Page 8 of Escalating Alpha (Seraphine Thomas #18)

What the president said was everywhere and people were up in arms. Iran, Bolivia, and Greece were validly pissed.

So was all of NATO.

And the EU.

Everyone was. No reason to deny it. The only ones who weren’t hated supes big-time and wanted the US to burn. There were memes of Russians watching the news eating popcorn. Terrorists at the pool since they weren’t needed to work to destroy us this week.

We could do it all on our own.

Galvin sent me a text telling me to hang on because it was going to get rough, but they were all over it. That the good guys were on my side and help had arrived.

I had no idea what that meant, but I was all for the good guys winning. It was the whole reason I joined the FBI after all.

I honestly almost felt bad for the White House press guy who had to deal with this—that they cowardly sent.

Until he was a petty asshole. The response though shocked me and my mouth fell open as I watched it.

“Alpha,” someone from the press pool called.

The guy kept talking until several people repeated it, even louder. “What?”

The camera turned to show a reporter from a major network standing. “She’s not ‘Ms. Thomas.’ She’s Alpha Sera. Or Mistress Sera because she has a coven of vampires—though I thought it was Master Sera. I think they might be changing that to unisex—either way, you know she’s not just Ms. Thomas. We all saw the interview that you’re doing it on purpose.”

Wow. I couldn’t believe the pushback.

The guy looked like he was eating shit as he corrected himself to call me Alpha Sera. Petty, petty little man.

He went over that while they felt bad for me that my claims were unsubstantiated and dangerous. They didn’t even address the president being caught.

To which the director of the CIA immediately gave a press conference saying he’d verified what I’d received and my sources and it was all real. Damn, that man was throwing down and—I’d have to send him a really nice gift. Seriously.

Before lunch, it was all over that the president said the whole recording was AI and was going to push through a bill that made it illegal to use people’s likenesses and voices without consent. Blah, blah, blah… That was the lamest excuse ever.

Right after the First Lady gave the lamest non-apology ever.

Like had been happening all day, someone came flying into my office and turned on the TV.

“I’m just going to prop the door open and leave my TV on mute,” I grumbled as I looked up from what I was reviewing. I did a double take when I saw Dain on the screen. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Corbin sighed.

“What do you think of the First Lady’s apology, Mr. Morton?” someone called at him.

He snorted. “That wasn’t an apology. That was victim blaming. Turning it around to say it wasn’t her but probably one of my wife’s many, many lovers in Bolivia since one of the hitmen was caught in Santigo is disgusting. That information was confidential and vital in trying to find out who is behind this all and she disclosed it.

“I feel intentionally since she and her husband want my family dead—my innocent, son who is not even a year old. The whole thing was disturbing. She has never met my wife and constantly tears into her while doing nothing herself for our country. My wife is not lovers with President Condori. I believe they have met once in passing.

“To my knowledge, Sera hasn’t even been to Bolivia. If she has, it’s been with the FBI and she’s never told me because she does know how to keep things quiet that she should. She’s never disclosed secrets she shouldn’t and I’m cleared with the FBI, am still working with them. The First Lady is jealous of my wife. That’s what this comes down to.”

“How can you say that?” someone shouted.

Dain gave the guy a look that he was dense. “Anyone with eyes can see it. The First Lady only became someone because of who she married. My wife is a rockstar and superhero all on her own. The best days of the First Lady are long over, and she clutches to her choices as being right because she regrets how things have turned out being married to a man so full of hate.

“Let me be clear that there is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home wife or mother. Mine was, and it is a demanding, unforgiving, and underappreciated job. I hate how people treat those in that position. I have always respected it and pushed for it to be accepted as what it is—a very difficult job . But that is someone’s choice.

“It doesn’t make anyone else’s choice wrong, and the moment a stay-at-home mom throws insults at women who don’t choose her same path, it’s clear they regret the life they’ve chosen. The First Lady cannot hold a candle to my wife. I’m biased because I’m deeply in love with her, but if you have a clear mind and look at the side-by-side, you would agree.”

“I think that’s a bit much when one is the most powerful woman in the country,” someone said, not sounding mean but like that was just a hard pill to swallow.

“Sir, my wife is a genius. An actual tested genius. She was years ahead of schooling and academically gifted. She speaks ten languages fluently and three more conversationally—almost four with Greek now. She could have gone into tech or any industry to make millions—a list of degrees, but she served her country. She is Captain America to many of us.

“She’s been shot multiple times for this country and protecting the citizens. I know how the First Lady and others say she received her money, but none of that is true. There were agreements in place that protected Sera’s wolves and were broken. The cost of that breach was the man’s fortune. That was how severe the agreements were.

“And the laws he then broke led to a councilman giving an order of execution. It just happened it was Sera’s job to handle that. She could have passed it off, but she didn’t want someone else to carry it. Those are the facts and several in Internal Affairs have cleared her. The First Lady is not in the know on any of this but runs her mouth.

“So she can’t even understand her position and the influence she has—how to be careful with that power. I also don’t care how the whispers were squashed, but we all know there were accusations that she plagiarized her master’s thesis. I plan to get to the bottom of that since apparently she won’t leave my family alone.

“My wife immediately set to helping people when she received a large amount of money. She doesn’t kill people for money. She helps people with her money. She employs thousands of people now. Above average wages for their industries. They thrive and—I could brag about my amazing wife all day and I have to get to court.

“I will end by saying if the First Lady doesn’t come up with a real apology and stop spreading hate and lies, she will be next to see me in court. I don’t care her position; she has to follow the law and is just as liable as the former Mrs. Galvin for the damage done to my wife’s career and life. More than that, the First Lady is responsible for the threats against my family.”

“She didn’t put up the money,” someone argued.

Dain raised an eyebrow at him. “I haven’t seen the proof of that. And I didn’t say she hired the hitman. I said she was responsible. She is liable and clearly a lot of people believe that with the protests.”

“Damn, he’s cool,” Corbin whispered.

Yeah, he really was. For all our issues and the amount of times I wanted to beat him, he did an amazing job protecting us—me.

Which was why I sent a text thanking him.

There had already been a preliminary hearing for motions and if there were grounds for the case to go forward. The other side had lost the motion to keep cameras out of court. We said that was ridiculous when the former Mrs. Galvin did everything in her power to say her lies about me in public. She didn’t get to hide when they were refuted.

Dain was dynamic and amazing in court. I’d seen it before but… Amazing. He handled everything like a pro and was beyond cool. We had a different attorney as lead for the case since he wasn’t licensed in DC, but this was really his case, and he made it clear he was fighting for me.

And what was right.

That was glaringly obvious when he added several motions that weren’t punitive. My mouth dropped open when he filed for Director Galvin to get emergency full physical custody of his kids and more.

His evidence?

A truly unhinged voicemail from his ex-wife about not only ruining him but making sure he never saw his kids again. That he’d bury me—his whore—and… Unhinged didn’t even cover it.

“How stupid do you have to be to threaten the head of the FBI on a recording?” I whispered.

“I have a feeling it’s been going on a lot and he was too scared to handle it because of his kids,” Corbin muttered as he reached for another chicken wing. A group of us were watching the trial during lunch and eating everything bad for us.

I needed the fun right then not to lose my fucking mind.

“Plus, he’s drowning. He looks five years older since he took over,” Sander added.

Yeah, that was fair. Poor guy.

I mean, I was still pissed at him for valid things but… Poor guy.

I dropped my food when her attorney gave his opening arguments and spewed shit. I’d expected that, but he said something I hadn’t thought of. “How much are we suing for?”

Everyone slowly looked at me and burst out laughing.

I covered my face when I felt it burning up. Yeah, I was a twit. I’d never considered—of course there was a dollar amount associated with defamation and all of that. I just hadn’t realized it.

Corbin told me the amount.

“There’s no way she has that kind of money.”

“Doesn’t matter. She shouldn’t have run her fucking mouth then,” Corbin bit out.

“Plus, her family does,” Sander practically sang, nodding when I glanced at him. “Oh yeah, she’s a Southern belle from a former plantation-owning family or some shit.”

I groaned. “Why, Scott? Seriously, just… Why?” Right, they’d met in college and—love. Love happened.

Yeah, I had piles of issues because of who I’d fallen in love with too. Didn’t we all?

Dain had his chance and then there was a break where we should have gotten back to work but seriously, there was no chance I could focus. I thought I could, but this was crazy and how could I not watch?

What I didn’t expect was an ad from the ACLU coming on the TV with my fucking face. And my mostly naked body.

Yeah, fun.

But the ad was good. It had pictures of cows, chickens, pigs—animals there were no known shifter types for and the guy saying that these were animals. Then pictures of me from my official FBI picture to ones from the paper and interviews all the way to some of the racy ones. Then he said that I was a person.

And anyone who couldn’t tell the difference shouldn’t be in charge of all of the citizens of a country.

“Well, glad I can be useful,” I sighed, sharing a look with Sander.

“The council should be the one doing this and pushing it all,” he muttered, jumping out of his seat to make the call when I nodded. The shifter council absolutely should be. I couldn’t have agreed more.

Sander was on the phone too long and missed the start of the next part of court… And it was a lot. Like I was glad someone was recording it somewhere because he would want to watch this.

Dain started big with the jury. They didn’t know him since the DC attorney had handled all of that while Dain was here, but he was making it clear how things would be for the case.

Exciting was one of them.

Scott Galvin was called first and sworn in, looking ready and also tired.

“Director Galvin, when was the first time your ex-wife brought up Seraphine Thomas’s name to you?”

“Years ago. I don’t remember the date. I’d taken a call in my home office—a normal update I get when it’s a big case. It wasn’t anything sensitive, so it was on speaker. The chief of the Chicago office— not Brian Havers—made it clear that he wanted to give Thomas a commendation that would normally have a ceremony.

“But he couldn’t because she was undercover. Those ceremonies don’t normally get approved at my level, but apparently he’d gotten some pushback on how often he wanted to give them to Thomas. He also asked I review the denied requests because he was tired of one of his best agents being treated that way because she was young and female.”

“I’m just as surprised as you guys are,” I told the others. “I thought the man didn’t like me.”

“I promised I would and told him that they’d all done a good job bringing the case home. I knew how rough it had been—we’d tried multiple times to get someone in where Thomas went and—it had gotten dicey, but she’d pulled off a miracle. The whole team had.”

“And your wife took issue with a woman being praised?” Dain asked him.

Galvin sighed. “I can’t tell you her mental state then, but clearly I missed too many red flags. She asked me if I was going to give an award to the slut who threw herself at me at the party we’d just been at. I told her that Thomas hadn’t been there and was undercover out of the country. She got upset and said to not defend the woman to her.”

“And who was your ex-wife really referring to?”

“An aide to a congressman who got a bit tipsy at the party. Yes, she said something flirty, but she certainly didn’t throw herself at me and she didn’t deserve being called that. My ex-wife was always jealous—I forgave a lot because she did put up with a lot because of my job. She was basically a married single woman and—”

“I think you need to get out of the mindset of defending the woman just because you took vows, Director Galvin,” Dain cut in. “She wants to take your children away and ruin you. She’s not keeping to her vows. Why are you trying to still be loyal to that?”

“Objection!” the other lawyer yelled.

“Withdrawn,” Dain said, nodding that it was over the line. “Director Galvin, did you clearly state that Seraphine Thomas wasn’t at the party and had never flirted with you?”

“Yes. Repeatedly.”

“And you told her who the woman was that your ex-wife was referring to?”

“Yes.”

They went over several other occasions and instances, my stomach turning at hearing how often I was truly the topic in someone else’s marriage. Dain outlined how often and when Galvin had actually met me before his ex-wife started with her bullshit publicly.

“Making a mistake doesn’t make defamation,” the other attorney started.

“No, but repeatedly making false statements publicly when you’ve been shown proof it’s wrong is,” Galvin said firmly, looking the guy over like he was barking up the wrong tree to play with. “My ex-wife committed libel and slander a lot of times no matter what I said.”

“Cheating husbands lie all of the time, and you were high in the FBI. If you wanted to hide an affair, it wasn’t hard,” he argued before digging into his questions.

They were stupid. He was trying to grab onto smoke, not even getting close to anything solid. But Dain came back as the superhero.

“People absolutely make mistakes,” he said as he nodded off to the side. Someone set up an enlarged picture of me. “That’s a picture of Seraphine Thomas at the time the former Mrs. Galvin says she saw her throw herself at Director Galvin no matter what she was told.” He nodded again. “And that is the picture of the aide who was tipsy and said a flirty comment.”

I spit out my drink.

Others laughed.

Corbin stood and clapped.

Why?

Because the woman was my polar opposite. Like… Polar. Fucking. Opposite.

Black hair to my blonde. Dark eyes to my blue. Petite and delicate to my athletic. Gorgeous deep golden skin to my pale everything. I would guess she or her family were from India, but I wasn’t sure.

“Yes, people are mistaken, but there is a limit to how much is allowed before it’s intentional. Did you ever tell your ex-wife the two women didn’t even look alike, Director Galvin?”

“Yes. Repeatedly. She would always say she knew what she saw and to not correct her because she was right.”

“Did you ever have an affair with Seraphine Thomas?”

“No.”

“Done anything inappropriate with her?”

“No.”

“Ever even touched her or flirted with her?”

“No.”

“Has she ever done any of that to you?”

Galvin snorted. “She’s never so much as called me by my first name until recently and we were discussing something about your son. That’s the first time she’s ever even called me ‘Scott.’ No, she’s never been anything other than completely professional with me, and no one has ever seen anything but that.”

“Thank you.”

“I would have thought he’d pull that out when the ex-wife was testifying,” Corbin muttered, sharing a look with others.

“It’s Dain. He has a plan. There’s a reason,” Sander argued.

I would have thought the same though… Actually, on both points. It was Dain and he did have a plan.

But most attorneys would have pulled it out when she was testifying.

Except Dain did have a different plan. He called her up next when others would have waited until later. He used that she would be irate that her ex-husband defended another woman and bad-mouthed her.

And it worked. She sounded like a lunatic. It was also smart of Dain because she now changed her story that there was another woman who threw herself at Galvin that night, a blonde woman that she’d never brought up before and knew it was me.

Dain went over all of the evidence with her and she said it was all fabricated—completely made up. Statements from my bosses and more of when I’d been undercover. Proof of it… Somehow all of it lies because we were FBI and that was what we did.

“No, that is what movies do or maybe the CIA if they wanted to overthrow a government—”

“Objection,” her attorney practically snarled.

“Withdrawn,” Dain said, looking contrite.

But he’d made his point.

She ended up exploding and accusing Dain of using magic to influence the jury and judge even. That was the only way this nonsense and more was allowed and he should be punished.

“That’s a fucking death sentence. Is she like insane?” someone whispered.

Yes, clearly, she was.

The judge was furious and made it clear that if she ever made a wild accusation again that she would be held in contempt.

To which she doubled down, threatening to talk to the First Lady and get them both in trouble, so the judge threw her ass in jail.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit,” I whispered. I glanced over at Sander. “I think that’s good?”

“It shows that she’s really in cahoots with the First Lady and has her on speed dial. Give me a minute to get over my shock.”

Yeah, fair.

It continued without her, but it seemed clear that it wasn’t going well for their side. Not long after they were done for the day, I received a text from Dain saying they wanted to settle.

No. Not a chance, and it wasn’t about the money. I wanted that jury to find that she was full of bullshit and I said as much. She didn’t just get to settle after all she’d put us through.

I was glad when he agreed. I did also tell him that he was amazing and thanked him.

I thought nothing could be crazier than that.

I was wrong. The director of the CIA was called into a last-minute congressional hearing where he admitted to the world on live television that the recording of the president was real. He swore under oath that the part he was there for was real and he had no doubt the rest was too.

Oh, and he’d heard the president say multiple times that he wanted all the supes of the world to be sent to Greece and then blow the country off the map.

Apparently, it could always get crazier.