Order of Protection Ch. 01-07

"Yes Alpha." So much for getting a full night's sleep. Sean was only eighteen, but already had a reputation as a guy who liked to party. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we had a courtesy van waiting for us and a dozen young males were piling in to it.

Patrick was the future Beta of the St. Croix Pack, who lived on the outer edges of the Twin Cities metro area. He just turned 21 a few weeks ago, and was telling us about "all the hot women" that came to the Mall of America at night. "We need to get some food first, I'm starving again," he said.

"We just ate three hours ago," Sean said.

"Can't stop the hankering for beer and wings," he said. He felt it was his responsibility to educate some of us 'Euro Wolves' on the finer points of American cuisine. We took the elevator to the fourth floor of the mall where the bigger clubs were. I looked out over the huge mall, the amusement park with rollercoasters and all in the center.

"This place is huge," Sean said.

"Second biggest mall in the world," he said with a smile. "And lots of Norwegians settled here, so there's no shortage of hot blondes." He was checking out the scenery as we walked from the elevator to a place called Hooters. "You guys will love this place, the chicks here are smokin' hot. I go here for the food, though," he said with a wink. He walked up to the hostess, she was wearing these tight orange shorts and a even tighter shirt with a push-up bra underneath. Her tits were practically spilling out. "Hi Cheri, we need a table for twelve please." "Welcome back Patrick!" She came forward and gave him a hug, pressing her tits against his stomach. She was only about five-foot five, so she barely came up to his shoulder. "You brought friends!"

"They're visiting from out of town," he said.

She looked down at her map. "It's busy tonight, give me a few minutes and we'll get some tables moved together for you." She flashed him a smile as she moved off, everyone's eyes on her ass as she turned.

"You weren't kidding about the women," Sean said as he looked around. There was no shortage of eye candy.

Suddenly, my wolf was forward in my mind. "MATE! MATE IS HERE!" I looked around, the place was packed, I had no idea who she was. "Sean, my mate is here somewhere."

He, James and Connor all looked at me, they were the only ones I could link. Connor broke out into a huge grin, while James and Sean were more serious. Sean grabbed my arm. "There are cameras and humans everywhere, you need to control your wolf and that's an order," he said. My wolf receded, the Alpha command was there; as Alpha Heir he held the same influence unless his orders conflicted with ones from the Alpha or Luna. "I'm contacting my father, just play it cool. We'll find your shewolf and get the two of you out of here and back to the hotel."

James came alongside me, I was starting to shake a little. Her scent stood out among the hundreds in the room, it was delicate and wonderful and had me utterly in love with it. My wolf wanted to coat his fur with it, while placing his own scent on her. No one would touch her, she would be MINE to protect and love for the rest of our lives.

I kept scanning the room, but nothing stood out.

"You going to be all right," Patrick asked. Connor had told him quietly what was going on, and since it was his territory, he was responsible for our group.

"I have to be, I need to find her," I told him. Just then, Cheri came back with a big smile and led us towards the back of the restaurant to a big table. Patrick sat me next to him, almost pushing me into the chair as I was looking around at every woman in sight.

No sooner had we sat than the most beautiful woman I had ever seen came to our table, order pad in hand. My jaw dropped as I looked at my mate; she was tall and muscled, long tan legs and narrow hips. Her stomach was flat, the hint of a six-pack beneath the crop top she wore. Her breasts were perfection, not huge like some of the girls here, but more athletic; firm, high and a perfect handful. Her face was that of an angel, and her long, dark hair was gently curled and fell to the middle of her back.

"Welcome to Hooter's, my name is Jess and I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you out with some wings and beer?"

"You're reading my mind, Jess. These guys are visiting from Europe and I promised them the full Hooter's experience."

"That's wonderful, where are you all from?" She went around the table as the guys introduced themselves and where they were from.

I was the last to speak. "I'm John Pearson, from Scotland, and I am home when I look in your eyes."

She rolled her eyes as she laughed. "That's one of the best lines I've heard, John, and I've heard them all. Beer?"

Patrick took over, ordering four pitchers and cokes for the three underage guys at the table. "We need wings, a lot of them. Let's start with eight dozen, make them a variety of spiciness and flavors so they can figure out what they like."

"All one check?"

"Please. We'll look at the menus before you get back, we'll need burgers too."

"No problem, I'll put that in right away. Are you guys celebrating something or just out for the night?"

Sean smiled at her. "We are celebrating one of our guys, he met his future wife tonight."

"Wonderful. I'll be right back." She turned and hooked the order slip to this zipline, flinging it along until it ended up in the kitchen. I stared at her until she disappeared around the bar.

"That's her," I told them. "She's my mate. You fuckers keep your eyes off her body before I rip them out." My wolf was prowling in my mind, he didn't like her being around so many unmated males.

"She's human, John. It's impossible." Sean looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's her, my wolf and I are sure of it. As soon as I looked in her eyes I knew."

Patrick looked at me, thinking about it. "You can't have a mate without another wolf to bond to, John. She isn't one of us, whatever you are feeling, it can't be. She smells good, she looks better, but she's a HUMAN, not you mate."

My wolf pushed forward, my eyes starting to glow before Sean elbowed me and I pushed him back. "My wolf is the one who told me she was my mate, you idiots. SHE... IS... MINE!" We glared at each other for a minute before his wolf forced mine into submission, I was a Beta and he was higher ranked.

"All right, I believe you," Sean said. "I'm getting my father here. You need to stay under control, and remember, she is not like us. If she was a werewolf, you'd already be heading back to your hotel room. She's human, so you need to treat it like dating a human."

"I've never dated," I said. "I've never wanted anyone except my mate, no one until her. She's perfect..." My eyes were getting vacant as my wolf and I remembered seeing her for the first time.

"And she's a human woman, working in a place where she probably gets asked out dozens of times a night. You need to make a good impression on her, give her a reason to want to see you again. It's going to take a while, you can't just knock her out and carry her back to your den," Patrick said with a laugh. "I've contacted my father as well, he has to know. He said he'll have people search the histories, see if this has ever happened before. We'll figure it out."

"Thank you." I had my eyes up, waiting for her to return. I saw her at the bar, taking two pitchers of beer in each hand. A second girl was ahead of her, carrying a bunch of glasses and the three Cokes on a tray. The blonde leaned over the table as she set the glasses down, giving all the guys an eyeful of her deep cleavage, but my eyes were only on Jess.

She made it halfway to our table when she was stopped by a table, they looked like college guys in their Wisconsin jerseys. I started to see red as the guy she was talking to, a big guy with broad shoulders and a sleeveless shirt, put his arm around her waist as he talked. She tried to move away from him, but his hand dropped down and pinched her butt. She squealed and the pitcher spilled, dousing his khaki shorts with cold beer. "YOU BITCH!" He looked up at her, and her eyes showed fear as he stood up and towered over her. "FUCKING CUNT, LOOK WHAT YOU DID."

I was out of my chair as soon as he stood, moving towards them with deadly purpose as Sean tried in vain to pull me back. She dumped two pitchers at him as she tried to get out of his grip, but he was too angry and drunk to realize he was about to get his ass kicked. I pulled her behind me, hearing her scream of pain as I heard her shoulder pop out. I held her wrist with my left hand while my right fist flew towards his jaw. I felt the bones shatter as he dropped, and his friends jumped up to defend him. My wolf was forward, he wanted blood, and I ignored their punches and grabs as I beat this asshole into the floor with my fists.

"STOP! PLEASE!" Her voice cut through the noise and commotion, and I stopped and looked at her. She was crying, holding her shoulder as she lay under one of the tables, and Patrick and Sean were standing around her keeping others away. I sat back, the other men had pulled the asshole's buddies from me. I looked down at him, his face looked like raw meat and he was unconscious.

"I'm sorry," I told her as I looked at her. "I couldn't let him do that to you."

"I can handle things just fine without you," she snarled back. "Look at what you did!" She was holding her left arm tight to her side, and I knew I had pulled it out of the socket because I couldn't hold back my anger. I had hurt my mate, I was the lowest of the low.

I didn't have a chance to say more, as police rushed into the restaurant and pushed me face down. I followed their directions, placing my hands behind my back so they could be cuffed. As I was being hoisted to my feet, I saw her one last time. Sean had helped her into a chair and one of the policemen was checking her over, she was still crying.

I had really fucked up this time.

Ch. 5

Jessie's POV

My shoulder hurt like hell, my wrist was bruised, I'd banged my head on the floor, and yet I was watching this man I had just met get led away by a pair of Bloomington police and I felt like I was losing something.

It was nuts. All I was losing was my job, my house and my future. Mark, the assistant manager this shift, was already coming over with a DVD of the surveillance cameras, which would show me dumping two pitchers of beer on this man. The rules were clear when a customer harassed you; move away, wait for help, and in NO case do you be anything but polite to the customers.

The Mall had their own security, including their own Emergency Medical Technicians. Two of them came up next to me, asking me questions while they poked around. "Your shoulder is dislocated, ma'am, and you'll need an x-ray on that wrist. From the bruising and swelling, it may be fractured," he said. He felt the bump on the back of my head. "Did you hit this hard, lose consciousness?" I shook my head no. "An ambulance is waiting downstairs, if you request it, they will take you."

I thought about it, an ambulance ride would cost a few thousand dollars I didn't have. The nice man from the table, Patrick, he had protected me and was still by my side. I think he saw the look on my face. "I can give her a ride to the emergency room, if you would rather go on your own," he said.

"Could you?" I trusted him, he had been in here many times before and was always a gentleman, always behaved and tipped well. Cheri had done me a big favor by putting his group in my section tonight.

"It would be my pleasure," he said. "The others are going to stay and give their statements to the police, then they are going to have the wings and beer I promised them before going back to their hotel rooms. My father is already on his way with his car, I called him as soon as this unpleasantness happened."

I just wanted to get out of here. Even a visit to the Emergency Room would cost me a lot of money. "OK."

"You need to tell them you are declining the ambulance, and I will take you to the emergency room," he said gently.

"I'm going with him, no ambulance," I told the medic.

"That's fine, but let me put a sling on so this doesn't move around," he said. He slid it on and Patrick helped to adjust the straps. Once it was in place, he put some ice packs in the sling around my sore wrist.

Cheri came out from the back, she had my clothes and purse with her. Standing, she pulled my shorts on, then handed me my T-shirt. "I can't put that on," I said as I looked at my sling.

"Here, you can use this," a man, Sean if I remember right, said as he opened a large windbreaker for me. I put my right arm through and he draped it over my shoulders, zipping it up so it covered up my shirt.

"Thank you," I told him as I was helped to my feet. The pain wasn't as bad now.

Patrick pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to the officers who were still taking statements. "Here's my contact information," he said as he held my good arm gently. "I will ensure she gets treatment and is taken care of," he told him.

"The detectives will be in touch," the officer said. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Ma'am."

"Thank you." I let Patrick lead me out, we were waiting for the elevator and my shoulder moved, almost sending me to my knees. "It hurts," I said.

"If you want, I can put it back in for you." I looked at him like he was crazy. "It's a simple thing, really. The same thing they will do at the emergency room, and it just takes a few seconds."

I looked at him, for some reason I trusted him. "Please?"

He unzipped the jacket and put the ice packs in his pocket before pulling the Velcro tab. He handed me the sling, which I held along with my purse in my good hand. "OK, I want you to keep your upper arm next to your side, and we'll keep it there. I'm going to rotate your lower arm slowly, away from your body. I'll stop if you ask me to, but let's both agree, no sudden movements." I nodded, it couldn't be worse. He put his left hand on my shoulder, thumb in my armpit, and held my forearm with his right hand. "I need you to relax and breathe slowly. Keep your eyes open and watch me. It might hurt a little when I move this but when it pops back it you'll feel so much better. Just keep your shoulder relaxed." I nodded, and he moved my forearm away from my stomach. I felt the shoulder start to move, then it popped back in.

"Oh God that feels so much better already," I said.

"Good. I'm going to put the sling back on. They will want to take X-rays, but at least it won't be so bad on the drive." The elevator came, and he got me back in the sling as we went down. We walked outside, waiting by the curb was a Lincoln SUV with a distinguished-looking man standing by it. "Father, thank you for coming," he said.

"It sounded like your little night out with the boys went south quickly," he said as he opened the door to the back.

"It did, but your son helped me," I told him. "Jessie Donato." I reached out to shake his hand with my good one, my purse hanging from my elbow.

"Peter Clarke," he said as he gently took my hand, raising it to his lips and kissing the back of my hand, taking a sniff as he did so. "Your chariot awaits." I giggled as they helped me in the vehicle, then Patrick went around and got in the other side while his father drove. "There are several hospitals around, do you have a preference?"

"Whichever is more convenient, I don't live in this area," I said.

He started to pull out onto the street. I pulled out my phone, looking at it, then wondering why. It wasn't like I had anyone to call; Mom was dead, and my friends were all working. I put it back in my purse.

Patrick turned a little in the leather seat to look at me. "Can I contact anyone for you?"

"No, that's all right. I don't have anyone to call." I started crying, he pulled me into his side, and as I was wetting his shoulder with my tears my story came out. My mom's battle with cancer, dropping out of college, her death and having to say goodbye yesterday. I finished with my frustration at being broke, soon to be homeless, and now unable to work. By the time I finished, we were pulling up to the emergency room entrance. "Oh no, look at your shirt," I said. He had a big patch of wet where my tears had gone.

Peter opened the door and helped me out. "You don't worry about a thing, we're going to help you out. It's the least we can do."

Patrick came around, I looped my arm through his as we walked in. We quickly registered, then they took me back to be exam room. "I'll wait for you," Patrick said as he walked back to the desk.

I was led back to a room, where my vitals were taken along with a health history. I hadn't had health coverage since I was at school, since my work limited me to 32 hours a week, and my Mom couldn't afford it. The doctor examined me for two minutes, then sent me for X-rays of my head, shoulder and wrist. While I was waiting, I asked if Patrick could come back with me, and we talked while we waited for the test results. An hour later, I had a prescription for pain pills, thankful that my wrist wasn't broken, just bruised. My shoulder was back in place, Patrick had done that well, but I had to wear the sling for two weeks to let it heal. "Do you have anyone to stay with you tonight?"

I shook my head no. "We may have to admit you then, with that bump to your head you have a concussion. You need to be woken and checked every few hours."

"No," Patrick said, "She can stay at my house in the guest room. I'll keep watch on her."

I both wanted and didn't want this, they'd already done so much, and I didn't want to impose. "I can't ask you..."

"Nonsense, it would be my pleasure," he said. He listened carefully to the discharge instructions, then helped me to my feet. The doctor shook our hands, then we were free to go.

We walked outside, and Peter was standing by the car, a bag of food from Arby's in his hand. "I thought you might be hungry," he said.

We sat in the back, and I chose a Beef and Cheddar and a vanilla shake, while they split the other sandwiches. It was now two in the morning. "Shit," I said, "My car's still parked at the Mall. It might get towed away."

"It's at my house already," Peter said. "We took the liberty of having it moved for you while you were getting tests done. I knew it would be too late by the time they finished with you."

"Thank you," I said. The pills were starting to take effect, and I was getting tired. "How far away is your house?"

"About twenty more minutes," he said.

"The guy who went nuts, John. What's his deal?" I couldn't get him out of my head.

"He's a friend from Scotland, works for a security company as a bodyguard. He's over here for a conference, protecting an executive. He had tonight off, so I offered to take him and a bunch of his friends out instead of sitting in his room, watching HBO and eating room service food," he said with a chuckle. "John, he's a throwback to another age. He's a warrior poet, a man who believes in balance in life and honor."

"Warrior Poet?" I thought back to the only thing he said to me, that he was home when he looked into my eyes. His eyes weren't kidding, he really believed it, and the funny thing was that I believed him.

"Yep. He writes stories, songs, poems in between workouts and training. He would have been right at home as a Knight in the Middle Ages, or a Samurai in feudal Japan. Anyway, he's a man who lives by an old-fashioned code of honor and chivalry. He believes in loyalty, respect and finding one true love."

"That's tough to believe in this age," I said.

"It's true, though. You can have no better man by your side in a fight, or in life." He looked out the window, the suburbs were giving way to the country. "He saw what that man was doing, and it made him furious. He doesn't allow mistreatment of women around him, EVER, and he liked you. I guarantee he didn't mean to hurt you or scare you, things just got a little out of hand."