The Fall

Thursday Afternoon

XAVIER POV

Sally texted me while Claire was in the shower, presumably ridding herself from 'the stench'.

We aren't going to make it out tonight, she is exhausted. Same plan, for tomorrow.

The excited, nervous feeling floating above my head dropped through my stomach and to the floor below as I responded with a quick OK.

'Well. This certainly is an unprecedented situation. Thanks for coming into the office, official matters in official places and all that." Alexi opened the door to his office, ushering me in and sitting back behind a large, ultra modern sheek desk.

Alexi picked up his "World's Best Uncle" coffee mug, frowned at it's lack of stimulating contents, smiled at the chubby little faces plastered to the side, sighed, and put it back down.

That mug seemed out of place in this sleek, modern, minimalist office with its black and silver color scheme and corner view of the city. It was also the only thing in the office that matched Alexi's personality.

"By rights I should be reporting you to your local monarch, for endangering the life of a human...however accidental. So there, consider yourself reported. I expect full disciplinary action to be taken, and no special considerations given for your personal connection to the perpetrator."

Fair.

Usual disciplinary action for were owls was to make amends anonymously ten fold to the individual and family threatened. This was anonymous and usually covered medical, counselling, upgrading of damaged property etc.

The normies were usually better off after. It was actually a lot of fun to be on a team enacting amends that were on the larger side. Finding ways to sneak fortune into a stranger's life. It was one of the more satisfying services offered by The Firm.

This was going to be tricky in Claire's case, whether she survived this ordeal or not, my presence had taken her life. I didn't even know what that sort of reconciliation would look like, and I couldn't do it anonymously, being her mate, without lying to her.

"I'll figure something out and draw it up for the archives. The other issue? I broke another law by telling Sally, a normie who is not my mate, about our world without at least three governing powers agreeing."

Alexi had his fingers in a steeple. "You are covered there. I would say this falls under 'extenuating circumstances', so you just need three governing powers to agree. Local law counts doctors as a governing power for this issue. So that makes three." Alexi ticked off his fingers "You, me and Dr Avery."

"Thank you Alpha" I said sincerely, Alexi tilted his head magnanimously in a parody of the iconic Monarch head tilt my Father was famous for.

Then three things happened.

The clock ticked from 4:59pm to 5:00pm.

Alexi took off his tie with the statement "Alpha hat off, friend hat on."

Alexi reached under his desk and produced a beautiful whisky bottle, along with another two comical mugs.

One had 'World's Worst Boss' with Alexi's mug in a sheepish expression superimposed on the side. The other had 'Innocent Bystanders' surrounded by a multitude of angry faces, too innumerable to count.

"Why are you defiling whisky that nice in those mugs? I can smell a story here." I sat back with my 'Innocent Bystander' chalice, ready for a distraction from my currently fraught existence.

Alexi sighed so deeply I felt it in my soul."That was terrible Xavier. Owls can't smell."

"You said you were my friend. Friends share things with each other." I complained. "Besides, my olfactory senses as a human are sensitive enough to pick up on that." I stated, raising the mug.