December 2220
Zina sat at the bar and brooded. Her master plan had encountered snags and she was furious with her underlings. Incompetent fools. And to add insult to injury, Gerard had been stopped by that pipsqueak upstart Donil Silentshadow. Even as a kid, Donil had been a problem. Smaller than most, the younger male had tried to prove his worth to everyone older than him. She hadn't wanted him around back then, but his cousin, Matt, wouldn't leave him behind. In the end, Donil proved useful as a source of inside information about the Le Croix family and their progress on the new drug. It was his one innocent comment that helped her almost complete her rise to power thirteen years ago.
She blinked and then glared at her empty beer mug. Present events were not working to her advantage any more than they had in 2207. Two months ago, the kidnapping of Laylah Le Croix had failed. This time she would make sure it succeeded.
The mighty Le Croix dynasty and the Were Council would fall and she would stand on the ashes of the old and rule the new world. She shook her head 'no' when the bartender offered her another beer. "It's great to be me," she purred. "Keep the change."
She tossed a fifty cred chip on the bar and sashayed out of the building, ignoring the catcalls of the male patrons.
Gerard and Alexis stood outside by the van. Without a word, Gerard opened the door and she climbed inside. He closed the door, Alexis got in the back and Gerard took the driver's seat.
"Take me to the girl's school. I want to see the freak that keeps eluding me."
"Yes, my Alpha." Gerard started the vehicle and headed north, leaving behind Brayshell.
The drive was silent, just the way she liked it. Her two companions were on her mutt list and had been trying to redeem themselves ever since their failure to capture Henry's whelp. Despite that, they were still her best fighters, which is why they were with her right now.
Trees gave way to abandoned buildings as they drove into downtown Old Invarnash. The once beautiful Lake Hendershen, home to boaters, fishermen, alligators and other aquatic life, lay dead, unused and polluted. Humans had blamed Weres for the contamination and destruction, which was absurd since many aquatic Weres had called the lake home. Once she seized control of the Were community, humans were next on her "To Be Eliminated" list. Only the fittest should survive.
"My Alpha, we're here. The prey should be coming out in five minutes from the east entrance."
"Park close by, Gerard. I want to see the brat who inspires such devotion from others."
He obeyed, parking the van across the street. The wait was short. The end bell rang and students poured out of the school.
She caught the scent of a few youthful Weres, but couldn't pick them out of the crowd. She knew her presence would go undetected, for the van was downwind and its passengers hidden by the tinted windows. She continued to study the teenagers. One of these stupid, hormonal nobodies was her unknowing prey.
"There she is!" Alexis pointed to two girls who emerged from a different entrance. "She's the one with the purple backpack."
Zina studied the girl. The baggy clothing obscured the girl's true shape and that annoyed her. A woman should be proud of her figure, not ashamed of it. Long red hair, olive skin and an air of nervousness clung to the girl. She completed her once-over of the teenager. She couldn't see the prey's eyes from here, but more than likely, they were ordinary.
"She's average looking, nothing special in the looks department. Why all the fuss by the other Weres to protect her?" Zina had spent most of her life wrapping men around her finger, but sometimes their tastes and whims were beyond her. "Who is the human with her? I was led to believe that she has no friends."
"She has only the one and that is who you see with her. And, my Alpha, the prey's daily routine has been changed."
"What do you mean changed, Alexis?"
"Her pickup spot is different as are the times when Jacques arrives. Sometimes her human friend walks with her as well. That is why it took us two months to even get this close. I know you desire to have the prey by winter's end, but we are unable to figure out the pattern and snatch her."
Zina growled and her hands changed into a wicked set of sharp claws that she started tapping on the dashboard, her eyes on her subordinates. "Why was I not informed sooner?"
Gerard flinched, his eyes watching her drumming fingers. Alexis didn't respond right away. He, too, watched her claws. She could smell their fear. They needed to be afraid for she did not tolerate failure!
"We believed that they would continue to be predictable after the first attempt had failed. When that didn't happen, we did the same as the first time, looked for a pattern. Only it didn't work as planned."
"None of Henry's underlings are that smart. Someone is helping them."
"We thought of that too, my Alpha. We interrogated everyone in our inner circle that had knowledge of your plans. They all were cleared."
Alexis' appeasing words grated on Zina's nerves and flamed her mounting fury. "If the two of you continue being incompetent, I will rip your entrails out and force you to eat them for dinner! I want the abomination caught and brought to me by week's end or you will face a very slow, painful dismemberment before my troops. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Alpha!" Sweat dotted both men's brows, but they kept their eyes on her.
"Now," her tone became flirty as she shifted her claws back into hands. "Let's go home. I have things to do. Must get work out of the way before playtime. Isn't that right, Gerard?" She caressed his bared arm with a finger and grinned when a growl escaped him. The spike in the pheromones flooded her nose. Her eyes changed from blue to yellow. "Drive!"
"Yes, Alpha!" Gerard obeyed.
Zina spared one last glance in the direction of her prey and smiled.