The Bucklin Wolves Next Generation: Return Read Free Page B

casinos in more densely populated areas, while they pay basically a third less taxes.”
    “That’s okay,” Jacko said, laughing. “I don’t need you to peel back the curtain too much, girly.”
    “And you won’t find everything in a report, either, dear,” Ms. Wilson said. “Jacko, why don’t you give her some inside information on this place? Let her know what really happened to Aster and all his citizens.”
    “You see, honey,” he said, putting one foot on the bumper of the car and leaning forward to address Maribel directly. “This place was the victim of a pretty vicious gang attack.”
    “There’s nothing about that in any public record,” Maribel started to protest.
    “You won’t find it in a report or on a police blotter,” Jacko said. “You see, there was this band of hooligans called Satan’s Angels. I had a run-in with one of their chapters a few years back, real nasty bastards. Everyone in the gang is a shifter. The leader of this particular chapter was a werewolf named Abaddon. He wasn’t a normal wolf, no. He had demon’s fire running through his veins—literally. He was possessed by the spawn of Satan himself. He took a liking to Luke’s daughter and he kidnapped her, after killing Luke, of course. But then a funny thing happened. His son’s best friend, Aster, became mayor. He was mated to Luke’s daughter, but not anymore. Luke’s son became the town’s top enforcer. Nothing happened without Rowan knowing about it. Satan’s Angels returned and one of them took a shine to a local waitress. Being the chivalrous type, Rowan couldn’t let that stand and he killed the guy, igniting another war between the town and the gang. There was more to it than that, some intricacies and stuff that I won’t get into, but that’s the gist of it. In the end Aster defeated the demon, rescued his lost mate and decided human life wasn’t for him anymore. He and your fifty-two percent abandoned this place and moved into the forest to shit in bushes and never wear clothes or whatever it is werewolves want to do.”
    “So you’re saying the national park is filled with werewolves who used to live here?” This information was unsettling to Maribel. She hadn’t run scenarios for this. Panic was flooding into her chest and she could feel her face tightening as she began to freak out. “We have to postpone the meeting. I have to rerun every number. No, this won’t do at all. This is dangerous. I have to do a risk analysis.”
    “What are you prattling on about?” Ms. Wilson asked.
    “A wild wolf pack this close to human civilization has a thirty-four point seven percent chance of harming humans. Those factors go up exponentially when you add in the fact that this place was their home a very short time ago and they might have some sort of instinctual love for it. This is terrible.”
    Jacko’s laugh wasn’t something she wanted to hear right now, but there it was, filling her ears. This was serious and he was too cavalier about it. They couldn’t do this right now.
    “That’s what I’m here for, honey,” Jacko said. “There’s not a wolf alive that I can’t take down. You know how many of these monsters I’ve killed? You’ll need your special super calculator to figure that out.”
    “This meeting still isn’t a good idea. I have incomplete data.”
    “Calm yourself, Maribel,” Ms. Wilson said sternly. “We’re signing these contracts and getting to work. But if it’ll make you feel better, I can get you a meeting with the mayor. You can interview him, compile a new report and send it to Mr. Sokolov to see if we need to beef up security.”
    Jacko snorted at that notion, but Ms. Wilson’s death stare caused the strong, assured man to recoil and nod in agreement.
    “We’re going to be late for this meeting,” Jacko finally said.
    “Then let’s go,” Ms. Wilson said, giving Maribel one last disgusted look. “It’s time to make some money.”
    Who are you, Jacko? Maribel