Order of Protection Ch. 54-57

"You'll all die as well."

"I don't think so. Do you think Shura was the only person to bring in reinforcements? I have almost two hundred trained warriors back home, waiting for an attack. I have electronic surveillance, booby traps, explosives, snipers, wolfsbane gas bombs, reinforced fighting positions and air support. When your boss attacks, he is going to lose, and lose badly. All of your friends will die, and for what? Money? Ego? Pride?"

The wall was up to his shoulders now. "You know better than this. Kidnapping a pregnant Luna and threatening to kill her? What would your mother think if she knew what you had done?"

"Leave my mother out of this!"

I looked at the mark on his shoulder. "Your own mate, what do you think she will be thinking of when she sees the video of your death at the trials? Will she think you are a good wolf, a good mate? Or will she wonder why Luna hated her so much as to give her a mate like you?" The bricks were stacking to his eyes now, they were wide with fear. "You don't have much time left. The bricks are almost done."

He looked out to the water, where the last bricks were forming. They stacked above his head, and soon would close his frozen sarcophagus airtight. "Last chance." He looked up in horror at the only spot left.

The last brick moved down towards the opening.

"WAIT!" The brick froze inches above the others. "He's in Grand Rapids, at a hotel," he said. "Country Inn and Suites, room 287. He's got the whole place rented out for his men and the rogues he's hired."

"What is his plan?"

"I don't know much. He said I was to bring her to the south border of your land at six tonight, that he would meet us there for the transfer. He was going to use the transfer as a distraction, the men would attack as soon as he had the money and the body."

"Anything else?" He shook his head no. Peter looked at me, I nodded and tapped the shoulder of the white and silver wolf by my side. The ice wall shattered around him, falling to the ground. "Tie him up good and stuff him in the back of my car," he said.

The wolves left my side, and she walked around the group of warriors, healing the wounds that they had. None were serious, the men were good fighters and had the element of surprise. In a few minutes, they were back at my side.

Beta Peter came up and stood before me. "Orders, sir?"

"Put him in the cells back home, and clean up the mess here," I said. I handed him a stack of cash. "Take the men out for a good meal, you've earned it. When you are done, stage yourself ten miles south of my border and out of sight. I'm taking the Luna home." The men cheered as we walked off, and you couldn't fit a piece of paper between us until we got to the helicopter and buckled in.

There were only three seats, so Beta John shifted and pulled on clothes before buckling in, and the silver-grey wolf sat on the floor in back between our feet. We all put on headsets t block the sound, with a microphone that was voice-activated so we could talk to each other. The pilot was on a different channel, so we could speak freely. I looked down at the young shewolf and smiled. "Thank you Jessie, I'm glad you talked me in to letting you come, even if it was only for healing the wounded after the fight."

She chuffed and licked my hand. Linnea started scratching her ears as we took off and headed back north. "I was strong, and you DID come for me," she said over the noise of the engines. "How?"

"Jessie unlocked more of her power, she was able to locate you and send an astral projection," John replied. "You heard what she said?"

"Yes, and I needed to hear that, I was giving up hope," she said as her free hand covered her belly. "What now?"

"We'll have to talk about that. We know where Shura is, but they will have already left Grand Rapids by the time I can get any men there, and I don't want this fight to happen around humans."

"He's going to figure out we got Linnea back at some point before six, and then he's lost his leverage. His only option will be to attack us and try to at least get the money."

"We'll be ready for him then." I looked out over the frozen ground as we flew north. This ends today.

Ch. 56

Jessie's POV

I was so relieved when he cracked, as I was about to kill a man who was helpless. Watching a man slowly suffocate in a coffin of my construction was not my idea of a good afternoon.

Still, I did what I had to, and John was right- he wasn't willing to die for Yuri. Now we knew the direction he was coming from and when. The question on the table right now was what to do about it.

I was sitting on John's lap in the Alpha's office, with his Beta, Alpha Stan, Beta Peter and the Betas of the Packs who had come to help. All of us were looking at the map of the territory. "His weakness is the use of mercenaries," John said. "Shura doesn't have many men left, not now. He's leading rogues and opportunistic Packs that are hungry for money and territory. If we can sow doubt in their minds, they'll go home." He used a laser pointer to highlight the western border. "Put signs up saying things like, 'We know you are coming' or 'Dying ain't much of a living.'"

"Really? Outlaw Josey Wales quotes?" Sven laughed at it.

"It's a classic line, and it's effective. Break their morale and limit casualties."

Sven stood up, going over to the map. "I don't want to limit casualties." I looked up at him, a little shocked. "Shura is doing us a favor. He's attracted every lowlife, every dangerous rogue and desperate Alpha in one place. We fight them now and the problem is gone; we let them scatter, and they remain a threat for when we AREN'T ready for them." He tapped the map. "How long will it be before rumors start about the wealth of our Pack, or of your mate, John? How many times will she be almost killed before they finally finish the job?"

I put my hand over my mouth, my gut was twisting and churning. "I'll protect her," John said.

"Really? How did that work the last time." John growled, pulling me closer. "You have to be right every time, they only have to do the job right once. Sniper, poison, auto accident, explosion- so many ways you could lose her, just like I almost lost my Linnea. I'm not taking a chance on losing her again. This ends today."

I ran for the bathroom attached to his office, not even closing the door before I was throwing up in the toilet. John was behind me, holding my hair out of my face as I heaved my guts into the bowl. When it was finally over, he handed me a glass of water. I rinsed my mouth a few times, spitting into the bowl as I flushed. "There's new toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet," Sven said as I stood up. I grabbed one out of the package and quickly brushed my teeth.

"You all right, honey?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's just nerves." He led me back to the chair and we sat down again.

"I have to agree with Alpha Sven," Stan said. "Yuri's a monster, like an octopus with tentacles. The cops have lopped off a few, the European Council will take some more, but there's a dangerous tentacle right here and we need to chop it off before it goes elsewhere."

"We need to capture Shura for the American Council, along with as many of his men as possible," Peter said. "We need to keep the pressure on Yuri and deliver him to trial. Killing them is easy, capturing their leader is not. He won't be at the front, he'll be leading from the rear I bet."

Stan stood up. "Sven, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to back you up in the South. My men can monitor Shura and his men with drones, then swoop in on them after they leave. I'd like Peter to be in charge of cleanup on the west side. You've got to be here, in the command center with your Pack directing the defense of your territory."

"I have to be down south for the meeting."

"No you don't. Shura is just going to kill you if you are there. He doesn't have Linnea, and you don't have Jessie or his money. How long do you think it is going to be until he figures out that detail and just attacks?" He was right, I thought. "You'll have John and Jessie here to link with Peter and I. He won't attack until you refuse to pay."

Sven looked over at the allied Beta. "Nobody escapes, Peter."

Peter just nodded. "Of course. No second chances for those who would kill our men and rape our women. These rogues are savages." They spent a few more minutes going over the plans, then Stan and Peter left to meet their men. They would each take charge of one of their groups of warriors, and were going to stage on the southwest and northwest corners of the territory. When they got word the attack was in progress, they would sweep down and cut off the retreat.

While they were gone, the explosives experts from one of the allied Packs was setting up shop along the paths from the western border. The boys had Claymores, more gas bombs, and mines. One of the men was in the control room to coordinate with Sven's pack, while the others were stationed in defensive positions with the remote detonators. It was going to be loud.

Just after three, Alpha Sven got a call. "Do you have my money and Jessie?"

"I do. Where can we meet."

"At the south end of your territory, where County Road 796 crosses the Embarrass River. Bring no more than one vehicle, just you and one other, and have Jessi's body in a crate or something, ready to travel."

"What about Linnea?"

"She will be brought it once you've delivered," he said.

I growled lowly. "How do I know I can trust you," I said.

"You can't, but you don't have a choice here, Sven. Do what I tell you and you can have your mate back. Don't be stupid."

"Six o'clock at 796 and the Embarrass River, one vehicle, one other person, be ready to transfer Jessie and the money. Anything else?"

"It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Any cops, patrols, or other werewolves around and I'll kill her while you watch." He hung up.

"Did you trace it?"

My tech guy nodded. "Burner phone. Cell tower was thirty miles east of Grand Rapids. They are on the way."

I looked at my watch. "Time to get everyone in position then."

Beta Shura's POV

Our convoy was moving rapidly east towards Sven's territory, avoiding the other Packs along the way. I was getting pissed off; my man holding Linnea hadn't responded to my calls or texts, and we were running out of time. I was certain Sven would insist on talking or seeing her before he would pay, and they better be at the rendezvous point we'd set up in Embarrass by five thirty.

My plan was pretty simple; we would distract them with the transfer on the south side of the territory, with me bringing three dozen warriors in a show of force. We'd be obvious, and Sven would have to bring his warriors forward to back him up. As soon as the transfer was done, we'd let Sven start to head back with his mate and then we would attack from the north and south sides at once.

Most of my men turned north as we approached, while six vehicles led by me continued to Embarrass. We stopped at the McDonalds there, waiting in the parking lot for my men. He still wasn't answering the phone, and by 5:45 I didn't have time to wait. "Do you think Sven found her?"

"I don't know. This is going to go bad very quickly." I got on the phone and talked to my Theta, who was leading the invasion force from the north. "We don't have the Luna, and Sven may know that,"

"What do you want us to do?"

"Set up on the border at six, and go on my signal."

"It shall be done, Beta Shura." I changed my plan, and soon we were arrayed in a line facing the Embarrass River from the south. I made sure my men's vehicles were pointed towards the Vermillion Pack territory, and everyone had weapons at the ready.

"A vehicle is coming," my scout linked. I got out of the SUV, standing in front of my warriors as they took stations next to their vehicles. A Jeep was driving down the road, it was an open-top model and I could see a big cooler in the back. It stopped just short of the bridge, and I watched as Sven got out with a younger man, obviously a bodyguard. They walked around to the back of the Jeep as I walked up, lifting the cooler and carrying it forward. They set it in the center of the bridge and walked off. "Is that Miss Donato?"

"It is," Sven said. "Now show me Linnea." Good, he didn't have him.

"Not until I verify." I walked up to the cooler, guards on each side. I had my cellphone open in my hand, ready to send the text message to my Theta to start the attack. Sven had backed up to the front of his Jeep and was typing something on an iPad. "Open it," I told my man when we were near it.

"Yes sir," he said, and he unlatched it at both ends and opened the lid. As soon as it opened, there was a flash, and white gas came shooting out under pressure. I turned to run, but this stuff was a white cloud that surrounded and choked me. "Wolfsbane gas," I warned as I tried to escape. I pressed SEND on my phone, dropping it as my strength left me. The world started to spin, and the last thing I remembered was looking at the blue sky as the white gas blew over.

Alpha Sven's POV

We watched the transfer in the bunker under the Pack House, where the security command was set up. The two men who were in the Jeep were volunteers, both unmated, and close friends of the men Shura had killed. They wanted to avenge their brothers, and I let them, with a little help from Jessie.

Bill was spelled to look like me, and they were off. "How long can you hold the illusion," I asked Jessie.

"A few hours, as long as I don't get too distracted," she said. We went back to watching the screen, as the Jeep stopped. Shura's men, it looked like at least twenty in six vehicles, were spread out along the south end. "John, does Stan have the drone up?"

John linked for a minute, then nodded. "Drone is live, and they are ready a few miles south."

My men were a mile back from the line so they wouldn't be scented. "I hope they go for this," I said nervously.

"We'll find out in a minute," Jessie replied. My men placed the cooler on the bridge, then backed up to the Jeep. They had portable air packs and weapons right next to the doors, in bags that would hide them from view. We'd gone with the Jeep so there wouldn't be doors in the way. I watched as Shura walked up with his men.

"Jessie, if they set it off, drop the illusion," I said. "He needs to be in his own form to fight."

"I'm ready," she replied. We watched the lid open, the gas went off, and my men grabbed their masks and rifles as Shura and his men scrambled to escape the cloud. We had included a smoke bomb with the Wolfsbane gas, so the cloud prevented his men from seeing our men coming fast. My two guys were sitting in the Jeep, masks on, and firing through rifles with infrared-sensing scopes that could see through the fog. It was a turkey shoot, men were dropping left and right and Stan's men were still a few minutes out.

"BREACH ON THE NORTH BORDER, DOZENS OF THEM," one of my men shouted. I looked at the screen and my gut fell.

They were supposed to attack from the west.

Ch. 57

Alpha Sven's POV

"Attack coming from the north, shift to planned defensive positions, and get those suicide jockeys to grab as much as they can and set up in the choke points! Fourteen minutes to the Pack House," I sent to all my Pack members. The allied Pack members all had one of my warriors with them, so they would relay the word. John was linking with Alpha Stan, who was sweeping in to clean up what was left of Shura's team in the south.

Jessie was looking between me and the screens, watching the wolves pour across the border like water. The ones in front were fast, while the ones farther back carried packs loaded with weapons. "I thought the northern border was safe because it was on Alpha Pine's land."

"I did too. Call him and make sure he know, he's holed up with all our women and children." She picked up a phone and made the call while I went back to ordering defenses. "John, get ahold of Beta Peter and tell him the bad guys snuck around him. Have him move to the northern border and start pursuit, don't give them a chance to regroup."

"I'm on it, Alpha."

I looked at the screens, they were at the twelve-minute line. A large map linked with the cameras and motion sensors, showing their progress real time as they charged south. "Alpha, I estimate over two hundred hostiles inbound," my controller said.

The run was long, but the terrain forced the wolves into chokepoints we had identified. My Beta was directing the defense groups, moving them into place in the positions we'd built just for this purpose. Using boulders and steel, the fighting positions had good fields of fire and allowed a small number of wolves to put a hurt on the intruders. "How is the redeployment," I asked as I looked at the cameras at the forward defense points.

"We can't make the first line, not enough time with having to re-deploy from the east," he said. "We're sending men to the second line, and we've already re-deployed snipers around the Pack House to face the new threat. I've sent hand and gas grenades out from our reserve stocks."

"Tell the explosives guys to deploy on the third line. They'll need the extra three minutes to set up." We used a layered strategy, with defensive positions roughly every three minutes hard run. The first set was only two minutes from being overrun, there was no time to set up.

"Already done, sir. We'll get them."

John patted my hand. "Alpha, Alpha Stan reports the southern group has been routed. He's got eight prisoners, the rest dead. Beta Shura is among the captured, he's unconscious."

Good. "Ask him to send any men he can spare with my men," I said. "Wolf form only, loop around to the east side of the compound. We can't let them surround us."

"Got it, sir."

"Alpha, helicopter approaching fast from the north, just over the trees," my warrior in the second line linked. "Is that ours?"

"No, take it out." I looked at the room. "Dammit, they brought a helicopter!"

"Our defensive position is deep in the trees, they won't see it until it is on top of them, Alpha." He spoke just before the camera overlooking Line 2 Position 2, with a dozen men with rifles, showed it exploding in a huge fireball that none could survive. "They're dropping bombs, sir!"

Jessie watched the screen in horror, then ran out of the room. John raced after her.

Jessie's POV

I couldn't sit there and watch good men die. They were helpless against the bombs being dropped from the helicopter above, and the wolves would pour through the opening without being slowed down. I ran for the stairs, ignoring John's yells for me to stop. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"I am leveling the playing field, my love. I'll be back."

"JESSIE!" I closed the mind link as I burst through the door of the Pack House. I could hear the gunfire and explosions from the north as the defenders tried to hold back the horde. Using my levitation, I rose off the ground in human form before shooting north just above the treetops. I flew faster until the trees were a blur below me. I saw the helicopter a minute later, men hanging out of the door and readying another improvised bomb. The plastic barrel had a couple of highway flares attached to the side, and they were lighting it as the pilot banked to attack the next defensive position.

I formed a fireball ahead of me, shooting it out with my thoughts. It flew towards the helicopter, growing in size as it went until it was the size of a basketball. The pilot saw it coming, banking hard right to evade it. The barrel fell out, dropping to the ground and exploding in a huge fireball as the helicopter dove for the trees.