I pulled up next to the guard shack at about the same time as my father. I got out and glanced toward him. “Are you ready for this?”
He gave me a rueful smile. “Not really, but here we are.”
Together, we walked to the gate. Rafael looked nervous. Once we turned the corner, I saw exactly why. I wanted to piss myself. A crowd of at least three dozen people was standing ten yards behind a deputy. The officer stood right outside the gate, hands resting on the utility belt he wore. His hand was near the butt of his pistol, but he thankfully wasn’t touching it. Yet.
“Mr. Lorenzo?” he asked when Dad and I came into view.
“Three Lorenzos, actually,” I said, gesturing to Dad and Rafael. “I’m Nico, the alpha of the Lorenzo pack. What can I do for you?’
The officer cleared his throat and did his best to ignore the murmurs of the crowd behind him. “You all do realize the State of Florida and the United States Government have implemented a state of emergency?”
“We do.”
He seemed surprised by my short response. He sighed. “Then you understand that all shifters are to make their way to the nearest FEMA camp for processing and testing?”
I shrugged. “I heard something about that.”
His face went slightly red, and the murmurs behind him started to grow louder. The officer took a step closer to me. “Then I suggest you all make your way there.”
I shook my head. “The latest report said that the final deadline was Friday. That’s still almost two days away. We’ll go then and not a moment before.”
“Fucking freaks! Get them out of here,” a voice called from the crowd.
The cop sighed and looked uncomfortable. Quieter, he said, “Could you all just go now? Please? It’ll make everyone’s life easier, okay?”
Anger suddenly surged up inside me. The same anger seemed to be radiating off Dad and Rafael. Everyone’s life? He meant everyhumanlife.
Voices started to call out, emboldened by the first person who’d yelled.
“Mutants!”
“Murdering pieces of shit!”
“Get them out of here!”
“We don’t want them!”
“You aren’t welcome!”
The voices started to trample over each other, becoming one big cacophonous blur of noise. I sneered at them all. How dare they come on my property, my territory, and tell me thatweneeded to leave? I’d never done it to humans before, but I was too pissed to care. I clenched my fists and pushed out my aura, the power I used to assert my superiority over my pack. It was something I almost never had to do. The last time it happened was during the meeting of the alphas. This got an even bigger response. As the pheromones and psychological power hit the humans, the voices stopped abruptly. They all, the deputy included, took several steps back and dropped their eyes in capitulation.
As they all took a step back, I took a step toward them. “None of my pack is leaving. We are not sick or feral, and we are abiding by the law. We will not turn ourselves in until the last possible minute.” I glared at the cop. “I want to remind you all that this is still private property. And if you have no warrant or cause for concern, then that means you are all trespassing. Even you, Officer. If you all don’t clear out, we will be forced to defend our property from trespassers.”
The deputy looked uncomfortable and seemed to have to force himself to meet my eyes, fighting against my aura. “Mr. Lorenzo? Was that a threat to a police officer?”
I grinned at him. “Absolutely not. The only people who should feel threatened are those who are here to do us harm and infringe on our property. You aren’t either of those, are you, Officer?”
He stared back at me and finally gave me a grudging smile. “Fair enough.” He leveled a finger at me. “Friday. Not a moment later, or I’ll be here with the rest of the departmentandthe National Guard. You read me?”
I smirked at him. “I read fine. You’re free to go, sir.”
The deputy turned and strode back to his car. He waved at everyone in the group. “All right, clear out. They have till Friday. Go on, get out. He’s right. You all are trespassing. Let’s go.”
There were grumbles from the crowd, but they all turned to head back to their cars. Several of them turned to give us dirty looks. Thankfully, my aura still had them cowed enough that there were no other words spewed in our direction.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, turning away from the crowd. I glanced at Rafael. “I’m gonna send a few more guys down here. I want this gate well-tended. Got me?”
Raf nodded. “I got it, brother. I’ll holler if anything else happens.”
