Order of Protection Ch. 79-82

"All teams head west. Southern team, get on 94 and head for the 694 exit. Northern team, head west on Stillwater Road towards 694. Western team, get going but make sure you don't pass them. We're on our way on 36."

"We'll get on 94, love," Jessie sent me. "Every time you cross a major road, send back a bearing line. We need to know if they turn off 36 anywhere."

It wasn't rocket science, but it worked. The lines kept crossing as they stayed on Highway 36 heading for St. Paul, and soon our Western team caught up. The cameras back at the Pack House were checked, and the Stone Creek Catering van was the one used. "Got them in sight," Beta Peter sent through the link. "Driving at 62 miles an hour in the right-hand lane, coming up on Hilton Trail."

"Stay back, don't spook them," I said. "Southern team, where are you?"

"Passing Radio Drive, a few minutes from 694."

"Southern team, head north and stop at Highway Ten. Northern team, catch up when you can. We can't run them off the road, we need to follow them. Box them in; Peter, if you can get one vehicle ahead of them without raising suspicions, do it." I looked at the exit signs and the map, we still had eight miles to go to catch up.

"They are exiting at Hilton, heading north." He followed them at a distance until they pulled into a large home, it was on a small island surrounded by wetlands and shallow ponds. He bailed out as the car kept going, shifting in the dark street to his wolf. The SUV continued before stopping a few blocks away in the quiet residential neighborhood.

"I've got eyes on them," Peter said. "Four men, all armed, they were wearing chef coats and black pants. They have Luna Larissa, she's bound and unconscious, a bloody bandage on her left hand. They are carrying her into the garage through the side door."

He sent the address over the link, and Abigail forwarded satellite photos and blueprints of the house to everyone's phones. Three teams, including mine, had made it to the area and were unloading men and gear. "Peter, what do you see?"

"They went down to the basement. I don't see any external patrol, no signs they spotted our tail. One man is upstairs getting beer out of the fridge." This was good, but we didn't have time to wait until they were drunk. "We're across the pond on the west side. How thick is the ice?"

"A couple inches after that last cold snap, but I wouldn't walk on it in human form. Four paw drive is safer, and stay spread out," Peter said. "I'm just behind the trash cans by the garage. South team, can you get to the treeline on the south side from the next road over? I saw lights there."

"Roger that, we're already moving that way, four wolves, four armed," Stan said.

"Northern team is with me," Alpha Esca said. "We're taking the land bridge to the back of the property and will wait in the trees behind the deck." I relayed our moves to the others, then told them all to attack the back of the house when I took off. We picked windows to go through; luckily it was a walkout basement, so our team could go straight for our Luna. The other three sides of the house weren't so lucky, they would have to go in upstairs and come down the stairs. Wolves would go through the windows and take out any opposition, while the humans went for Larissa. We had to be fast or they might kill her. I shifted along with three others, leaving my clothes in a pile by the tree.

A few minutes later, the house was surrounded by wolves and armed humans, all ready to do violence. "Peter, we need you to drive straight up the driveway to the house, and follow us in. Prep the back for Larissa," I said. "As soon as we see you make the turn, we go."

"Two minutes out," he said on the link.

Luna Larissa's POV

I woke slowly, the pain from my hand making me want to get away. When I couldn't move, my mind cleared quickly and I remembered the men and the dart. I cracked an eye open; I was on a bed, in a room with no windows, and a man was sitting in a chair looking at his phone. He had a gun on the table next to him, while I could feel the handcuffs on my wrists. "Stan? Stan where are you?"

"I'm coming for you, love. Where are you?" I passed along what I could see and smell; in addition to the guy in the room, I could hear another next door. "Sit tight, we'll be there in a minute."

I started counting in my head, letting the seconds build. He hadn't noticed I was awake yet, and that was in my favor. I heard the Pack link come alive, it sounded like John. "Five, four, three, two, one, GO GO GO!"

I heard windows smashing and men yelling, soon followed by growls and gunshots. The guard in my room jumped to his feet at the noise, reaching for his gun. "Come cazzo ci hanno trovato? (How the fuck did they find us?)"

He picked up his gun and swung it towards me, but I was already making my move. Shifting into my wolf form, my narrow paws quickly shook off the cuffs and I rolled to my feet. His eyes got wide and he hesitated, just enough for me to leap for his gun arm. He screamed as I bit down on his forearm, cracking his bones easily as I shook the gun free. A moment later, the door broke down and I heard a shot. He fell to the ground, his body laying partly on mine as I was squashed beneath him.

"Shit!" The wolf shifted, pulling the dead weight off of me, while the warrior who shot him kicked the gun away. Beta John knelt next to me. "Are you all right, Larissa? Can you shift?"

"Ribs are broken," I sent back. I coughed, and tasted blood on my tongue.

"I've got you." He carefully picked me up in his arms, holding me under my stomach and in front of my legs. I leaned my head against his shoulder as he walked me out of the room and up the stairs. I saw two other men, their throats ripped out, and a warrior was getting his arm wrapped with a shirt after taking a shot. "Your mate is waiting for you," he said as we reached the top of the stairs.

He handed me over, my skin tingling with his touch. "Thank Luna you're alive," he told me as he turned for the waiting SUV. I was laid on a blanket in back and he crawled in next to me, and immediately the car was moving.

"How did you find me?"

"The same way we found Luna Linnea... magic. This time Beta John could help, so we were able to get a fix on your location and follow you to the house."

He laid by my side, stroking my fur as I felt us turning onto the freeway again. I snuggled back into his chest. "I never could have predicted this in a million years, my love."

"What do you mean?"

I laughed, but it turned into more of a cough and it took a minute to get the blood out of my throat. "That little Jessie girl that Peter and Patrick brought home last summer, the one who was supposedly John's 'mate.' She didn't seem like much back then, did she? But look at her, look at THEM now. They could end up being the most powerful Alpha pair in the world."

"I think I'd be all right with that, Larissa. Her instincts are good, and we couldn't ask for a better ally."

I let out a sigh. "I'm just sorry her wedding got ruined."

I could see him linking someone, then he started to laugh. "What's going on?"

"Jessie." He wiped a tear away. "She said she's getting married at moonrise tonight no matter what, so if she has to lay out a dog bed in the front row for you, you're going to be there."

I fought back the urge to laugh, it hurt too much. "My finger? Did they take it?"

He nodded. "We're going straight to the clinic, Doc is waiting to reattach it. We will have to see how much function you regain, though." He looked out the window, I could feel his anger building. "The Sicilian mafia is behind this, they took you to convince Jessie to repay them the money Yuri borrowed from them. They killed Yuri's mate and child when they could only come up with twenty million."

"Bastards. What are we going to do?"

"We aren't going to do anything. The European Council and Packs, they are pissed off and now have proof the Mafia is targeting Alphas and their families. There is an exception in the laws regarding human interactions when a person or group is targeting us."

"They will kill them?" He nodded. "Good. I don't want our baby to be in danger again."

I made a wolfy grin as his eyes got wide and he stared at me. "You're..."

"Pregnant. I talked to Jessie before she went to Europe, she did something with her magic, we did something on that Pack run last month, and ga-doooosh! Preggers!" I licked his hand as his mouth hung open; in fifteen years of mated life, I had been pregnant three times and had lost each one in the first month. After five years, I couldn't even get pregnant any more.

"You shifted, love."

"I didn't want to shift, but staying alive was the most important thing, and it was still early enough our pup should be fine. Doc knows but I had the gag order on him, I was going to tell you after everyone left. You know if you found out, you'd practically have me on bedrest and I'd never get everything ready for the wedding."

He just laid behind me, running his hand over my fur as he snuggled close to me. "I love you, Larissa Larsen," he said. Moving his hand down to my belly, he rested it there. "And I love you too, little one."

Ch. 83

Jessie's POV

Werewolf ceremonies were traditionally held either at moonrise or when the moon was at the highest point in the sky, so it was a good thing it got dark about five in the afternoon in Minnesota at this time of year. I didn't want to be apart from John for another minute.

By the time everyone was home last night and Larissa was out of surgery, it was four in the morning. The other Lunas pitched in and finished the wedding preparations, while a frustrated wolf lay on her bed letting her paw and her ribs heal as her mate fed her bits of meat. Her frustration at being left out was clear in all the mental communications she sent her helpers. We were all happy when Doc said she was good to shift.

I had been bathed, poked, plucked, arranged and painted until I reached a level of beauty I'd never find again. The dress was amazing, my bridesmaids were radiant, their mates and escorts handsome. I watched them walk out the door into the meeting hall to the sound of a pipe organ, and then it was my turn. "Ready?"

I looked up at Alpha Stan, the man who had been my Alpha and friend all this time. "I was born for this," I said with a smile. The music started, and the door opened, letting everyone see me as he led me onto the white fabric that covered the aisle. If I had looked, I would have seen the faces of hundreds of family, friends and well-wishers. The crowd was mostly werewolf, but it included some of my human friends from college and work, important politicians, and other guests. We would play this one straight.

I didn't care, my eyes were on nothing but my John.

He looked amazing up there in his formal clothes. His hair neatly combed, his black wool jacket and matching black six-button waistcoat set off by a white dress shirt and black bowtie. The cufflinks he wore bore the emblem of the Moscow Pack, a gift from Alpha Javier. From the waist up, it looked like normal wedding clothing, but MY man was a Highlander, and Scotsmen do things a little differently from there on down.

A dress sporran on a silver chain hung in front of where his zipper would normally be, holding down the formal kilt that spanned from his waist to his knees. The kilt was a Milne plaid, the traditional pattern of his Pack, in white with thick green stripes and thin red and blue lines. His tartan socks reached up to his knees, in black, with black boots.

Tonight, I'd finally find out just what was underneath a Scotsman's kilt.

His Alpha, Esca, was standing by him along with his groomsman, while my girls were lined up next to where I would be standing. I heard everyone stand as we started towards them, and when he smiled at me and looked at me like the most important thing in the world, the waterworks began. Stan discreetly handed me his handkerchief, and I was glad for the invention of waterproof mascara or I'd end up looking like a racoon.

"Who gives this woman to be married," Chair Robert Steele asked. (It was common for Alphas to get ordination in order to perform civil ceremonies in their Packs, and we were honored he would perform ours.)

"I do, on behalf of her late parents," Stan said. He kissed my cheek and placed my hand in John's, who drew me up next to him. The next few minutes were a blur as I focused on him. It was almost a shock when I realized my part was up.

"Do you, Jessica Ellen Donato, take John Seamus Pearson to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

I looked into the eyes so full of love. "I do."

(On a cliffside villa in Sicily, as the moon sets on the water, dozens of wolves swarm onto the property and overwhelm the guards. Screams and gunshots are heard, and minutes later the wolves are running back out, backlit by the fires starting to consume the building that housed Santino Riini, his family and his men.)

"And do you, John Seamus Pearson, take Jessica Ellen Donato to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

He smiled and looked at me. "I do."

(In a three-story structure in the old part of Corleone, teams of men dressed in black and carrying silenced weapons land on the roof of the heavily fortified building. Ditching their parachutes, they blast into the stairwell and into the upper floor of the building while snipers take out the guards. Muffled booms are heard, and flashes of light and fire in the rooms follow them as they move to the ground. Men rush out the gates into the night, and residents know better than to look out their windows. Minutes later, roaring fire engulfs the historic mansion that was the home of Salvatore Riini, boss of the Sicilian mafia.)

"Then by the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." I practically jumped in his arms, his strong arms pulling me up and into his hard chest as we kissed deeply. I lost myself in him, in the feeling of the bond, at least until I felt a tap on my shoulder and backed off. The guests were highly amused by our display.

(Black-dressed men pull an accountant out of his bed at gunpoint, his wife being held back by another. He is given a simple choice; transfer the money or die. He makes the transfers. The men leave, but ten minutes later the police arrive and seize his books and computers.)

"It is my honor to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. John Pearson," Robert said as he turned us towards the crowd, who stood and applauded us.

(Tipped off by anonymous but detailed phone calls, police in the early morning hours raid over three dozen locations where wanted Mafia members are found, along with drugs, weapons and other contraband. In the first twenty-four hours of the nationwide sweep, over three hundred Mafia members are arrested. The National Police hail the operation as 'breaking the back of the Mafia in Sicily.')

We walk back up the aisle, basking in the well-wishes of our friends as I hold him. This whole ceremony satisfies the human side of me, the part that dreamed of a big wedding when I was a little girl. My wolf doesn't care, she got her mate months ago, she has twin pups in her belly, so all this is just in the way of her getting to the buffet table. We set up the reception line, and the photographer takes some pictures we can feed to the press being kept well away from us.

Alpha Javier and Luna Abrianna congratulate us, and Javier turns his head to my ear when he gives me a hug. "It's done," he whispers. I look over to John and let out a relieved sigh.

That danger was over.

I leaned back towards him, my nude body catching the last of the evening rays while my toes dragged through the warm ocean water. It may have been winter back in Minnesota, but here in the Maldive Islands it was eighty degrees with a light wind. My back exploded with tingles as it touched John's chest as he settled behind me on the lounge in the shallow waters. "It's so beautiful here," I told him as I watched a pod of dolphins playing in the distant surf.

"What I love about it is that I have just you; no distractions, no phone calls, and no clothes." The ten days here after our wedding had been amazing and passionate. The private island resort had every amenity you could ask for; fishing, sailing, jetskis, scuba diving, even deep-sea fishing upon request. We didn't have to do anything we didn't want to do; a chef came three times a day to prepare our meals, the bar was fully stocked, and fresh towels and sheets were provided daily. My favorite part of the villa was the huge circular bed, set in a three-sided porch overlooking the ocean waves. Most of our time had been spent making love there, or by the water. We both had deep tans now.

Our wolves had even gotten into the action, taking advantage of the unspoiled wilderness lying beyond the beach. All the development on the ten square mile island was within a hundred yards of the ocean.

"We do have to go back tomorrow," I said with a sigh.

He tightened his arms around me as we watched the sun reach the horizon. "We should have a toast," he said.

I stood up, moving over to the sparkline cider on ice and caviar that had been set out for us. Pouring us each a glass, I could feel his eyes raking over me. "See something you like," I teased.

"When I'm on my deathbed and my life flashes before me, I want to pause it on this moment right now," he said. I looked at him quizzically. "Your body, backlit by the sunset in a tropical paradise, your belly swollen with our child, it's all I need to die a happy man."

"You smooth-talking Alpha, you," I said as I set the glasses and the tray of snacks by the lounge he was using. "Get up, I want to see this too."

He smirked and got up, walking over to where I had been standing as I took his place on the lounge. I could see what he meant, his body was outlined perfectly, so strong, so beautiful. "Hey, is that time right," I asked.

"What time?"

"The sundial. It says it is five... wait now four... now two..." I was leaning back, teasing myself with my fingers as his body reacted to mine. "Looks like we've got all afternoon to make love now."

I shrieked as he picked me up, setting me on the railing with his back to the ocean before he dropped to his knees and put his head where I needed it to be right now. My legs wrapped around his shoulders and my hands gripped the rails as he quickly got me going again. As much as I loved it, I wanted him inside me and right now.

I pulled his head up with one hand, my eyes begging for him to take me. He stood and entered me fully in one motion, and I moaned with the sudden stretch from his hard cock. I needed it fast and hard, and he gave it to me. I broke on my first orgasm almost immediately, but he wasn't done with me. We'd made love so many times today already that he would have some staying power. "Take me to bed, my big stud," I said as I clung to him.

"With pleasure, my mate," he said. He never pulled out, he just walked me to the bed and lowered us to the mattress where he continued to plunder my body to three more, before we finally fell asleep to the cool island breeze over us.