Free Dogs of War Episode 5 by Monica Rossi Page B

He could feel how dry and chapped they were.
    “And when we’ve gotten the little problem of all the other ‘species’ under control, and our other plans come to fruition, your kind will be our… hmmm, what will we call you? Enforcers? No, that’d be a public relations nightmare. Lesser human task force? Probably not, the masses might balk at being referred to as ‘lesser’, no matter how inferior they actually are. Well we can think of a nice name later. Basically you’ll keep the humans in their place. I’m sure you’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”
    The man seemed downright jovial in his own detached way. He really thought Red was going to agree to all of this. Red didn’t blame him, he could see he was a man used to getting his way.
    But Red had spent that time thinking, he’d tried to think of anything to get his mind off the pain, and it had wandered over Three Rivers. Yes, it was a town that had been built for shifters by shifters, but others had settled there too. He’d thought of the old man who liked to sit at the 24 hour breakfast house and drink coffee; silenus. At his death, thousands of years of wisdom and knowledge would die with him. Plus he was on the town council. He’d thought of the little fae girl who worked at the supermarket. She was silly but sweet and she always gave Morgan a lollipop when she went in with him. He’d thought of the vasily family that lived on a huge farm on the outskirts of town, they stayed to themselves but they donated to the food bank and to the First Baptist soup kitchen, a lot of folks ate well because of their generosity.
    Then, of course, there were the witches. There was Demon and there was Sidney.
    Three Rivers was theirs too, and his job was to protect Three Rivers. There would be no genocide under his command.
    He set the empty glass in his lap, he really didn’t have the strength to hold it any more, and he didn’t want to drop it and show his weakness to Frederick, even though he probably already knew how bad Red was injured.
    “No,” Red said.
    “What?” Frederick seemed to mishear him.
    “I said no,” he said louder, more clearly.
    “That’s ridiculous. I’ve read your silly book of laws. It’s like the white power manifesto, except for shifters. There’s no reason for you to turn down this opportunity. And that’s what it is, Red, an opportunity. Shifters united, all supernatural creatures except shifters eliminated, your people would be the second most powerful group in the world, and you’d be leading them. Think of what opportunities you could give to your species. The possibilities are endless.”
    “I said no,” Red’s eyes met his, the confusion cleared in Fredrick’s face and turned hard.
    “You realize you’re not only signing your own death certificate, but one for those two young shifter’s in the other room too?”
    Red nodded, he knew the consequences of his actions and he’d still given the only answer he could.
    “Very well then,” Frederick turned to go, “You may keep the water. A last meal as it were. Someone will be in to handle you shortly.”
    Red watched him walk out, glad at least his suffering would be over shortly.
     
     

 
    “There is no way in hell you are coming with us,” he made sure he had everything he needed in his saddlebags and buckled them, he didn’t have time to worry about Sidney. “Call a cab and go home. There’s nothing you can do.” He slung his legs over the seat of his bike, the bike which she was standing in front off, arms folded.
    Sidney had insisted on coming back to the clubhouse with him while he waited on all the guys to get there, abandoning his fine dollar store china in the park because she refused to listen to reason. So instead of staying behind and cleaning up their mess and driving home to wait like a sane person, she’d decided that she was just going to tag along with him. He guessed she’d assumed that if she didn’t have a way to get home,