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“Of course not. I would never do that,” Justice insisted. He felt his sister place her hand on his shoulder.
“Chief Johnson, what Justice means is that caging shifters makes their wolves nervous and scared. Alone and fearful. After too long, the loneliness becomes too much and the shifter will start to lose its human side.”
“This is all too much.” The chief gripped the few strands of hair still on the sides of his head. “Are you saying that I’m going to have wild beasts in my jails if I don’t turn them over to you?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily put it like that,” Alek growled.
Justice looked hard at his brother, warning him not to lose his temper.
“I didn’t cage anyone. I arrested a gang on my street for breaking the law and I put them in jail, where they belong,” the chief argued from the head of the long table. He was starting to sweat and Justice didn’t know if it was because he was in a small conference room with some very large shifters and only three officers who didn’t look all that confident – even with their firearms. “It’s where they’ll stay until trial.”
Justice leaned forward. “You do not have jurisdiction over my wolves. No state does.”
“As far as my representative informs me, that hasn’t been voted on yet,” the chief said forcefully.
“Which means they are still under my control and I demand their release.” Justice stood to his full height, his brothers following right behind him.
“You freaks of nature don’t scare me. If you try to do anything at all to me, I won’t stop until all of your kind are thrown in goddamn cages. At least the vampire leader guaranteed the vampires that caused the death of one of my officers will pay with their own lives. Each of them. They won’t just get a slap on the wrist… or in your case, paw… and told to be a good boy.”
“You continue to insult my Alpha!” Alek snapped, making the three officers jump back, their hands hovering over their service weapons.
“Calm down, brother,” Mac said, putting his hand on Alek’s shoulder and pushing until he was sitting. Macauley was the one who usually kept a sensible head and insults never ruffled him. Justice was glad he was there to help them because he didn’t like the rude comments or jibes the chief kept throwing at them, as if they were nothing but annoying dogs. “Let’s all sit, please. Nothing will get accomplished this way.”
“Chief Johnson, please sit back down. Tell your officers to relax. It’s okay.” Farica removed the tense aura from the room, her soft blue eyes narrowing in on the chief, who was helpless to look away. The tight lines smoothed around the stocky man’s mouth and eyes, and his jaw wasn’t as stern as before. His sister didn’t have magical powers, it was simply inbred in her to soothe.
The chief finally took his chair with a resigned sigh. “Fine. I’m sorry for saying that. It was unnecessary. But you have to understand my position too, um, Alp... Alpha Ze—”
“You can call me Justice.” Justice stopped the stumbling man.
“Justice. I have terrified citizens afraid to come out of their homes because of your anim—… shifters. I got business owners complaining that their revenue’s declining. I got a grieving widow ringing my phone every hour wanting answers about who’s being held accountable for her husband’s death. If someone took your spouse from you, wouldn’t you want your day in court? How do you expect me to tell this woman that I let her husband’s killers go because they mentally couldn’t handle being behind bars? I’ve heard about your specially designed shifter jail. All the amenities and freedom make the prison completely ineffective.”
Taleb put his hand up and responded before Alek could speak. “I think it’s safe to say that humans don’t handle incarceration or solitary confinement very well, either, Chief. Your city’s violent offender’s recidivism rate rose from forty-two to fifty-nine percent last year. With all due respect, sir, your prisons are not all that effective, either. Please, let Justice take the wolves. His enforcers will escort them personally to our facilities.”
“Give me something, Justice. The vampire leader will be enforcing the death penalty. Did you know they had that?” The chief reared back in his seat, his navy-blue suit jack pulling tight across his thick midsection.
“No, I did not.” Justice was stunned. The death penalty? What kind of leader just killed off his own brotherhood without a second thought? Justice had always heard vampires were cold, vicious beings but he hadn’t wanted to believe nay-sayers since he’d never encountered one personally in his thirty-three years. Justice was reconsidering if collaborating with the head vampire would work. He couldn’t be sure the Vampire King wouldn’t attack him. “I will not kill my wolves. I will discipline them, I give you my word.”
