Originally written for the collaborative novel Turnskin at Pan Historia on May 10 2008.

Wyatt had Mary sit on the opposite side of the desk from him as he reviewed her resume. Of course he was her mentor and while, on the surface, this looked like just another interview, the facts were that Wyatt had already taken Mary’s measure throughout their previous time together. He knew her scent as well as his own, and he knew her potential loyalty. She knew her brother was bad news and she had made all the right choices. Her records with the Lycaon Society, so far, were exemplary. Adam Sweetapple, her tutor, had sent up glowing reports of her progress and assimilation. What Wyatt hadn’t quite realized until he put in some calls to Prudential, her current employer, was quite how good Mary was at her job. An insurance investigator had to have skills, nerve, and the ability to dissociate from the people she was investigating. In addition her record showed that Mary always got her ‘man’. She was a highly trained field operative. Yeah, sure, people didn’t often think that being an investigator for an insurance company was dangerous or glamorous but Mary was the one Prudential called out when there were hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars at stake, and a lot of people prepared to scam an insurance company were prepared to do anything not to get caught at it.

Mary looked pretty cool and collected as she waited for Wyatt to grill her over her credentials, but he could smell her nervousness. It made him suddenly smile. It was a bright moment to see a young turnskin aglow with the spirit of the Society. It was all to easy to get jaded over time and to start to be blind to the forest for the trees. The death of Quentin had cast a pall on the older members of the Society but Mary was the new young blood and she had never known Quentin. Now was her time. Wyatt laid the resume down on the desk before him.

“Mary I don’t need to ask you a bunch of questions. I already know the answers. How would you like to work for me, here?”

“I would love to!”

Mary fairly bounced up and down in her seat with enthusiasm and Wyatt reflected that it was her innocent baby features that no doubt served her well in her old job.

“But wait.. I’m not sure I’m qualified to work in the charities division. You can train me yes?”

“We could train you, of course, if you desire to completely change careers, but actually the job I’m interviewing you for is the real function of this section. My real job title is Chief of Security.”

Mary was pretty sanguine in her reaction to the news, but that was really only as Wyatt expected from her resume. Tinier clues that only a turnskin could read indicated that she was excited, but calm, and so he began to explain a bit more about what the Society did and about it’s enemies – packs that were more like her brother.

“Mary, the most important thing in taking this position is your complete loyalty to the Society and its goals. That means sometimes we have to fight for our cause – fight tooth and claw. Your particular job, which is very similar to your previous job, could bring you into direct conflict with chaos wolves and other dangerous people. You may find yourself required to fight, even to kill – so if you need to think think this over some more let me know.”

“But it would be for a good cause?”

“I believe that to be the case, heart and soul.”

Wyatt watched as Mary used her own fledgling turnskin abilities to gauge his truthfulness. The stillness was only a few seconds but whatever she read in his body language and his scent satisfied her.

“I’m ready to start, Wyatt. I want to do this. I was born to do this. It was you that told me that not everyone can be what we are – it has to be inside of us. I’m not like my brother. I wish for peace and safety for our people.”

“Excellent!”

Wyatt rose from his seat and stepping around to Mary he took her by the hand and gave it a hearty shake.

“Let me introduce you to Amanda. She’ll be doing the necessary paperwork. I assume you have to give notice to Prudential, but we can start you with some training and access to level two security files. “

Wyatt escorted Mary into the outer office past the secretary and rapped on Amanda’s door.
“Amanda is my chief assistant in the office, sort of second in command, but she has some hifalutin’ charity related job title that is escaping me right now.”

Amanda grinned at Wyatt.

“Executive Charities Facilitator.”

“Amanda, this is Mary Maverick. She is one of my charges, and I’ve just hired her to security. She’ll need security clearance two.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow. Most new hires were started at one.

“I’m pleased to meet you.”

“She’s got extensive experience and we need her expertise now. I hope you can expedite any paperwork needed, as well as show her around, get her set up with an office and computer. She’s got to give notice at her present job, but I expect she’ll be putting in a few hours here to get up and running.”

Amanda pulled some forms out of her file cabinet and handed them to Mary. As Mary started to fill them out, Amanda pulled Wyatt aside.

“I need to talk to you – can we step into your office for a minute?”

“Sure.”