The phone rang. Lisa reached behind her to pick it up. “Hello?” she asked.
“Hey Solange, yeah we got the girls here.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh my God…”
Lisa's face was ashen when she hung up the phone. Her expression was one of a barely contained sorrow, tinted with rage. She grabbed the remote, turning the movie off. "Umm..that was Solange..Wendy...Wendy's..dead," she said, struggling to contain her emotions. She was alpha, she had to remain strong in the face of adversity.
"Oh my god, what happened?" asked Debra.
"I thought you said werewolves can't be killed," Heather said softly.
"It...it was SILVER!" Lisa replied, "Solange, Anaya, and Sharon said that Wendy had gotten a summons to a secret meeting with someone from the FBI. They tailed her, but kept a safe distance. At some point, something went wrong during the meeting...Solange isn't sure what. He pulled a gun on Wendy. Anaya called 911 the moment they saw the gun but...nobody thought that it would be loaded with silver. The police were there within twenty seconds, but she was already dead. He shot the responding officer and took off in his car."
"Did they catch him?" Dita asked.
Lisa shook her head. "No, honey, they didn't. He got away."
"That's bullshit!" Dita snapped angrily, startling the other three. "Three fucking werewolves couldn't take down one fucking human?!"
"Dita, they were shocked, they were frightened! You can't fault them for her death," Debra said, slightly in awe of Dita's sudden anger.
"I don't hold them responsible for her death," Dita said with an uncharacteristic coldness in her voice, "I hold them responsible for not avenging it." Dita's eyes were even more brilliantly green than normal, glinting in the light from the lamp.
Lisa felt rather proud, seeing the first glint of her daughter's heritage as both werewolf and future alpha emerge, but she didn't show it. "Dita," she said softly, "You're being too harsh. This night has been hard on us all."
"No, mom," Dita argued, "You talk all this shit about being a pack, a family, and about how we all look out for each other. Well who the FUCK was looking out for Wendy? They could have gotten him, Mom, and they did NOTHING!" There was no question about it now, Dita's eyes were glowing, fading slightly to a yellow-green.
"Deet," Heather said softly, "You're freaking me out." Immediately the glow faded from Dita's eyes, and she looked ashamed.
"Sorry, babe," Dita mumbled an apology.
"So what do we do now?" asked Debra. Lisa sighed before answering, looking quite tired.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Dan returned to his house, having ditched the cruiser in a vacant field roughly five miles from his house. His phone was ringing as he opened the door. Dan knew who it was.
"It had to be done," he said as he answered.
"Danny," said Blackhorn, "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"
"She threatened me, Sir. I confronted her about her status as a new lycanthrope, and she threatened me," Dan said, saying lines he'd rehearsed on his walk home.
"GODDAMNIT, DANNY!" Blackthorn said, furious, "I told you we weren't at war with these people, and you go killing one?"
"I told you Sir, she threatened me." Dan said calmly.
"And exactly how in the HELL did she threaten you? By your own estimation she couldn't have been compromised for more than a day or two. You know the gestation for lycanthropy. She couldn't pose a threat to you for at least another week!" Blackhorn sounded slightly frightened, Dan noticed.
"She told me that she planned to give them every last bit of information on our observations of the pack. I was protecting government intelligence, as well as the safety of our undercover agents in this area. I made the only decision I could," Dan continued his lie.
"Jesus, Danny...what have you done?" asked Blackhorn. "If that pack figures out an FBI agent broke the truce...Jesus, Danny...have you lost your mind?"
"I need the scene cleaned up, Sir. This case needs to be buried. A cop got in the way...I had no choice, Sir," Dan told him.
"You killed the cop too? Aww..Danny," Blackhorn sighed, "Ballistics hadn't come back on the cop. Danny, what the hell is going on in your head, man? This is like New Mexico all over again."
"Sir, Agent Patel was compromised, and had become a traitor. She was guilty of sedition. The penalty for sedition is death. I need the scene cleaned. You and I both know the FBI can't be linked to this," Dan said, back in control of the situation.
There was a long pause, then Blackhorn spoke again. "We'll clean the scene up, Danny, but you're on paid leave. I want you to get a full psych eval. Come into the office tomorrow and give us your sidearm and ID."
"Sir, I don't need any shrink to tell me that my father didn't hug me enough!!" Dan protested.
"You have your orders," Blackhorn said, "And I expect you to follow them."
"Yes Sir," Dan said, hanging up the phone.