Order of Protection Ch. 44-48

As they entered the narrow passage, a white gas was released. The werewolves stumbled, falling to the ground in a heap. "What's going on," I said.

"Gaseous wolfsbane," he said. "All likely attack routes where the compound is within ten minutes of the border are protected by them, and they are remotely actuated." The gas sapped their powers, preventing them from communicating and causing them to shift back from their wolves. It took a few minutes for the gas to disperse before they were able to stand up again and gather their gear. As they tried to regroup, Sven's men surrounded them. The twelve men were quickly disarmed and sat down along the trail.

"What of the other group," I asked, then the cameras showed me.

"Entering from the east, I see. Well, we better get going. We don't have static defenses there, too many hikers and hunters that way this time of year. Come on." We walked out the front of his house, a big wolf was waiting there. "Climb on, you can't shift," he told me. "You have to stop them before this becomes a bloodbath."

I jumped onto his back, embarrassed at having to be carried into battle, then Sven shifted into his black wolf and we ran off to the east. A dozen defenders around the compound joined us as we tore out of there. Most had rifles or packs strapped to their backs.

It was a fifteen-minute run from where they entered to the compound, and we ran for five minutes before we came to a clearing in between two ponds. Everyone stopped, and I jumped off. Alpha Sven shifted and stood next to me as his men fanned out. I saw the men with rifles taking up positions behind the trees, even up in them, while other men joined us or went to the flanks. The wind was in our faces, so they'd never know until they were on top of us. Wolves running all out had little time to respond anyway.

I could hear the pounding of paws as the dozen or so men approached. "Stand with me," Sven said. We stood together at the center of the trail, wolves lying down behind us to block the path. As the group entered the clearing, a volley of rifle fire tore up the ground in front of them. The lead wolves stopped, turning to the side only to find they were surrounded. Some shifted, but any who reached for their weapons were quickly convinced by the snipers to let them go again. "STAND DOWN, YOU'RE SURROUNDED," Sven yelled at them.

"STAND DOWN, I TOLD YOU TO ABORT," I yelled when they still didn't surrender. We walked towards the group, they were in a defensive circle and about half were shifted. They looked at me in surprise. "Alpha David, you're alive," Fergus said, his red hair matted with sweat.

"I called off the attack, what the hell did you guys come in for?"

He looked at me, confused. "You told us if you called you were under duress, and to ignore whatever you said," he told me.

"Dammit, son, I said if I called YOU to ignore it, not if I called James or one of the others," I said, getting pissed off.

"That's not what you said, sir. Are you all right?" I thought back to my order, I hadn't been specific enough and it could have resulted in men being killed. It was the kind of error an Alpha couldn't make.

"I'm fine. I'm safe, and I'll be staying here a day or two. Jessie and John were here, but they left after a night. Someone else killed them." Fergus just nodded. "Alpha Sven's men will be escorting you back to your vehicles. Thank them for not killing you when they could have and drive back to our Pack."

"Yes sir." He tried to link someone, then looked at the Alpha. "I can't reach the other patrol, Alphas."

"They were ambushed with a wolfsbane gas bomb," Sven said. "They will be fine in a day or two, right now they are heading back to their vehicles. I'm sorry, but it was a better way to stop the attack than just killing them." Fergus just nodded and took charge of his men.

I watched as the men packed their weapons and left the clearing, escorted by Sven's men. "Your defenses are impressive, Sven. I guess they can teach an old dog new tricks."

Sven laughed. "Sometimes we just need to let the younger members flex their skills. We have a few members who in the old system would be Omegas, low in dominance and fighting ability, but they are amazing with technology. I had to appoint one a Beta because of his importance to the Pack, despite not having a warrior bone in his body. Things in our world are changing so quickly anymore, the old rules don't work. Do you know what the biggest threat to us being discovered is now?" I shook my head. "Game cameras. Hunters are putting these up all over the forest, motion activated cameras and video. Despite the signs, we find them on our land too. Add in Google Earth, and it's much more difficult to hide in plain sight these days."

I got back on his guard as Sven shifted, and we ran back to the compound at an easier pace. Linnea was waiting for us at their home, and she tossed him clothes as I got off. "Well, shall we eat then," Linnea asked. "The food is getting cold."

Beta John's POV

We spent the afternoon going between self-defense drills in wolf form, human form and just plain rolling around making love because we were new mates. By the time dinnertime came, we were both famished.

We went into the cabin, and I had her take a shower while I figured out what we could eat for dinner. The supply of meat we had was gone, so I dug through the cupboards and found some pasta and tomato sauce. I got a large pot of water onto the stove and started heating it, then dug around looking for something else I could put in there. I found a can of mushrooms and a green pepper. "Do you like mushrooms and green pepper in pasta," I asked.

"Sure," she said. I started chopping up the pepper, then paused as one of the boats was getting closer than I thought was normal. In the late season, few boats were out anymore. I heard the motor idle then reverse and put the knife down. I moved to the front door and saw a fishing boat pulling up to our dock. Alpha Sven was driving it, his Luna seated next to him, and another man was facing away from me.

"Jessie, we've got guests," I told her as I walked down to the dock. By the time I got down there, they were unloading three huge coolers and five boxes onto the dock. "Alpha, I didn't expect you so soon," I said as I walked out to them.

"Sorry to just show up," Sven said. "This is retired Alpha David of the St. Croix Pack. He's Stan's father."

"It's good to see you, son," the grey-haired man said as I gave him a hand up to the dock. "We feared you were lost."

"We're just fine," I said as I helped Linnea step up from the rocking boat. I looked at David. "What brings you up here?"

"Me and some guys from the St. Croix and Highlands packs came up here kill the Alpha and his leadership." I froze, trying to figure out what he was saying. "We thought they had killed Jessie for the money."

"We got a hell of a lot more money doing things my way," Jessie said as she came out onto the dock. "Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated, Alpha David." She came down to my side to greet the three Alphas.

"Wow, that's some power you have in you," Sven said. "And the smell..."

"You got your wolf!" Linnea pulled her into a hug. "She's a dominant one, isn't she?"

"So I'm told," Jessie said. "She is strong, I can give John a run for his money in a fight now."

"Definitely an Alpha female," David said with a smile. "What broke it loose?"

She pulled her hair and sweater aside and showed the mark on her neck. "We think the spell broke when we mated," she said. "I've only had her for a couple days. It's all so new and exciting!" She started telling the story of her first shift as we carried the food and supplies up to the cabin. She had them in stitches about falling on her face as I went back down with David to get the rest.

"It's killing me not being able to tell anyone you two are alive," he told me. "Sven filled me in on what you did and why, and I agree with it. That kind of reward was too much to ignore."

"I'm kind of enjoying having this time to ourselves," I said. "Once the snow flies, it won't be so fun. Why so much food this time?"

"There is a cold front coming soon that will send temperatures near zero for a week or so. Once the lake starts freezing over, it will be weeks before there is enough ice to get a snowmobile on. Until then, we can't get supplies to you. The meat and cheese in the coolers, If you leave it on the porch, it should stay frozen long enough for the weather to take over. The rest you'll have to pile up in the house." I hadn't been in a Northwoods winter, but Jessie had told me enough stories about the weather farther south to make me wary. The days were getting shorter and the nights were dropping below freezing. It wouldn't be long before it was dark by dinnertime as far north as we were. It took a few trips for us to carry everything up to the cabin.

We still ended up eating pasta for dinner, but we added meatballs to the sauce along with the mushrooms and peppers. There was no table big enough to eat at, but we made do. I enjoyed the conversation, finding Sven and Linnea to be good friends and fun to talk to. I hadn't laughed so much in years.

It was dark out by the time they had gotten what they needed from us. We waved goodbye as they pushed off the dock, the boat speeding across the lake under the light of the moon. "Do you think it will work," I asked my mate as she leaned back into my chest.

"I don't know," she said. "If they do the right thing, it will. Meanwhile, we're going to be trapped here for WEEKS. What could we do in all that time?"

"I have an idea or two," I said as my hand moved under her sweater to cup her breast. "Last one in bed sleeps in the wet spot." She squealed and took off for the cabin, me right on her heels.

Ch. 48

Alpha Sven's POV

The next morning, we sat at the table in my house with my mate and my Beta as we went over the plans once more with David. The whole thing was riding on a razor's edge; as long as Jessie was believed to be dead and they stayed hidden, they were safe. If word got out she was alive, Yuri would do anything to get her.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just go public with this now?" David was turning the flash drive over and over in his fingers.

"Time is our friend," I told him. "The longer we wait, the deeper the hole is that Yuri digs himself in the human and werewolf world. Plus, Jessie is not ready to emerge into our world and all that will be expected of her. John needs time to get her trained and comfortable with all that Alpha power she has inside her."

"Not to mention her witchcraft. I still can't believe she was able to make the illusion so believable when you faked her death."

I smiled, thinking back to how she had proven to me she could do it before we went ahead with her plan. "She was powerful when she just had Father Kempechny's power, enough to flip a car into a guardrail with her mind," I said. "She's gained the power of two Coven High Priestesses since then. If she was fully trained, I have no doubt she'd be one of the most powerful witches in the world."

He looked at his hand. "Just another reason for people to come after her. Witches will be jealous of her power and know if they kill her, it becomes theirs."

"That is why that little island in the middle of a Northwoods lake is the safest place for them to be right now, to come into their power together. It has to be this way." He nodded. "The information on that thing is explosive. There is no denying it, and when the time is right it needs to be revealed. Not before then." He stood up and we walked to the door. "Take it to Patrick in Moscow. He will know when the time is right for it to come out."

"My wolf wants his blood for Brian's death in the last attempt on her life," I said. "She was protected by us, and John was a member of our Pack when they tried to kill them at the Coven."

"He will pay for his crimes, but it doesn't always happen the way our wolves want," I told him as he opened his car door. "Yevgheny was taken down by the Russian Police. In the end, he was dead, and his leadership was dead or in prison. It was a better outcome than if another Pack or the European Council took him out. The press, the police, hell, with Jessie's disappearance and Yevgheny's estate battle, they're in the news all the time. Right now the Coast Guard and FBI have a half-dozen boats scouring the bottom of Lake Superior off Tofte, looking for Jessie's body. Surrounding them are two dozen boats carrying television crews. Trust me, it's better this way."

He started his car. "I suppose you're right."

"You know I am, old friend. Remember what I said; only Stan can know what you do, and he has to keep it quiet. Don't let that jump drive out of your possession, deliver it to Patrick in Moscow."

Linnea came out of the house, carrying a thermos and a bag. "You have a long drive, I packed you a sandwich, chips and some fruit," she said. "I don't want you doing something stupid, like eating a gas station burrito."

He laughed as he took it. "Few things are less trustworthy than that," he said. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for everything, Linnea. Thank you for taking good care of them."

"You're welcome, David. Have a safe drive." I shook his hand and he pulled out, following the guard on his ATV to the gate. I pulled my mate into my side, relieved everything had turned out so well when it could have been so much worse. As I sniffed her hair, I noticed something had changed. Her scent was stronger, my wolf picked up on it and I was aroused. "You smell different."

"I feel different," she said. "Do you think it worked? Could she have fixed it?"

I put my hands over her lower belly, feeling the scar there. When she was young, before we met, she had caught a severe infection that attacked her reproductive system. Her fallopian tubes were scarred as a result, and we had not been able to conceive in our two decades together. She had been crushed when the doctor had figured out the issue eight years ago; they were too damaged to repair. I refused to put her away and take another, or to have another woman bear my heir. "If it isn't our child, I don't want a child at all," I had told her as she cried onto my chest.

When she was talking with Jessie last night, she revealed her magic had the power of healing, and offered to help. I was hesitant, werewolf doctors could do nothing, but it gave her a ray of hope and I couldn't deny the pleading in her eyes. Jessie had laid her hands on her belly, and her hands took on a purplish glow. Linnea gasped, clenching my hand. "Does it hurt, love?"

"It's warm," she said. A few seconds later, the glow went away. "Is it done?"

"I've done what I can," Jessie replied. "I'm kind of new to this, but I think so. I guess you'll have to find out on your own."

As I stood with her in front of our house, I thought we had a chance. I turned her around, dropping to my knees I brought my nose to her waist, taking a deep sniff. I was immediately hard enough to cut diamonds; her scent was strong and meant only one thing.

She was going into heat.

Beta Female Abigail Clarke's POV

I pulled the last of the eight pork butts I had prepared off the smoker and shifted my hands so my claws could tear it apart. Humans used these stainless-steel things called bear claws to rip the meat apart, but I preferred using my wolf to do it. When the fat was removed, the long pieces of smoked pork were placed in a large serving tray and mixed with my homemade barbecue sauce. I cleaned up as the tray was taken out to the tables for the competition.

My Mac 'n Cheese recipe was already set up on the table with the side dishes. It turned out the idea of a pork bbq competition had sparked a lot of interest, and there were fourteen entries in the meat category and twenty-five in the side dish. Twelve people including me were entered in both, and thus eligible for the Grand Prize that Alpha Javier had put up money for. With the interest, he'd added cash prizes for each category as well as through third place overall. Each competitor had to submit at least fifty pounds of meat or side dish to be eligible.

I went to my room to change and shower, my hair smelled of cherrywood smoke and my body felt sticky from being in the kitchen or out at the smoker all day. Putting on jeans, a blouse and sweater, I walked out to the elevator to take me up to the rooftop. The late fall weather had held out for us, it was still in the 50's as the sun got ready to set. The rooftop had an open section where the smokers had been set up, plus a large enclosed sun room with a small swimming pool and lots of patio space. It was here that the Pack members were gathered and where the smells were captivating.

Alpha Javier opened the competition with a brief speech, thanking the participants and wishing everyone luck. He explained the rules; each Pack member had a single white chip and blue chip, one for their favorite meat and one for the favorite side. In front of each tray of food was an explanation of what it was and a small can with a lid you could drop the chip into. He encouraged everyone to try a little of everything the first time through, then go back later for their favorites. He and Abrianna then started the line, everyone else following behind.

We ate, drank and socialized for three hours, and I was enjoying myself quite a bit with Patrick and his new friends. I was happy to see that both my dishes were among the first to run out, which I thought was a good sign. Some of the entrants had made copies of their recipes on 3x5 cards, and I grabbed more than a few for my own use back home.

Patrick hugged me from behind, making me jump a little. "Your food was a hit, Mom. You got this in the bag."

"Nothing is over until it is over, Patrick. There was a lot of good food there. I know I want to get a few recipes before I leave." It was a tour de force of tastes from around the world tonight. Most of the werewolves in the Pack had found their mates in Russia, but not all, and even regions they came from made a difference. Two entries were by wolves who came from the United States; one made Carolina style pulled pork, which had a spicy clear sauce based on apple cider vinegar, while the other was a Cuban style roast pig from a woman who grew up near Miami. There was Poc Chuc, a saltwater-cured grilled pork marinated in onions, sour orange juice and charred red tomatoes from Central America that was amazing. I also got the recipe for the Brazilian gaucho style pork that was cooked on a sword and rubbed with spices. Among the other entries were Jamaican jerked pork tenderloin, two kinds of Chinese bbq, a Pork Satay on a skewer from Thailand, and four different Shaslik recipes, a traditional Russian bbq on a skewer.

The sides were also excellent, and my wisdom in choosing mac 'n cheese was apparent as I watched the children of the Pack vote. They didn't want vegetables or salads, they were taking big spoonfuls of my cooking.

The voting closed down as the wolves kept eating the remaining foods, and a half hour later Luna Abrianna took the microphone to announce the winners. I held Patrick's hand nervously as they were read. I screamed when I won best side dish, rushing up to the stage to take the cash and the trophy they had made for the event. "Congratulations, Beta Abigail. Not only did you make a dish our children are now begging us for, but you gave us the idea for this event in the first place, and it was a rousing success." The Pack applauded as I hugged her, then shook the Alpha's hand. The Cuban roast pork won the best meat category, and then it was on to the combined prize.

"In third place overall, for the combination of Ural Mountain Shaslik and Potato Salad, Theta Lidia!" She came up, accepting her cash and trophy, then was moved aside to wait. "In second place, with her combination of Pulled Pork and Mac 'n Cheese, Beta Abigail!" I went back up, my face beet red as I accepted my second trophy. "Finally, the Grand Prize winner of ten thousand rubles and this trophy, Omega Maria, for her Cuban Barbecue Pork and Stuffed Mushrooms." The crowd went wild as she came back up to collect her prize, then we all posed with our trophies. "There have been so many calls for recipes from this contest that Beta Galina has agreed to collect them for a Pack cookbook. Once it is completed, the web page will be sent to everyone. Also, the top eight dishes in each category will be prepared by the Pack Kitchen each Friday for the remainder of the year." There were more cheers to this.