sahar that we thought our problems still existed because of the bounty issue, and several hours later, the President says that? We might have just gotten our lives back."

"It almost had to be him, doesn't it. I hope so. That would be incredible."

"The thing that blew my mind, was mentioning Quinn as Ambassador to the Wolf Nation. When you first met Quinn, could you ever see him as an Ambassador to anything living?" Brigitte said.

I laughed. "No. Not even the dead to be honest. He was the grumpiest, foulest, most ill tempered person I ever met."

"We have you to thank for that, Wolf Daughter," Brigitte laughed.

"Oh, do you know what we should do if we're fully out and can intermingle with humans without restriction?" I said, excitedly.

"What?" Conor asked.

"The strip show the male wolves put on for us. Not necessarily the stripping part, although I could see shifter stripper clubs as a future possibility, but the last part, where they were leaping and shifting so fast. Some kind of nude shifter ballet. That could be so incredible for people to witness. I was amazed when I saw it. Everyone was."

Gretchen laughed. "Even though it was wolves with dicks, the sex afterwards was amazing, even with the females, everyone was so aroused."

"This certainly opens up a lot of possibilities for the future if we're not secret," I said. "We could have shifter astronauts, movie stars, presidents, congressmen or women, rock stars, anything famous we couldn't do before. We wouldn't need special IDs. We could just be."

"Would we be allowed to bite select humans in order to cure them of some diseases?" Gretchen asked. "The example of the nine year old child with leukemia comes to mind, or Conor's suggestion of military vets."

"I would think it would need to be worked out, and that the human bitten would need to acknowledge a wolf alpha as his leader, so those humans don't become rogues," I said. "They'd need to become a member of a pack, and show the proper obeisance to the pack leaders. The parents of the child would have to know that their child might need to be raised by the pack, and they could not remain as the child's primary care giver, although they'd still be able to remain in contact with the child and follow their progress as wolves. It raises almost as many questions as it resolves. I know a lot of humans would have a problem with rendering obeisance to a same sex alpha. We're not raised as pansexual beings like wolves are. It's perhaps easier for human females than it is for human males. The concept of gay sex is so toxic, that even gay men sometimes hide their sexual identity. Even Takoda still had trouble sucking a cock after over a hundred and fifty years of doing so. He didn't need to do it as often, but it still occurred, and it still bothered him."

"Could that be altered, Brigitte?" Gretchen asked. "Perhaps you would only give obeisance to your preferred alpha? Is that possible?"

"I don't know. It's never been done before, and not all packs have two alphas. Some Alphas are not yet mated. If that was the case, would you have to give obeisance to the only Alpha of the pack, regardless of who it is? I just don't know. And there's still the matter of traveling between different pack areas. Even if your own pack allowed obeisance to a particular gendered alpha, would the pack in the new area? All the packs would need to agree on the new rules, it couldn't be just some."

"So many changes," I said. "It's hard to imagine them now."

"You're right," Brigitte said. "I need sex. I don't care which one of you wolves I have it with. I just need it."

I paired up with Gretchen and Brigitte got a dick fix. It was four very excited, and very exhausted wolves that went to sleep that night.

******

First thing in the morning after more sex and food, Brigitte called Rene to confer about many of the possibilities raised by the Presidents press conference. They discussed some of what we'd talked about last night.

"Is Jessica going to call the President?" Rene asked.

"Yes, but with certain precautions in place because we're not entirely sure we can trust him. It will probably be this afternoon using VOIP with ISP jumping, so the signal moves around the world and the government won't know where the signal originates. Rene, we think that last bit about the patents was suggested by our human protector, Joshua Greenbriar. He would understand the implications of such a policy change more than most. If we're to trust any humans, it should be him. We've sort of figured that they're like a pack in many ways. I would like to see them become honorary wolves, the same as Jessica was before she was turned. We could not have asked for better protection than we've received from them. Several humans were wounded in defense of us."

"I'm happy to hear you're so well protected. I would like to meet this pack of humans."

"Yes, sir. When we're sure the dust has settled, I know he'd like to meet you."

"Give my love to the others, Brigitte. Thank you for the update."

We ran the tunnel for ninety minutes for some exercise, showered and waited to hear about our phone call.

At one, several people came to our apartment, three of whom we hadn't seen before, including a black woman as tall as Brigitte was. Edgar was there, so we knew we were good.

"Hello, my name is Angelique, and I used to be a model when I was younger. I'm going to be changing your appearance so you can go to Central Park for your phone call. We'd like you to be moving instead of remaining in one place, so even if they're able to pinpoint a city, they won't be able to pinpoint you. I've got some wigs and other items to change your appearance, such as eyeglasses. I hope to make you so different your own mother wouldn't recognize you."

"Except by scent," Conor laughed. "It doesn't make any difference how you look, a werewolf isn't fooled."

"Do you do women?" Gretchen asked. "I don't know about used to be a model. You look like you could still be one."

"I identify as lesbian, but I'd have to check with my wife and Mistress before having sex with any of you."

"Please do," Gretchen said. "You're beautiful."

Angelique smiled and winked at her. Conor and I got blonde hair, and his was long and shaggy, and I had a pixie cut. We both got glasses, mine plain and his sunglasses and he got a fake ear piercing. Gretchen got red hair, and freckles, and Brigitte was turned into a Goth with dark hair, lots of eyeliner, a temporary tattoo on her cheek and fake piercing on her eyebrow. We all got baggy clothes hiding most of our fitness. I'd have to admit we didn't look much like we had before Angelique started.

Edgar gave me the phone I would use for my phone call, and showed me how to operate it. The White House was programmed in so all I had to do was push one button to call. The two strangers were assigned to go with us, neither of them being well known as employees of Joshua, Edgar remaining behind because he might be known.

We looked so different, we didn't even bother hiding in the back of the SUV they used to drive us to Central Park. When we arrived, six of us got out of the vehicle while it circled the park ready to pick us up whenever we called for it. The six of us walked leisurely around in our small group, Conor carrying a picnic basket with weapons in it below some food and bottles of water. Our two security people had concealed weapons on them. Gretchen and I weren't licensed to carry, so we'd have to fight conventionally.

Strolling at about the pace of others walking, we did about a mile to see if we were attracting any attention. Not noticing anything, I made my phone call.

"White House. How may I direct your call."

"Jessica Hagerty for President Duncan, please, on the subject of shapeshifters."

"Yes, ma'am. Wait one for the President."

Thirty seconds later, I heard President Duncan's voice. "Jessica, is that really you?"

"Yes, sir. It's me."

"Where are you?"

"That's a secret, Mr. President. I guess we're still uncertain if we can trust you."

"I suppose I deserve that. Did you see my press conference last night?"

"We did, sir."

"What did you think of it?"

"I thought it was a good starting point if you mean it, Mr. President."

"Do you think we can reach some kind of new treaty or agreement?"

"That's above my pay grade, sir. I really can't say. I'm a very low wolf in the pecking order. Let's say that I believe we're all hopeful, but if you still mean for us to register, I'd say there's no way we trust you enough to let the government know where we all are. Some of us may agree to talk, but trust has been broken. It will take some time to get it back."

"Quite. Is there any chance I can meet you?"

"Possibly. That's something we may need to discuss amongst ourselves. You do realize that if anything were to happen to me, it wouldn't be good. I've made friends with most of the packs, even beyond my own. I have relatives in other packs. An act against me would be seen as an act against all wolves."

"Do you have much influence?"

"More respect than influence. As a relatively new werewolf, I haven't really earned a rank in werewolf society. I need to offer obeisance to almost every other wolf, if they demand it. Most won't, but I'm pretty low."

"Does that bother you?"

"No. I knew what the rules were before I became a wolf. Everyone has to follow the rules, or there's no order. They all do. I've seen the highest wolf in one pack, offer obeisance to a lower wolf in a foreign territory. Everyone respects the rules, from the lowest to the highest. If you don't want to follow the rules, you can become a lobo, a wolf without a pack, but if you violate the rules, you're a rogue and have to be destroyed. Wolves as a society, could not let violators create a war against humanity. Rules were enforced rigorously for the good of all. It's why there are so few violators."

"If your discussions do allow a meeting, would you be willing to meet with me?"

"I think I would, sir. Would you allow me my bodyguards and could they be armed?"

"Like a foreign dignitary?"

"I guess like that, Mr. President. I don't really know how you address the protection of other Heads of State, but I assume the King of England does have his own security, and they're authorized to carry weapons for his protection. I wouldn't have asked before, but knowing that there was a thirty million dollar bounty on me, does cause concerns. We know others know how to kill shapeshifters. The prisons you have for shapeshifter law violations shows the federal government knows how to kill us. Firebrand knew the best way to kill us. Others would also know. If we're going to be serious about negotiations, we'd like to be reasonably certain we're going to receive protection, and not walk into an ambush. If we meet, I would think someplace like Camp David would be more to my liking than the White House, speaking honestly. Someplace where wolves would be more comfortable and could tell if there's a force being readied to kill or capture us."

"I really did spoil any chance to make this easy, didn't I?"

"I would say that's true until we've had a chance to get the measure of you, sir."

"Would my Secret Service agents be allowed to carry silver weapons?"

"Those immediately tasked with your protection, yes, sir. Those on the periphery of your protection, should be armed as they usually are. If it all feels like one big shapeshifter trap, we'll not be doing much negotiating."

"I think we can live with that. Can I call you back on this number?"

"I doubt it, sir. It's not my phone. If you contact Joshua Greenbriar again, he knows how to get hold of us. If so, I'll call again."

"Do you trust him?"

"More than any other human but my family, Mr. President. I'd be dead if not for him. By the way, Beth Wilson-Hafeez has arranged to get psychological tests to all of the other wolves. In a reasonably short period of time, she should have a good profile of almost all wolves, and perhaps a few other shifters as well. I think you'll find we're all rather normal, even if we do seem paranoid now."

"I can easily see why you'd feel paranoid. It's been a pleasure talking to you, Ms. Hagerty. Thanks for calling and I hope to meet you in person soon."

"Me too, Mr. President. I hope our discussions lead to meaningful change for all of our sakes. Good bye."

I hung up. We hadn't attracted any unusual attention. Since we had some food and a picnic basket, and a pleasant place for wolves to be, we ate our food, letting the driver know where he could pick us up in forty minutes. We mostly ate the meat out of the sandwiches, while the other two ate the whole sandwich. I had to say that I was feeling better about things than I'd felt in a couple of weeks.

******

On the whole, it had been wonderful getting out of the apartment. Running the tunnel wasn't much fun, just necessary. Nothing like racing around the Hudson River valley had been. When we arrived back at the safe house, not only was Angelique there, so was another woman sitting in our living room. Angelique was naked, collared, and licking the woman's pussy when we arrived. Angelique looked as good naked as she had in clothes.

"Hello, my name is Hannah Smithers. I'm Angelique's wife and Mistress. She informed me that you wished to have sex with her."

"I definitely did," Gretchen said. "She's incredibly attractive."

Hannah pulled Angelique out of her pussy by her hair. "You may lick her to five orgasms, slave, but you may only have two yourself. Before you go, help them get back to normal." Hannah pulled her dress down.

"Yes, Mistress. Thank you."

Angelique helped remove any makeup and then she gracefully stood and took Gretchen's hand leading her to one of the bedrooms.

"I'm Joshua's Personal Assistant. The others told me how good sex with shifters was. I'm hoping to experience it myself. Sahar told me that Brigitte was better than Beth was. You can imagine my surprise, as we've all experienced Beth and know how good she is. We've all been trained by Beth to some extent or another."

"We'd be happy to demonstrate," I said. "As Joshua's personal assistant, can you tell me if it was Joshua who suggested the financial penalties the President announced in his press conference last night?"

"You figured that out, did you?"

"We knew we told Beth and Sahar that we thought our problems weren't resolved by the death of Arthur Savage and that the threat of a thirty million dollar bounty for our deaths or capture would keep us in hiding for the rest of our lives, and then the President announced the financial penalties for bounties on shifters. It seemed logical given his knowledge of business and finance and we'd just spoken to his submissive about the problem."

"That's very perceptive. He did make a phone call or two."

"Please extend our thanks for the suggestion. We're hopeful we've gotten our lives back. Brigitte is the most experienced at any type of sex, but we're all willing to have sex. We're not that fussy about sharing."

"Would it be okay if I tried both Brigitte and Conor?"

"Perfectly fine," Brigitte said.

"You don't mind being alone?" Hannah asked me.

"I"m good. I want to check social media to see what's happening after the President's press briefing last night and Congresswoman Marciano's announcement."

"Yes, that surprised me too. Your pack is responsible for her pregnancy?"

"It is. It's possible she could be having Conor's brother. His father was one of the wolves who she had sex with, and for the first day, he was the only one she was having sex with. Given the secrecy around her breeding, I didn't think she'd step forward and admit to it. That was a pleasant surprise, and it might help attract more breeders for the packs, so we're grateful. Why don't you join Conor and Brigitte and I'll keep myself occupied out here."

"When Angelique is done with Gretchen, feel free to enjoy her yourself, five orgasms, and tell me if you don't find her pleasing."

"Of course. Will she be allowed any."

"She can have three more."

"As you wish."

They disappeared in the other bedroom. I went through my social media feeds. Generally speaking, the President's press conference was well received, particularly by the general public. Some corporate spokespersons were criticizing the financial penalties for crimes against shifters, but quite a few respondents to those criticisms were 'If the big corporations hadn't been so damned greedy as to offer ten million bounties apiece, the new measures wouldn't have been necessary, and they don't have a thing to worry about as long as they don't offer bounties on shapeshifters.'

A lot of people supported Congresswoman Marciano's decision to have a baby with shapeshifters, while others criticized both of them for stepping outside of their marriage. 'Of course it would be a Congresswoman from Massachusetts.' A typical response to that was, 'If she'd had a baby through IVF, it would have been another man's sperm anyway, and they did it together with the knowledge of their spouse. No one cheated on anyone, which is an oddity in politics. Look at how many people have said they've had sex with that rat bastard, Senator Jenkins, since this bullshit came out. Family Values? All politicians preach it and the last person who actually practiced it was President Carter.' Or, 'Half of the Evangelists preaching Christianity on TV have cheated on their spouses. At least they weren't cheating.'

I could hear the moans and whimpers of the people having sex in the bedrooms, so was quite aroused myself when Angelique and Gretchen finished and returned to the living room.

"Your Mistress said you were to do me next," I said. "Five orgasms for me and three for yourself."

"Of course, ma'am."

I took her hand and led her back to the bedroom. Angelique was almost as good as Beth had been. The orgasms I got from her were exquisite. I tried to remember what Beth had told me about how she emptied her mind of everything but the person she was pleasuring. I tried to do it, but I had so much swirling around in my brain at the moment, it was hard to do, although Angelique told me I did better even than Gretchen, so I took that as a win. Both of our faces were soaked in our juices when we finished. Angelique left mine and Gretchen's on her face until Hannah gave her permission to remove her mask.

By the time we finished, the others had also finished, and Hannah said she had some outstanding sex, and could see why the others had raved about it. They stayed and had supper with us, both of them eating some of our salad ingredients, while the wolves had some raw venison steaks. I'd have to say that Joshua was keeping our larder filled with some of our favorite foods.

They still hadn't left when I got a call from Lenore on our burner phone. She said her water broke and she was having her puppy.

"Call an ambulance and my parents," I said. "They can watch over the kids. Do you have a way to call Rene?"

"Yes."

"He'll need to be notified that a puppy is on the way. Depending on who gets there first, a wolf could look after the children until my parents get there."

Lenore hung up. Hannah said, "Could you use our help? How soon before either an ambulance or your parents get to your home?"

"About a half hour. It's pretty remote. The ambulance a little quicker because of lights and siren."

"That should be okay. The ambulance can stay until your parents get there, and make the delivery if necessary."

"Thanks for offering to help."

"You're welcome. I'd love more sex like that in the future, so I might want to keep you happy."

"I was curious as to why you wanted to fuck Conor. Aren't you a lesbian?"

"Let's say a lesbian leaning bisexual. I was actually one of Joshua's earlier submissives. I became his PA afterwards. I'm Dominant to submissive women, but a bit of a submissive to Dominant men. I couldn't do it all the time, but I do occasionally enjoy submitting to Joshua. I was one of the women taken with Beth by the human traffickers in Algeria. It was pretty rough. I've felt a bit more submissive since then, but Joshua takes care of me when I need it."

"Does Angelique have to fuck men for you?"

"Only Joshua when I'm submissive to him. Otherwise, I keep her away from dick. She's more of a pure lesbian, although she can get off on a nice cock. We'd better go now. Thanks for cleaning up my pussy, Brigitte."

"Not a problem."

They left and we paired up again. I got Conor this time, while Gretchen and Brigitte shared a bed.

******

The next week was roughly the same as the last few days. We were pretty much confined to the safe house apartment, did some tunnel running every day. Twice we were taken to some remote wooded area and allowed to run, to a different place each time. A couple of times, some of Joshua's submissives came over and had sex with one of us. Once, Beth and Sahar came. Sahar had sex with me and Brigitte while Beth had sex with Gretchen and Conor. Sahar had to give her permission for sex with both.

Exactly one week after speaking to President Duncan, Joshua called and told us there was a plan to meet the President at Camp David in two days. He said that Edgar would brief us tomorrow morning on the meeting plans. I guess we'd find out how honorable the President was and if he could be trusted.

We called Rene and told him what was going to happen. He told us there would be a dozen wolves from both the Eastern Pennsylvania pack and Virginia pack nearby if needed.

"They won't intrude unless you call for help."

"Understood. Are Lenore and puppy doing fine?" I asked.

"Both are doing well."

"I'm hoping for the best, but say goodbye to Gretchen's family, Quinn, my parents, children and grandfather for me if anything happens to us."

"I will, Wolf Daughter."

"Thank you, Rene. It's been an interesting journey since I answered the ad for Loup Garou."

"It has indeed. Be careful. Oh, and take an extra set of men's clothes with when you go to Camp David. Something a little bigger than what Conor would wear."

"Sir?"

"That's all I'll say."

"Yes, sir."

He didn't have to say more. I knew Quinn would be at Camp David. Whether it would be as friend or foe would be up to the President.

******