Chapter 5 – The Alpha Meeting
Joss watched from her spot at the front of the room as the Alphas of New York trickled in. This meeting had been the idea of Captain Kennedy. He loved all that community outreach touchy-feely stuff, mostly because it looked good to the higher ups, and Kennedy wanted to be a higher up. The captain, who had taken over the precinct after Womack had been arrested in the HR sweep, decided that formally reaching out to the Wolf Community to reassure them that the NYPD was doing everything in its power would be a good way to "build bridges to oppressed minorities" and an even better way to hone his PR skills in preparation for moving up.
Joss had tried to wiggle out of it, but to her surprise, John had thought it was a good idea. "I think it will be good to get all the Alphas together in one room. Some of them may have some insight into the Wolf Hunters that I just don't have. One of them may know how they figured out Talbot was Wolf."
So Joss, against her better judgment, caved in and agreed to the meeting.
An Orthodox Jew, wearing a dark suit, hat and long beard, was the first Alpha to arrive. Close behind him, she recognized Bert Gore's Beta from that day in the diner, probably now the temporary Alpha of the dock workers' pack. Several more Alphas that Joss did not know followed him. Captain Kennedy stood by the door solemnly greeting each one as they entered. John and Shaw circulated around the room keeping an eye on things.
Joss had been surprised the John was coming to the meeting since he was still a wanted man, but he had changed out of his suit into black jeans and a black dress shirt, and was wearing his glasses from his date with Maxine Angelis. The outfit was more than enough to fool Captain Kennedy, who had been in administration for several years now, and whom Joss suspected wouldn't have recognized the Man in the Suit even if John had worn his trademark clothing.
Joss allowed her eyes to follow her mate as he circulated around the room. He stood tall and straight and moved with the grace of a natural athlete. She had to smile when she noticed that the cowlick that he so hated and she so adored had once again escaped the hair gel and waved gently in the breeze created by the ceiling fans in the meeting room. John was not going to happy next time he looked into the mirror.
John felt her eyes on him and turned towards her. She gave him a coy smile and he returned it with a smile of his own and a wink before he returned to his conversation with another Alpha.
Joss laid a hand on her belly where their child lay and nearly purred with happiness at having that Wolf in her life. She had been alone for so long; she had told herself many times that it didn't bother her, but she knew now that she had been kidding herself. Once John had blasted his way into her orderly life and turned it on its side, she knew she couldn't go back. She simply could not conceive of returning to a life without him in it. Before it had just been her and her son; now, because of him, she had a large extended family that included not only John, but Fusco, Finch and the entire pack. She had never been happier.
And now there were a bunch of Wolf Hunters running around New York, HER city, that could take her new found happiness away from her. She had to stop them, she just had to.
Her reverie was broken when she was approached by Chris Galenki, Alpha of the pack that ran in the area where Lawrence Talbot had lived and died. She smiled warmly at Chris and shook his hand. She had met him at the presentation of his newborn son a couple of months ago and she had liked him and his mate, a shy redheaded woman by the name of Andrea. They had been so proud of their newborn Alpha.
"I'm surprised you're still here," Chris said as he walked up to her.
"Really?" Joss was unsure why he would be surprised
"Yeah, you're pregnant with a Born Alpha. If John is right and we have Wolf Hunters from one of the old countries, you're one tempting target. I would have thought John would have sent you out of town. I sent Andrea and the baby to her mom's in Boston as soon as I heard about Gore."
Joss didn't want to start a fight with another Alpha, but she was not about to let that pass. "I'm not a coward, Chris…" she protested.
"I know that, but there is more than just you at stake here, Joss." Chris waved his hand at her stomach, "If the stories my grandmother told me about these Wolf Hunters are even partly true, NYC is a dangerous place to be a pregnant Wolf right now."
Joss shook her head, "I have to do my job, Chris. I have to stop them."
Chris smiled sadly, "You're a good Alpha, Jocelyn. But I still think you should hightail it out of town until these bastards are caught."
As they were talking, Bill and Bess Cross of the Harlem pack joined them. Chris greeted them warmly then excused himself to go talk to John.
Bill and Bess both embraced Joss. "You're glowing Joss; you look so beautiful. How much longer until the new Alpha makes her debut?" Bess asked.
"Two months. Two long months until I can tie my own shoes again," Joss groaned, remembering how embarrassed she was to discover after a large lunch that she could not reach a shoe lace that had come untied. Her stomach was in the way, preventing her from bending down far enough to each her own foot. She'd had to roll her chair over to Fusco's desk and ask him to lend a hand. Fusco had wisely tied her shoe without a single word and Joss had only worn slip-ons after that.
Bill laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Are you really the detective on the case?"
Joss glared at him, "Fusco and I both are. You aren't going to start on me too are you?"
Bill gave her a stern look that reminded her uncomfortably of her late father, "Yes, I am missy. This baby is too important to the Wolf community. We need this child."
Joss rolled her eyes while Bess did her best to surpress her laughter at her friend's exasperation. "Bill, I promise to be careful; I'm just not a sit on the sidelines kind of gal."
Bess smiled at her, "You go, girl. I know you're no coward."
Bill glared at his mate, "I know she's not a coward. But these are dangerous people; they've already killed one Alpha, and a Lone Wolf."
Bess crossed her arms and set her jaw stubbornly. Joss got the feeling that Bill saw that particular set of her jaw quite often. "Bill, you know as well as I do that Bert was no Alpha. He may have led a pack, but he was no Alpha. Joss is a real Alpha, so is John, and he won't let anything happen to his mate and baby."
Bill was not in the mood for an argument and made a sour face, "I'm going to find John." And he stalked off.
Bess slipped an arm around Joss. "Don't you listen to those men," she snorted. "You're tough; you can do this."
Joss sighed, "Thanks Bess, everyone is trying to run me out of town. John's boss is dangling all sorts of lovely properties in other cities in front of me trying to get me to go until this case is solved."
"He got anything in Miami? South Beach? I could go with you, we could have a good time down there. I hear that place is off the hook." Bess and Joss burst into laughter together as they cheerfully talked about sampling the nightlife of South Beach on Finch's dime.
Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it. The text read I have a lovely little 2 bedroom condo right on the beach. You could be there tomorrow.
STOP IT, she texted back.
Fusco interrupted Bess and Joss. "The Captain is heading over here, I think it's time to get started." Joss nodded to her captain and then caught John's eye. He began herding the other Alphas to their seats.
Everyone took a seat except John, Lionel and Sam. They loitered by the doors to the room, just in case the Wolf Hunters heard about tonight's gathering and decided to crash the meeting.
Captain Kennedy stood at the podium and waited patiently for quiet. When the room was quiet enough, he began his spiel.
"Thank you all for coming. I am glad so many of you were able to make it tonight. I want to assure the Wolf Community that we are doing everything possible to bring this case to a quick and successful conclusion.
"I'd like to introduce Detective Jocelyn Carter and her partner Lionel Fusco, the detectives on the case."
"Yes we know Jocelyn, all us Alphas know each other," Bill Cross snapped impatiently from his seat in the front row, while Bess tried to shush him. Bill had no patience for officious gasbags and he'd correctly pegged Kennedy as one even before he began speaking.
Kennedy looked over at Joss in surprise, "You're an ALPHA? Isn't that a big deal in the Wolf world?"
"Can we talk about this later?" Joss hissed at him while Fusco put his head in his hands and John and Samantha struggled to contain their laughter.
"Um, yeah," Kennedy said. "This meeting is so that we can brief the Wolf Community on the investigation and answer any questions you might have. Without endangering the investigation, of course.
"I'll turn it over to Detective Carter now."
Joss stood up. "As you all know by now, four days ago Alpha Albert Gore, was brutally murdered." She hit a key on the laptop in front of her and pictures of the writing on the wall from Gore's home were on the screen behind her.
"We found writings on the walls of his home, written in his blood. We have since translated those writing from the original Hungarian. The writings were mostly 'Wolves must die', 'Death to evil' and other sayings in that vein, along with a crude picture of a Wolf with a sword through its chest. Joss hit another key to display the picture and the assembled Alphas growled unhappily.
"Gore had been tortured before his throat was slit. We found numerous superficial cuts and burns on his body."
She saw the Alphas nod; they had all been born and raised in the Wolf Community, so they were well familiar with the stories of the Wolf Hunters and their methods.
"Yesterday we found Lawrence Talbot murdered in an identical fashion. While Gore was well known as a Wolf, Talbot was a Lone Wolf. According to his daughter he almost never changed and he had never run with a pack. At this point, we do not know why Talbot was targeted or how the Wolf Hunters knew he was Wolf. We are hoping someone here might know how the Wolf Hunters could tell Talbot was Wolf when the neighbors who had lived next door to him for many years didn't know."
Joss quickly outlined the investigation so far, she talked about how they had a task force examining records of recent immigrants from Hungary and surrounding countries, looking for anything suspicious. She also explained that they were still processing trace evidence from both crimes scenes.
In the back of the room, Reese leaned against the wall and watched his mate as she spoke, his usual smirk planted firmly on his face, but his eyes were soft. Once again, he marveled at his luck in finding this woman, his soul mate. The cold hand of fear gripped his heart as he thought about the possibility of the Wolf Hunters getting their hands on her and taking her from him forever. Between the loss of his parents and his childhood pack when he was younger and then losing Jessica, he wasn't sure if he could handle another major loss, especially her. She did in fact own half his soul and he was not willing to live without her.
At the front of the room Joss was too busy fielding question from the audience with Captain Kennedy to notice John's emotional turmoil. John quickly suppressed his fear before it affected her.
After the question and answer period, Kennedy made another short speech to reassure the Alphas of New York that the NYPD was taking the threat seriously and doing everything it could to find the killers as quickly as possible.
The meeting ended and the Alphas somberly filed out the room while Kennedy stood at the door and tried to shake hands with as many as possible and say "Thanks for coming." Bill and Bess snuck out of the room using a different door.
Joss moved to stand next to her mate. She was tired, she hadn't slept much since Bert Gore had died, and she hated these community outreach meetings; they exhausted her. She just wanted to lean against John and feel his comforting arm around her.
As she closed her eyes and happily leaned against her mate, John was more than happy to slide his arm around her waist and hold her to his side. He sensed her exhaustion and was just about to insist that he take her home when Yitshak Cohen, Alpha of the Brooklyn Hasidic Pack, walked up and addressed John.
"I may know how the Wolf Hunters found the Lone Wolf."
Joss held her breath and remained silent. As much as she wanted to question Cohen, she knew that Orthodox Jewish men were supposed to keep conversation with strange women to an absolute minimum. It was best if she let John handle this while she listened quietly.
John's arm tightened around Joss and he met Cohen's eyes, "I'm listening."
"My father once told me that he was nearly captured by the Nazis. Not because he looked Jewish, he had shaved his beard and cut his hair to appear as non-Jewish as possible so he could escape. No, he was almost captured because he was Wolf and the Nazis were using a Wolf child to feel for other Wolves."