"I got everything in the living room packed up; the bathrooms too, except for what we can pack in suitcases," Ashe told his mother when she came home from work carrying bags of takeout. Ashe recognized the smell immediately; he was going to miss the chicken and dumplings from Betsy's Diner.
"The movers will be here Monday night," Adele sighed. "We'll do the kitchen tonight. We'll have sandwiches or takeout until they get here."
"Mom, Principal Billings came by today with Mr. Garnett. He wanted Mr. Winkler's phone number. Mrs. Anderson told him that Dad might have it, since Marcus was away from home."
"What did he say to you, honey?" Adele, now almost a foot shorter than Ashe, looked up into her son's face.
"He said it was my fault that we have to move. But it's something I knew already," Ashe held up a hand when his mother protested. "I offered him coffee and told him he'd have to talk to Dad about the phone number. He didn't want coffee and left." Ashe didn't say what he really thought; that Billings had come by just to upset him.
"I'll have Aedan call when he wakes. Maybe we can prevent another visit from Principal narrow-minded." Ashe blinked. He'd never heard his mother speak in disrespectful terms about any of his teachers or school administrators. Cloud Chief was too small to have an official school board, but there were three administrators— Marcus DeLuca, Jonas O'Neill and Nathan Anderson. They represented all three types of paranormals in Cloud Chief: werewolf, shapeshifter and vampire. One of their jobs was to approve expenses as proposed by the Principal and teaching staff. Mr. Garnett had asked for—and gotten—new computers for the classrooms. Students could now write essays or research information for homework assignments in the new computer lab. It had made things much simpler for the school. Now, all of it would have to be moved.
"Mom, who's packing up the school?"
"They're sending a special truck and a crew just for that," Adele slipped an arm around Ashe's shoulders. "They're going to pack everything and haul it down. Marcus says that the community center Mr. Winkler built for residents in the new addition will be redesigned and used as our school."
"This sounds like a really big expense for Mr. Winkler."
"He'll have this land and all the houses and buildings deeded over to him," Adele said. "It probably won't cover a fraction of the cost, but it'll be something. Besides, he's a very wealthy man. If he couldn't afford it, he wouldn't have offered."
"All right." Ashe pulled the container of chicken and dumplings from the bag his mother had brought, grabbed a fork and started eating.
"Looks like things are under control," Aedan glanced around the kitchen later when he came upstairs. Ashe and his mother had started packing the moment they finished eating dinner. Now, half the kitchen was in boxes and labeled. "I'll get the things down from the attic before dawn," he added.
"Dad, Principal Billings came by earlier," Ashe said.
"I know. Marcus called," Aedan held up his cell. "Stop worrying about it, Son. Marcus has already spoken with Billings." Ashe watched while his father kissed his mother lightly before heading out the kitchen door. He knew what his father, Nathan Anderson, Mr. Thompson and many of Cloud Chief's werewolves were doing; they were patrolling the perimeter, watching for another attack from the Elemaiya. His father had his cell phone and a walkie-talkie strapped to his belt; everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the Elemaiya to return.
"We followed the mutation, my Queen, but we did not have to eliminate him. Someone from the community did so. We were unable to prevent the human death beforehand, however." Emerald bowed low before his Bright Queen.
"Humans are of no consequence. The boy still lives?"
"Yes, my Queen. And he is approaching age." Their spy had informed them only recently that there was one remaining child born of their donated eggs. Friesianna was worried, as Hilbah hadn't handed the mother's token to her before he'd died. The Bright Queen had no information on this one, but she pretended that she did—it wouldn't do to appear weak in front of her subjects.
"Good. We know of his shapeshifting ability and that will be most useful when spying on the others. We will wait a bit, to allow things to settle. Our Dark cousins will not send another assassin until the community becomes complacent again. We will wait as well. Until the next full moon. Security will be lowest at that point and we will take him. He will learn what it is to serve me."
"Of course, my Queen." Emerald bowed low.
"They're going to separate, once the trucks reach I-40, just to make sure nobody follows," Winkler said. The Dallas Packmaster had arrived, bringing several others with him. Ashe stared at the man Winkler identified as the Director for the Joint NSA and Homeland Security Department. This was the man who'd taken Director Jennings' place. Winkler called him Matt, as if he knew him well. Winkler had known the previous Director very well, too, Ashe knew. He wasn't about to bring that up—too many secrets surrounded that information and lives depended upon his silence.
Guards were provided by Winkler Security, and most of those were werewolves, with only a few humans involved. Sali, standing beside Ashe in the Evans' kitchen, told Ashe which ones were actually humans.
"Man, I wish I had your nose," Ashe muttered, thinking how nice it would be to tell by scent exactly who or what might be standing before him. Sali grinned at the compliment.
"Now, as soon as we determine that we're not being followed, we'll head toward the Gulf Coast. Some will go through Houston, some through San Antonio and the smaller trucks will break off at Waco and go through Victoria. They'll come into Winkler Estates on three different days. Take what you need to rough it until your belongings arrive in the trucks." Winkler was addressing at least one representative from each family inside the Evans' kitchen.
"Is everyone ready?" Marcus asked. "Are your bags packed into vehicles? Remember the assigned route and what to watch for?" He gazed around the room at the nodding heads and verbal assents. "Good. Get in contact with Mr. Winkler's team or me if you run into problems."
"I know some of you are stopping in Dallas or Amarillo before going on," Winkler nodded to the DeLucas, who were staying in Dallas and at the O'Neills, who had family in Amarillo. "Make sure you're aware of your surroundings at all times and don't take unnecessary risks."
"Are we ready?" Marcus stood and pulled the keys to his van from a pocket. Everyone nodded at Marcus' question. "Good. Let's load up and drive."