"Okay, it's all yours then. Now, on to the boring stuff," Roxy said and turned the floor over to her father, so he could tell them all what the governor was doing to help them this week.

  #

  "Who'd Adam kill this time?" Terri sighed and sat up in bed as Steve set the phone down on the headboard and smiled up at her. Terri looked very enticing right now, seeing as she was naked.

  "Nobody; however, it appears he's going to ask all the other lions." Steve looked over at Tisha, who was stretching now, and enjoying the looks of her equally enticing body now that she'd kicked off the sheets, "about infecting soldiers."

  "How many soldiers?"

  "All of them."

  Tisha sat up like a shot. "Wait, he…what?"

  Steve laughed and, putting an arm around each of them, he gave them a hug. Two wives, yeah, this was going to take some getting used to, but hey! He deserved it!

  "Chad wants to infect all the military units in the area; he says, like it or not, we have to do it. Adam seems to think the First will agree. So he's off to get permission, and we need to have a little talk with the president about it."

  "On a Sunday?" Terri grumped. "I was looking forward to spending the day in bed!" She looked over at Tisha and leered. For her part, Tisha was leering right back. Steve had found the whole process fascinating. Terri was still finding her way, dealing with a third in the marriage, but Tisha had fallen right in line, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  Which, when Steve stopped to think about it, it was for her.

  The only thing weird about it was, suddenly Nate and a couple of the other lycan women in the office were starting to give him the eye.

  "Be that as it may, we need to get cleaned up, head over there, and discuss this."

  "It's Sunday," Terri griped.

  "She has a point, Steve," Tisha agreed.

  "Your mate has spoken and made a decree!" Steve said, raising his hand and pointing to the ceiling. "Heed me, my women!"

  "Sounds like someone needs to be taken down a peg," Terri said, looking over at him.

  "Or several even," Tisha agreed.

  "Hush, women! Obey me!" Steve said, grinning.

  "See, this is why lionesses like prides," Tisha said, looking over at Terri. "We outnumber him."

  "Ooooh!" Terri said, getting an evil look in her eyes.

  "Hey! Stop that! Put those hands away! Ieeee!" Steve started giggling, then laughing as they both attacked him, going after his ticklish spots.

  It finally ended with the two of them sitting on top of Steve, something he then took ruthless advantage of. One thing led to another, and then another, then it was well after lunchtime, nearing dinnertime.

  "Okay," Steve said, catching his breath. "Tisha, talk to the First and find out what they've decided. Terri, call the Whitehouse and tell them we'd like to come over for dinner to discuss a few points."

  "What'll you be doing?" Terri asked him.

  "Recovering. I have no idea how Sean keeps up with six, I can barely keep up with two!"

  "You're just not as repressed as he was is all." Terri snickered and sat up, then paused a moment. "Whoa, I don't think you're the only one who needs to work on their stamina! Give me a moment, then I'll make the call."

  Stewart's Nice Evening Out

  It was late, well after sunset. Roxy and Daelyn were out on the helipad helping to repair one of the guns in the M2 system when Oak came running out.

  "What's wrong?" Roxy growled the moment she saw him.

  "Those djevels turned up! In Sacramento!"

  "Oh, shit." Roxy sighed. "Do we know anything about it?"

  "Walter Clark, the Sapientia leader there, just called. They had a big fight with them northeast of the city. They slaughtered over a hundred people before anyone knew what was going on. By the time Sapientia got there, the demons were off again. He needs help. He doesn't have the weapons or the people to deal with it."

  "Damn. Find Art, have him put together a team. He's from there; his people should know the area. I'll roust number three's flight crew and we'll fly them in."

  "On it!" Oak said, sprinting towards the barracks as Roxy pulled out her phone and hit the quick-dial for Blue, the pilot for Blackhawk number three.

  "Why do we have to deal with it?" Daelyn asked. "Let the folks in Sacramento fight their own battles."

  Roxy snorted. "Cause I doubt there's anyone left in Sacramento who can. We got almost all their wolves."

  Daelyn sighed. "Good point."

  "I'm on my way!" Blue said answering his phone.

  "Good," Roxy said and hung up. She turned to the crew chief she was working with. "Let's go get number three ready!"

  "On it!"

  Art and his wife Sarah were having a pleasant evening, talking with their son Stewart and his two wives, Rachel and April. Art was actually enjoying getting to know his son better. He was definitely turning into the kind of man Art could be proud of. Just then Oak burst into the room.

  "What's up, Boss?" Art asked.

  "We've got a situation in Sacramento. The djevels who got past us when we got bombed are killing people. Nobody's set up to deal with it, so Roxy's sending somebody. As you're from Sacramento and know the area, you get to pick who's going."

  "I'll get Jester and his team. They're all solid and, best of all, they didn't go into town tonight."

  "Great! I'll tell Roxy!" Oak said and quickly left.

  Stewart stood up. "I'll go get my things and join them."

  "Wait, what?" Art said, looking at Stewart.

  "They're going to need some sort of magical support, Dad," Stewart said with a shrug. "I'm here, and I need to start pulling my own weight."

  "I didn't say you could go, son!" Art warned.

  Stewart smiled at him. "That's cool, because I didn't ask!" Turning, he gave April and Rachel each a kiss. "I'll be back by sunrise, I'm sure."

  "Stewart!" his mother Sarah said. "Didn't you just hear what your father said?"

  Stewart gave his mom a hug. "Mom, I know Jester and the guys. I'll be safe. Now I gotta jet."

  Art watched as Stewart gave him a wave and dashed out of the room.

  "Aren't you going to stop him?" Sarah asked, almost glaring at her husband.

  Art shook his head and smiled. "Nope, because dammit all if he isn't making me proud of him."

  Stewart ran to the locker room where his armor was kept. He didn't really have a full suit; he wasn't supposed to be part of the fighting, after all. But because he was a magic user, they'd made him one of those clamshell breast and back plates like the others got.

  Pulling off his shirt, he shifted into his hybrid form and put on the breastplate, grabbed an equipment belt, a bandoleer full of magazines, and grabbed his rifle from the rack. In one of those father-son bonding exercises, Art had taught him how to shoot, and Stewart had actually enjoyed it and gotten his own rifle.

  "What are you doing here?" Jester asked, coming into the room, followed by the rest of his team.

  "I figured you might appreciate a little magical support," Stewart said with a smile. "Besides, after all the shit my step-father pulled, I figured I owed you all."

  "Eh, we don't blame you for any of that, but you're more than welcome; I'll take all the help I can get on this one."

  "Hey, is it true Jace tied you up and was gonna kill you?" asked Porto, one of the wolves on Jester's team.

  "What the hell kind of a question is that, you moron!" Tracie, one of the femmes on the team, asked and smacked him on the back of the head.

  "What? I'm just curious is all!" Porto said with a scowl as he geared up.

  Stewart shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, he was going to, and shit man, you all knew Kurt. Can you blame him? Hell, I might have killed me too, just to get even with that old bastard. Happiest day of my life was when I found out he wasn't my father."

  Porto laughed. "Yeah, Art is the man."

  "And he's my dad, so say anything bad about him, I'll pop you one!" Stewart warned with a smile.

  "Great, now that we're all one big happy family, how about you all get your asses out to the flight line?" Jester growled.

  "Yes, Sir!" they all said and trotted out the door.

  Stewart could see the crew scrambling to get the helicopter prepped, and just as they all piled in the back, the engines started up and the main rotor started to turn.

  "Put your headset on, Stew, it'll cut down on the noise."

  "You know, I could just cast a silence spell on it," Stewart told Jester as he put the special headset plugs into his ears.

  "Save it until we get to Sacramento. We may need it." Jester paused a moment. "You ever been in a helicopter before?"

  "Nope, first time!"

  "Okay, just remember to keep your head down when you get out. And strap yourself in. Some of these pilots are real hotshots; then again, some of them, like this one, can barely keep it level, and you may just fall out." Jester looked up at Blue, who was holding his left hand up giving him the finger, while doing something to the controls with his right hand.

  "Got it," Stewart said and grinned.

  When they took off a few minutes later, the pilot gunned it and they ascended quickly. He turned them west, and it wasn't long before they were on their way.

  "How long is this going to take us?" Stewart asked.

  "About forty-five minutes," Blue replied over the radio. "We have to deal with the mountains, so we can't fly straight there."

  "Doesn't this thing go over the mountains?"

  "Not that easily. So we skirt the taller ones."

  "Oh, didn't know that," Stewart said and, settling down, he got his phone out and decided to send a text to his old 'friend' Todd Schaffer, the guy he'd bought Rachel from. Maybe he'd heard something no one else had.

  'Hey, dude, hear about any demons running around Sactown?' Stewart sent.

  'Hell's yeah! It's all over the news! They slaughtered everyone at the Mardi Gras like two hours ago!'

  'They hit the bowling alley? WTF?'

  'IKR! Gary's going crazy! Trying to get somebody to do something about it, but they're all STFU.'

  'Any idea where they're at?'

  'OFC! They're in one of the warehouses by the old prison camp.'

  'The place with the radars?'

  'Yeah, that place. My boy Clark has a body shop in there. We was on the phone when they busted in one of the buildings. He's a mundane, so I told him to hide. WRU@? You left town?'

  'Apprentice deal. Reno.'

  'Still got April?'

  'Yes, Rachel too. Tell your bro to send a bunch of people out to set up a perimeter.'

  'Why would I do that?'

  'I'm in a helicopter with twenty armed wolves and we are about to bring the pain.'

  'OMG! RLY?'

  'AMOF :-)'

  "Everyone! I know where they're at!" Stewart called out on the radio.

  "Where?" Jester asked immediately.

  "You know that place where they have the radars for McClellan?"

  "On Roseville Road?"

  "Yeah, in one of the warehouses just south of that. Texting with my black-market friend, he's got a lead on 'em."

  "This the guy you bought Rachel from?" someone snickered.

  "Yeah, second best day of my life!" Stewart shot right back.

  "I'll show him where to go," Tracie called from the right-hand seat up front.

  "Let me know when you're getting close, and I'll silence the helicopter," Stewart replied.

  "Have him put us down in the field there," Jester said. "How far are we from the old airbase, Blue?"

  "Less than ten minutes. Better do your thing, Stew!"

  "You heard the man! Everyone lock and load!"

  Stewart took a moment to center his thoughts, then cast the spell. When it suddenly got quiet inside the cockpit, with only the sound of wind, he noticed the others were giving him the thumbs up, and suddenly he felt a lot prouder than he had in a very long time. Yeah, he was working with the wolves like his step-father had always wanted him to. Just not in the way he'd envisioned it.

  Checking his rifle, he locked in a magazine and loaded a round into the chamber, then made sure to set the safety. Steel bullets wouldn't do much to a werewolf, but they'd sure play hell with the helicopter.

  Someone slid the side doors open and, looking outside, Stewart watched as they made one circle around the two radars, then the pilot turned in and came right down into the camp to the south of one of the spinning arrays. Popping the straps holding him in place, Stewart followed the others out, keeping his head down like the others were, as they quickly moved away from the helicopter to the south. He felt a stiff wind for a moment, and he saw the helicopter as it flew off and started to circle off in the distance.

  When they got to the fence surrounding the camp, it was an easy matter to jump over it, something Stewart was still getting used to, but he landed without falling flat on his face, so he counted his blessings as they continued towards the buildings in the industrial park along the east side of the road. Stewart knew from experience there was a chop shop in there, hidden behind the legitimate businesses. That was why Todd did business there.

  Jester led them quickly and quietly down the back of the buildings, past one after another, everyone scenting the air as they went. They'd just gone past the fifth building when Stewart caught a whiff of something incredibly foul. Jester was already using hand signals to get everyone positioned, then he waved Stewart over to him.

  "I need to funnel them all out the north side," Jester said in a whisper. "Whatcha' got?"

  "I could hit the south end with a couple of fireballs," Stewart whispered back.

  "Great, let 'er rip!"

  Pulling out a wand, Stewart fired off two fireballs, then quickly put it away as the end of the building blew up spectacularly and started burning. Grabbing his rifle from where it was hanging by the sling, he flipped the safety off and readied himself.

  Almost immediately a group of demons charged out one of the doors, running straight for the werewolves before them, then they slid to a stop and started to back-pedal when they noticed it wasn't a bunch of humans standing in front of them this time.

  "Light 'em up!" Jester called, and they fired at the demons, who quickly went down. Two of the wolves drew swords and, running forward quickly, beheaded the demons.

  Porto was firing through the open doorway and into the building.

  "There's more inside, Jester!" he called out on the radio.

  "Okay! Second team, break up and cover the doorways! Tracie, grab someone and go around back to make sure they don't head off that way! Everyone else, follow me!"

  Stewart brought up the end of the line, making sure to keep his finger off the trigger and keeping the muzzle of his rifle pointed down at the floor like those in front of him. Only the first five in the group had the muzzles of their rifles up. Jester and Porto, who were in the front, were firing short three-round bursts from their rifles, something Stewart hadn't even known was possible. Obviously he needed to practice more.

  Moving inside, they were in a warehouse, probably a hundred yards long and maybe fifty deep. There were boxes stacked everywhere, but most of the piles weren't that high. Lacking any weapons beyond swords, and being denied the ability to draw close enough to use them, the demons quickly resorted to picking up crates and throwing them at Jester and the rest of the werewolves.

  Stewart dodged something that looked like a one of those sinks you saw in the kitchen of a restaurant, which put a nice hole in the wall behind him. A wall which was now on fire, as the far end of the building was merrily burning from the two fireballs he'd hit it with.

  "Maybe we should have waited outside," he muttered.

  "Can't, got to be sure we get 'em all," said Bruno, the wolf directly in front of Stewart.

  Stewart noticed a big one all the way in the back, and he was casting magic!

  "Down!" Stewart yelled as the demon let go with what looked like an ice bolt spell, and he barely managed the counter to keep himself from being skewered. Several members of the team weren't so lucky, and were immediately taken out of the fight, but he didn't have time to check and see if they were dead or just wounded. Reaching down into his memorized list of 'oh shit' spells, Stewart immediately responded with a lightning bolt.

  The demon deflected it at the last minute, but it still killed the one closest to him, so Stewart considered that a win, and immediately threw up a shield to protect against any further physical spells, just as the demon responded with a series of small frost balls that exploded when they hit the shield, leaving small patches of ice on its surface.

  Stewart quickly conjured a black sphere, which had electrical arcs dancing over its surface, and threw it at the demon. The ball moved slowly, but ignored each of the demon's attempts to counter it, causing him to retreat quickly and dodge as the ball followed him.

  When the ball finally hit him, nothing happened, and he blinked in surprise, then his head exploded as Stewart shot him after taking careful aim, pulling the trigger again and again until he was out of bullets.

  Stewart got hit with a crate, getting knocked down and swearing loudly. Several of his bones had been broken, but they were already reknitting and quickly healing. But it hurt like hell! Never having had to rely on his healing before, no one had told him the regeneration hurt almost as much as the injury that caused it!

  Pulling himself together, he changed magazines in the rifle and looked up at the roof, which was fully engulfed.

  "Jester, we need to get out of here before the building collapses!" Porto said.

  "How many are left?" Jester called out.

  "I count two!" someone yelled, then there was a burst of fire. "Make that one!"

  Looking around, Stewart saw Bruno on the ground, unconscious but apparently healing. Grabbing the deadman's strap on the back of his harness, he crawled for the exit as the rest of the group started to withdraw.

  "What's that screaming noise?" someone asked over the radio.