Endangered Species
Cooler Heads

“Give me your hands,” my wolf spoke into my head as pandemonium broke out.

I closed my eyes and focused, giving my wolf control of my handcuffed wrists and hands. I felt the partial shift begin, my wrists lengthening as my hands turned to narrower paws. The steel cuffs slid off as my paws and claws grew in. The clang of steel on concrete distracted Corporal Bad Breath, who had his combat knife out and was moving in. He extended his right hand, the blade moving towards my chest. I slid to the right as my left arm moved to push his wrist away. He tried to pull his blade back and swing for my neck, but he couldn’t compete with my wolf speed and reflexes. Whipping my right hand up, then left and across, the nails raked across the left side of his neck. They sliced through skin, muscle, and artery, sending blood spraying from the wound. I used a front kick to knock him clear of me, moving my attention to his three companions.

One had unshouldered his M-4 rifle and was bringing it to bear. The man never had a chance; another sniper round hit him in the right side, bypassing the body armor protecting his front and back. The two guards remaining realized how exposed and vulnerable they were to the sniper. They wisely ran for cover behind one of the stalled vehicles in front of the building.

I had to end this; a gun battle with the Army wasn’t in my best interest, and I was hopelessly outgunned. A sniper outside the fence wouldn’t be enough. “Get out of there,” Bruce sent to me. “I’ll cover you.”

“I need to be here,” I responded. I completed my shift, my remaining clothes shredding as my silver wolf emerged. Many of the people watching had never seen a werewolf shift before, and it gave me a moment of hesitation I needed. Sitting back on my haunches, I let out a piercing howl.

The future of humanity depended on the reaction of the Army soldiers in the next few seconds. If they panicked? If they couldn’t see past my form and saw me as their enemy? I’d get filled with enough lead to sink a boat. I was betting on goodwill from the healings I’d done to keep me alive.

Thankfully, it was the Ranger Captain who came to my aid. “STAND DOWN,” he ordered in a loud voice. “WEAPONS LOWERED AND ON SAFE!”

It took a few seconds for the soldiers to comply. “Get inside. NOW!”

They didn’t hesitate to comply with the sun starting to heat their skin and a werewolf sitting in the open. Thirty seconds later, only the Captain remained. He showed me his empty hands before starting his approach. “The General was out of line. I won’t hurt you. My name is Josh Wenzel, ” I looked towards the building, where dozens of soldiers watched. “They won’t do anything. Call off your sniper, Alpha Summers. We need to talk.”

“Fall back and wait,” I ordered Bruce. “I still have a chance to settle this without more bloodshed.”

“Understood, Alpha. Leave the link open, please.”

“Come inside with me, Alpha. Let’s talk,” the Captain said. I liked him already; he was a man of action and honor. Why couldn’t a man like that be in charge? He was only a Captain; someone else would end up running the base. I cocked my head, looking up at him with my mouth open and my tongue lagging to one side. “You saved my best friend from blindness, Ensign Summers. I’ve heard that you carried out your orders to the letter. I give you my word that no harm will come to you.”

I gave out a little yip, then stood up and slowly walked to his side. He left his hand hanging down from his side for me to sniff. My wolf didn’t smell fear, so I licked his fingers once. He started to walk towards the entrance. I stayed at his side, entering first when his men opened the doors to me. I blinked a few times as my eyes recovered from the light. Dozens of soldiers were standing around and watching as I walked with him to the stairway leading to the second-floor offices. I ignored the stares as I trotted along. My size and silver color made me distinctively different from anything they’d ever seen, and I was good with it.

The brass collection outside the General’s office had grown since we left. Standing outside the late General’s office was a severe-looking woman in a flight suit, the insignia of a Colonel on the shoulders. “What is going on, Captain?”

“I’m heading off a war, Colonel Morse,” he replied.

Her nametag read, “Ellen Morse, Deputy Base Commander, JBLM.” She looked at me, then at the others in the office. “Five minutes in the conference room. Major, replace her some clothes. I can’t talk with a dog.” My wolf growled at that disrespect. “Wolf. Take care of it. Staff to the conference room.”

The Major managed to scrounge a flight suit, socks, and boots for me. I followed her into the General’s office, shifting and pulling the clothes on. “This way,” the General’s aide said.

I followed her into the conference room, sitting at the opposite end of the table. The Captain stood behind me protectively, but it was a hostile audience. “You and your sniper killed General Payne and two members of our guard,” Colonel Morse said. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t carry out your execution order.”

“I’ll give you ninety-thousand reasons,” I replied. Over the next fifteen minutes, I explained to the command staff what the General had done. “I’d like to think that I’ve been able to bridge the gap between officer and Alpha. I don’t want you all to die, but I can’t sacrifice my people to your fears.”

“You are threatening me with a nuclear weapon,” Colonel Morse said.

“And you are threatening my people with a nuclear strike,” I replied evenly. “I don’t blame you; the people making these decisions don’t know me, and they don’t know the men and women I am leading. All they have heard is what the previous Pack leadership did. Those people are gone, just like the General is. There is still time for us to strike a deal that lets us all live.”

The Colonel had the orders given to Colonel Tester in front of her. “Is there no way to put the genie back in the bottle? I would have a stronger position with my bosses if you still had military structure and discipline. You reject my command authority and have deserted the Armed Forces, so we have a hostile force occupying a strategic nuclear base. That cannot continue.”

“I agree this situation cannot continue. Colonel, we are no longer the ‘hostile’ party. Did werewolves kill almost everyone at the base? Yes, they did. It was a mistake, one that I have corrected. My Pack is filled with former military members now. We have changed our ways, Colonel. We are reaching out to survivors, changing those who wish, and giving them a chance to survive. We are establishing areas of peace and order around our settlements when no one else is capable. Should one of our submarines return, I will ensure the crew’s safety. You cannot do what I can, Colonel.”

“Why not?”

I laughed. “Colonel, it has been weeks since the solar event. How much of the surrounding city have you helped? How many civilian survivors have received your medical care? How many are being fed and housed on the base? How many supplies have been collected and returned here for the common good?”

“The General didn’t allow us to operate outside the fence. Only those dependents with military identification were allowed inside during the crisis since we were on a wartime footing.”

I snorted. “Hundreds of thousands died, and you all did nothing. You have two weeks of food left and no plan to get more. If I wanted you dead, I’d surround and isolate you. The food will run out, and the smart ones will defect to my side. I could take the base at my leisure then. That would be the play if I wanted sole control of the Puget Sound area.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Do the people in your Command deserve to die, Colonel?”

“Of course not.”

I nodded. “Neither do my people. The nuclear option is off the table. You no longer have the capability to defeat my people, and I have no interest in defeating yours. We can work cooperatively, and we all live. I need to speak with your Command Authority. Let me negotiate an end to this madness.”

She looked around the room. “Captain Wenzel, escort Alpha Summers to the General’s office while we discuss our options.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied. I stood and was shocked as the others in the room stood for me, all except the Colonel. It was a level of respect I hadn’t expected.

Ten minutes later, I was back in the room. “The next opportunity for contact is not until thirty minutes after sundown,” Colonel Morse said. “We should all get some sleep. Captain, replace suitable quarters for our guest and return her here at sundown.”

And with that, I lived to negotiate another day.