"Nate, can you handle parade today? I have a meeting." Nate looked up from his desk and cocked his head to the side. "With the brass?" He asked, looking confused. "I though you guys only met twice a month unless it was an emergency." He said, sitting back in his chair and staring at his Captain.
Mike shook his head. "No, not the brass. The Council called. A new Clan wants to form within the city and the Council wants to weigh in on what the other leaders think." Nate blinked. "I thought that the Council agreed that Gray Warren and Black Frost were going to be the only Clans within the city? Why change their minds now?" Mike shrugged his shoulders and made a frustrated sound in his chest.
"Who knows. The Pack leaders are going to be there as well, so it must be a big Clan that wants to form. Can you tell the rest of the guys for me?" Nate made a surprised noise in his chest. "Well hell, I'm just glad I don't have to put up with politics. I'll make sure to pass along the message after parade. You have fun with that." He said brightly. Mike rolled his eyes and left the room while Nate stood up. He was dressed in a gray suit and we still feeling the pain from yesterday's raid and it showed in his gait as he limped lightly down the stairs and into the parade room, where officers and detectives were already gathering for the day.
Nate took his spot behind the podium and whistled for silence. "Alright listen up! We're going to be busy today, which means we need to get this out of the way." He spoke loudly to be heard over the entire room. "First though, I hear introductions are in order. We're joined by Detective Brad Colbert. I expect everyone to be nice." He narrowed his eyes. "Which means, Person and Espera, no hamsters in the new guy's locker. No laxatives in the coffee. And NO paint bombs in my squad room." He growled.
"Awww, LT, you're no fun!" He heard from the back of the room. "Person, if you want to mess with the new guy, wait until the paintball tournament next month." He said and he received laughter from everyone in the room. Everyone knew Ray Person sucked at paintball.
"Now down to business. Its Family Day in Central Park, which means more people than usual and a lot more children. This is a hay-day for child predators and kidnappers. While most of you are going to be within the park itself, I want you to be attention to entrances and exits. We'll be working with the mounted police and the dog handlers. I'm going to gently remind you that if a small child approaches you and asks a million question, answer them. If another mother files a complaint, we're never going to hear the end of it. Everyone got that?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Nate nodded. "Good. I need to see Detectives Ray Person, Tony Espera and Jamie Cass as well as Sergeant Rudy Reyes and Officer Walt Hasser afterward. Everyone else is dismissed." The parade room and emptied and the small group he requested came forward and slumped in the first row of desks. Nate looked up at the imposing shadow in the back of the room, blue eyes boring into him. "Detective Colbert, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside and shut the door after you." He received an even stare before the tall man turned around and left the room. Once the door was shut, the tension drained out of the room.
"Damn, brother. Thought you were going to explode after a little more of that." Nate gave him a lackadaisical smile and came to sit on the edge of the raised platform. "Give me more credit than that. I've dealt with people worse than him before. Remember that Werewolf who used to be the second of the Dark Night pack? Just about ripped my leg off. I can handle tall and broody over there." He was treated to snorts and Ray rolled his eyes.
"Guys like that fucker give the rest of my kind a bad name. Now you're probably afraid of all werewolves and Rudy's going to have to comfort you through every full moon for the rest of unnatural life you pansy ass motherfucking shifter bitch." Nate growled again, lacking any heat, and threw a pen at Ray from his pocket, hitting him square in the nose. "Shut up for a minute." He said and Ray subsided. "Mike got called to a meeting of the Council today. A new Clan wants to form within the city limits and they wanted to get a feel as to how the Pack and Clan Leaders feel about it, especially after last year's declaration that Gray Warren and Black Frost are supposed to be the only Shifter Clans within city limits."
There was silence for a minute when the others seemed to absorb this information. "Where would they meet to Run at the full moon? Gray Warren and the Great Fang pack run at Pelham Bay and there's nowhere else big enough or deserted enough that another Pack or Clan hasn't already claimed, unless you're willing to drive to the Catskills every month." Nate shrugged his shoulders and made a helpless noise in his chest.
"I don't know. Politics like this is why I backed out of the running for Clan leader five decades ago. Obviously there's no room for another Clan but the Council doesn't seem to think that's important. And as much as I adore the Elders, I sometimes think their old age is getting to them." He said, standing up. "I'll keep you updated on the situation as soon as I learn anything, but my guess? Get ready for a very hectic Run next week."
The others rose from their seats and Nate bothered to look out the glass wall into the squad area, checking to make sure no one had been listening to their conversation. It was clear and the squad floor was actually fairly deserted at that point. Nate's eyes were drawn to a desk near the parade room's wall. Detective Colbert was leaning up against his desk, talking into his cell phone heatedly.
If Nate were brutally honest with himself, he had to admit that Detective Colbert was very handsome. Tall and lean, with piercing blue eyes, he was definitely Nate's type. It was a shame really. No way on this green earth he swung that way.
"Detective Person, please remind your new partner that cell phones are for emergencies only. Not fighting with the wife or girlfriend. Please tell him to have it off by the time he gets in his squad car. He's riding with you for about a week, then you can have Walt back. Walt, you're riding with Poke today, alright?" He received nods and he led them out of the room and onto the squad floor.
"LT, what are you doing today? Sitting on you ass in the air conditioned command vehicle?" Ray asked him with a vicious grin and Nate snorted. "As a matter of fact, Detective Person, today I'm going to be working with the dog handlers. I won that bet with Kocher from the 5-2 and he has to cover my paperwork at the big event of my choosing. I happen to like Family Day and the single moms find a man in uniform with a dog simply irresistible. Not to mention, I actually like children."
Ray snorted. "Of course you do you over-educated dick sucking son of a bitch." Ray hissed at him playfully and Nate rolled his eyes. He didn't get to where he was today without becoming immune to Ray Person. Detective Colbert on the other hand? He looked surprised and Nate grinned predatoraly in his head. That was a delicious look on him.
He shook his head and snorted at himself. Damn hormones were building up already. He couldn't wait for the run but if this got worse, he'd have to shift beforehand. Rudy and Poke were looking at he and Walt with understanding looks. Walt was very new and had come into his powers only a few months before and, even though Nate was over a century old, both were experiencing a sudden rush of the hormones the Were or Shifter part of their brains generated, making them twitchy and restless. Nate moved over to Ray and placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in place and leaning down to whisper in his ear, so quiet you needed the attuned senses of a supernatural to hear.
"You should take Walt for a run after work today. I'm going to Pelham, if you want to join me." He leaned back, affected a broad smirk and raised his voice to be heard. "We'll make a date of it. Dinner and everything, on me." Ray gave him a look before he batted his eyes and looked at him with a lewd grin.
"Oh Nathaniel! Would you?" Nate rolled his eyes again and pushed Ray away, much to the amusement of the others in their small group and the bemusement of Detective Colbert. "Enough. I have to suit up and meet up with the handlers at the 2-5 and every one of you needs to be at the park in about forty minutes, so wrap up your business and get over there." His group split up and Nate made his way over to the hall that led down to the locker rooms, opening the door for the men's room.
He quickly stripped out of his suit and slipped into his black uniform, which would be scorching, even this late in September, and a heavy pair of black boots. He pulled on his vest, stab proof and bullet proof, and his belt before he pulled on and laced his boots tightly. He grabbed his empty pistol from his locker, checked it over and, after deeming it safe, grabbed his badge from the shelf and clipped to his belt.
He stepped out into the hall and across to the equipment room, where he got three magazines of ammunition, once that went into the pistol itself and the other two into the pouches on the utility belt. He safety tested the gun again and, after making sure it was on safety, he slid it into it's holster.
Fully kitted, he looked fierce and he smiled dangerously as he thought of all the ways he was the perfect hunter. An Apex predator. A wolf in sheep's clothing. He looked young. He spoke with an optimism and sincerity that he only sometimes truly felt, disillusioned after more than a hundred years of wandering. He was disarming. People trusted him on instinct.
They didn't know that, in the blink of an eye, he could rip their throats out and not have a care in the world.