Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 28245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“This is the man I was talking about,” he says as he puts his hand on my shoulder. “Most feral captures of any field agent in the history of the AFA. And once we moved him into the office, his capture rate doubled.”
Everyone is nodding and smiling while they look at me.
“Imagine how many lives he’s saved,” Mr. Shields says as he looks at me proudly. “Every one of those feral shifters was a grave threat to humanity.”
“Just doing my job,” I say with a humble shrug.
Mr. Shields nods. “A necessary job.”
“Is it though?” his mate Linda asks.
Everyone turns to her. Her cheeks get a bit red, but she continues.
“I just… I heard about the two feral shifters in Montana. They were feral, but when they found their mates, it reversed.”
“Anomalies for sure,” Mr. Shields says with a dismissive laugh. “It’s like we say at the Agency—A shifter feral, puts everyone in peril. It’s for the protection of everyone that they’re put down for good.”
“Except for the man inside,” Linda says. “And for his mate.”
Mr. Shields lets out a tight laugh. “Excuse my mate,” he says. “She’s a sentimental woman who tries to see gray when there’s only black and white.”
“I just think that these two shifters who reversed their feralness have added some gray to the picture. Don’t you?”
It gets uncomfortable as she questions decades of the Anti-Feral Agency’s core policy.
“Excuse us,” Mr. Shields says as he takes her arm. “We’re due for another drink.”
Our little group splits up as the director and his mate head for a quiet corner instead of the bar. I don’t need enhanced shifter hearing to know he’s going to tell her not to bring that up again.
It’s actually been a contentious topic in the agency this year. Those two shifters who were marked to be put down, but then suddenly flipped back to normal once they met their mates have caused all kinds of controversy. Some people in the agency believe we should review our policy, some think we should throw it all out and start from scratch, and others, like Mr. Shields, believe that we should stay the course and ignore these two ‘anomalies.’
I agree with Mr. Shields. The only good feral shifter is a dead one.
We have to be strong and ruthless.
It’s up to us to police our own kind. Governments around the world have their hands tied. They have laws to obey. They can’t exactly execute civilians the way we can. What are government employees supposed to do against a feral Kodiak bear rampaging through a peaceful town? Are they supposed to arrest them? Try to hold them in a prison? No prison on earth could hold a bloodthirsty rabid bear who’s full-on feral.
It’s up to us. We’re a necessary evil. Governments all over the world know it too. That’s why they let us operate. That’s why they secretly give us funding. They want us to exist even though they would never admit it.
We’re a shadow organization that works in secret. We’re not held back by laws or borders. We go where we want and do what we have to do to keep people safe.
I grab a gin and tonic at the bar and head over to a team of European AFA agents to say hello. The Eradicators. They work throughout Europe and just put down a feral lion shifter who was terrorizing the Greek islands for weeks.
“Congratulations,” I say as I shake their hands. All four of them are bear shifters. The largest and quietest is the executioner. He’s a huge Swedish man with hair so light, it’s almost white.
Every team has an executioner. They’re the ones who do the final deed and put down the savage beasts. I was the leader of my team. I was never an executioner. They’re arguably the most important member, but there’s also a hidden stigma against them. They don’t usually transition into corporate jobs and I always had my eye on the director’s seat. So, I avoided it as best I could.
“Where did you finally catch up with him?” I ask. I know it was in Syros. I studied the file, but it’s always good to let agents talk about their accomplishments. It helps them like you.
“Syros,” the team leader proudly says. “Gunnar drowned him in the Aegean Sea.”
Gunnar nods silently.
“Is it true,” the leader continues, “that you are going to be the next AFA director?”
I shake my head, but give him a knowing grin. “Nothing has been confirmed yet.”
“Well, when it is, I’d like to speak with you about our problems with Interpol. They continue to…”
He keeps talking but my bear snarls in my ear and I can’t hear a thing. He hacks and slices his claws as he tries to fight his way to the surface.
I flex my arms and chest as I force him back down with a grunt. When I come to, the four Eradicators are staring at me in shock.