Alpha in a Fur Coat by Sloane Meyers Read Free Book Online

killed off? Storm shuddered and then pushed the door to the fifth floor open. The future of her people was at stake. She had to do something.
    The stairwell opened to one of the main hallways on the fifth floor. Storm had only been up here a few times, usually when her direct boss, John, wanted help taking notes during an executive meeting. She still remembered where the mayor’s office was, though. She marched directly toward his office, and was pleased to see that his secretary was out. The woman was probably out to lunch, which gave Storm an excuse to try to talk to the mayor directly.
    Taking a deep breath and summoning up as much courage as she could, Storm walked up to the mayor’s closed door and knocked. A soft whirring noise filled the air as the camera above the door turned to focus on Storm. A soft flash of light momentarily blinded Storm, followed by the sound of the computer’s voice from behind the door.
    “Confirmed employee,” the computer said. “Positive eye scan identification for Storm Williams.”
    Storm shuddered again, thinking about how this standard eye scanner would likely be replaced with a shifter-detecting scanner before too long. Moments later, Storm heard the mayor’s voice from inside commanding the computer to open the door. As soon as the door was opened, the mayor looked up from his desk, squinting at Storm. He probably didn’t recognize her, since it had been quite some time since John had brought her up here.
    “Storm?” the mayor said. “How can I help you.”
    Think fast , Storm told herself. She had about two seconds to come up with an excuse for being here.
    “Uh, John sent me up here. He said you had something for him?” Storm fibbed. Maybe once the mayor told her that John must have been mistaken, Storm could fish for some information about the President’s upcoming visit. But, to her surprise, the mayor’s stopped squinting and nodded, turning around to the shelf behind him where several tablets were stacked.
    “Oh, right. I thought he was going to come by himself to get it later, since it’s such highly sensitive information. But I guess he figured since it’s encrypted there’s not much danger if it falls in the wrong hands.”
    The mayor was shaking his head, clearly not impressed by John’s lackadaisical attitude toward confidential information. Storm said nothing, waiting patiently for the mayor to find the tablet he was looking for. After rummaging through the stack, the mayor paused and pulled out one of the smallest tablets.
    “Ah-hah! Here it is,” he said, spinning around and holding it up proudly. “It’s one of the newest models, with an eye scanner in it. Have you seen one of these yet? Probably not, since they’re brand new and incredibly expensive. I know they don’t pay you guys enough to afford toys like this. Government wages and all.”
    The mayor winked at Storm, and she tried to force a smile. But on the inside, all she could do was think about the fact that eye scanners were going to be everywhere soon, even in tablets and phones. The mayor didn’t seem to notice Storm’s uneasiness, however. Instead he held up the tablet to his face.
    “Watch this,” he said, then looked directly at the tablet. “Computer, unlock screen.”
    “Eye scan required, please look at camera,” the computer required. A soft flash of light went off, and then the computer spoke again. “Welcome back, Mayor. Screen unlocked.”
    The mayor let out a laugh and handed the tablet over to Storm. “Pretty impressive, huh? It’s the highest level in security. Encrypted information guarded by eye-scanning technology. No one can break into that stuff.”
    Storm forced another smile. “Impressive,” she said, trying to sound like she really was impressed, when she felt more like throwing up than anything.
    The mayor kept laughing as he handed the tablet over to Storm.
    “I’ll get this straight to John,” she said.
    The mayor nodded, still laughing as he