Chapter 52

Grace

“No can do,” he said. “We put them in the isolation chamber. They’re on lockdown until morning for causing civil unrest.”

“Doing what?”

“They attacked several members of the pack.”

“Unprovoked?” George said.

“You know how you lycans are,” he sneered. “You’re just a step away from snarling beasts most of the time.”

“Give me your badge,” I said.

His eyes widened. When he didn’t move, I snatched it from his uniform. “Consider yourself fired without warning, without compensation, without pension. How dare you speak that way to anyone as an officer of Mooncrest?”

I turned to his commanding officer. “What happened?”

The man twitched. “It’s just as he said. They attacked—“

“Before that,” I said. “I was told that there were several individuals hurt and only two lycans incarcerated. How could two against many equate to only two in shackles?”

“Well, they’re lycans. They did a hell of a lot of damage—“

I snatched his badge, too. “Give me a good reason that I think you deserve to wear this badge?”

“I’ve been on the force longer than you’ve been alive!”

“And twice as prejudice,” I snarled. I couldn't contain my anger. "Is this how we operate in Mooncrest? Unjustly? Unfairly? With bias?”

I shoved past him. “Give the keys right now.”

A shivering clerk offered them to me. I marched down the hall to the isolation chamber and opened it, finding two men inside. The smaller of the two was curled into the larger man’s chest. He growled and shielded the smaller man with his body, pressing him back towards the far wall. Then, he seemed to relax when he saw George. The larger man bowed to him politely. I glanced at the broken handcuffs on the ground and lifted my head.

“As Alpha of Mooncrest, I extend my sincerest apologies for the way you’ve been treated.” I stepped aside. “Please come out.”

The man seemed wary, but the smaller man pressed a hand to his back and made a soft whimpering sound. George let out a frustrated sound.

“How long have you been in the dark?” George asked.

“Since they put us in here,” the larger man said. “He’s… He doesn’t like the dark.”

I almost found it cute until they came out, and I realized that the two of them couldn’t have been older than twenty years old. We went to an open conference room. The smaller of the two seemed shaken. I got him a blanket, and he looked up at me with wide, fearful eyes.

“I’m so sorry. Could I get you coffee or something?”

He pressed closer to the larger one with a shake of his head. The larger one wrapped his arm around him.

“Hot chocolate if you have it,” he gave me a wry smile as he rubbed the smaller one’s arm. “Coffee gives him the shakes.”

I nodded and stepped out just as I heard one of them burst into tears and apologies.

“If I hadn’t wanted to go…”

My heart ached at the sound of his broken voice.

It was hours before George had come out. I had found enough to put together some hot chocolate for him, gather the entire police station to yell at them, and still didn’t feel any better.

I didn’t need George to come out and tell me what had actually happened to come up with a few solid conclusions.

“Teenagers?” I shrieked. “Against grown men and women? A teenaged couple?”

“They’re not a real couple,” someone sneered. “They’re both male. They should know better.”

“Yeah, this is—“

I snarled at the man, snatched his badge off his chest, and shoved him out of his seat.

“How’s that?” I growled. “I don’t like your bias. I assaulted you, and since you’re not a police officer, I’ll put you in a cold, dark cell miles away from home with no intention of ever releasing you.”

His eyes widened, and I turned. “And while I’m at it, I’ll throw your wife in there with you. Be damned whoever is waiting for you to come back home. Be damned anything about you because I don’t like the fact that you have a different opinion than mine.”

I turned. “If you don’t arrest the individuals who attacked those boys and bring them here within the hour, you will all be without a job and imprisoned. I’ll make sure you all get shipped off to the Lycan Clans to be sentenced for assault and abuse of minors.”

The room fell into an uneasy silence as the officers exchanged glances. I could feel their discomfort, but I wasn't about to let it slide.

“Now!”

They jumped up and started scrambling.

“She really is just like her mother…”

I frowned, listening to the words. I didn’t know what that meant, but I had a feeling I would know soon.

George came out looking furious with his own notes. I told him what I had sent the rest of the officers off to do while I fought my way into the police system to officially fire the officers whose badges I had taken. I was so mad I considered replacing most of the police staff out of hand.

“I will return you to your home,” George said.

I nodded and grabbed a paper police report pad, grimacing. I felt terrible. Werewolves were supposed to be more advanced than lycans, yet I’d be writing a handwritten report, and George’s summary of events had already been entered into the system from his tablet.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to update the police force.”

“The personnel or the equipment?”

I smiled. “Probably both. Do you think they’d answer my questions?”

He nodded. “I’ll come with you.”

I entered just as the two leaned close. The smaller one looked like he had calmed down a lot as he kissed the larger one gently.

“You two are adorable.”

They looked at me with wide eyes.

I crossed the room. “I know you’ve already given your statement for lycan records, but I’ll need one for our records, too. Would you mind telling me what happened?”

The taller one nodded as the smaller one continued to sip from his cup. I tried to use my best handwriting and felt more and more angry the longer I listened.

They had been walking through the city, admiring the city. They were here because Aaron, the smaller of the two, wanted to see a movie that was showing here. He’d never left the Clans and was from a small town there. Silas, the larger of the two, had stolen a kiss in the middle of the city square, and a swarm of adults had started harassing them.

“He was in danger,” Silas said. “One of them grabbed him, and I punched him. It just got worse after that.”

I looked at him. “Were you seen for medical attention?”

Aaron shook his head. “I’m okay.”

Silas glared at the table. “That man bruised you.”

“Can I see?”

Aaron winced but dropped a part of the blanket to let me see. It was an ugly bruise, and it wasn’t the only one. I pulled out the evidence camera I had and took a few photos. Silas’ clothes were ripped and blood-stained. I offered them to leave their damaged clothes for evidence, but they refused.

“I’ll have them processed,” George said. “An enforcer unit with a medical team is on the way.”

Both of them sighed, and Aaron looked up at Silas.

“My parents are going to be mad.”

Silas scoffed. “Your parents are always mad.”

Aaron laughed.

I waved them off, giving them copies of the police report and signing them out. I felt odd like I was running on muscle memory. I only remembered my father walking me through police procedures once or twice when I was in high school, but seeing how relieved they looked when the Enforcer Unit arrived made some of the tension go away.

George escorted me back to the car just as the officers I had sent out were hauling a line of people in. They all sneered at me.

“I’ll be back in the morning,” I said, looking at the officers who wouldn’t meet my gaze.

As George drove us back, the weight of the situation was still heavy on my shoulders. This wasn’t an easy fix, no matter how I looked at it.

I entered the house and found Eason and Charles still in my office.

“Well?”

I sunk into my chair and told them what happened. Eason had gone pale, and Charles looked pissed. The situation had hit closer to home than any of us would have liked.

“I’m not sure what to do next.”

“Snatching badges was an appropriate first step,” Charles said. “But you’ll need to make a public statement about this," he urged, his voice firm. "Before the journalists get ahead of you and start twisting the story."

I hesitated for a moment, uncertainty gnawing at me. But I trusted Charles and knew that he had the experience to navigate these treacherous waters.

With a sigh, I nodded in agreement.

"Okay.”

“Tomorrow.”

I winced, but I couldn’t find a reason to disagree.