Order of Protection Ch. 33-35

I woke up to the most amazing feeling, my mate scratching my back as her eyes opened. During the night, she'd almost crawled on top of me; only a thin T-shirt and my fur between us as she laid across my chest. I opened my eyes and turned to look at her as she balanced her chin on my shoulder. "Uh! Puppy breath!" She scooted off the bed, running into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

I chuffed, then got down from the bed and took a long drink from the bowl. I couldn't brush my teeth, but maybe I could rinse out some of the stuff from overnight. I heard Miriam get up and pad over towards me. "You're her mate, aren't you?" I looked at her, of course she could sense a werewolf, she was a powerful witch. I just nodded. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I could sense the connection between the two of you, and that's the best night of sleep she's had since I've known her. A normal night she'll wake up with nightmares three or four times." She scratched my ears. "Her wolf is in there, buried deep. I don't know how to reach it. I hope your bond strengthens her wolf enough to break out of the chains holding her down."

She went into the bathroom as Jessie came out. I laid by the door, patiently waiting as she pulled off her nightshirt and underwear, walking around to the dresser where she decided what to wear today. "Miriam, what are we training on this morning?"

"Fire and ice," she said from behind the door. Jessie grabbed a pair of jeans, wool socks, a flannel shirt and lace underwear. I was glad I was sitting as I was, because the sight of her naked was giving me a little problem with John Junior she didn't need to know about. I couldn't breathe as she faced away from me, bending over to step into her underwear and pulling it over her perfectly formed ass. I thought her getting dressed would help, but those jeans she had were positively indecent. She turned to face the mirror as she put her bra on, giving me a good view of them as well. I was so hard a woodpecker couldn't dent it by the time she finally finished dressing. "Luna, how am I going to survive watching her like this?"

"You have to be strong," Brian sent into my mind. "She's still trying to wrap her head around witchcraft, and she is still afraid of the man who hurt her that day. Let the bond work."

"I don't have a choice," I said. "I hope the place they practice this morning has a cold stream nearby I can lay down in. I'm going to have the biggest case of blue balls ever, especially since I'm stuck in wolf form."

"Hey, in wolf form you can lick your own balls," Larry added with a mental smirk. "Just watch the teeth."

"Voice of experience, Larry?"

"Fuck you, John. I bet you learned a lot about pleasuring yourself without being noticed in prison." More than he knew.

"A couple more nights of Jessie hugging him and he'll be losing control without even touching himself. Cuddles will be making puddles." Brian was more than happy to join in the teasing.

"Fuck you all," I said. "One of these days you'll find your mates and I hope they are like Patrick's- underage and untouchable just so you get to suffer as well."

"I'll try to remember not to dislocate her shoulder as I pull her into my arms," Brian said. I growled, causing Jessie to look my way. I pretended to be chewing on my right paw, and she went back to brushing her hair back and securing it in a ponytail.

"And I'll remember not to get arrested for beating a human half to death because he pinched her ass," Larry said. "Are you going to be all right if I'm gone until tonight?"

"What's going on?"

"We got a text from Charles. Apparently, Yuri figured out Jessie's real name and address, and knows we are back in Minnesota. Alpha's concerned that our hiding place may not be safe long or short term and wants to discuss options. We can't do it over the phone, so I'm going to drive close enough to the Cities that I can link with them."

That didn't sound like a bad option, I was ready for pretty much anywhere but here. Miriam seemed all right, the others I wasn't so sure. "Be careful, don't get caught and don't get followed. If you have any doubt, don't come back."

"If I'm not back by midnight, you two need to leave and go somewhere, anywhere away from here," he said. "Just drive and don't stop until you are a couple states away."

"We won't hesitate to move if she is in danger," Brian promised.

"Come on, Cuddles, time for breakfast." She opened the door and I followed her to the dining room, where she joined the other members of the Coven at the table. My food and water was set in the corner, and I ate quickly before sitting to watch them again. The conversation at the table was forced; the younger acolytes were afraid of Jessie's powers, the older ones jealous. I could sense it in their eyes and their smells. A few sent glares my direction, they didn't like werewolves. I didn't like witches, they lacked the honor and family values that I was used to. Still, they were outwardly pleasant. Their High Priestess must have laid down the law, we were paying well for our room and board, and that was it.

I got up and followed Miriam and Jessie as they walked out the door. We went outside, then took a path through the woods until we came to a clearing at the edge of a small pond. I sat at the edge as Jessie started her lesson. Fire she was pretty good at; she was launching multiple fireballs at multiple targets within an hour. Ice was a whole other story. She could raise water up, shape it, spin it and throw it, but she couldn't get it to freeze.

My tail thumped against the ground when she finally succeeded in making an ice ball, just before we broke for lunch. Larry was on the road and Brian was sleeping since he had to patrol at night. At least things were quiet.

Gwyneth's POV

The acolyte held out the phone for me. "He didn't say what he wanted, just that he wanted to talk to the coven leader," she said.

"Leave me." She walked out of my office and I sat down, kicking my heels off. "This is Gwyneth, who am I talking to?"

"My name is Arthur Andersen," he said. "I am in need of a location spell to find a woman I'm looking for."

Petty stuff. "And why would I help you with that? What is she to you?" Most times, location spells were requested by parents or jilted lovers. It was a messy business, most times the person who they couldn't find was hiding from them on purpose. I rarely did them unless I thought the person should be found.

"I've got ten thousand reasons for you to help me find her, in cash."

Hmm. He had my attention. "The name of the person you are looking for?"

"Jessie Ellen Donato. She is important to my employer, and I know she is in the area."

I held back my emotions, tapping on the desk until I could talk. "I will need something of hers. Hair, clothing, jewelry- the closer the tie to her, the better."

"I can have that for you in an hour," he said. We arranged to meet at Sven and Ole's, a famous pizza place in Grand Marais. Now that we were past the fall color season, the place wouldn't be packed and there were plenty of quiet places to talk. I told him I needed two hours, mainly because I wanted to do my own searching.

I hadn't looked into Jessie beyond the amazing raw powers that she held; opening up an internet search, I quickly found out why she was in hiding. If she survived, she was heir to a billion dollar fortune; if not, it went to her uncle. Ten grand in cash was peanuts for her life.

I made another call, this time to a man I know has ties to organized crime, specifically the Irish Mafia in St. Paul. I told him to call me back on a computer link that had high-quality encryption on both sides. I got right down to business. "Sean, I know where Jessie Donato is and I can guide your men to her. Interested?"

"Fuck yeah," he said. "We've been looking for her, the contract is worth a lot."

"I figured that. A local offered me ten thousand dollars to help find her. I want more. Add three zeros to that for me, add in the same for you for coming up here and killing her, and we have a deal."

"I can't just take her?"

"No, it has to be here, and I have to be present when you kill her. My business, not yours."

It was silent for a minute. "The reward for killing her is just over a million dollars, Gwyneth. Why do you think we'll split twenty million?"

"Because that's just a rounding error to Yuri Zubkov compared to the billion dollars he'll lose if he doesn't kill her. Call Yuri, I know you have the contacts. This can be done tonight, no issues, both of us make a lot of money."

"And if he refuses?"

"Then I go to Jessie and see how much she'll pay me to hide her until she can be declared Yuri's heir, and he gets nothing. I still get paid. You know I can cast a spell on a hiding place so she'll never be found." Actually, I'd just put her into stasis, where she couldn't move and couldn't talk, then stash her in a crypt, spelling the whole thing to prevent detection. It was much simpler to do that than someone who was moving around, eating and living.

"I'll make a phone call. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, she's got one guard and a guard dog protecting her, plus you'll have to help me take out a witch."

"You can block her magic?"

"I can, but you have to kill her." As a white witch, I couldn't kill, the stain on my soul would change my magic. Letting someone else kill them while I was there to accept the magical powers that would be released? That was different. The Christians thought it a sin to covet; to us, accumulating power was its own reward.

"I'll call you back in twenty minutes." I hung up, and he called back in fifteen. He was pretty excited, which told me he negotiated for more than the ten million I was getting. I didn't care, either way I was going to get paid, and I'd absorb the magic from two powerful witches in the process.

My time in this cold, backwater town was over after today. My time as leader of a minor Coven was over as well. I was going to have money and power, and with that I'd change my entire life.

I got up and grabbed my keys. I had to eat lunch anyway, and pizza sounded good. I'd listen to this guy, take his money and send him to International Falls or something. It wasn't like I'd still be here when he figured out I'd swindled him.

Ch. 34

John's POV

The afternoon was spent like the morning, although Jessie was getting better and better as she learned how to direct her powers and the energies around her. I was proud of her; a mate with her powers was a good thing, especially if her wolf never came forward completely. The Pack might not like the idea of a witch in their midst, but at least she wouldn't be a helpless human in a fight. She finished the afternoon by forming three balls of ice, hovering them above the pond, then sending three fireballs into them to smash them to pieces. "Excellent progress, Jessie," Miriam said as she clapped her hands.

Jessie sat back and smiled, clearly proud of herself. "It helped a lot when I stopped thinking about it."

"Exactly. Magic is a lot like a golf swing; if your head is cluttered with all the things you need to do, something doesn't work well. You have to practice until you can do it without thinking, your mind just wants it to happen and it does. Now, let's meditate and regain your power." I moved closer to them, laying down right behind her with a grunt. She patted my head, then placed her hands on her knees and focused. "Clear your head and feel the energy flowing around you, child. Let it flow into you, let it restore you." I had picked up a lot about how her magic worked during the lessons, and one part was how she needed to draw on the natural energy around her or she would drain herself again. Nobody wanted her to be in that self-induced coma again.

As she continued to medidate, I felt the air around me start to change. Looking around I saw nothing and smelled nothing abnormal, until I looked at her hands and saw them start to glow with a pale blue light. The glow spread up her arms and around her body, and when she was completely covered with the glow, she started to rise up into the air. I whined, she didn't respond, she was in a trance.

"Don't touch her," Miriam said as I moved to get up. I sat, watching her as she hovered a foot above the ground. I started feeling tingles on my legs and looked down to see the same blue glow around them. I rose up into the air, whining as I tried to escape but my legs found no purchase in the air. "Relax, don't fight it," Miriam told me. I couldn't touch anything, it was the weirdest feeling because I was just there, weightless. I pulled my legs in and fought panic; my MATE was doing this, and she wasn't hurting me. I was kept suspended for thirty seconds or so, then I was slowly lowered until my feet had purchase again. I sat quietly as the glow disappeared and waited for her to be done.

"JESSIE! MIRIAM!" Gwyneth's voice cut across the clearing, and Jessie lost her focus. She dropped to the ground with a thud as the glow disappeared.

"Ow," she said as she sat up. I moved behind her, sniffing her back before licking her neck. "I'm fine, Cuddles. I just need to concentrate through distractions like that."

I turned around and saw Miriam coming with a man I didn't know. "Brian, wake up. Gwyneth brought a guest I don't know."

"Ugh, who is it?"

"Human. Big guy." The wind shifted and I got a smell of the others. "Two more trailing behind them. We're out by the pond, I don't like this." I got up and stood protectively in front of Jessie as the men approached with Gwyneth. I could sense Miriam was upset, and I wasn't happy either. It was foolhardy to bring people where they could see the woman we were protecting.

"What is this about, Gwyneth?" Miriam's words were cold as she walked towards her cousin.

"I wanted to introduce you to our dinner guests. Miriam, this is Sean, he's a friend of mine from St. Paul."

"Something's wrong." I tried to push Jessie away but she didn't move. The group was about twenty feet in front of us. I started to growl low in my throat. Then I heard a shot.

Sean was holding a pistol, and had put a round through Miriam's head at point-blank range. Jessie screamed as the blood of her friend and teacher sprayed over us and she collapsed to the ground.

"Kill them," Gwyneth said.

I lunged towards Sean as he turned his gun towards me and fired. I felt the impact of the bullets into my chest and shoulder as I jumped towards him. I was almost there when I was suddenly flying sideways, slamming hard into a tree. I heard my back break as I slammed into it.

"NO! JESSIE!"

All I could do was watch as I could barely lift my head. Gwyneth was holding her arms out, white sparks flying from her hands as she blocked the fireballs Jessie was launching at her.

Sean shifted his aim to her and squeezed the trigger three times. The first two she deflected, then she was hit by a fireball and screamed. The lapse in concentration was enough, and the next shot hit her chest. She fell backwards as I howled in pain and loss.

Brian's POV

As soon as John woke me, I was running towards the door of the guest house. I saw the strange car in the driveway, and picked up the smell of the humans. Shifting, I left my ripped boxers behind as I ran for the trail leading to the pond. John said there were three men, one with Gwyneth and two behind.

"Something's wrong," John sent me. I was flying down the trail, and I could see the two men ahead of me. Dressed in dark suits, both were big men, and the way their arms stayed away from their chests, they were packing.

I heard a shot, then a scream. I howled, causing the men to turn towards me instead of continuing towards Jessie. Both men drew pistols from under their coats; I darted off the trail into the trees, hoping to draw them away. I needed to get between them and Jessie.

I heard more shots, and the howl of pain from John. I didn't have time, I turned towards the clearing, knowing I'd have to go through these guys to get to him. I felt a shot graze my back as I leaped at the closest man; he put his arm out, I grabbed it and pulled him to the ground with my momentum. Letting go, I ripped his throat out as the second man started shooting me.

I turned and jumped on him, ignoring the pain from the shots. I missed his throat, grabbing his face instead and biting hard. He screamed and fired a shot point blank into my chest. I let go, finding his neck, and with one shake I heard a snap and he went still.

I let him go and tried to stand. I was in bad shape, one of the shots had gone into my heart. "Fuck, I'm hit bad," I said. "I killed them, but they got me too."

"They killed Jessie," he told me.

"I'm sorry, John." I fell on my side, unable to stand as the blackness started to take over. "Tell my parents I love them." I looked out over the woods and watched it fade to nothing.

Jessie's POV

I hurt. A lot.

The fireball had burned my stomach, and the shot had hit the center of my chest. I was lying on my side, bleeding into the grass as I fought to stay conscious.

I looked back to Gwyneth, she was kneeling over Miriam, a greenish glow in her hands. She looked at me and smiled, her eyes were glowing as she took in the power of her dead cousin. "Kill the dog," she said to him as he watched her. She had her back to him, she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy stealing the power of the cousin she had killed.

Instead of coming towards me, Sean turned and pointed his pistol at her before firing once. The shot hit the back of her head, blowing through her face as she dropped onto Miriam's body. "Sorry, the dog isn't worth ten million dollars, unlike you."

Holy fuck. If there was any doubt as to what was going on, that settled it. Sean started walking towards Cuddles, who was lying by a tree about twenty yards away. He growled, but with his back legs not moving there was nothing he could do to get away. He snapped out at him, but Sean stopped too far away from him to reach.

It was then I felt the power moving into me.

It filled me, healed me as flowed from their dead bodies into mine. I felt my breathing start to ease, the burns no longer caused me pain. I felt alive, I felt strong, and I was pissed. I sat up and shot my hands forward, forming a fireball that shot towards Sean with deadly accuracy. He saw it coming, turning towards me with pistol in hand just before it slammed into his chest and drove him back. He screamed as his body caught fire, his chest burning from the inside as I sent a second fireball into him. He dropped his gun as I lifted him into the air and brought him to hover in front of me.

I watched the light go out of his eyes before I let his smoldering carcass drop to the ground.

I knew Miriam was dead, no one could survive that shot. I looked over to Cuddles, my poor dog was lying broken against a tree, struggling to raise his head. I could see the blood flowing from multiple wounds. Tears flowed as I rushed to him, he had tried to protect me and now was dying. I knelt at his side, my fingers stroking his neck. "I'm sorry," I said.

His eyes bore into mine, and he started to shake. I watched in horror and amazement as his bones shifted, the fur receded, and a large naked man took his place. A man I'd seen before, in erotic dreams and nightmares.

It was John, the man who had defended me from that man in the bar.