TONIGHT'S TEAM

The guys arranged themselves around the settees and random furniture - all except for Cobra who chose to stand next to the window. It was like he couldn't wait to jump out.

Ink had taken the initiative to collate the intel from the men's preliminary investigations, aka the general gossip around the Night Forest Packhouse.

My wolves were all pretty gifted at gathering intel. Take Wolfgang and Barry for example, they had only arrived at Night Forest in the late afternoon, but Wolfgang had since had coffee with an academic acquaintance who turned out to be the consultant hired by Uncle Louis for some protocol for standardization of organization.

I didn't know what that was, so I couldn't comment, but Ben was all huffy, "Well that's a waste of money. He'd just be standardizing crap."

Barry had access to the packhouse kitchen to ensure that the Alpha Princess' food was prepared according to food safety protocols. This also inevitably granted him access to the kitchen gossip.

Torque and the others mingled with some of the local warriors. Harvey had bought the first drink for all of them to thank them for their hard work today. He claimed he learned this trick from his Alpha's example… that's me, but I had never bought anyone drinks. Wolfgang immediately understood to reference back to the time I ordered pizza for everyone after we defeated the warlock. "A small gesture of generosity that builds morale and leads to future cooperation."

Actually, I would have said it led to the biggest food fight since I was in fourth grade, BUT let's go with Wolfgang's interpretation of events. Also, technically, I had used Bell's credit card in our Original Timeline… hmm… I wondered who picked up the bill in this one?

Anyway, Torque, Neil, and Jax were still drinking with them. We had to leave some of them behind because it would look too suspicious if ALL of us disappeared at once.

"Don't worry." Ben was confident, "Neil and Jax would be loud enough for all of us."

And Torque was just a huge presence I guess.

They'd join us if we needed back up.

Cobra had completed his mission to secure the perimeters at the Night Forest Packhouse. He had also help plant bugs around the packhouse for Ink to tap on. According to Ben, this was the standard security protocol whenever he activated Cobra and Ink to any foreign space.

I think there had to be a point when "security" became a criminal offense.

"Okay." Ben paused, almost like his dad would, but it turned out that he was just being reluctant to admit he was wrong about something, "So... I thought you assigned these dogs to us randomly..."

I did assign the special team randomly.

"But these two are a match made in heaven when it comes to skill sets." Ben boasted.

Cobra was the shadow that got close to the target to plant the tracker or bug or whatever electronic evil Ben had. Ink was the data analyst who tracked it, and when they got what they needed, Cobra could end it and clean up assassin style.

There was nothing heavenly about this pairing. Quite the opposite really.

"If yours were made in heaven, mine must be from hell." Harvey said, usual wry smile in place. He had gotten Torque and EJ. While Ben's pairing was brains-assassin. Harvey got a brawn-assassin pair.

As it turned out, Torque was all the muscle Red needed to commit mass homicide in an enclosed space. Like an underground club or gambling den - and escape in one piece. I would like to think Harvey was reporting theoretically, but no, Harvey had lent them to Bell to wreck havoc, I mean, crack down on some of the rouge gangs in Winderhill.

Because no, Bell couldn't just leave it be. Since Alpha Stephan of the Crystal Wind Pack wouldn't return the rouges we had captured for him, Bell had to steal the even bigger fish, just to slap the fishies back in Alpha Stephan's face.

In effect, it paralyzed the #1 gang, and completely wiped out and scattered the #2. The peace was temporal and they would eventually reorganize. When that happens, Alpha Stephan was going to be in a s***load of trouble. We can only wait and see how it works out.

WHY? I did not adopt my Special Team to kill people. When I said to help them discover their special talents and develop them, I didn't mean this! Torque was supposed to be growing tulips, not charging into gangster paradise!

"What about Barry and Fluffy?" I asked Ki hoping for better news. One was our newest rising culinary star and the other our wizard that will bring my Yellow Brick Road project to fruition right?

Wrong. Ki assured me that everything is going exactly "as it should be" (I was starting to hate that phrase. It never was.)

"Goddess was incredibly wise." Ki praised me unreservedly.

Barry and Fluffy were especially compatible for mid-term infiltration and assassination missions. They had the professional skills and qualifications to enter any high profile function through the back door. Barry could be anything from bodyguard to kitchen or service staff, while Fluffy could audition as a performer. They had also ever infiltrated a gala disguised as a married couple. It turned out that Barry was a very stabilizing influence on Fluffy. After training to identify poisons, he became rather good at hiding poisons in foods too. It was a two edged sword, a very sensible two edged sword that could assist Fluffy in meeting mission objectives while stopping Fluffy from "overdoing" it.

"It's neither heaven nor hell," Ki smiled like a flower to the sun, "But purgatory is no less punitive."

My three betas looked at me expectantly. It was almost like they expected me to praise them for this.

Perhaps if Delta Felicity were here, she might have raised her brows at this point and gasp appreciatively, "Heaven, Hell, AND purgatory? How comprehensive! Very impressive!" 

But no, she wasn't here, so I was left with my mouth opening soundlessly. What was I supposed to say, "Good job?"

My beta's hard work was not completely lost though. Wolfgang, the great Fire Pillar, was very impressed. He nodded approvingly with a hand on his chin because his mind was turning at all the possibilities. He even had to break into verbal discourse: 

Firstly, to equip each beta with an S-class assassin was a profoundly strategic move.

"As you know, princess, the Beta is his Alpha's right hand." Wolfgang explained, but with borrowed lycan imagery for added depth, "Now, every right hand has a left hand. What the right hand cannot do in the light of day, the left hand can."

I blinked. I must not have understood correctly, because if Wolfgang meant that the left hand was supposed to murder people, he was sounding way too okay about it.

Secondly, by bonding the assassin wolf with a partner of complementary skill sets, the chances of every mission's success was exponentially increased. Such a partner can cover for the assassin's weakness and amplify their strengths.

Not only did it ensure the assassin would live to kill another day, the accomplice provided both a breath and range of support that would offer greater flexibility and capabilities in a diverse range of scenarios.

"But they don't necessary need to be killing anyone," I had to point out, "They could be used for… I don't know, maybe spy missions?"

"Yeah, yeah, but don't worry Sam, we'll make good use of them." Ben said, which did the opposite of reassuring me.

In conclusion, congratulations me! I was now the proud owner of a proven team of assassins.

"Now we have three specialized teams that pretty much cover every scenario you might need to hunt a target at." Ben looked smug, "Good one, Sam."

WTH would we even need such a thing? OMG. This was real life, not a movie!

Now, not only did I have a fully equipped and trained underground army with nothing to do. I also have a home-grown assassin organization that I have zero use for. Like they literally lived in my home!

I suddenly remembered the "best of the best" wolve escorting me at Night Forest now. Who put Ben in charge of personnel?