Alpha's Faire

XVII

Jexanna expected Hamma to be upset, outraged even at the new plan. Hamma was a creature of habit and comfort. She didn't want to leave the city for the taskforce. But Jexanna never expected her to be this dense.

"So Alpha Stone is going to be living on campus in the same building as us?" Her brown eyes narrowed in disgust. Jexanna resisted the urge to drag her out of the room. "Isn't he at risk, even being on campus?"

"Alpha Stone is the werewolf representative, Madame Hamma." Captain Yong emphasized for the fifth time in the briefing. "And the source of orchid required to treat the patients, he needs to be there to oversee things." His eyebrows were twitching just slightly, a sign that even he was reaching his limit. Jexanna almost released a sigh. Hamma did have this way of even ruffling feathers.

Jexanna's eyes went around the room to watch the other fae healers and physicians start to shift in their seats. Her brow raised at their behavior. Their eyes wandered away from their leader every few minutes, looking down at their hands or the Captain. Most fae were pretty stoic in their expressions, but it was apparent that even they did not approve of this. Damn.

The only saving grace was that Alpha Stone had stepped out. He had to coordinate with the other Alphas right before the questions section of the presentation. But Jexanna could tell that he was trying to avoid this shitshow. It was smart. Better for him to leave and let the rest of the task force handle Hamma. His wolf probably would have wreaked havoc at some of the words that Hamma floated around. She was close to biting her head off, personally.

"Shouldn't they just trust us?" Hamma's lips released the tenth scoff. "We are doing them a favor after all."

Well, that was it. Hamma didn't learn anything last time. Jexanna stood up from her chair next to Captain Yong that gave her a wary side glance. He remembered how much she and Hamma bashed heads.

"Hamma, does Captain Yong need to report your behavior?" She scolded Hamma who froze. Her brown eyes met Jexanna's eyes; her eyebrows lifted just up slightly.

"There's nothing wrong with my questions, Dr. Lewis." She replied to Jexanna as she sat high on her pedestal of ignorance and bliss. It wasn't like she could blame Hamma. She was a result of her upbringing, but still, she was ever the self-centered and self-righteous individual.

"Isn't there? You're lucky that Alpha Stone isn't here. Because you're insulting the man's pride and demonstrating some serious prejudice here." Jexanna walked away from her seat and towards Hamma. The other fae watched her strut over, arms crossed. Jexanna saw the two sitting on both sides of Hamma twist their hands slightly. Light fae often had powers for attacking, most rarely used them. But those that did usually started with a twist of their hands. Her eyes narrowed. They couldn't be serious. Was their loyalty that great to Hamma that they would attack?

Jexanna could handle a fistfight, a battle of wits, but if magic was involved, she would be fighting for her life. There was only so much a human could do to prevent a magic attack from a faire.

Shou, get in here. Jexanna projected as she saw Hamma's eyes glance over to her companion's hands before raising her hand to her chest. She knew what they were going to do. Jexanna'd have to be smart about this. Otherwise, she'd have a fight she couldn't handle.

"This honestly shouldn't concern Alpha Stone. None of the patients are from his pack." Hamma replied. "We don't need any more wolves than necessary." Jexanna blinked in surprise. She just said that. She said wolves as if they were animals.

Well, fuck being smart.

"You wouldn't trust just a taskforce full of strangers to manage any fae patients, Hamma. Alpha Stone is the one that the werewolf community is entrusting their afflicted with, not us. It's only because he will be there on campus that we can treat these patients in the first place." Jexanna pointed at Hamma, growling under her breath. Her eyes narrowed at Hamma, ready to move in an instant. She was close to exposing Hamma, destroying her reputation if needed.