The day I, alpha female, Mimi Salvatore, had been anticipating or dreading was almost here. It was Saturday, November 5th, which meant that Monday would be the 7th. With Thanksgiving falling on the fourth Thursday of this month, we would have a little holiday; the end of that week would be free for us all.
Everyone would be home from Thursday to the following Monday. As for Christmas in December, I wasn't sure what to expect. Trucks would probably be driving, but since Adam and Charles were newcomers, they might not get the best-paid holiday shifts, though nothing was certain yet.
I was sitting in our very bare living room. The walls had been scrubbed free of the ugly green tones. There were no curtains, and the floor was just bare boards, nothing too fancy. However, a crew was coming in to spruce the place up to par this weekend, so it wasn't my immediate worry.
I had already seen the impressive quantity of rocks and minerals we had acquired, which I could use for tumbling and to set up an online shop. Surely, all eight girls were in on it. Since there was also a table saw, or several, as well as grinders, I had very protective males around me, like Colin, who didn't want me operating the saw at all. He was instructing Adam, Charles, and the other boys, as well as Wulfe, to keep me safe and prevent me from chopping off my fingers.
Right now, I was just making an inventory of everything we had. Our moving crew had brought in an incredible amount of stuff, and it wasn't the time to move it out, but to be creative and find some use for it. For example, it wasn't hard to find a use for three roomfuls of children's toys, books, and activities, like coloring books and table games.
There was a lot to sort through, but then there was one particular lot that made me raise my eyebrows and consider what to do. But since it had been brought in, we would just have to deal with it.
In my organization, we raided places like vampire women's castles, targeting the truly evil ones. During these raids, we often found various rescued individuals. However, this particular group of rescues came from a particularly nasty medical research facility.
Unlike others, these individuals were unharmed, having only been subjected to tests and sample collection; they were animals, but not the usual mice, rats, cats, or dogs – not even mammals, making it quite a find.
I was in one room, searching through a jumble of children's clothes of all sizes, planning to sort them. I wasn't in the mood to butcher meat, especially since the cuts were still hanging and needed to dry-age for 42 days, meaning it would be over a month before I had to deal with them.
Suddenly, Lily's excited voice rang in my mind, "Mom, you gotta come here! You must see what Rosie and I found!"
Wulfe, Adam, and Charles were, as usual, walking with me. I rolled my eyes and asked impatiently, "Where are you, and what's this all about?"
She replied, "We're in the north wing, third floor. Come and see, bring others! Oh my god..."
Her excitement was palpable, but I couldn't imagine what she had found that was so thrilling.
"What on earth could be so damn exciting?" I wondered.
Charles rolled his eyes and suggested, "Well, honey, let's go see what the girls are so excited about."
I could sense Mimosa's and Shadow's excitement as well, but they were also focused on their upcoming revenge, so they were content to let us handle this discovery, whatever it was. We started walking towards the north wing.
It was a welcome change of pace; I was getting tired of teleporting everywhere, and walking was a nice alternative. I noticed Colin, Magnum, Tim, and Taylor walking in the same direction.
Time was running out, and while I had hoped for one more passionate night with a few of the guys, things were clearly escalating. Everyone was already deeply focused on their responsibilities. Alaric, Dexter, and Murdoc were absent, having gone to the base to organize the upcoming, urgent world-saving mission.
They hadn't shared many details, not wanting to worry me, but I had seen enough in Alaric and Magnum's expressions to know that they would be incredibly busy and wouldn't have much time to think about me or my life, at least not for a while.
We finally reached the correct floor, and I could already hear excited chatter. "Oh my god, look at this! What *is* this?" one girl exclaimed.
"Oh, it's pretty, but look at *this*!" Other girls chimed in as I walked into one of my large rooms.
It seemed to be filled with huge racks holding trays. There were over 300 trays or boxes tucked into the racks, along with a few machines, several large freezers, bags, and other assorted items. I furrowed my brow, trying to make sense of it all. Among the equipment were huge, oven-like machines, though they were actually incubators or something similar.
May was standing near one rack. She reached out and pulled a tray out, revealing a ball python curled up inside. As May stroked her, the snake moved a bit, and I could see a clutch of eggs.
"Oh my freaking god," I muttered to myself, quickly estimating that with over 300 trays, and if many contained pythons with eggs, this operation was going to explode.
Emmylee then said, "Isn't it perfect, Mom? I know you talked about raising them, and now we have them, but there are problems."
I answered quite dryly, "I can tell, and not just one."
Wulfe moved closer to see the python with eggs.
Emmylee rolled her eyes, took her tablet, and showed it to me. "See, we sell them, but only after we've identified their genetics and made sure they are fit and healthy. As you know, they lose weight after laying eggs, and we can raise some babies too and sell them. We have genetic machines here that use their sheds to determine their morph, which gives us the correct information. Some morphs are worth several thousand."
This got Charles's attention, and he snatched the tablet.
After looking through it, he said, "She's right, honey, this is good business. We just have to make this work and keep ourselves busy. First, we need to take the clutches, name the mothers, maybe with a number at first, then wait for their sheds. Once we have those, we can get the genetic data, feed them, make sure they are fine, and then sell them. Put the clutches into the incubator, and the babies will shed soon, so we might get their information sooner. We need more space though, but we have a couple of days. Let me make some calls."
I was flabbergasted. He was the pack leader, of course, but this felt like a little too much, considering our jobs and everything else. Still, fine, we could do it.
Wulfe was still stroking the mother snake, who was curled protectively around her eggs. Meanwhile, Rosie was preparing a large plastic container with ventilation holes, filling it with a mixture of thoroughly moistened vermiculite and perlite. After placing a rack inside, Wulfe carefully lifted the mother off her eggs and then transferred the eggs into the container. Rosie marked the tops of the eggs to ensure they wouldn't be accidentally rolled into the wrong position; there were ten eggs in total, a huge clutch.
Wulfe, already carrying the mother snake, whose scales were almost dark with silvery markings, took her to a basin to be washed. After her bath, she would be weighed and allowed to recover, as she was now our number one priority.
The eggs were marked as belonging to number one's clutch, and since the father was unknown, I stated, "Okay, we need to check every single serpent to see if we have any males. We'll wait at their sheds and see if they are fathers to any clutches. If they are healthy, we can soon sell them, as we really need the space. This clutch will take about 55-60 days to hatch, so the first snakelings will appear sometime in January, unless the clutch has already been with the mother longer."
Wulfe, clearly smitten, said, "Oh, this one is so pretty. I love her already. Yeah, aren't you special? Come on, let's get your weight and get you some food; you seem skinny," his voice almost crooned to the snake.
In the meantime, Adam had discovered freezers full of frozen mice and other food items, including larger animals. I walked towards the furthest rack, thinking of starting from the bottom, as there were several deeper trays there.
I pulled one out and exclaimed, "Wow, guys, it's not just ball pythons we seem to have!"
Inside was a large snake, most likely a reticulated python, and she had a huge clutch as well.
Colin explained, "It seems these snakes came from a rather unsavory medical facility. They had been testing gene editing, and given that ball pythons have over 4,000 morphs, there are plenty of genes to play with. However, I'm not sure if anything was actually done to them, as this facility was pretty new. Their plan was to breed the snakes and see what genes would manifest, and then attempt swapping genes between species, meaning turning retics like her into new morphs, and more. They even had some idea of using viruses or other pathogens to spread new genes and see how they would work."
I nodded, "We need a quite big tray for these eggs."
Colin walked over and stroked Python, somehow calming her slightly.
He then turned to me, "Use your pheromones, smell theirs. Snakes use them; you might be able to sense and utilize yours, too. She has a handsome clutch, but I might get her out of here if you have no room."
I nodded, "See what you can do. We have our hands full with ball pythons; we don't need to add a hundred retics to the mix, as they might not be so easily sold."
Colin responded, "I'll make a few calls. I might get the eggs placed elsewhere, though I'm not sure if I can get her, so you might have to deal with her."
I rolled my eyes, gently put her tray back, grabbed a marker, and wrote "retic, with clutch, careful!" on the edge.
Then, I discovered four more retic females with clutches, ensuring Colin had his hands full trying to find emergency placements for all the eggs. Charles called our animal park, and they promised to collect two females and their clutches; however, we had to find places for the other three in less than two days, making it a race against time.
The snake room—as it was now called—was bustling, with everyone pitching in. Incubator after incubator was filled with clutches, and the female snakes were washed and placed on one side of the room to recover.
The males were identified, placed into their own rack to be weighed and photographed, and then listed for sale once they had shed, allowing us to acquire their genetic data. Surely, they were all pretty-looking snakes, though everyone had their own idea of what constituted a pretty snake.
Some liked the pink, pastel-colored ones, while others preferred the basic colors of ball pythons, and then there were all kinds of variations. Each snake was getting its number, and they were also logged into our new system.
There seemed to be so much to do, and we would certainly be kept busy in the upcoming months, but then again, as one snake could fetch even $7,000, it was worth it; every penny would count as our taxes were not a simple thing to pay.
The complexity of finances brought my thoughts back to the forefront, as nothing about the situation was easy or simple. There was so much to consider, and I hoped we could get everything running smoothly before any Salvatore could interfere. The last thing we needed was complications from them.
The state recognized us as a supernatural pack, which meant we were subject to both pack taxes and individual taxes. Therefore, we had to carefully manage our finances. Charles, who was starting his job in week two, would visit the bank first thing to establish a pack account where each of us would deposit, say, ten percent of our pay. This would create a savings pool for our yearly pack taxes, which was, admittedly, just one more payment to worry about.
Since my shop was located in the center of town, I was responsible for property taxes on the land, as well as taxes on anything grown there. We had already brought in some plants, and Charles would help me set up the shop.
Since it was meant to open on Monday, I needed to have something to sell, so I would bring plants with me early to get started. Afterwards, Charles would go to the bank to address other matters before returning to help me out, getting to know the community, and charming people into buying flowers and plants.
I was also considering selling some of my tumbled stones and, if I could obtain the necessary permit, adding a small coffee station with treats. Charles was going to investigate the permit requirements and processing time.
Furthermore, he and Demon, who was also free, were going to research hunting permits, as we were feline shifters and had a lake on our land, which also opened the door for fishing. There was much to do, much to discover, and countless forms to complete, not to mention the paperwork required for my blessed status.
My dual citizenship offered distinct advantages, yet it also meant paying nominal taxes to Finland. However, the extended maternity leave, maternity packs, and allowances, which would allow me to stay home and care for my children, made it all worthwhile; my children would receive their own benefits, too. My daughters were also investigating what benefits they might be eligible for in Finland.
Furthermore, because supernatural beings were now more accepted, society viewed us as beneficial and extended benefits to us as well. We gratefully accepted everything offered, as every penny counted.
Charles planned to establish our online shops under our pack name, which shouldn't significantly impact anyone's benefits. He would use the profits to ensure our taxes and other bills were paid. Undoubtedly, we would still need to divide financial responsibilities, but we would manage it.
Interestingly, neither the Salvatores nor Mariella were even considered as potential contributors to our financial pool. More likely, they would use their money for Mariella, who tended to spend lavishly. However, I wasn't going to argue about it; we had already discussed this, and everyone was in agreement. If, by some miracle, a Salvatore took an interest in our finances, Charles would decide what, if anything, to disclose, as he remained the pack leader.
With the mating group's impending arrival, we had a plan in place. The portal room would remain active until then, after which Charles would direct them to their private mating wing. This wing featured its own air conditioning to contain their scents, a refrigerator stocked with drinks, and approximately ten rooms.
We provided some food, though likely they wouldn't focus on eating much. The linens were cotton, as Mariella requested, but inexpensive and disposable, as no one wanted to wash them. We had ample spares if they wished to change them. I wasn't sure what the wing's future purpose would be, but for now, our plan was to isolate their "sex holiday" from the rest of us who were working to make everything happen.
Since this was not our idea, we were forced to abide by Reddington's rules; it was simply what it was. Whenever the truth came out, they would be free to take it upstairs. However, I suspected that the god might give them an idea of just how pissed off he was, and how badly they, especially Mariella, had disappointed him.
After all, Mariella was never meant to become a sex beast, but rather someone who would balance my recklessness and Damon's chaos. She was supposed to be Damon's shelter, his anchor, not a pussy who enslaved men who did not even belong to her in the big picture. But because free will ruled, things that shouldn't have happened happened anyway; that's just how the world worked.
At one point, I smirked as I lifted a female snake from her clutch and handed her to Wulfe, who cooed and crooned at her. I would love to see Salvatore's expression when they saw our little snake-raising operation. And what about Mariella? Was she afraid of snakes, or would she see them as food?
Emmylee, or someone else, took the egg clutches off to put it into the incubator and to mark the number of females, ensuring the eggs were marked as well. Wulfe had cast a brief spell, so there was no need to candle the eggs to see if they were viable and if the embryo was in the right way up; they were good to go.
Wulfe seemed so taken by the snakes that I was wondering how in hell we could sell them if he fell in love with them. But then again, there were currently 386 females with 178 clutches, and 54 males, so we had plenty to sell. We had gotten a few sheds from some of them, and they were already being analyzed, so we could get their genetics too, which might help them sell faster.
With less than two days remaining, we still had much to do: the reticulated pythons needed placement, the rest of the snakes required sorting, and other tasks loomed large. Some of the female snakes were pregnant but hadn't yet laid eggs, so they were marked, a sign that even more baby snakes were on the way.
Life was becoming increasingly interesting, and I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad omen for our soon-to-begin family life. To prepare, I reached out to my colleagues, the veterinarians, seeking as much information as possible about snakes, their diseases, and potential medications.
Knowledge is power, and I was arming myself with as much as I could gather. Drama was inevitable; I hoped for good times but acknowledged the possibility of less favorable ones. Only time would reveal what the future held for us all.