Order of Protection Ch. 28-32

"I need you to keep calm while I tell you this stuff, all right?" I nodded as we drove through the park access road towards the entrance again. "You know that she has the powers of a witch, right?" I nodded again, I didn't like it but it had already saved her life once. "All that power and no knowledge of how to use it is dangerous. We brought a friend of Alpha Esca's over with us on the freighter we came over on. That's why nobody found us, we were in a cabin on a bulk carrier bound for Duluth." I just stared at him, it was genius and it obviously worked. "We're hiding with a coven up in Grand Marais," he told me.

My eyes widened; witches as a whole were not trustworthy, that is one reason we dealt with only one of them. "Can you trust them?"

"They haven't done anything yet to make me not trust them. Miriam is related to the Head Priestess, but we've only been there for a day. They don't trust us, I'll tell you that. We are relegated to a guest house in the back yard."

"Why aren't you with her?"

"Miriam is, they are sharing a room. The coven members don't like werewolves."

"I'm not staying in a guest house. I need to be with her."

"I know. We'll work that out. Now, we've got a long drive, you should take a nap and stay out of sight." I didn't need to be told twice.

I felt him push my shoulder; I raised my head and looked at him. The sun was bright, it was midday. "We're here," he said. I perked up, looking out the window. We were in the driveway of a large, Victorian-style house with a round turret on the right side. The grass was neatly cut, and topiary trees broke up the expanse of lawn. In the back, a smaller cottage sat beyond the formal garden and a small pond. My tail started to wag, I was so close. "Stay by me, Cuddles. Remember, you're a service dog. Best behavior."

"I know what I have to do," I said.

He got out, grabbing the gear, then let me out. He gave the hand signal for 'heel' and I did. "Good boy." He attached the leash to my collar, and put the service animal vest over my back, buckling it around my front legs. When he started walking towards the back yard, I stayed alongside him in a perfect heel. It had been drilled in to me, over and over, that I had to be gentle and well-behaved if she was going to accept me being around all the time. I took in the scents; most I didn't like, the stench of witchcraft around them. One, however, drew me like a magnet.

We rounded the back of the house and Larry stopped; I dropped into a sitting position at his side. Miriam and Jessie were sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pond, and a ball of water about six feet across was hovering over the surface. "Focus, Jessie. Raise it up and rotate it." I watched, fascinated, as the ball went ten feet in the air and started to rotate. I could see the goldfish trapped inside, swimming around trying to find their way out. "Now I want you to make a fireball in your right hand."

I was amazed as a ball of flames appeared, but the ball of water lost its shape and fell back into the pond. "CRAP!" The flame disappeared as well.

"You have to focus, child. With practice, it will become second nature and you can do more than one thing at a time." She got to her feet. "We have a guest, I'm going inside." She looked over and saw me, her mouth dropped open a little. Larry started walking towards her as she stood up.

"You are making progress, Jessie," Larry said as he walked up and stopped, me sitting by him.

"Not fast enough," she said. "Who is this?"

"This is Cuddles," he said as he looked down at me. "Patrick wants you to have him. He's a fully trained protection dog, but he also is qualified as a service dog."

She looked at me, stepping backwards as the scent of her fear came over. "He's HUGE," she whispered.

"He can be intimidating, but his name is Cuddles for a reason," Larry said. "He's just a big love-love under all that fur. Come say hi."

I sat there, tail wagging, quivering as she gulped and started coming towards me. "Nice doggie," she said as she came to me. I sniffed her hand, she smelled amazing. I licked her fingers, she pulled back a little then moved forward and started scratching my ears. I looked up to her with a love and devotion I didn't have to fake. I'd die for her, without hesitation.

"Cuddles, shake," Larry said. I lifted up my right paw, and her hand went down to take it. "See? He's a nice dog."

"Look at those teeth," she said. "He's like a small horse!"

"He is a big boy, Patrick likes the intimidation factor of a big dog. He's been trained as a service dog for epileptics. If you black out again, like you did in the car, he's trained to break your fall and stay with you until you can get help."

"Do I need him? I mean, I have you guys around."

"We shouldn't be so close to you all the time," I said. "Plus, there are places he can go with you that we can't, like bathrooms. He's perfectly behaved, and trained to operate in crowds without losing focus on you."

She knelt and started scratching under my chin. "He is a good-looking dog. I never got to have one when I was a kid." I let my tongue loll out the side of my mouth, delighting in the tingles as she touched me. "I like him."

"Good. Let me show you how to use him." We spent the next two hours together, her holding my leash as Larry taught her the commands and hand signals for obedience. When she was comfortable, he took the leash off me and we did it again, this time adding signals like "Fetch," "Track" and "Clear." The latter was for entering a room or building. As I checked the cottage rooms, he explained to her that I would make sure there was no one inside, plus I was trained to locate explosives and firearms by smell. I came back out, sitting by her side to indicated everything was good. Finally, he taught her the hand signal and command for "Attack" while I was sitting out of sight. "Don't use that one unless you have to, because he will chew him up good until you call him off by calling him back to HEEL." They walked back to me.

"What if I freeze up or faint?"

"Then Cuddles will protect you. He can sense your fear, and he will keep you safe always. Now, he's been working hard and so have you, so to keep him fresh you need some play time together. Cuddles, STAY." He went to his car and got a Frisbee. Jessie's eyes lit up, and my tail started to wag furiously. I knew this would allow me to get closer to her, and help her accept me as more than just a guard dog.

He tossed it to her, and she looked down at me. "Cuddles, FETCH!" She tossed the Frisbee along the expanse of lawn, and I was off like a shot. Werewolves are not Frisbee dogs, but I didn't care. I chased it down, my big strides closing the distance before I leaped high in the air and snatched it. Turning, I ran back to her, dropping it at her feet while I shook with excitement. She picked it up. "Uh, puppy slobber," she said as she shook her hand. She tossed it again, and for the next ten minutes we played together until Miriam called for her to come in the house for dinner.

Larry turned around, he told me he wasn't welcome in the house. Brian was going to get pizza for them after he completed his patrol of the surrounding woods. I went to heel at her side, and a woman met us at the door. A severe-looking woman in her forties, her graying black hair in a bun, she didn't strike me as a good person. "What is this animal doing here?"

"Cuddles is my service dog, Gwyneth. He goes where I do."

She looked at me. "He's a real dog?"

She didn't know what to say. "Of course he is. Patrick raises and trains them."

Miriam came to her side. "Patrick's family is the one paying for her boarding and her training. If he gave her the dog, it belongs with her."

She clearly didn't like the idea, but greed must have won out. "Fine. If he makes a mess he's your responsibility. Keep him out of my rooms."

She gestured for me to sit in the corner as we entered the dining room, and I watched the interplay as she ate dinner with the women of this Coven. I paid attention to the names, the relative powers, and the looks each of them gave Jessie as they ate. They respected and feared Miriam, but they were jealous of Jessie's powers. As Miriam talked about their training plans for the night, I could see Gwyneth glaring at her.

As I followed her out the door following dessert, I sent to the others. "Something is going on here with the High Priestess and her coven. Start looking for another place to hide," I said.

"Is Jessie in danger?"

"I don't know, but I'm not comfortable keeping her here."

"We'll start looking," Brian said as I followed Jessie into her room.

I sat to the side as Miriam taught her about tapping In to the energy in the nature around her. By the time Miriam went off to shower, Jessie was exhausted. "Come on, let's get you fed and ready for the night," she said. Brian had dropped off the bag of food, to my chagrin, and she poured some into a bowl by the bedroom door. I ate quickly, and drank, then she took me out the back door. "Go play," she said as she sat in a chair by the door.

I ran into the woods, taking care of business without taking my eyes off her. When I trotted back, she was starting to fall asleep in the chair. I pushed my head under her hand, my eyes looking up at her. She scratched my ears, then got up. "I'm going to bed," she said. I followed her into the bedroom, and waited outside the bathroom door until she came out and got into the full-sized bed. Miriam was already asleep, so she turned out the light as I laid between her bed and the door. "Goodnight, Cuddles."

I put my head down, listening to her breathing and heartbeat until it evened out as she fell asleep. I dozed off myself, until I sensed something was wrong. "No... NO! NOOOO!!" Jessie was tossing in her bed, having a nightmare. I jumped up on the bed, straddling her as she struggled in her dream. I licked her face, causing her to still, and her arms went around my neck as she buried her face in the soft fur under my chin. She calmed but didn't let me go. I was fine with that. I settled in the bed as she rolled to face me. She went back to sleep, her head touching my shoulder as I put my head down and slept.

Ch. 32

Alpha Yuri's POV

Natalya Klishnina had avoided detection for almost two weeks, like she had dropped off the face of the earth. My men had lost her trail on the outskirts of London, shortly after the car carrying my men was crashed into a guardrail.

We searched every traffic cam we could, looking for a vehicle on the road with damage from being sideswiped and came up empty. That section of road did not have cameras, and witnesses couldn't recall the other vehicle involved. I had pushed my men hard, calling in favors, pressing my sources in law enforcement, and asking connected men in a dozen countries for help. Nothing had worked.

Her passport hadn't been used. We did uncover the name she was using now, Jessica Donato. We'd gotten that by sending a man to check out Father Kempechny's apartment, where we found the letter from her. It confirmed that he had been the one who hid her from my brother, arranging a private adoption to get her out of the country. It also told us she didn't know who she was until she arrived in Moscow.

We got her real name, address and photos out to all our contacts, and I raised the bounty to five million rubles for her dead, four if you gave me the information to find her. At over a million dollars American, we had every lowlife and bounty hunter looking for her now. We'd shake every tree in Europe and North America to find her.

The address she had given on her passport was hers, we had a werewolf investigator in Minnesota break in and check the place out. We had her scent from the clothes he stole, but she was not there and had not been there in a while. Since she lived there, it made sense that Patrick Clarke was around her in Moscow, even if they hadn't arrived together. I set surveillance around the St. Croix pack, using mostly humans so the Pack wouldn't get too spooked. Nothing had happened out of the normal for the two weeks we had been watching.

My backup plan wasn't ready yet. That little bastard Patrick had gone home, then spent a week in Scotland with the Highlands Pack before flying to Moscow a few days ago. He was well guarded, and rarely left the office building that was Pack Headquarters for Yevgheny's old Pack. I had surveillance on his mate Mischa, but she was heavily guarded; my men couldn't get close to their compound, and at school she had two adult bodyguards and a driver. We were watching and learning her patterns, and my men would be ready when I gave them the signal to capture her. If Patrick or his Pack were hiding Natalya, Mischa would be a trade they'd have to make.

I was sitting in my office, going through paperwork, when I got a call from the investigator I'd hired in Minnesota. "Give me good news, Carl."

"We got a hit on immigration, Alpha. She and two other men came into the country two days ago in Duluth, Minnesota." I pulled up a map while he kept talking. "They came into the country on a bulk freighter, the SS Marbacan. They must have boarded in Scotland; the transit is why we haven't found her."

"Why didn't we know earlier?"

"They are US citizens, and the Customs agent put in paper reports. I got a call from my source when they were entered into the system."

Fuck. They'd had plenty of time to disappear, but they were back in Minnesota for a reason. "Any activity in the St. Croix Pack?"

"Nothing, although the Beta couple was taken to the airport and left on a private plane a few days ago. That was before Jessie and her friends arrived."

I knew of this flight, they had stopped to pick up Patrick and then to Moscow. "His parents are on their way home, the plane left Moscow this morning." I thought about it for a minute. "Hire whoever you need to give me full surveillance. I want every person in and out of that compound of theirs followed. If you get any hint of her, you know who to call." I had four of my men there, with orders to kill Jessie on sight. "I want names and photos of the men with her."

"I just emailed them to you and your men here," he said. "They are St. Croix Pack, mid-level, probably Pack Warriors." I checked my inbox and pulled their photos up. "All of my men know to watch out for them now."

"Do whatever you need to do and find her. If we don't find her in three days, I'll use Mischa or his parents to find out." I hung up, still pissed off. I leaned back in the chair; I only had so many men I could spare. I'd have to use this another way. I sent for Beta Pyotr, he was in charge of screening the applicants for our Pack. The news that Council Member Javier was taking over hadn't slowed the flow of Moscow refugees to our pack, it had accelerated it. Anyone who was connected with Mafia business was figuring out that wasn't in the near future, and I was the only connected Alpha to go to.

"Yes Boss," Pyotr said as he entered my office.

"I need men to be involved in the search for Jessie Donato. Screen the guys who are seeking entry, find men who can still travel outside the country. I want at least one person outside every Pack within five hundred miles of the Twin Cities, and I want them to have Jessie's scent. Tell them to stay out of the territories and keep their eyes open. Anyone who helps me find her gets in the Pack and a big reward."

"It shall be done, Alpha. These guys won't be able to stop for a beer without one of our men finding them." He walked out to get it going. I was going to flood the area with so many people looking for them they could never hide.

Patrick's POV

I was overwhelmed.

Alpha Javier had come in like a whirlwind, he and his mate Abrianna had driven straight from the Kstovo Pack to Moscow and took over Yevgheny's Alpha office. By the time I had settled things back home and trained Beta John, things were running smoothly.

The Pack Members who had stayed were mostly glad to see him, although almost all were low level. The Pack had been split between those who wanted to follow the Mafia way, and those wanting to have a normal existence as a Pack. With Javier in charge and the possibility of someone without Mob ties being the permanent Alpha, the sides resolved themselves. The normal members stayed, and the gangsters headed north to St. Petersburg.

The Pack assets were a mess. That's where I was put, along with a team of accountants, a lawyer and a former police officer who remained with the Pack. Bank accounts, properties, shell corporations, bonds... Yevgheny and his Betas had been paranoid of the assets being tracked to their Mafia operations, so things were separate and hidden. We were poring over records in file cabinets, account statements and other documents to piece together what the Pack really had.

We needed the money and the assets, as the Pack was in chaos. Those who had relied on Pack jobs for their livelihood hadn't been paid, and in some cases didn't know who they reported to anymore because the leadership was dead or in jail. As the Pack members came forward, so did the needs they had, and we had to find ways to help them out. I was working eighteen-hour days, we all were, as we tried to piece the Pack back together.

The saving grace for me was that this was Friday, and that meant my Mischa would be arriving after dinner. Konstantin would bring her out every Friday and take her back home again on Sunday night, allowing both of us to see each other. She was still underage, we couldn't sleep together or be alone, but we could work and dine together. The thought of being with her calmed my wolf. I was looking forward to Saturday night when we would participate in the Pack Run in the woods outside Moscow.

"All Betas to my office," I heard from Alpha Javier broadcast. I got up immediately and left the room, joining the others in the hallway moving quickly his way. There were eight of us total, all loaned temporarily from other Packs and now bound to him as Alpha. We stood by the conference table in his office until he sat down, then took our seats and waited. "My contacts in law enforcement have given me this recording," he said. He pressed a button on his laptop, and it started playing. One of the Betas translated, sending it to us over the link.

"Give me good news, Carl."

"We got a hit on immigration, Alpha. She and two other men came into the country two days ago in Duluth, Minnesota. They came into the country on a bulk freighter, the SS Marbacan. They must have boarded in Scotland; the transit is why we haven't found her."

"Why didn't we know earlier?"

"They are US citizens, and the Customs agent put in paper reports. I got a call from my source when they were entered into the system."

"Any activity in the St. Croix Pack?"

"Nothing, although the Beta couple was taken to the airport and left on a private plane a few days ago. That was before Jessie and her friends arrived."

"His parents are on their way home, the plane left Moscow this morning. Hire whoever you need to give me full surveillance. I want every person in and out of that compound of theirs followed. If you get any hint of her, you know who to call. I want names and photos of the men with her."

"I just emailed them to you and your men here. They are St. Croix Pack, mid-level, probably Pack Warriors. All of my men know to watch out for them now."

"Do whatever you need to do and find her. If we don't find her in three days, I'll use Mischa or his parents to find out."

He pushed the button. I was shaking, barely holding my wolf back from taking over. My mate and my family were in danger. "CALM DOWN, Patrick. They are not in immediate danger, and thanks to my contact we now know the intention and the timing. Do you think your Pack is incapable of protecting your parents? Is Viktor incapable of protecting his daughter?"