"Captain Grace," a familiar voice interrupted her from the doorway.
Keira looked up from the box she was packing up and saw Antoine standing there, still dressed in his dress blues. She had thought everyone from the Task Force had gone home after the funeral. Leave it to Antoine to be too work-oriented.
"What is it, Antoine?" she asked, putting some books into the box.
"A messenger from the Steelcrown pack has just arrived," Antoine replied, glancing behind him. "He's waiting in the lobby."
Keira was surprised that the King of the Werewolfs would send a messenger from his pack to speak to her. Or even send a messenger to the headquarters of the Task Force, for that matter. Normally, everyone just called or submitted requests via the internet when werewolf packs needed security. Keira was extremely interested in what the messenger had to say.
'I can only imagine that this must be very important,' Sabelina, her wolf, commented. 'I highly doubt it's for giving his condolences.'
It must be, Keira agreed.
Keira thanked him and went downstairs to meet with the messenger.
"Can I help you?" Keira asked as she walked down the staircase and walked up to the messenger.
"I'm looking for a Captain Grace," the messenger replied, giving her a once-over like he was expecting someone else.
"You're speaking to her," Keira said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The messenger cleared his throat and stood up straighter, "I'm sorry. I was expecting-"
"My grandfather retired 10 years ago, and the former Captain is dead," Keira clarified. "If there isn't anything else, you know the way out."
"Captain," the messenger said, regaining his composure. "I have a message from the King."
"I didn't mean to offend," the messenger continued when Keira didn't say anything.
"What's the message?" she finally asked, not liking this messenger. She definitely preferred them to call.
"The King has invited the Task Force to attend the annual Alpha meeting."
"As security?" Keira asked, confused since they had never been invited to attend anything as guests.
"Guests," the messenger corrected. "The King is aware of the current situation regarding the death of the former Captain Nico of the Task Force. This will allow other packs to assess the situation with the King and decide the future of the Task Force."
Keira faked a smile and accepted the invitation before thanking the messenger as he departed. She should have known. With the death of the former captain, many of the other packs had stopped requesting aid from the Task Force.
Keira assumed it was because the captain hadn't been buried yet until today, but now it was clear. Their need for the Task Force was no longer necessary.
Keira crumpled the invitation in her hands before heading back upstairs to finish packing the captain's things. She had promised his family to send them his effects as soon as she got back from the funeral.
When she was done, she asked Antoine to send the package to the family. Keira then proceeded to send out an email to the current section leaders of the Task Force informing them of the invitation from the King. They all agreed it was necessary to meet since the invitation was set for three days from the current date.
After it was decided that they would be meeting tomorrow morning, Keira headed to her room. Since she was one of the few people who stayed at Headquarters, she had been given a room as soon as she had entered the Task Force. Keira still remembered following her grandfather around at the age of 13 as he gave her the grand tour.
Many didn't agree that she was there since she happened to be the only female around at that time, but because her grandfather was the captain, he was allowed to take anyone he wanted as his apprentice. He had chosen her among everyone in the Task Force.
That caused quite the commotion, but everyone trusted her grandfather. They knew he had a reason why he wanted his only granddaughter to be his apprentice, though he never told anyone why. Not even Keira knew why she was chosen. All she knew at that time was that she was now a member of the Task Force and her parents couldn't do much about it.
During the establishment of the Task Force, the King mandated that every generation - a selected pack would have to give up a son or daughter to join the Task Force. That year, it just happened to be her family's pack that had to make the sacrifice.
That was the only reason Keira could think of that explained why her siblings had found their mates while she, at the age of 23, was still mateless. It had been 5 years since Keira had met her wolf at the age of 17. Keira knew that finding her mate while serving in the Task Force would be impossible, so she had accepted her fate and hadn't once thought about it. Her wolf was also in agreement with her decision.
The next morning, Keira took a quick shower and went to get the conference room ready for the section leaders. She put out some water and snacks for them just in case they got hungry during the meeting. Keira headed downstairs and waited for them to arrive.
A quarter till 9, she received a text message from Antoine saying that the section leaders were outside the gate and coming up to the building.
"Grace," Ethan greeted as he entered. "How are you?"
"I'm great," Keira replied as the rest of the leaders entered and greeted one another.
The group chit-chatted a bit before heading toward the conference.
"Still haven't found your mate?" Montego asked, taking a seat.
"Have you?" Keira asked, also taking her seat.
Montego mumbled something under his breath but didn't say anything else.
"So the King?" Ethan asked when everyone was seated. "Just like that, huh?"
"A messenger showed up yesterday after the funeral," Keira replied. "His exact words were that the King knew of the situation since the death of the former captain, and he wants us to attend so that the future of the Task Force could be decided."
"Everything's been working fine as it is," Connor commented. "Each section has continued their training and completed any active contacts."
"The problem is that we aren't getting any new ones," Montego inputted. "We still have our investigations and other small work but without those new contracts, our usefulness is almost nonexistent."
"That's the main reason why the Task Force was invited to the Alpha meeting," Keira said. "I guess they want to know if we are worth all the effort."
"I can't see this working out in our favor," Steven mumbled. "Since the Captain died, everything went to hell."
"We've managed well enough," Keira countered. "No one ever canceled their contract with us."
"We can't be sure that they won't," Steven replied. "Who's to stop them from seeking our services ever again?"
"The best we can do is attend the meeting," Montego stated.
"How many people is the invitation for?" Ethan asked.
"The messenger said the Task Force is invited," Keira replied. "I'm assuming that's everyone in this room."
In total, there were 5 of them that had leadership positions within the Task Force, 5 that kept the TF going after their captain had died.
"I guess it's settled," Ethan said. "We'll head out the day after tomorrow. Those of you with mates, let them know you'll be gone for a couple of days."
"Grace," Connor called out as the room began to clear out. "I'll send word ahead that we are going; hopefully, we can get some sort of reservation. It may be tight, but it's better than nothing."
"We'll manage. I'm not shy," Keira said with a smile. "And besides, the messenger was looking for a male Captain Grace."
Connor laughed, "Don't they always."
The next morning, Keira woke up earlier than usual. She dressed quickly in her TF uniform and headed straight to the command center. She had to make sure that the Task Force would be operational during her departure.
Even though there were many section leaders that didnt think of her as the leader of the Task Force, she still did all the paperwork, did payroll, managed their funds, and maintained everything operational. Keira was aware that everyone wanted Ethan as their leader, but that didn't stop her from doing her job and taking care of them.
"Captain," Antoine said, entering behind her. "I got you coffee, and there are a couple of reports that you need to read and get signed."
"Thanks, Antoine," Keira replied, taking a seat. "Are you coming with us or are you staying here?"
"I'll go wherever you need me to go," Antoine replied. "Should I get breakfast ordered for the Task Force?"
"Yeah," She replied. "Get some coffee, bagels, cream cheese, and soup. That should be enough for now."
"Yes, Captain," Antoine said, getting his phone out. "I'll put in the order and pick it up as soon as it's ready. Anything else, Captain?"
"Have Manny make some sandwiches, hot dogs, and bring some chips out for lunch. There should be some snacks left over from the funeral, bring those out too," Keira replied, opening up the first of the reports.
"I'll make sure there's enough for them to be satisfied," Antoine said before heading out.
For most of the morning, Keira spent her time reading reports and making sure that the financial reports matched what was supposed to be in their account. She wanted to make sure that everything was in order, just in case the King wanted to look into their records.
"How is everything coming along?" a voice asked from the command office doorway.
Keira resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Leave it to Ethan to want to take over. If she could, she would let him, but the King wanted her to take the late captain's place, who just also happened to be her cousin.
"I'm surprised you're awake at this hour," She commented, starting on the next report.
"Ah, that wounds me," Ethan said, sitting on top of the desk next to the laptop. "You know I have children and sleep is but a dream."
'That's a lie,' Sabelina growled. 'Everyone know his mate is the one who wakes up and takes care of the young ones.'
"Must be tough," Keira commented, not feeling bad for him. "Excuse me while I get back to these reports."
"If I weren't mated," Ethan began.
"You'll be here doing my job," she finished for him. "Since you are mated, I'm doing the job that was given to me."
Before Ethan could think about getting his feelings hurt, Keira decided to speak up to avoid a fight he was going to lose.
"Look," Keira said, leaning back in the chair. "I know that everyone sees you as the true leader of the Task Force, and if that's what they want to believe, then there's not much I can do, alright?
But I'm not going to let this organization go down the gutter. I'm responsible for the Task Force regardless of who they think the leader is."
"I'm not trying to overthrow your position," Ethan replied after a few moments of silence. "I know the King wants you in this position for a reason. I'll honor what the King demands, just like everyone in the Task Force."
"Good to know," Keira replied. "Antoine should be bringing out lunch in about an hour or so. It's not much, but I figured we could empty the pantry before we head out."
"I'm assuming the van is all set to go?" Ethan asked.
"Antoine is getting everything ready for our trip," She answered. "Still waiting for confirmation on the reservations for the trip."
"Connor is getting that set up," Ethan said. "I don't think he's heard anything back from them."
"We'll check before we leave," Keira said. "I'm sure we can cozy up in the van as we've done before."
"I'll let you get back to work," Ethan said, standing up. "I'll make sure everyone is ready to go, and the wives have been told about the trip."
Keira watched him as he left, unsure of what she thought of him. Even though it had been three weeks since she was given the position of Captain, it was like Ethan had never truly accepted the order from the King. Like he knew more about what was going on than she did.