Part Two

“How long will you be gone?” Iris asked me as we stood in my bedroom.

“A few days,” I said to her.

“Will you miss me?” she asked with a sly smile.

“Of course, will you miss me?” I asked her as I placed my arms around her waist.

“Not even a little bit,” she said and chuckled as I pushed her backwards until her back met the wall.

“Are you sure?” I asked her as I started kissing her.

She pressed herself against me and I almost groaned at her teasing. We had another month to go before she turned eighteen and the past eleven months had been pure torture for me since she lived in the packhouse and I saw her all the time.

Her scent was intoxicating and the need to spend time with her was just ridiculous. I took more and more assignments just to try and clear my head because I wasn’t sure how long I could keep my hands to myself.

“Now I’m sure you’ll miss me,” she said as her hand strayed down my side and she lingered at the top of my jeans fiddling with the button.

“You’re a bitch,” I whispered in her ear as she laughed.

“But you love me anyway,” she said as she gripped me firmly and I closed my eyes.

“Three and a half weeks Iris and then you’re going to pray for mercy,” I said to her as she laughed.

“Is that a promise or a threat?” she asked me as I pulled her hand away.

“Both,” I said and forced myself away from her.

“I wish I could go with you,” she said as she sat down on the edge of my bed as I packed my suitcase.

“You’re an unmated and unmarked female, and I’ll be busy the whole time,” I said to her.

“I know but I can only imagine those other pack girls going crazy over you,” she said and looked at me.

“I’m going as an Enforcer, it’s not a visit, it’s an inspection,” I said.

“I trust you Damon,” she said and I pulled her up and kissed her again.

“You can trust me, always,” I said to her.

“Damon! We need to go!” Jared yelled from the hallway and I let go of Iris.

“I’ll call you later,” I said to her and left a kiss on her forehead.

I stepped out of my bedroom with my suitcase and found Jared as he leaned against the wall close to his room. He only smiled and shook his head as we headed downstairs. I smiled as I looked up and saw Iris standing on my balcony and waved.

“Isn’t she driving you crazy yet?” Jared asked.

“She is and she knows it too, I don’t know how you’re going to survive another year,” I said to him.

“It helps that I don’t see her every day,” he said and I nodded.

We were on our way to Bennington for our quarterly inspections and we would work our way up visiting random packs, covens and lairs. We never made prior appointments and refusing an Enforcer entry would result in punishment from the Councils.

Jared and I drove in front and Max and Justin followed behind us. As Enforcers we were responsible for these inspections to make sure that supernatural beings followed the rules, that no abuse took place and that members were cared for, we had a dark history of slavery and abuse before the first clowder stepped in and took control.

“Did you read the files?” Jared asked me.

“Yeah I scanned them last night,” I said to him.

“So tell me about this pack in Bennington,” he said as he looked at me.

“Alpha Carlos Booth, mated to Jane Booth, one son Winston Booth aged nineteen, one daughter Melissa Booth aged seventeen,” I said to him.

“Did Oracle Bloom tell you anything about these inspections?” he asked me.

“Only that on one of our visits I’ll find what I’m looking for,” I said to him.

“Yeah that’s not cryptic at all,” he said and laughed.

“She frustrates the hell out of me,” I said to him as we pulled up to the gate.

In these modern times we’ve all adapted to living so close to humans that we started building gated communities and that’s what humans thought; that we were private citizens living just outside of towns and cities and entry into our communities were very difficult.

“Good morning Sir, can I help you?” the man asked me and I smelled his Zeta scent.

“Damon Woods, Enforcer clowder,” I said and showed him my right wrist.

“Follow the road up to the packhouse,” he said as he bowed his head at me.

“The car following is my men,” I said to him as we drove through the gates and up to the packhouse.

I knew that he would’ve mind linked his Alpha about our arrival and that someone with a rank would be welcoming us to their territory. Most of the time we were received with warm welcomes but there were exceptions to those rules and sometimes we were received coldly. Not everyone liked Enforcers, because of what we stood for and also because we were superior.

“Good morning Alpha Woods,” the man said as we climbed out of the car and Omegas stepped forward to take our suitcases.

“Thank you Alpha Carlos,” I said and stepped forward to shake his hand.

“We are honored by your visit,” he said, “my wife Jane and my daughter Melissa.”

“Thank you for receiving us on such short notice,” I said, “this is my Beta Jared, Max and Justin.”

“Unfortunately my son Winston is busy with training, but he will join us for lunch,” Carlos said.

“The Omegas will show you to your rooms if you would like to freshen up,” Jane said.

“Thank you, please prepare your pack documentation for inspection after lunch,” I said to Carlos.

“I will inform the pack of your presence so that you may roam the territory freely,” Carlos said.

“Thank you,” I said as we followed the Omegas into the house.

One Omega led me and Jared up to the top floor where higher ranking members stayed and Max and Justin would be staying on the floor below us. Jared’s room was first and he stayed in his room as I followed the Omega to mine.

“This is your room Alpha,” the woman said to me keeping her head bowed.

“Thank you Omega Fourteen,” I said as I looked at the tag on her blouse.

“Do you need anything else Alpha?” she asked.

I closed the door behind me and let Axel push forward as I made her submit to me. My aura pushed her down to her knees and I knelt in front of her and lifted her head to look me in the eyes. I could make any supernatural being submit to me, even Alphas.

“Tell me of your life here,” I said as Axel’s voice mingled with mine. She wouldn’t remember telling me anything and I preferred it that way.

“The Alpha is strict and firmly believes in the hierarchy of pack life. We as Omegas work hard but we’re not treated unfairly. Punishment is only for severe crimes like stealing. The Alpha’s wife is sometimes rude and she dislikes Omegas. Future Alpha Winston uses Omegas for his pleasure but never against their will and Lady Melissa is sweet and caring, she helps out at the infirmary and she really cares for every pack member,” the Omega said.

“Why are you numbered and not named?” I asked her.

“The Alpha’s wife insists on this, she can’t be bothered to learn our names, but Melissa knows us all,” she said.

“Stand up and forget this conversation took place,” I said to her.

“Do you need anything else Alpha?” she asked me as if nothing had just happened.

“No, thank you,” I said to her and she gave me a smile.

I placed my suitcase on the sofa and changed into training shorts and a t-shirt and went to find Jared. He had also changed and I had to smile. He knew me too well and he knew that I would want to check out the territory.

When we did inspections we also made note of their security and patrols, gave advice and we also worked in a training session with their warriors. We’d run the border with a few of them and we’d listen to any complaints, concerns and it was our obligation to also help any supernatural in distress and that’s why I preferred talking with Omegas more than higher ranking members. Omegas knew everything that went on with everyone.

“Do you want to run the perimeter or go to training before lunch?” he asked me.

“I was thinking of just walking the territory,” I said to him.

“Let’s go then, the guys are waiting for us,” he said as we headed downstairs.

Pack members and Omegas bowed their heads as we walked past them and I took my time to look at my surroundings. They were a middle class pack but the members seemed relaxed and happy. So far nothing had really piqued my interest or given me warning bells.

“You and Justin just walk around, get a feel for the territory, normal first day routine, ask what you want within limits, subdue only when necessary,” I said to Max and they both nodded.

Jared and I started walking around and headed towards the border. Our senses were better than other supernatural beings and I wanted to see how they ran their patrols. We undressed in a small clearing before shifting into our jaguars.

“Are we doing the pounce routine?” Jared asked me.

“Yes, let’s see how observant they are in their own territory,” I said to him as we picked up our clothes in our mouths.

We circled through the trees and backtracked a few times to confuse anyone coming across our scent which we had changed to smell like rogues. We lay under a brush and watched the four men as they stood in a group and joked with each other unaware of our presence.

“Pounce on three,” I said and Jared started counting.

On three we jumped out of the brush and rushed towards them as all four turned in shock and before they even had the chance to shift we had them pinned to the forest floor. I backed up as Jared retrieved our clothes and we shifted back to our human form.

“You four just died,” I said as they hung their heads.

“We apologize Alpha, we are on the verge of handing over,” one man said.

“Don’t apologize, do your job, our scents were those of rogues and you didn’t pick it up. Not every pack with the intent on war will warn you or come through the front gate, you should be handing over to the next shift in your wolf form,” Jared said to them.

“We’ll need to discuss security with Carlos,” I said as we started walking back to the packhouse.

“He won’t be happy, he seems to be a good Alpha, and I wouldn’t necessarily want those four punished,” Jared said.

“They’re his weak link,” I said to him.