“That could be useful to know.”
She leaned forward and smiled at him. “A pack without an alpha….”
Simon stared at her for a moment then slowly shook his head. “That’s not me anymore.”
She gave him that look. “Once a leader, always a leader.” She dragged her fingernail across his chest, stopping just above his navel. “No flock should go untended.”
Simon stared at her, doing his best to read her unspoken intentions. Again, he slowly shook his head. “They’ve done just fine on their own.”
“People may not realize it, but humans have a need for leadership.” She raised a brow at him. “Natural born leaders can’t deny who they are.”
Simon sighed and closed his eyes. “Why?”
“Why, what?”
He opened his eyes and stared at her. “Why do you want this so much?”
She stared back, unblinking. “I’m not an alpha.” She reached down and gripped the bottom of her tank top, peeling it off and tossing it aside. “But I damned sure am an alpha’s woman.” She bent over him and kissed him, slowly lowering herself onto him.
Simon reached down with his good arm and tugged at her panties. “Since you can’t be king, you want to be queen?”
She pulled back and stared into his eyes. “I’m thinking more like ‘Empress,’ but I’ll run with whatever title comes with the crown.”
Simon smiled at her as she tugged the panties the rest of the way off. “I think ‘Siren’ might be more fitting.”
11
Hatcher groaned as he climbed down the ladder. He stretched his lower back and stared up at the tile roof, now covered in solar panels. “Will that be enough?”
Will huffed as he walked by, reaching for the bundle of cables. “Hardly.” He hefted the cabling and tossed it alongside the house. “You won’t be running your electric dryer anytime soon.” He looked up at the roof and cocked his head. “With enough batteries, you might be able to run air conditioning for short periods.”
“What about a swamp cooler?”
Will nodded. “That should be fine. But even in this climate you’ll want to be careful of mold and mildew buildup. You might want to consider finding a dehumidifier, if you go that route.”
Hatcher shrugged. “I grew up here. I think I’m used to the weather extremes.”
“Your choice.” Will turned and entered the garage. “I’ll have the battery bank dropped off tomorrow then we’ll work on getting your converter installed.”
Hatcher scratched at his chin as he watched Will stack the equipment near the rear door. “Will all of the houses have to have their own stuff?”
“Of course.” Will wiped at his brow and gave Hatcher an exasperated look. “I told you it was doable—I didn’t say it would be easy.”
Hatcher winced as he looked at the boxes stacked near the rear door. “All of that is just for here?”
“No, of course not. But it was easier to offload it in one central location.” He pushed his glasses up onto his nose as he spoke. “We’ll be in and out of your place for the next week or so.”
Hatcher nodded. “At least I’ll get to see you.”
Will raised a brow at him. “I’ll be seeing you daily. We have dozens of homes to convert, and I expect to see you with a wrench in your hand, assisting.”
Hatcher opened his mouth to argue then paused. “If you say so.”
“Oh!” Will turned slowly, his finger pointing. “The cameras.”
“What cameras?”
“Security, of course.” Will sighed again then wiped his brow with a soaked bandana. “Abbot and Costello found a supply house during one of their forays into the city.”
“Abbot and…”
“Hank and Wally,” Will replied blandly. “The would-be comedy team that cannot take any task seriously.” He planted his hands on his hips. “Regardless, they found a security place, and within said establishment there lay a bountiful supply of outdoor cameras.”
“Oh, great.”
“What makes them especially nice is that they are wireless and work off of radio signal.” He pushed his glasses up again. “Therefore, I need you to choose a location in your new abode where I can set up a server system and the monitors.”
“My house?”
“You are the chief of security, are you not?” Will gave him another bland stare. “You have the very same setup inside your office at the retirement home, so I assumed you’d want it here.”
Hatcher opened his mouth to argue then slowly closed it. “Let me get back to you on that.”
Will shook his head. “We placed two extra panels on your roof just to handle the servers and the monitors, not to mention the radio receivers.” Will gave him a hard stare. “The system will be going in this structure. Whether or not you choose to be here to monitor them is entirely up to you.”
Hatcher gave him a confused look then slowly nodded. “Okay, yeah.”
Will shot him a cheesy grin. “I suppose you could find another house and allow Costello to stay here.” He rubbed at his chin. “Or even Abbott.”
Hatcher narrowed his gaze at the man. “I’ll see you in the morning, doc.” He grabbed the socket and spun the ratchet around his hand. “Bright and early.”
Will gave him a mock salute. “Let’s try to wake up before noon, shall we?”
Hatcher watched him walk off and muttered, “Smart ass early bird.”
“And you’re certain that this was a scratch?” Carol asked as she examined one of the soldiers.
“Yes, ma’am.” The man nodded slightly as she continued to check his neck. “It was one of the females. Dug her claws in good, too.”
“Do you know which one?” she asked absently.
The soldier gave her an embarrassed look before shaking his head. “I’m sorry ma’am. I don’t pay much attention to politics. And we were wrasslin’ with a dozen or so people to get them under control.”
Carol leaned back and gave Broussard a slight nod. “It’s definitely from a human.”
Broussard chewed at his inner cheek as he considered the possibilities. “Okay, so if she was newly turned, perhaps the infection
