Wedded to the Pac

In this chapter, a trap is set to see if it can be discovered who shot Jessica. The shifters spend some time in the Greenbriar household, meeting Joshua's children. A few people try wolf sex with Conor and Brigitte, seeing why it's considered so good, but generally, this chapter does not contain much in the way of descriptive sex. My thanks to JohnnyGalt for his editing assistance, without whom this wouldn't be nearly as clean. This is a copyrighted work and should not be altered, edited, changed, or published or used for any other purpose without the author's express permission, including audio works. Copyright, 2025

Wedded to the Pack, Ch 4

A Trap

I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to, I hurt like hell and there was still gunfire going on around me, though not much. I just laid still and hoped I'd quit hurting. The gunfire eventually slowed, then stopped. Gretchen was lying over me, and I wondered if she was alive or dead. I could feel my chest knitting itself back together.

I groaned.

"She's alive," Gretchen said. She got off me.

"Didn't they use silver?" Sahar asked. "She's not bleeding."

"They did," Conor said. "I smell it."

"Then why the hell is she breathing?" Sahar asked. "That sounded like a.307 caliber sniper round."

"Body armor," Brigitte said. "It stops silver as well as lead."

"Was she the target?" Edgar asked. "Or was it one of us?"

"If they used silver, it had to be a wolf target," Brigitte said. "Silver costs too much to use in normal rifle loads."

"Even with body armor, how the hell is she still alive?" Edgar said. "The body shock alone should have killed her. It had to break every bone in her chest."

"We're used to broken bones," Conor said. "Every time we shift, we're breaking every bone in our body."

"Fuckin' A. What next? Send her to the hospital?" Edgar asked.

"No," Sahar said. "Send her to the morgue."

"What?" Brigitte said. "Why the hell would we do that?"

"Because no one knows what her status is," Sahar said. "They probably think she's dead. They just hit her with a silver rifle round. If not for the body armor, she would be dead. Let them think she's dead."

"What are you thinking?" Edgar asked.

"We don't know who attacked her or why," Sahar said. "The sniper has faded into the woodwork. If they wanted to kill her, and didn't, they'll try again. If they think she's dead, they won't try again, with something body armor won't stop. Maybe a fucking bomb, and more people will die. If Jessica's dead, they accomplished what they wanted, and maybe it's over, or maybe this was just the start, and we need to know who's coming after her, or Weres generally. If they go after the other Weres, we know it's a coordinated attack on shifters generally. If no one else is attacked, we know Jessica was the specific target.

"Weres think that at least one reason people are interested in shape-shifters is they want to know what makes them tick. If that's the case, won't someone want her dead body to carve up? If we send her to the morgue, we can see if anyone shows up to collect her body. That's what I'd do, although I don't have the smarts to set it up."

"You may be right," Edgar said. "Police are on the way. I'll call Joshua and see if he can pull a little magic. When we carry Jessica out of here, there has to be a ton of blood, or whoever is watching won't be fooled."

Edgar made a phone call, stepping away from us.

"Do I get a say?" I asked, finally able to breathe.

"No," Sahar said. "You need to act dead. Not talking or moving helps with the illusion. We don't know who's watching, so act dead."

"We can supply the blood," Conor said, who then cut his arm and let it pour over my torso. Gretchen and Brigitte did the same. Their wounds closed up relatively quickly, and they each had to do it twice to leave a lot of blood on my clothes.

"Am I in sight of the street?" I asked.

"No. We dragged you into an interior corridor," Sahar said, "and returned fire on the sniper across the street. He or she probably left to get away before the police arrived so they wouldn't get trapped in the building."

"Did anyone else get hit?"

"No. We returned fire so quickly. I don't think anyone expected that. We don't usually have so many security here," Sahar replied. "Because we weren't sure of Conor and Brigitte, there were more armed responders than normal."

"So they could still be after Gretchen?" I asked.

"Possibly," Sahar admitted. "We don't know if it was you, specifically, or all Weres they were targeting. You've been making a good case for toning down the anti-shifter rhetoric, making people wonder what all the fuss is about. It could be Jessica herself, or both of you because you've been so vocal, or maybe they don't like the thought of shifters."

"Is there any chance you killed the sniper?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Sahar said. "It would have been an extremely lucky shot. All we had were handguns until the response team got here."

"I need to see the sniper nest," Brigitte said. "I'm a hunter/tracker, and I need to follow, or at least scent the perp's hidey hole. If I ever scent him again, I'll know who the fuck it is."

"Do you have body armor for your wolf body?" Sahar asked.

"Not with me."

"Do you want to chance it?"

"I have to. It's my job."

"Will do. Smitty, send some guys across the street, keep some more here. Keep traffic off the street until the police get here. I'll go with you and carry your clothes and shit," Sahar said.

"Got it," another grizzled guy said, looking a lot like Edgar, not in looks, but competence. He immediately sent three across the street, while a half dozen rifle-armed men were setting up roadblocks on either end of the street in front of the building, and four more remained with us.

"Thanks," Brigitte replied.

Brigitte stripped off and shifted to her familiar red wolf. A lot of the men admired the shapely wolf while she was naked before she shifted. Sahar stuffed her clothes into a trash bag, and they ran across the street to where the sniper had shot from. Conor stayed with Gretchen and me. Edgar returned before they did.

"Okay, the boss will be talking to the police commissioner to set up things with the police," he reported to Conor, Gretchen, and me. "A guy who works for us named Manuel, a former combat medic, will be showing up here in a coroner's uniform with a meat wagon to carry out the body. He can give you a rough exam in the coroner's truck. I've already got guys who are heading to the city morgue to keep an eye on things. We want them in place before Jessica gets there. We're waiting for a detective called Frank Gershon to show up. He's the one who normally shows up when we have a problem."

"Do you often have a problem?" Gretchen asked.

"About a half dozen times in the last ten years, someone has made attempts to shut us down," Edgar replied. "Human trafficking is a huge business, and we are constantly freeing trafficked people. They'd like nothing more than to put us out of business."

"If we're going to pull this off," Conor said, "we have to announce to the press that Jessica was shot and killed. Maybe have Gretchen give a press conference. Before we do that, I need to notify my alpha that it's not true. They've been watching the news, and I don't want to think about what Quinn might do if he thought Jessica got killed. The same with Lenore and Jessica's kids. We don't want them believing their mother is dead either, or her parents."

"I'll call Lenore and Jessica's family," Gretchen said.

"Just tell her to keep the kids away from the news. We want them reacting normally if they get told, not telling everyone their mom is still alive. At least, not until we put this thing together and see if we can catch some rats," Conor said. "I'd like to use a landline for my phone call. I don't trust cell phones for what I need to say."

Edgar led him to a nearby office to make his calls.

When Edgar returned, I asked him, "Where's Beth?"

"Safe room at the moment. The boss wants to make sure nothing happens to her, and the attack was so sudden, we didn't know what it was about."

Gretchen finished her phone call. "Both calls are done," she announced.

Conor returned and he said, "Rene and Quinn know you're okay and to ignore the news. Is Brigitte back yet?"

"Not yet," Edgar said.

"They were only hoping to scent imprint the sniper, weren't they?" Conor asked. "That should have taken thirty seconds or less."

"Maybe they found something else to decipher," Edgar said. "Don't worry, Sahar will protect her."

"Protect Brigitte?" Conor scoffed.

"She's the most dangerous person I ever met, Conor," I said. "If it came down to a gunfight, you'd be toast."

Since he'd helped train me, he took me seriously. "Really?"

"She's already been practicing killing Weres on something called 'Hogan's Alley'. We want her on our side."

"You told me she'd be tough to kill if armed with a silver knife at the dojo. She's better with guns?"

"Best I ever met," Edgar said, "and I've seen the best. I was one of the best. There's not a man who's met her wants to get in a gunfight with her. Fast and accurate."

I held Gretchen's hand with my eyes closed, just waiting.

Five minutes later, they were back. Brigitte was dressed again. Conor looked at her questioningly.

"I've got it. I tracked the scent a couple of blocks up the street, but he got into a car. Went back and checked the nest again, but we didn't want to touch anything until the police do their thing."

The detective, Frank Gershon, showed up soon afterward, looked at my bloody body, and said, "Is she dead?"

"Not yet," I said, opening my eyes, "but we want everyone to think so."

"Christ, how the fuck are you alive?"

"It isn't my blood."

"Whose blood is it, and are they dead?"

"Friends, and no," I replied.

"Frank, call the Police Commissioner," Edgar said. "If you don't recognize the lady, she's the werewolf that's been on the news lately. We know the attack was directed at werewolves because they used a silver bullet, but not whether it was directed specifically at her or shapeshifters generally. We need more information. We think we've got a way to get it, but it involves treating the victim like she's dead and taking her to the morgue. Mr. Greenbriar has set something up with the Commissioner. Best you take your cues from him. We know where the shot came from, and this lady here got the scent...."

"Got the scent?"

"She's a werewolf too. She could pick him out of a lineup by his scent. After you talk to your boss, I'll take you to the sniper nest and let your crime scene folks go over the scene."

"Why are all your boys here?"

"We didn't know at first that the attack was on the wolves. We have our own enemies. You know that. Only the fact that silver was used made us realize the wolves are involved."

"Why are they here, at Beth's offices?"

"Beth wanted lifelong wolves to get psych testing to see if they were like Jessica and Gretchen, who both tested the same as humans do," Edgar said. "This is Conor and Brigitte, born shapeshifters. Start with your phone call. We'll fill in the rest when you've done that."

He looked at the two tall shapeshifters, sighed, and went outside to make the call. I squeezed Gretchen's hand and closed my eyes again. Before the detective returned inside, Beth was there, although she always had a wall of bodies between her and the outside. She hugged Sahar first, then crouched down by Gretchen and me.

"Are you both okay?" Beth asked.

"Now," I said. "Probably lucky they didn't use a larger caliber round. I think this one broke half the bones in my chest, but it didn't penetrate the body armor I wore, so I'm good at the moment."

"Did you kill the attackers?" Beth asked Sahar.

"I'm good, but not that good," Sahar said. "They shot from over a hundred yards away. I did break the window they shot from, though, so I thought I did a damn good job."

"How did you know which window they shot from?" Gretchen asked.

"It was the only one open in the summer," Sahar said. "Rather obvious, really."

My phone started ringing. "Don't answer that," Sahar said. "Let somebody else answer."

I handed it to Gretchen. "Gretchen Shriver speaking." Gretchen listened to whoever was on the line. "Could you wait a second, Martina? There's been a disaster. Beth was shot, and the police are here. I'll call you right back." She hung up. "It's Martina Hendrix. She wanted to set up some sex with Conor."

"Who's Martina Hendrix?" Brigitte asked.

"She's one of the NBC news people," I said. "She was curious what sex with a lifelong wolf would be like, since I told her it would be the best she ever had during our interview."

"Perfect," Sahar said. "Tell her that Jessica just got shot and killed. That story should immediately hit the airwaves. Tell her that we're concerned about Gretchen's safety too, and her security will be provided by Joshua Greenbriar from now on. Another press conference to be held later tonight, say seven, right here. Edgar, see about acquiring a clear, bullet-proof barrier for her to have a press conference behind. Let's see about getting our windows boarded up until they can be replaced. Beth, you can stay for the press conference to announce that two other lifelong wolves have been tested and you find them normal, but afterwards, I want you home. No arguments. We'll helicopter you and the wolves out after the press conference."

"I go where Jessica goes," Brigitte said.

"So do I," Connor said.

"Fine. You can ride in the meat wagon when they come to pick up her body. Maybe we'll have you carry her out, refusing our assistance. It would explain why she's not in a body bag. Let everyone see her bloody, lifeless body."

My two wolves nodded.

Gretchen called Martina back. She was doing a fairly convincing job of sobbing as she talked. I'm sure being so close to my near-death helped with that.

"Sorry, Martina, but Jessica has been killed. A sniper shot her as we were leaving Beth Wilson-Hafeez's office, where a couple of other wolves were undergoing psych testing, including Conor. The police are here investigating. I'll be holding a press conference again tonight, explaining the whole situation. The other two wolves were here to help protect Jessica after the threats and demonstrations started. Her fiancé will be devastated they couldn't protect her, but we didn't expect a sniper attack. They won't even let her be put in a body bag, and they're insisting they'll stay with her until her body can go home for burial.

"Joshua Greenbriar has promised he'll help with my security from now on. Expect a lot of armed men around the press conference later. I still have to talk to the detective, so I can't answer a lot of questions now. Come to the press conference, and you can get more details. Please make sure this hits the airwaves, so all of our supporters know what happened because of the hate and bigotry."

She hung up before Martina could ask more questions.

"Perfect," Sahar said. "The hook is baited."

Frank Gershon came back in after speaking to the Commissioner. "I'm to extend you every courtesy while still doing my job. What's the fucking plan?"

Sahar and Edgar explained what we had so far, then Sahar went with the detective to the sniper's nest, and he had the crime scene crew get started on sweeping the place.

He came back and questioned the rest of us about what happened. He promised to leave my well-being out of his first report for a couple of days, so we could see if anyone took the bait of my death as gospel. A coroner's van drove up on the scene, and a man in coroner's office uniform came in with Rafael, who'd we'd met before, also in coroner gear, and a gurney and body bag. Edgar and Sahar explained more of the plan to him. By this time, some press had been let within the cordon, but they were still being kept away from the immediate scene, good for the next part of our plan.

Then Brigitte and Manuel (we'd gotten introduced) had an argument at the open window. Manuel was saying that my body should go in the body bag for transport, and Brigitte was insisting I wouldn't.

"I want everyone to see what humans did to this beautiful woman, and mother of four children. We're not going to hide what happened to her, assassinated in cold blood in front of an office where I was undergoing testing. Fuck that. Everyone should see we're not the monsters here. We didn't kill anyone. Humans did.

"Who are the fucking monsters, President Duncan, shapeshifters or humans? See what your policies have done? You're the monster. You and that asshole, Senator Jenkins. Jessica was going to get married last Saturday, a day which should have been filled with joy. Instead, she had to come here and fight for the rights of shapeshifters, and now she's dead. You've created a martyr to our cause, and the cause of shifters. You should be ashamed of yourself, Duncan. You're supposed to be the president for all the citizens. Shifters are all citizens, born here in this country, paying taxes, working. We voted in the last elections. See how many votes you get next election.

"I'm taking Jessica to the morgue and ensuring she isn't cut up by a bunch of fucking monsters who want to see why shifters don't age like humans do."

The reporters behind the barriers started shouting questions.

"We'll be holding a press conference here at seven tonight. If you want your questions answered, come back," Sahar said, coming back inside.

I closed my eyes and let my body go limp, and Conor and Brigitte carried me out to the coroner's van. They hopped in with me, and the van took off while Manuel removed my outer shirt and body armor and checked me over, my bare breasts staring at him.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you. Most people will have gotten broken ribs at least."

"I did have broken ribs," I said. "They've been fixed already. It took a few minutes after I regained consciousness, as I was out for a bit. Probably a fluid shock wave caused that."

"Damn."

"You're dealing with a shifter now," I said. "I'm not a human anymore."

"I was told to bring some raw meat here for you to eat. It was close to supper time, and I understand you're supposed to remain at the morgue to see if anyone shows up."

"That's the plan. Thanks for bringing supper. We'll eat it there."

"You don't cook it?"

"It tastes better raw now. I'm primarily interested in the protein. Fixing my broken bones takes protein."

"Joshua has arranged for a private room at the morgue by doubling up on some of the other spaces. He doesn't want any of the other bodies to sustain damage if there is shooting. I'm going to continue acting as a Coroner's Assistant, along with Raphael here. There are a dozen other guys outside the morgue keeping an eye on things. They'll give us an alert if anyone shows up, then come in behind them. We've got semi-automatic weapons waiting for us there."

"We won't get into trouble for using them?" I asked.

"Not too much. It's like the police detective they sent to handle your case. They know who to send if we have trouble. We've had enough incidents that they kind of expect us to take care of ourselves as the police would have to watch us full time. Not to mention that Joshua has sold the police a lot of equipment at a reduced price, so the city is safer. We've proven ourselves to be reliable and won't go off half-cocked. We've busted a lot of bad guys, including some in uniform," Manuel said. "The feds seem to give us much of the same leeway."

I put on the body armor and clothes again, the smell of the blood coppery in the back of the vehicle.

We reached the morgue, and I was carried inside by Brigitte and Conor, without the body bag, blood all over my clothes. Inside our morgue room, the door was locked, and a TV was turned on so we could see what the news was. The news channels were covering it big time. 'Werewolf shot and killed in an assassination, wolves blaming humans and Duncan's policies.' 'News conference scheduled at seven.' 'Mother of four children, one human and three shapeshifters gunned down on New York Street.' Martina was playing up the shooting big time, saying she'd planned on meeting some lifelong shapeshifters to interview before my death, and now she wasn't sure if they'd be available. She didn't mention she wanted to fuck one.