Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 6) (13 page)

Charlie kept her head down and continued to take notes of the back and forth between Henry and the Home Secretary. In the end, Henry conceded, but his agreement was dependent on the safety of his people.

Charlie wondered how the others would take this. In the past weeks, she'd heard the story of Matthew Brown's abduction so many times she could recite it by heart. But that wasn't the only tragedy orchestrated by the Sons of Domnall. In Jamie's crew in Edinburgh, there was a guy named Aidan McMillan, whose parents had been killed by the Sons. In every city, every New Alliance splinter group, there were people who had been affected in this struggle. So much pain and heartache would be difficult to overcome.

"That's fair. We will set up an initiative to ensure shifters can live freely, and safely, within our borders." The Home Secretary picked up a dossier from her desk and handed it to Henry, who opened it. "Here is a proposal put together by various agencies. There will be a joint task force. Part human, part shifter. It'll be run independently but work closely with local law enforcement, even Interpol. This task force will follow the normal protocols as far as they're relevant and report directly to me."

Charlie looked at Henry to gauge his reaction. He was impossible to read. Gail, however, seemed pleasantly surprised as she grabbed Henry's arm.

That's good, isn't it?
Charlie thought.

James agreed; she could feel it.

"And this task force will be well financed and given all opportunities to track down these people, yes? Including surveillance, access to whatever databases you have, intercepting communications..." Henry said.

The Home Secretary took off her glasses and placed them on the table in front of her.

"Subject to using the proper procedures. Nothing without a court order. I won't tolerate anyone cutting corners or trampling all over the rights and liberties of innocent people, just because someone has a hunch."

"I see." Henry's tone was guarded. Charlie couldn't make out if he was happy about the proposal or not.

An awkward silence filled the room.

"As a sign of good faith, I'm prepared to share something with you. But all this is off the record." The Home Secretary looked directly at Charlie now. "If this ends up in the papers tomorrow, the deal is off the table, you understand?"

Charlie put her pen down on the pad and held her hands up. "Off the record. No problem."

"The attacker that was taken in during the incident at Hyde Park. We offered him a deal, but only if he was willing to talk. It turns out he was able to track you down with the help of an old friend of yours."

Charlie frowned. Who could she be referring to?

"It turns out your former leader, Adrian Blacke, hates your movement so much he was willing to make a deal with the enemy. It seems he had an axe to grind with you personally, Mr. Finch," the Home Secretary's voice sounded almost triumphant. "We have him in custody. Considering what we found at his mansion in Stirling, it won't be difficult to keep him locked up for a long time."

"No way," Charlie whispered. She looked across at the others and saw they were equally shocked. The mention of Stirling, her home town, sparked her curiosity, though. Whatever they found there, she had to know. She would ask James about it later.

"This has been verified?" Henry asked.

"I'm afraid so." The Home Secretary cleared her throat. "I understand that we may find things there which will connect some of your people to what Blacke has been up to. Different times, shall we say. We're willing to overlook some of it, as long as everyone understands that those days are over."

Henry leaned back in his chair.

"This is a lot to take in, I understand. If you need time to think about it, that's fine," the woman said.

Charlie waited with bated breath. What would Henry say to all this? How would the New Alliance proceed?

"No need," Henry finally spoke up. "Your proposal for a joint task force is acceptable. My priorities lie with keeping my people safe. That's what our entire movement has been about from the beginning. We still have a long way to go before everyone accepts us for what we are."

Henry took a deep breath. "Now that Blacke is no longer a threat, we'll have to focus on Victor Domnall and his people. He will have gathered quite a bit of support, and although there may not be much activity right now, I've had the misfortune of dealing with his people for too long. As long as they're out there, they're planning something."

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. This was the right way forward; she was certain of it.

"In that case, my people will be in touch when the groundwork has been laid. We'll arrange for an office and put forward a shortlist of human candidates. Please prepare a list of your own. They'll have to undergo some training to make sure they're aware of our laws and procedures."

"Of course," Henry said.

"Then we are all in agreement." The Home Secretary pushed her chair back, nodded at everyone present, and finally shook Henry's hand to symbolically seal the deal.

Charlie's head was spinning now. This was huge, though of course, she couldn't report on the entire last part of the conversation, but still.

She looked over at James, only to find his eyes already on her.

How about that, eh?
Charlie thought.

He smiled.
We won. The New Alliance has won.

She smiled back at him. It certainly did seem so.

Sure, they hadn't quite won everyone over yet. And the Sons of Domnall were still out there. But with shifter equality making its way into existing legislation, and this joint task force...

This was the way forward, and the future was bright.

~ THE END ~

Desperate for more Werebears stories? Alpha Squad, the spin-off to the Scottish Werebears series comes out during the Autumn of 2016. 
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Dear Reader,

Thanks for reading Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance, Book 6 in the Scottish Werebears Series. Although this is my first published series, I'm not new to writing in general. In fact, my mom still tells me to this day about how I would make up stories, and attempt to record them in my clumsy, shaky handwriting from the moment I learned to read and write. From there I went on to write fan fiction and other stuff meant for my own eyes only.

I've always enjoyed stories of the paranormal. Vampires, shape shifters, witches and magic, all featured in the books I loved the most, even when I was still growing up. But it wasn't until much later that I got into romance. One of the first writers (a self published author just like me!) I came across was Tina Folsom, via her Scanguards Vampire series. I was hooked. From there I went on to read more paranormal romance until I found a new favorite kind of hero: bear shifters, like the kind written by Milly Taiden, Zoe Chant, and T.S. Joyce. What I love about bears is how they can be all strong and independent, a bit reclusive, and almost grumpy, but they always end up having a heart of gold (plus they tend to know their food, and we all know that a man who can cook is doubly sexy). All that (except for the shifting into a powerful bear) almost exactly describes the sort of man I ended up falling for and marrying in real life, so it's no surprise that this is what I started my publishing career with.

If this sounds like something you're interested in as well, keep an eye out for my upcoming releases. All of my books will be made available in ebook, paperback and audiobook format.

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