Order of Protection Ch. 79-82

Jessie's POV

Larry collapsed to his knees as she was hauled out of the courtroom, being taken to the field out back where punishments were carried out. John helped him back up. "Come on, you don't need to see this," he said as he turned him around.

"NO!" Larry shook him off. "I promised her I'd be there to the end. Someone has to be there for her."

I looked at him, he was dying inside but he couldn't abandon his mate and I respected that. "Come on," I said. "We'll stay with you." We joined the crowd leaving the room and heading outside, ignoring those who gave us a wide berth or looked at us like we were somehow guilty as well. The guards had led her to a pole, it was about eight inches wide and twelve feet tall. Chains were attached to the top, and one of the men held her in place while the other adjusted the cuffs and secured her in place. She was standing tall, her arms protecting her face as she shivered in fear. The guards removed her coveralls, cutting it off of her and leaving her naked and facing the pole.

The crowd had started to circle around, and we went around to the back and pushed our way to the front. "Liz... look at me Liz," he said. Her tear-stained face went to his, and I could see how devastated and scared she was. "No matter what, you keep your eyes on me. Nothing else, just me." They removed the silver collar from her neck, and with the mind link available again, Larry started talking to his mate privately.

The Council took their places to witness the sentence, and Francois nodded to the Enforcer who carried a whip, the leather infused with silver. The first lash landed across the middle of her back, and she screamed in agony as skin was torn and blood sprayed. The silver would retard healing and leave scarring, not that it was a concern for her now. The second lash landed, a few inches below. She let out another scream, the agony building for her.

John and Viktor each had a hold of Larry's arms, holding him back as his wolf fought to get to his mate and those who were hurting her. Three, four, five, each lash tearing into her back. Blood started to fly, the whip sending droplets out when it hit and when it was flung out again. The strikes were going lower, hitting her bare ass, then thighs. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. The Enforcer paused, and the doctor looked at her briefly. She was hanging from her arms, moving side to side to relieve the pain that would not stop. Her throat was raw from screaming, and she was staring at Larry, pleading silently for this to end.

The Doctor nodded to the Enforcer, and the whip sung again. Her howl of pain was different now, and as twelve, thirteen and fourteen hit, her screams never stopped. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. The lashes came from the other side, the strikes crossing the previous ones on her back and tearing it to ribbons. When he paused this time, she was breathing heavily, her head against the pole as she tried to catch her breath. Larry was on his knees, he was in agony as well, the bond open to share the pain and take some away from her. I respected him, he was doing everything he could for her and it would never be enough.

The Doctor nodded, and the Enforcer started again. Twenty-one, two, three, four, five. The lashes moving down steadily to her thighs before he went back to the original side. She danced in the chains, trying in vain to escape the whip but only making it worse. She screamed in agony as a whip strike wrapped around, slicing her right breast open. Twenty-six, seven, eight, nine, thirty. Her screams weakened, her head falling forward, and she seemed to give up as her body slumped against the pole.

The doctor approached, shining a light in her eye and checking her heart. She could barely move now, and I watched her look at Larry and mouth "I love you" before her head fell forward again. Her body was covered in blood, only her arms and head spared. The doctor nodded, and the enforcer continued at thirty-one. Two, three, four, five, she wasn't even screaming anymore. By forty she wasn't even twitching when the whip struck, she was just swinging there like a piece of meat on a hook.

Larry screamed in pain and loss as the bond was ripped from his soul, and it took three of us to hold him down. The doctor approached again, checking her eyes, then her heart. "She's dead," he said to the Chairman.

"Release her, and let him have his mate's body," Francois said before they turned to leave along with the crowd. When she was on the ground and the Enforcer who had beat her was gone, we let Larry go and he ran to her side. He picked her broken body up and held it in his lap as he cried in loss.

I stayed with him, bringing a sheet that had been handed to me to hide her. I was tucking it around her, my head near her waist, when I caught the smell. It couldn't be. I put my head by her sex, taking a deep breath, the scent of lilac and new life was unmistakable.

"SHE WAS PREGNANT," I yelled out, causing the Doctor and the Council to turn back. "You idiots, how could you not know?" Larry was howling in grief now, his loss instantly doubled. "Move him away, I'm going to try something." They pulled him free and I laid her on her back, my hands glowing as my power surged into her body.

I had read something in the spell book as it was translated, it was in the section on werewolves. Searching for her wolf, I found her faint and fading in her mind and sent my power towards her. As she strengthened, her body started to glow and then shifted into her dark brown, white and black wolf. I continued to pour my power in, the stripes of open flesh on her fur closing, and finally she took a breath.

"What are you DOING," Francois said. "She was sentenced to die!"

Having done all I could, I moved my hands back and let the glow stop. "Let him go," I said to John, and a second later Larry was on his knees next to her. He shifted, tearing his clothes away, and curled around her as she panted and tried to get up. He was licking her fur, cleaning her neck and ears as he whined in excitement.

The Enforcers came running back, but I held up my hands and stopped them. "Conference room, NOW!" The Council members turned to obey me, and John looked at me in wonder as they obeyed my Alpha power which was surging forward. Larry was my Pack mate, and what they had done to him was monstrous. "Stay with him," I told John and Viktor as the stood slack-jawed above the two wolves.

The crowd, which had been leaving satisfied with their justice, was now talking loudly and uncertain. No werewolf would condone executing a pregnant woman, and the excitement of seeing justice was now tempered by guilt. They made a path as I walked quickly back inside, the Council already in the room as I slammed the door closed. "How could this HAPPEN? Was she never examined?"

"I don't know, and we didn't know," Francois said. "Rest assured I will get to the bottom of it."

Javier looked at me. "What did you do out there?"

I sat in a chair, the magical exhaustion starting to overcome my adrenaline. "I saved her wolf," I said.

"She is under sentence, you can't just bring her back," Armando said. "We will be forced to kill her again. All you have done is forced her to go through all that pain again."

"Elizaveta IS dead," I said. "You killed her. She's not coming back. What I saved was her wolf, and hopefully their child."

They all looked at me like I was crazy. There were werewolves, and there were werewolves who killed their wolves, but there was no such thing as a wolf who killed his human. It just didn't work that way. "You can't have a werewolf without the human, it's impossible."

"That's what I thought, but it wasn't true," I said. "Her human side was dead, I brought her wolf back to life. Her wolf, which was against everything her human side did from the very beginning. You know, you searched her mind and examined her wolf before. She is fully wolf now, no human left. She can't shift back to human form, and she has no human mind. She is a wolf, nothing more."

"And he is still her mate?" Francois was leaning back in his chair, his fingers rubbing his temples with the headache I just gave him.

"Did you not see how he reacted to her? His human side loved her, but the bond was with her wolf." I still couldn't believe it worked, but the book had shown me a way to seek out her wolf spirit and that was the key to focusing my healing power. I was also shocked I was able to bring her back to life; my healing power was barely enough for the job. I was lucky her heart hadn't stopped too long for it to restart. "In any case, you sentenced her human to be whipped to death. She was. Her wolf and her child were innocent, so you will leave her alone."

"I don't know what to say," Francois said. "Powers like you have are a new thing for us."

"Power must be tempered with mercy and wisdom," I said. "Find out why a pregnant woman was not identified prior to sentencing and fix it," I said. "I'm going back to be with my Pack member."

No one said anything as I got up and left; any outrage they might have had at my outbursts and treatment of them was overcome because I was right, and they all knew it.

I stopped by the kitchen and got some fresh, cubed steak and put it in a bowl along with a large bottle of water. Carrying it out, I walked through the remaining crowd to where Larry was sitting protectively over his mate. John, Viktor and Stan had all shifted to their wolf forms and were stationed around her, facing out. No one knew if one of the victims might feel cheated and try to harm her now. I set the bowl of food down in front of her, then poured the water into the second bowl. She licked my hand, then started to eat.

I pulled my dress off and kicked off my shoes before shifting into my own wolf, and laying down next to my mate. "The Council is satisfied that her human part is dead," I told him along with Stan and Larry. "What I did saved her wolf. She will no longer be able to shift, she has no human left. Larry, you have your mate but that was the cost."

"I don't care if she can shift as long as I have her," he said. "What of our baby?"

"I don't know yet," I said. "It's not like I've done this before. My healing power was in her, but we will have to wait and see."

"Thank you, Jessie. Thank you for everything." Liz had finished eating and drank most of the water as the crowd watched. She went back to Larry, licking his face as he cleaned her muzzle. Feeling better, she started to rub her fur onto him, spreading her scent and basking in the mate tingles. The two sniffed each other, then she dropped her forelegs, butt high and tail wagging, and barked at him. He mirrored her stance before she took off for the woods, Larry yipping as he chased her.

"Alpha Stan, can you follow them, make sure they are all right," I asked.

"Of course, Jessie. What are you doing?"

"Going back to my room with my mate, that exhausted me," I said. He took off for the woods, Alpha Viktor following him, as the crowd started to break up. "Come on, my mate. I need to be held."

He came alongside me, licking my ears. "You're amazing, you know that? You made an entire Council submit and you weren't even trying."

"They fucked up and they knew it," I said. "Now come on, the baby and I are tired." We trotted back to our clothes, shifting and pulling them on before going back inside.

After a fun shower with him, we fell into bed, the window open to let the cool mountain air in. I heard a howl in the distance, the howl of a male claiming his mate in wolf form, and I smiled. Larry would have his future.

Ch. 80

Jessie's POV

One Week Later

I opened my eyes to the first light of the day coming through the gap in the curtains. I felt rested, finally, the long trip back from Russia to Minnesota was not fun for a pregnant woman with bad morning sickness. I'm sure the other people in first class with us didn't like the three times I threw up before we were even out of the country. We had stayed awake most of the flight, listening to Russian language learning programs together, so we could sleep after we arrived late last night.

My stomach started to roll again, and I rolled out of bed. His arm fell limp off my hip to the blanket. I raced to the toilet, emptying my stomach out before going to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and let it heat up while brushing my teeth to get the taste of vomit out.

I was not enjoying this part of being pregnant a bit.

"Are you all right," John's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Fine," I said. I pulled off his long shirt and stepped into the shower as my mate came in. The curtain made his shape fuzzy, but there was no mistaking the broadness of his chest or the taper down to his narrow waist. Every time I looked at him I wondered how I got so lucky.

"I wonder how I got so lucky too," he said as he pulled the curtain back and joined me. "Can I help you wash?"

"I'm barely showing, it's not like I can't see my toes yet," I said, but his eyes were dark with lust and I could feel the bond between us pulse as my body responded. He took the sponge from my hand, cleaning my face as I closed my eyes and relaxed my body into his. He took his time, doing my hair before he moved down my body. My breath caught as he started to rub my tender breasts. "Careful, they are sensitive," I told him.

"Bigger, too. I'm liking you this way." His wolf loved me barefoot and pregnant as well, and both were even more attentive and protective of me than before. He was always touching me or watching me, never letting me do anything that might hurt me. My wolf loved the attention that sometimes grated on my human part. He continued down my stomach, kissing the bump before doing my legs and feet. His tongue and lips were busy elsewhere, and I was moaning by the time he finished, and then it was my turn to tease him.

His wolf didn't like to be teased.

It wasn't long before I was holding on to the shower head and the wall for dear life as he pounded into me from behind. The wet slaps of his hips to my ass echoed in the small bathroom, joining my loud cries and moans as he worked his fingers on my clit from behind. I came twice before he joined me on the third, holding that thick cock as deep in me as he could go. As his hot seed filled me, my legs lost their strength and he ended up holding me up until I had control of them again. "That was amazing," I said softly when he finally slipped out.

"Now I get to clean you again," he said with a smile. There might have been a round two except the hot water ran out, so we quickly rinsed and dried and ran back to the bed. "I'm glad we don't have to be anywhere until lunch with the Alphas at noon," he said as I snuggled into his side. "Jet lag sucks."

"We'll have to get used to it, we have a Pack on the other side of the world now," I said. "I can't wait for our friends to get here." A private jet from Scotland was arriving at eleven thirty, and a flight from Moscow at two. The guest Alphas and the American and European council representatives would also arrive tonight. "I'm glad I let Larissa and Abigail do the wedding planning, there's no way I'd be ready for tomorrow without them." I had texted and talked to them on Facetime a few times from Moscow, and they had performed miracles in a few days. I had found my dress in Moscow, a traditional Russian design, and John's former Pack was bringing his tuxedo from his old room at the castle.

We talked and snuggled for another hour before we absolutely had to get up and get dressed. Winter had come to the Midwest, so I was dressed in jeans, Uggs, a turtleneck and a wool sweater. John was looking very Minnesotan with his jeans, boots, Vikings turtleneck and a plaid shirt. "We'll be out in a few seconds," I told our driver.

It felt weird no longer having a car or being able to just go to the store alone, but that was the life I'd found myself in now. The paparazzi had been waiting for us at the airport, everyone wanting a picture of one of the richest women in the world and her studly fiancé. Alpha Stan had his men doing security, and I had brought a half-dozen unmated wolves from the Moscow Pack to help. I begged Stan to let me have my old cabin back while we were staying because I wanted time alone, and I had to stay on his Pack grounds for security reasons. He wanted to put me up in the visiting Alpha guest rooms, but we declined- other Alphas were coming as well as the Council.

This little cabin I'd rented after the "Hooters Incident" was cozy and comfortable, and a palace compared to the little cabin on the lake up north we'd spent so much time in.

We walked out hand-in-hand and got in the back for the short drive to the Pack house. The place was full of noise as we arrived, with the Pack gathered to greet us as well as see Patrick's mate. It took a good twenty minutes to get the hugs and handshakes out of the way, and my eyes were a little misty by the time we finally sat at the round table at the front of the room. Council Chair Robert Steele was sitting to the right of Alpha Stan along with his mate Laura, while we were to his left next to Larissa. It was a big honor for him to attend our wedding. "No chance of getting you to stay in the States now, I guess," he said with a grin as we greeted him.

"What can I say, Chair Steele, they used the Pack children to draw me in and I couldn't turn my birthright down after spending time with them. And that rooftop pool!"

He laughed. "I know what you mean, that could make those cold Moscow winters a little more bearable. Congratulations on your news, by the way. Twins with your first mating, Luna has truly blessed you."

I looked down, my hand going over my baby bump. "I'm still in shock from the ultrasound. It's no wonder my morning sickness has been so bad."

"It will be over soon," Luna Marina said. She was with Viktor, Mischa and Patrick, Konstantin was at another table with some of the unmated of the Pack. "I'm so excited about you kids, pretty soon Mischa will be mated and pregnant and I'll be a grandmother!" Mischa just rolled her eyes while Patrick kissed her head.

"I'm glad I'll have a big Pack to help out. I couldn't imagine having twins alone. I appreciate what my Mom did for me more and more every day." Now it was John's turn to kiss my forehead.

"You'll never be alone, I know the old women of the Pack are already knitting things for our babies," he said. "What we really need is to find Konstantin's mate. He's getting a little grumpy in his old age," he teased.

"No kidding, let's give Mom someone a little closer to obsess over pups with," Mischa said.

"Well, there's going to be a lot of people here this weekend, and I arranged for the singles in my Pack to stay while we are off on our honeymoon and go on a tour of American packs," I said. Unmated males needed to find their mates, it helped them settle down and become responsible Pack members, plus it brought new blood into the Packs.

"He better hope he doesn't smell of shewolf when he finds her," Marina said. "I'd have smacked the shit out of my mate if I found him like that." She looked over at the table where a young female was rubbing herself against his muscled arm, her shirt pulled low to show her ample cleavage. She must have said something to him over the link because he sat up and moved her arm.

The lunch was over, and we were laughing over dessert and coffee when I heard a commotion outside. The doors opened to reveal Alpha Esca and Luna Eleanor, along with other members of John's old Pack in Scotland. Betas Jack and Sarah flanked their Alphas, and behind them their son Sean stood with their twin daughters Jane and Julia and Gamma James. "Come on," John said as he helped me up from my chair. He quickly embraced his former Alpha and Luna, and they both pulled me into hugs as well. I had briefly met their Pack at the castle, and everyone was happy now that the two of us were mated and expecting.