Chapter 139

Zane POV

I wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but strategy meetings in my office with Sarah, Melissa, Travis, Lainey, and “don’t call me Tony, that’s my father’s name” Whitfield became a regular thing.

Today’s meeting was about a press junket Melissa wanted to go on to promote education for betas and gammas.

Of course, I should have realized Sarah would plunge in with both feet.

“What about omegas?” she asked.

I and everyone else felt the tension in the room increase, except for Sarah, whose expression made it seem she was discussing the weather, not werewolves’ greatest shame.

“They are an important cause,” Melissa finally said. “But they’re not involved in this.”

“They’re not a cause,” Sarah said. “They’re a group of people being treated like garbage.”

“Involving omegas at this point will dilute your message,” Whitfield said.

“Are omegas wolves or not?” Sarah demanded.

“That’s the point,” Whitfield said. “A lot of wolves feel they’re not werewolves.”

“Because they go into heat?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah!” I couldn’t help but snap. Everyone looked at me. “That’s not an acceptable conversation for now.”

“But it should be.” She looked at me almost in despair. “Wolves will never be able to accept humans as equals if they can’t even accept the same for omegas.”

“Wolves are more comfortable discussing humans than omegas,” Melissa said. She held up a hand when Sarah looked ready to respond. “To us, what you’re saying is that we can’t accept humans as equals until we accept dogs as equals.”

Sarah looked around at us all with a sour expression, which then turned thoughtful.

“What?” Lainey asked.

“If you truly see omegas as a different race from wolves, then perhaps that’s the answer.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I’ve done some reading,” Sarah said, which for some reason made Lainey shift slightly in her chair. “Humans and werewolves can produce offspring, the way a tiger and a lion can. But humans cannot produce offspring with omegas.”

“Yes?” Whitfield urged.

Sarah shrugged. “That suggests that omegas are not, in fact, the same species as alpha, beta, and gamma werewolves. Perhaps this whole idea that omegas are some ‘inferior’ breed of wolves is actually based on the misconception that omegas are wolves at all.”

We all sat for several minutes in silence.

Melissa spoke first. “I think you’re right that’s a possibility, and I think we should continue to pursue the concept.”

“But you want to talk about promoting higher education for betas and gammas,” Sarah finished flatly.

“Yes, for now.” Melissa shook her head. “What you’re talking about will completely change wolf society.”

“I know.”

“Meanwhile, the stigma of betas and gammas in higher education needs to be addressed as its own issue.”

Sarah scowled.

“If omegas aren’t actually wolves, as we understand ourselves to be,” I said, “then we need some serious research into that. We’re talking about DNA markers and the rest.”

“There hasn’t been a legitimate medical study of omegas for decades,” Sarah said hotly.

I nodded. “Right. Let me commission a study so we have some real data going forward. Meanwhile, Melissa is right. We’re here to talk about beta and gamma education. Is that all right?”

Sara still looked outraged, but she nodded calmly enough. “Of course.”

“Sarah,” Melissa said. “I promise, I’m not going to forget about this. None of us will.”

“Thank you.” Sarah gave us all a small smile. “I do seem to have derailed talks. I think we were talking about a free textbook program?”

Everyone relaxed and nodded. “Getting the money is the easy part,” Whitfield said. “The Beta Auxiliary League is ready to kiss your paws, and feet, sorry, to join in on whatever program you want to launch.

“College is expensive,” Melissa said, “and tuition is just a part of it. Textbooks, living near the school, food, and the occasional outing to clear your mind are all a part of what goes into the experience.”

“The last one is something almost no one talks about,” Lainey said. “People love to discuss field trips for pups to go to museums and the ballet and all that, but no one seems to remember that college students will get as much, if not more, out of such trips while they’re getting their degrees.”

“Museums,” Sarah said.

We looked at her. She took a minute to realize we were looking at her.

“How much do museums in this territory rely on tickets to stay open?” she asked. “Surely, most of it is endowments.”

“I can get those numbers,” Travis said.

“Whatever it is,” Sarah said, “I doubt seriously that college students’ admission fees are paying much into the coffers. How much would it hurt museums to offer free admission for college students?”

“Excellent idea!” Melissa said while Lainey did a soft round of applause.

I thought it over and wondered only why I hadn’t thought of the idea first.

“Yes, it is an excellent idea and something we can institute right away.” I looked around and shook my head before digging my phone out of my pocket. I hit the number on speed dial.

“Stacy?” I asked.

“Alpha Zane?”

“Find out what would be needed to offer free museum entrance for college students.

There was a pause. “What an excellent idea.”

“I’m gad you approve. We have about seven museums in the territory, yes?”

“Public? Eight.”

“Great. Find out as soon as you can.”

“Yes, Alpha Zane.”

I pushed the icon to hang up and saw that Sarah was shaking her head at me.

“What?” I wanted to know.

“Nothing, just, well, it’s still odd to me that I’m in a room with people who can say things like, ‘Hey, let’s make museums free,’ and it happens.” She laughed.

Melissa joined in, and I realized, somewhat belatedly, that the two women had formed a solid friendship, probably while they had been in that safe room at the hotel.

“So,” Melissa said, “we have free textbooks hopefully funded by the BAL, free museum passes for college students, and the scholarships I mentioned from the Education Fund, which wants to branch out with beta and gammas recipients. That’s worth a little press junket, I think.”

“Agreed,” Sarah said. “I’ll have to work around the children’s schedules a bit, but I think I can be there for most of it without their noticing.”

“I’m not sure the two of you should launch the campaign together,” Lainey said quietly, and everyone in the room, I’m sure, understood that she was cautioning Sarah that Melissa would outshine her.

True, Sarah had been the hot news of the day a few weeks ago with her goddess-mother approval from the Luna Temple, but the recent press about the bomb at the BAL conference had mentioned Melissa at least twice as much as it had Sarah. Melissa was a “visiting alpha,” and we all knew what that meant.

And, what? Was I supposed to be ignorant of the fact that Melissa had come into my territory to offer herself as a mate?

True, I didn’t want her. I didn’t remotely want her.

But I wanted Sarah, and Sarah wasn’t an option.

So yes, perhaps Melissa should go on this latest campaign by herself while Sarah and I tried to figure out how to move forward.

But then Sarah made her position clear. “I think we have to launch the campaign together for maximum input,” she said. “This is about empowering betas and gammas, and I very much hope that can lead to a later campaign to empower humans, and then maybe omegas. Melissa and I should stand in front of the cameras shoulder-to-shoulder.

So that was that.