His Amazon Warrioress ... Meeting of the Alpha Minds At O’Malley’s Gin Joint

Fireworks howls and yowls, shapeshifter lovers.

When it rains trouble, it pours trouble on Talbot's Peak. Mayor Gil has bought some time... but...

However, Delvezio couldn't be happier. He figures all he has to do is prove himself to his Amazon warrioress... but yeah, always easier howled, then accomplished. Right?

~~~~~~

His Amazon Warrioress

"Wolf," Kazmyra spat at the tall, oddly-garbed shapeshifter. She hauled back on the reins, preparing to do battle. "If you value your life, you will not attack."

Not two body's lengths away, the man stood staring up at her -- yet offered no sign he meant her harm. She had watched him leap from his strange metal wagon, then race toward her. No other from his gathering followed. Nor did any other of the shapeshifter inhabitants approach.

Never in all her days had she witnessed the signature energy forms of so many who could alter themselves to animal. Any moment, Kazmyra expected a charging vicious attack. Thus far, all she observed was curiosity carving the faces of those who watched her like a family of hawks. 

The alpha man who continued devouring her with his gaze, did so from carnal desire, and from a ravenous wish to learn about her. That was in her favor in this peculiar land.

"Wolf," he repeated. "Yes, I am man and wolf. My name is Delvezio." He spoke in a broken version of her language, and while the sound of his voice was pleasing, his accent was utterly unfamiliar to her ear.

"I greet you in the name of all who live here." The wolf human smiled, but not wide enough to bare his teeth.

"Here. What is this place? Where is this place?" Kazmyra soothed her nervous mare, stroking her neck. No doubt the unusual smells disturbed her.

'You have been brought to the future.'

The witch entered her mind with ease, and Kazmyra started before she could control herself. She grabbed hold of her lance's hilt, while scanning for the source of the supernatural voice. A woman with red-flowing hair similar in color to hers moved cautiously toward the wolf man, Delvezio.

'The lightning from the dying beast opened a pathway to this time, this place,' the witch explained. Her language couldn't be determined. It was the pictures flooding Kazmyra's head that caused her to understand, to realize she had been catapulted far, far away from her land. Her time on the MotherLand.

As the monster of uncertainty seized Kazmyra, she fought, dismissing her enemy, fear.

"This is Sapphyra, a friend." The wolf embraced the witch's shoulders to demonstrate his words.

"She understands me telepathically." Again, the witch's language remained a mystery as she spoke to Delvezio.

'I am telling him I can speak to your mind.' The woman, Sapphyra, sent waves of calmness, of a desire to help.

Able to sense deception despite any meek appearance, Kazmyra stated, "Tell Sapphyra I will accept her help. I am lost from my home land. Is there a place I might stay, where my battle skills will be useful?"

***

Delvezio repeated the Amazon's words, then asked, "Sapphyra, can you get leave from the bank today?"

"I was practically shoved out the door when I said I could possibly communicate with our newest arrival." Sapphyra gave a small, somewhat nervous laugh. "El Presidente said they'd survive without my managerial and psychic input."

"The Bull Man would say that." Delvezio shot what he hoped was a reassuring smile to the warrioress, who watched them with fierce, blue-jewel eyes. "She can stay at the ranch I've been renovating. First, why don't you establish a relationship with her. Anything you think she needs I'll pay for. I've got this unavoidable meeting with Mayor Gil —"

"No, you don't," Gil announced from somewhere behind Delvezio. "Since you evidently speak her...her language, I designate you in charge of making our latest arrival feel welcome."

From the mouth of destiny to the mayor's mouth... that's how Delvezio saw it. Inside he rejoiced. Yeah-howls! A full effing river of happiness overtook him, body and soul.

"How do you know her language?" Sapphyra was asking, even as she kept a friendly eye contact with the warrioress, who encompassed them with her intent gaze.

"My parents," Delvezio silently sent his thanks to them. "They researched, translated, and spoke ancient languages related to our heritage."

"There is a place where you are welcome, and needed for defense," Delvezio formally addressed, while his heart danced a tango. "You and your magnificent horse."

****

Meeting of the Alpha Minds At O’Malley’s Gin Joint

Questions, like a hive of pissed off bees, buzzed in Delvezio's head. Fresh  from the meeting with Mayor Gil, and the townsfolk, he and Dante strode side-by-side toward O'Malley's Gin Joint, a venerable institution in the Peak – and a safe haven from the SkyNet surveillance now aimed at Talbot's Peak territory.

To not give away their tech-advanced hand, their cyber team allowed a certain amount of spying, often subtly scrubbing the gathered info later. In this instance, the chessboard move had been deemed necessary, given the dire situation in Talbot's Peak.

A block away from the gin joint, Dante gave the hand signal that their cyber shield had been activated – this, under the guise of his friendly wave to someone who hollered his name.

"What the hell just happened in there?" Delvezio growled only for Dante's ears. "Besides protecting the mayor from those ready to call for a new election?"

"Yeah, had to put on a show to save Gil from a recall petition. We also had to act to save his were-squirrel butt from outside enemy forces." As he spoke, Dante took hold of Kitty's hand, bringing her close to his side."After you left for town, Basque wolfman, our AI-assassin girl dug deeper and found a new threat, not only to the mayor, but to every living soul in TP territory."

"A cat and mouse game directly from the evil empire." Righteous anger colored Kitty's outwardly calm voice.

"The whole fracking thing is a front for infiltration...for bad-guy occupation of our territory," Delvezio muttered in a low growl. "Gil didn't realize that, did he?"

"He thought after a meeting with Dante that he was making the right move by providing certain statistics to save our mountain water supply," Kitty offered. "I didn't realize how much the mayor was being pressured...blackmailed even. Threats were made against his children."

"Gil didn't want a midnight werewolf hunt, either," Dante growly added. "So, he played the political game. Biding for time. Said he didn't have time to contact me beforehand."

"The mayor still doesn't realize what we're really facing, does he?" Delvezio mused.

"Howls to hell, right on, Basque wolfman. Our Witch's Circle picked up on that fracking-op a few days ago, and warned me there was a real bad moon rising on the Peak. But we didn't have a reference point, or a designated enemy. Shadows remained shadows whenever our witches and psychics sought answers. On top of that our cyber team was too busy discovering ways to stealthily eliminate any and all census data from the state's computers, and from the NSA's digital cloud."

"Yeah, alpha-boss, I got it." Delvezio shoved open the door to O'Malley's for Dante and Kitty, then handed off to Vernon.

A sense of relief instantly flooded him. The older werewolf owner, Keirnan O'Malley, didn't allow any type of e-device in his vintage-style gin joint, and had with Dante's assistance, used key materials to insulate from wi-fi signals -- plus other harmful EMFs. And the coup de grace, O'Malley had outfitted his basement conference room with further shielding superior to a Faraday cage.

Most of Dante's Alpha Protection team waited in the conference room for a meeting of the minds. The temporary truce between Dante and his sire, Damien, still held, and once they entered, Delvezio scented the vicious werewolf, who had originally taken over Talbot's Peak. His top pack members were present, and surrounded their alpha, arms folded, legs braced.

In the far corner, Zhere Ghan regally perched on an over-sized pillow. His contingent of ninjas ringed him. Of late the Tiger Yakuza leader had proven to be a true ally in defending the Peak. Delvezio figured it was because the tiger shifter possessed a healthy sense of self preservation, and wanted to keep his local empire.

White Fang gave Dante a quick wink, the signal that the situation was under control. The super wolf, and another one of his kind, Night Runner, would be acting as referees -- for all intents and purposes, bad-ass bouncers. If needed.

Delvezio stationed himself near one of the exits, prepared to assist White Fang and Night Runner. And to speak should Dante give him the nod.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, I trust whatever food and drink you requested has been served," Dante began, his alpha authority obvious behind a soft paw. Once the murmurs and nods ceased, he continued. "Let's get this show on the road then. As some of you know, we face a military occupation of Talbot's Peak territory. Let me say, all ideas and solutions will be entertained. However, I ask that you hear me and my Protection team out first."

~~~~~~


Wishing you love and passion on the wild side ~ 

Savanna 

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance

The Bank Dick

"Okay, Toni." Sue had lost all patience. "Spill. If you're going to drag me all the way down to the exit, you'd better have a damn good reason."

"Don't I always?" Toni said breezily. "I need to go to the bank."

Sue gave her sister's outfit the once-over. Bright red lipstick, a black-and-gold sheath of a dress that fit Saran-wrap tight, hair styled and sprayed into place. Don't forget the shoes Sue coveted, that clacked like hooves and emphasized her tiny feet. Deer never dressed to attract predatory attention unless they were actively seeking it. "Maxed out the card again, huh? Need a loan?"

Toni just grinned. "I'm hoping to make a withdrawal."

She steered the car past what Sue had assumed would be their destination, the Talbot's Peak Credit Union, and pulled into another institution up the strip, the First National Bank of Montana. Sue would have jumped out of the car if she hadn't been seatbelted in. "Here? At a monkey bank? You don't even have an account here."

"Not yet."

Sue eyed her cousin trepidaciously. "We're not robbing the place, are we?"

"Not for money," Toni said, with a mysterious grin. "I wanted to get your opinion before I made a move."

Human-run banks, Sue thought. Artemis help them. She followed her sister inside, but at a safe distance, legs tensed to bolt if she had to.

Once in the spacious lobby, however, she forgot all about bolting. In fact, she forgot about almost everything, except—

Hey now.

He was big. He wore a faint scowl. His security guard's uniform strained over a 6'6" body beefy with rock-solid muscles. The uniform's trousers showed a similar bulge at the front. His hair, the black of slick Texas oil, was pulled back in a ponytail. He didn't wear a gun. Who would challenge him?

Sue's deer-in-headlights freeze thawed appreciably. She might, just to see how high she could get those trousers to tent.

Toni giggled. "I see I don't need to point him out."

"Holy Joe. How did you find this hunk?"

"Shoe shopping. I needed to use an ATM. I looked through the door and—" Toni reached over and gently eased her sister's gaping lower jaw back into place. "Yeah. Pretty much that."

"You think it's real?"

"No, that's where he keeps his billy club. Of course it's real. It's gotta be real." Toni licked her lips.

"He's not human, is he? I mean, this is a human-owned bank."

"I don't think so. Not with a body like that. He has to be a bull of some kind. Buffalo, maybe. He's got that look." Her gaze dropped to his crotch. "And everything else."

"You were right about one thing," Sue murmured. "I'd open an account here to get close to that. You can definitely watch your interest grow."

"Think we can get him to make a deposit in our vaults?"

"Checking or savings?"

The girls giggled. Sue's cut off when she realized—"Omigawd, he's coming over here!"

The two deer clutched each other's hands and helplessly watched the brawny guard saunter over. His voice was as deep as the Grand Canyon. "Ladies. Can I help you?"

"Uh," Sue said. "We were just … " Her gaze dropped automatically to his belt, and below.

The guard sighed. "Yeah. I get a lot of that."

"I'll just bet you do," Toni purred.

Up close, he was definitely herbivorous. Not a whiff of meat-taint on him. Reassured, Sue groped after control of her voice. "We're not here on bank business," she blurted. "It's more of a bet. My sister says you're a buffalo. I say elk." And if he was a vegetarian human, she'd just given them away. Sue didn't need Toni's elbow in her ribs to tell her that.

Fortunately the guard just grinned. "It's buffalo. Whoever has to buy lunch now, I recommend Ollie's. It's about a half mile back up the strip. You can't beat the salad bar."

Toni sidled closer to him. "Any chance of a police escort?"

"I'm not a cop, miss, just a security guard. And unless you have actual business here, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Oooh," Toni simpered. "So forceful."

"I thought deer were supposed to be timid."

"Never been through the rut, have you?" Sue grabbed her sister by the arm and dragged her toward the door. "Sorry about this. We'll be going."

"Miss?"

Sue half-turned. "Yes?"

The buffalo smirked at them both. "It's not a club. And I get off work at three-thirty."

"Oh? Ah." He was standing with his legs apart, like he knew what that would do to a woman. Of course he knew. He was a buffalo bull.

Sue lifted her chin. "We'll see." She marched out the door with Toni in tow.

"Oh my." Toni practically melted all over the car seat. "Sign me up for the free toaster."

"Knock it off. We've got work to do."

Toni stared dreamily at the bank. "Such as?"

"Lunch, first. We'll need our strength. Then we've got three hours to find me a sexier dress." Sue made a face at her modest pumps. "And a better pair of shoes."

And The Truth Shall Set You Free

Gill looked around the table, noting every face and person present.  Many of the Peak’s elite citizens sat around the table.  Several shot him dirty looks.  Others glared at him and looked away.  Some nodded and went back to talking amongst themselves.  Gill swallowed hard and looked back to the head of the table where Dante sat.  To his left, Vernon sat along with Delvezio who gave everyone at the meeting the once over twice.

Dante rapped on the table drawing all eyes to him.  He raised his glass and drank.  Everyone at the table followed suite.  Gill drank a second time savoring the flavor coating his tongue and taste buds.  The rich mineral water came from the well deep within the mountains surrounding the town.  Having gotten used to the taste and flavor lemon juice added to the liquid, Gill knew what this precious commodity meant to the town and its surrounding farm lands. 

 As Dante lowered his glass, he spoke.  “Many of you believe Gill is siding with the enemy.  The outsiders as we refer to them.”

Murmurs sounded and heads nodded.  Dante tapped on the table drawing attention to him again.  He continued speaking.  “For a while now, we’ve grown in size and population.  New species of shifters call the Peak home as well as other supernatural beings.  Our human citizens’ numbers are increasing too.”

Vernon cleared his throat as Dante paused.  He glanced at Dante who nodded.  Vernon rose, speaking as he made his way around the table.  “To survive and thrive, we’ve got to come together.  Separation of species is tolerable to a point.  Some are crossing lines and forming families.  Uniting is in our best interest.”

Vernon flipped open the flip chart setting on the easel to Dante’s left.  “This is a topography map of the town and surrounding land holdings.”

Dante pushed back from the table, flipped to the next page, and spoke.  “Recent rumblings at the state capital want to use the eminent domain to start fracking for oil not far from here.”

“There goes the water table,” Gill said as he rose, making his way around the table.  “Also strangers.  Not ones that pass through or decide to stay because they found a place to call home.  One that will snoop and dig.”

Murmurs started.  The noise grew.  Dante leaned on his hands, growling low.  Many of the wolves present silenced.  Vernon moved between Gill and Dante.  “Gill, Dante, and I covertly met when the first state agent drove into town and approached Gill.”

Dante righted himself.  “We knew getting the state to leave us alone would take some doing.”

“I prefer an open door policy,” Gill offered as he spoke in his defense.  “That wasn’t an option this time.”

“Why not?” a voice called out.  Others added their comments until the fervor grew intense.

Dante and Vernon rapped on the table until quiet filled the room.  Dante spoke first.  “Because sometimes you have to surprise the enemy.  Aka the blasted state. “

“Yes spilling everything isn’t good policy and you all know this.” Vernon sat down as he said more.  “How many of you would have scared the crap out of the state agents and personnel in hopes of running them out of town?”

Heads began to duck.  Many looked away.  Vernon chuckled.  “Believe me the thought crossed our minds more than once.  This time there was no easy way out.”

Gill tapped the flip board.  “The state will declare our area off limits if we can show them certain pieces of information.  The good old statistics that lead to hash marks.”

Dante stood raising his hand.  “So a united Peak working together can fudge some wonderful numbers and show off our organic farms.  Lovely pesticide free orchards and gardens as well as our solar powered sewer system.”

“Oh man that place stinks worse than road kill on a super-hot asphalt.”  Laughter followed.

“Very true,” Dante added.  “So Gill didn’t sell us out.  Instead he lit the fuse that got many talking and ready to act.”

“So now what?”  

“We start informing the city about the next phase.  Damn state agents and personnel roaming around.”  Vernon leaned back in his chair.  He winked at Gill who stood behind Dante.  

Gill reminded himself to take deep breaths and count with each one.  Brainstorming how to get the word out was next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAPPY WEEKEND GANG!

Well the truth comes out.  Or is there more to come?

Hope you and yours are staying dry and safe with this bout of weird summer weather we're dealing with.  Even the spice homestead had to deal with crap from it.  We're on our way to bouncing back.  Let's hope the next round is a stalemate.  If this is what we got now, what is our winter going to look like?

Keep a few good books handy to share with your loves and spice.  I've got a few to do that with myself.

Until next week,

Solara

Friday Funny

Just dropping in to share a bit of a funny today...

Edina is still hyperventilating outside the door to her review by the town's Dom's and refuses to go inside just yet, so I'm giving her a break.

Nick and Ziva are still dealing with new parent issues and might be sharing some of their foibles soon...I hope so, anyway.

So instead of a flash, I thought I'd share my idea of a perfect retirement career!  All this place needs is me in a great chair out front, sipping an ice tea with lemon.  :D

~~~

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Serena

There's not even enough asprin in the world...

I was up on the roof yesterday, working on it. Let's be honest here, I'm not exactly young and not at all fit. I spent all day trying to clean the roof so I could coat it in that rubber stuff that's supposed to block 80% of solar heat and not only did I not get done, my whole body hates me right now. I'm actually glad I'm still working on my edits because that gives me a reason to sit inside and do sit-down work without feeling like a lazy slug!

Ok, I don't have any flash fiction today. Not anything new, anyway. I thought about re-posting something, but decided not to. I have been working on some new stuff, so I thought I might share a snippet of that. It's a sci-fi story that got started with a rather silly writing prompt. "Write a six word sci-fi story." The first line is my six sentense "story." I hope you like it.

~Rebecca

* * * * * * * * * *

"Wanted: bionic dog with opposable thumbs."

“Eh, no,” Stormy Macklemore replied, not bothering to look at the ad being pointed out by her younger brother by seven minutes. She took a big slurp from her protein slushy, brain freeze be damned, because there was no way she was going to look at the listing that was currently highlighted on Duke’s e-reader. Looks wise, the only difference between the twenty-eight year old twins was their gender and the eight inches duke had over her 5’3” in height. Both had straight, dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and pale complexions. Both had square faces, clefts in their chins, button noses, and athletic builds. Stormy’s hair was a little longer than Duke’s crew cut, but only by a couple inches and only on top. Personality wise, they almost weren’t related. Duke loved absurdity in all its forms and Stormy would rather be doing something useful with her time.

“You sure about that?” Duke asked, his tone implying great mirth at her expense. “Says here that the buyer is looking for an animal capable of—”

“I don’t care,” Stormy cut in before Duke could get momentum going. He had developed a deep love of reading the classifieds as a teen back on Earth, looking for oddball listings. It hadn’t taken long for him to figure out how to get them on his tablet once they’d found their way to the planet Thespis. He had been rewarded for his effort, as the population of Thespis was equally in love with posting odd things in the classifieds.

Thespians were an odd sort. Mostly humanoid looking avians, they were highly intellectual and hadn’t a mean bone in any of their feathery little bodies. There also didn’t seem to be any common sense. Really, what would bionic dogs with opposable thumbs even do in an avian population group? She slammed that thought down fast, not wanting to know the answer to that. One of the joys of having ADHD, a syndrome Duke had been spared, was that once something like that got stuck in her head, it wasn’t going to go away until something else came along to dislodge it. She was currently sitting behind the controls of their shuttle, the Icarus, at the beginning of a run that would take four days. She didn’t really want to spend the next four days pondering cybernetically enhanced pets.

Delvezio slid his car, a classic sports convertible he'd rebuilt...

Happy Belated Summer Solstice howls and yowls, shapeshifter lovers.

Well, it seems not everyone in Talbot's Peak is *overjoyed* with the idea of Mayor Gil's census, even for a larger food supply. This is their side of the story... And! Yes, this flash scene is also a continuation of last week's flash, Amazon Warrioress In Talbot's Peak.

Btw, a warning: the copyright cartel in Hollywood is attempting to copyright everything not nailed down, and nailed down... D*sney, the mouse empire, wants to send you a bill even if you say their company name in a personal email. No, this isn't a joke. This was just reported by Max Kaiser, a man in the know.
~~~~~~

Delvezio slid his car, a classic sports convertible he'd rebuilt...

Determined to wolf-nip trouble in the bud or the butt, Delvezio slid his car, a classic sports convertible he'd rebuilt, into the parking spot closest to the Peak's radio station. Not wanting to miss one word of Mayor Gil's appeal to line up for a census, he touched the volume of his radio on high, then settled back, one arm slung across the back of his two-seater.

On instinct, Delvezio sniffed the wind. The green-blooming smells of summer buzzed pleasurably through him, and he cracked a quick smile. As well, his wolf salivated over the plateful of delicious food odors wafting from various restaurants. For moments, he gathered in the informative scents about his Peakite family, who was in town and their location.

Delvezio couldn't help shaking his head at the current situation. Where the miscommunications had occurred, he and Dante couldn't figure. He swiped his hand through his wind-tangled, longish hair.

Over a late dinner at the English Pub, he and Dante had banged their two brains together in an attempt to discover, to analyze what had gone wrong. Word from their mole in the mayoral mansion was that Gil believed Talbot's Peak was short of food, and needed state aid.

Was new fatherhood somehow causing the mayor to be wrongly concerned about the amount of 'eats' available? Had he forgotten how to decode their emails? Yeah-snarls, coded because hackers ruled the cyber world, and the dark net was a convenient dumping ground for their hacking victories.

Yip-grrrs... obvious as original sin, no one in the outside world needed to know about the gargantuan, five years worth of food, medicines, and other necessities carefully catalogued and stored at the subterranean shelter, that was attached to the Pleasure Club complex.

As the man-wolf in charge of purchasing supplies for Dante's enormous underground emergency shelter, Delvezio had kept the mayor in the loop, appraising him of their latest preparations, of how much food they'd stored, and now had access to -- especially from Zance and Dontoya's cattle-buffalo ranch... and TP's own Digger, the gardening wolf shifter, and his rabbit shifter cohorts. In fact, all around town, in the public areas, folks had planted veggies and fruits that were free for the picking when ripe. And no pesticides allowed.

Delvezio impatiently tossed his head, and bared his teeth for an instant. Then he fine-tuned in the Tabs and Fuzzy show... not his humor bone to chew on, but he admired their early-morning dedication, and their willingness to let it 'all hang out'.

As he kept his outer cool, his inner wolf snapped at the aggravation of having to handle this political snafu, instead of visiting the small, organic berry farm that was willing to sell whatever their regular customers didn't buy. But they'd requested a face-to-face with him first.

Hell howls, for the last year, he and his team had busted their butts setting up an organic greenhouse supply chain throughout their Talbot's Peak territory. They'd also traveled the state contracting with ranchers and farmers. And not to further growl about the local hunters who brought in their surplus meat for storage in the nearby, ice-cool cave his team had outfitted.

Delvezio knew he didn't mean it...Gil was a good guy with a caring heart...but it almost felt like the mayor slapped him across the muzzle.

"Del...Delvie" the feminine, feline voice hailed. With an amused mumble-grumble under his breath, he watched the audacious teenager, Brenda Oldman, head toward him, her gait a slinky run.

"Brenda," he co-opted the conversation first, "heard you had quite the serenade the other night." Delvezio grinned wolf-large.

She sauntered closer, turning on her female charm. Every line of her body oozed with her budding sexuality, as did her smile. "Yeah, well...it was kinda flattering, if you know I mean. Course, Dad, had to make a big production out of it, chase them off by actually throwing shoes." Brenda rolled her eyes.

"Dads are like that. Always protecting their daughters." Delvezio gave her a paternal grin to remind Brenda, once again, that he had no carnal interest in her. However, he certainly appreciated her real enthusiasm as a regular volunteer who collected leftover food from the Pleasure Club's restaurants, then distributed it to area families needing a helping paw -- mostly to those who lived a good long trek from town. "I hope you're planning an extra special day for your Dad."

"Mom, I, and the brother, are treating him to one of McDuff's Scottish meals. Dad's got a thing for the Scot's Best of Breed Pub, and the hearty fare there, as he calls it." With a teenager's patented dismissive shrug, Brenda added. "The scones and clotted cream are always good."

"Nobody does it better than Duff McDuff when it comes kilt-wearin' dining." Delvezio rumbled a short laugh at his botched imitation of the Scottie dog warrior.

"The kilt-wearing scenery is hot." Brenda naughtily smiled as she sidled closer.  She rested a hip on the side of his convertible. "You've never told me where you're from, and I can't place that yummy accent of yours."

"The Basque Country in northern Spain." Delvezio made a show of increasing the radio's volume. When Brenda didn't a chatter a followup, he glanced at her. "Do you need a lesson in geography?"

"Maybe," she sing-sang while rocking her shoulders. "Awesomely explains why you remind me of a matador, but you don't look exactly Spanish."

"I hope that's a compliment," Delvezio bantered as he straightened from the radio.  He beamed a paternal smile at her.

"Sure is. But hey, handsome, why are you in town this early?"

"I'm meeting with the mayor after his radio debut with our infamous local celebrities, Tabs and Fuzzy." 

"Oh...wow. Okay. Gotta run some errands for Mom. See ya later." With a dazzling, come-hither smile, Brenda spun around and hurried off.

"Teenage girls, especially cat shifters... gotta love 'em," Delvezio growly muttered, then eased back against the leather seat. Unlike Dante, and many of the wolf alphas in the Peak, he'd never been a cat-tail chaser, preferring the company of lady canine shifters. Usually.

As he waited, Delvezio waved to many who passed by, including the bunny twins as he thought of them. Since arriving two years ago, he'd become friendly with many in town, especially those he did business with on behalf of Dante's emergency shelter.

Hearing Gil's intro, he laser-focused his attention.

"Mind if I join you?" Kitty's quiet but intense voice cut through his thoughts instantly. Delvezio shot his gaze to her.

"Hop in, Dante's girl. Sounds like our mayor is about to make his pitch."

"You would think our protest-raid when Linc was mayor, that Gil would be smarter than this. Wonder what's got his tightie-whities in a wad? Not enough nuts this time of year?" Kitty spoke as she slid into the seat next to him.

"Could be a case of mind control. Voice-to-skull tech is being used like there's no tomorrow. Although, our cyber team didn't find any conclusive evidence of an electronic attack on Gil." 

"The world is getting more wonky-insane everyday. Stress could be kicking the mayor in the pants, even though we've managed to keep a good quality of life here in the Peak. Still, dangle goodies in front of some, and they can't resist what looks like a free handout."

Delvezio heard Kitty sigh deeply a moment before Gil launched into his well-meant, heartfelt appeal to Peakites. How many would leap like a fish for the baited hook... Delvezio put the bite on his thoughts. If he couldn't convince the mayor TP didn't need state aid, and too many jumped aboard this train to certain hell... other peaceful measures would have to be taken.

"Brain-addled," Kitty muttered in a low yowl, once Gil finished speaking.

"Has da mayor gone bonkers-wonkers? What bad movie am I watchin here?" Ralph the Bear stopped in his tracks, and aimed his gaze at Delvezio. "Who's he tryin' to kid here? I ain't no puppet. Nobody from the government is pullin' my strings, tellin' me what I can eat like they're doin' in those human warehouse schools. Those poor kids ain't got a chance. Their brains are gonna be mush."

Delvezio could only nod in agreement. He couldn't have spoken it better.

"That's right," Sozchy, the Love Wolfess, jumped in, her voice far more strident than when she was on the air with her 'love advice' radio show.  "What is the Mayor thinking? I like Gil, he's been a good mayor. But he's not thinking. Clearly not thinking," she emphasized, her jaw tight. "Doesn't he get the long-term game?" Sozchy balled her fists in anger. "First they lure us in with free food, then they'll tell us we won't be able to forage or hunt in our own forests for food. Not if we want more handouts. And they'll be some who get hooked, and believe they can't survive. That's what they did to the Native Americans. They stole their land, and forced them to become dependent."

"You gotta do something, Del." Graystone, one of the ranchers who sold eggs and chickens to the Pleasure Club, stalked toward him, his face turning redder by the moment. Mostly human, with a wolf shifter grandfather, he'd settled in area, and now had a going concern, and a large family. "And I ain't lettin' my wife or children chomp down on any of that GMO Mon-Satan-O frankenfood they'll be foisting off on us. And if anyone else has got a lick o' sense, they won't mess with that crap either. But there's a group of fools at the post office celebrating like it's... what was that Purple Rain song?"

"Celebrating like it's 1999 by Prince, who isn't Prince, but is," Sozchy answered.

"I plan on meeting with the mayor soon as he returns to his office," Delvezio addressed the growing crowd. 

"They bring that pesticide-laden frankenfood here, and I'll burn it to the ground." Sharla brandished her designer bag. "On second thought, I'm getting my pitchfork and torch ready to run them out of town."

Before his mind's eye, Delvezio all too easily saw Sharla astride her black stallion shifter mate, Zoronado, flaming torch in hand. Everyone knew she was one feisty human, and didn't back down. 

"Hold on." Delvezio raised his hand in a conciliatory manner. "Dante and I will be working behind the scenes to keep everything as it is, and keep the state out of our supernatural-morphing hair."

"I say my mate is quite correct in this matter." Zoronado appeared from somewhere, and claimed his Sharla's waist. "It is wise to prepare now. We cannot allow such a travesty."

"No, we can't," Delvezio firmly stated. "You're right. Everyone prepare. In the meantime, let me talk with the mayor. Nip this in the butt."

"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best." Kitty softly spoke in the momentary silence.

"Recall petition!" Mary Lou shouted in a whinny, being a horse shifter. Even in her human form, she galloped toward them. "What's the mayor doing? Even thinking about letting any state official in our town. If I have to, I'll boycott the mayor and any business that goes along with this... hell's bells, with any state law. I've had enough!"

"Good idea," Kitty yelled to the ever-burgeoning crowd. "Who's onboard with a recall petition? That is, if Gil continues on this 'dangerous to us' all path."

"Besides," Mary Lou sniffed loudly. "What about my business, TP's Livestock Center? I'll lose the business I need to keep going, folks. I've got hay and grain shipments coming in by the truckload. Enough for everyone. And everyone knows I keep my prices fair."

Delvezio knew for a fact Mary Lou did keep her prices fair as possible. He, and one of his trusted team members, regularly worked with her to make certain all the area ranchers received the feed they needed for their livestock.

"Dang, if you're not right on point, Mary Lou. I know I'll lose business, and who knows how many of us small entrepreneurs will lose business, even have to go out of business." Ben, a brown bear shifter, and an organic seed supplier to the local farmers, barreled through the crowd to pin Delvezio with his outraged gaze. "Many of us moved to the Peak for the good opportunities here, and the freedom to do business."

"Here, here!" Stormy, a local rancher, and Dane, the puma shifter's mate, hollered. We got a good thing going in this Talbot's Peak community. We know how to regulate ourselves, and take care of our own. Why are we going to let anyone ruin that?"

"I'm for running anyone going along with this outta town. Like Sharla says. And I got the bikers to do it." Stephanos, a wolf-lion hybrid, barking-roared loud enough to be heard above the crowd.

"Stephanos," Kitty calmly addressed. "I'm with you. I'll ride with you, if it comes to that. But, there's no use in starting a civil war right here in our beloved Peak. I'm certain Dante has a plan to circumvent all of this. If need be."

"Let me say this," Delvezio calmly boomed his voice. "Most of you know Dante has a crack cyber team. Let's just say, this team has stopped certain intrusions by the establishment, and the state already."

Murmurs spiked and peaked around Delvezio as this info was absorbed.

The rapid clatter of hoofbeats startled them all. Delvezio leaped upward, standing on his car seat. What met his gaze simply astounded him, and he was damn well used to the unusual, to any number of paranormal events. His life had been nothing but such supernatural happenings. Since his birth.

A woman warrior, astride a horse the color of burnished gold, galloped in his direction. She reminded him of the legendary Amazon-tribe women, and was so breath-stealing in beauty, he gasped inward.

His heart clattered along with the sound of her horse's hooves, as "Omygawd," tidal-waved around him.

"Has she come to take on the mayor?" Ben, the bear baritone-shouted.

"I hope so," chorused around Delvezio.

****

TO BE CONTINUED...

~~~~~~


Wishing you love and passion on the wild side ~ 

Savanna 

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance

My Little Chickadee

Mr. Crowe came to the doorway of his private study. "Miss Finch. I need you to take dictation."

He returned to his desk and waited. Miss Finch appeared promptly, as always, and took her accustomed chair before the desk. She was covered from throat to ankles in a wool sweater and long skirt. She made sure he was eyeing the skirt before she crossed her long, skinny legs. Five-inch stiletto heels peeked out from beneath the skirt's ruffled edges.

Mr. Crowe swallowed carefully. "Aren't you hot in all those clothes?"

"I'm quite comfortable, sir." She looked at him blandly over the wire binding of her steno pad. She held a feathery quill pen. She fluttered the feather against her cheek, her eyes intent upon him.

"Take a letter, Miss Finch."

"Yes, sir." She sat with quill poised over pad.

"Dear Miss Finch: That sweater you're wearing is much too bulky. Please remove it at once."

Without batting an eye Miss Finch stood and pulled the sweater over her head. She draped it over the back of her chair. She was wearing a strip of lace across her breasts. Her nipples poked aggressively at the fabric.

Miss Finch took her seat. Her skirt rode up her thigh. Those heels were calf-high boots, and genuine leather.

"I don't want you tripping over that skirt, either," he said. "Take it off."

She rose again and unwrapped the skirt. A similar scrap of black lace covered her bird's-nest. He could see no trace of hair. "Miss Finch, did you get a Brazilian wax?"

"On my day off, sir."

"You charged it to the company?"

She shrugged.

"It's against company policy to charge such things to the company. You will have to be reprimanded. Come here and bend over my desk."

Miss Finch did as instructed. Mr. Crowe peeled her panties away from the flat little mounds of her ass. He brushed them with the feather end of the quill while he debated: spank or tickle?

Her giggles weren't helping matters any.

"C'mon, Pru," he muttered. "Stay in character. I'm having a hard enough time keeping it together without you starting in on a giggle fit."

"Sorry." She winked at her husband. "Schnookibutz."

"That's it." He smacked her bottom soundly. She yelped. "Now we've got twenty minutes before I have to drive out to the construction site. How much of the script do we need to skip?"

"We're not skipping this." She reached around and snatched the quill out of his hand. "I've got plans for this."

He shook his head, grinning. "They told me when I married you warblers were wild in the sack."

"They told me crows had huge tailfeathers."

"That's magpies. If you try to claim bait and switch again—"

"Speaking of switch … " She pulled him down to the rug and positioned herself on top. For a little bird she could be tough as an ox when it mattered. Their love life mattered to her. A lot. "If we've only got twenty minutes, I'd better take the reins. You'll spend half the time getting my bra off."

"That's a bra? I thought it was duct tape."

"That's tonight." She tore open his shirt and buried her fingers in the dark curly hairs of his chest. "Have I ever sung you the mating song of the purple finch?"

"You mean the one that ends with that shriek when I—"

"That's the one. Pucker up, sweetie." She bent over him and went to work.