The Porch Wolf Ch. 51-Conclusion

I had a good twenty minutes to hang out and drink with the other Alphas, easy.

Ch. 53

Luna Carolyn's POV

"We're entering Pack lands," I sent to Lewis as we drove past the guards at the entrance.

"How are you," my mate replied.

"Tired and hungry. All our food was left behind, and we got back here as quickly as possible." I could still taste that pizza, and I wanted more.

"I'll have the kitchen send some food to the clinic. I need you and Bonnie to come to the clinic. The guards will let you in."

Now I was alarmed. "What's going on?"

"Luna Brenda of Marengo Lake killed Alpha Mark Conway of Stillwater."

"Why?" I felt terrible, Luna Belinda was fourteen weeks pregnant with their first child, and now their baby wouldn't have a father.

"Brenda paid Mark fifty grand to kill Alpha Leo Volkov. It's all on tape, but she pulled a knife and killed him instead of paying him the money. When our guards arrived moments later, she killed herself."

"Oh, my LUNA." What a mess, two Alphas dead at the Gathering? Three with Leo? "Is Belinda at the clinic?"

"We took everyone left in both Packs into custody, and Luna Belinda started to miscarry. She's in the clinic now. The other Council members and I are waiting for news. Come straight here, to the conference room."

The driver was already heading there, thanks to Donna, but her mate hadn't told her why. I filled her in before the car stopped. We were out of the back in a flash, hurrying to the door and pushing aside the guards. "Belinda must be a mess, she's going to need us to pull through," I said as we moved down the hall. We burst through the door, and I froze. "What the HELL," I said as I saw Leo and Adrienne sitting in the corner. "You're DEAD!"

"Don't say anything to anyone outside this room. We don't know how big the conspiracy was yet," Chairman Sanders said.

Lewis pulled me into his lap; I leaned back, letting him scent me to calm his wolf. "Olivia and Vicki took off after they heard you were dead! Have you at least told them it isn't the case?"

"We can't tell anyone outside of this room until morning," the Chairman said.

My jaw dropped; I couldn't believe it. "OLIVIA AND HIS BETAS THINK HE IS DEAD! How can you DO that to them, to his Pack?"

"That's enough," Chairman Sanders said with a growl. "Council business takes priority over a minor inconvenience to a Pack, especially when the Alpha involved is already facing death!"

"I..." I shook my head; I couldn't believe this. "There is a little girl out there who will be crushed when she finds out her Alpha, Unky Leo, is gone. His Pack may already be disbanding, afraid of what will happen if he is gone. This is madness!"

"Control your mate, Chairman Wolfe, before I have her silvered and restrained," he replied. He didn't like a woman questioning his decisions.

"Why not silver someone else, it worked on a FIVE-YEAR-OLD," Bonnie said.

"WHAT," Leo asked as he jumped to his feet. Two guards behind him shoved him back down in his chair. "YOU SILVERED MY HEIR?"

"The Lunas stopped that as soon as we found out about it, Leo," I said. "It was a serious lapse of judgment by people tasked to place her in protective custody. Bonnie and I took them all to the Atlanta Aquarium for Vicki's birthday, and she had a great time. If it not for the news of your fake death, she'd be here with you right now." Adrienne calmed him down, and I continued. "What will they do now? Where will they go?"

"They'll hide from you," Leo said. "With me gone, Vicki has no protection from those who would use or kill her. Mike, Anita, and Liv will disappear to protect her."

"Shit," Lewis said.

"Worse than that. My Betas will expect the Pack to be taken over by the Council, so they won't call anyone or ask for help. They'll find somewhere far from any Pack and settle down. I've given them access to funds that can support them for years if needed." Leo put his head in his hands, and I could feel the pain off of him. Vicki was family.

"We'll deal with that in the morning," Sanders said. "For now, you should get some sleep. The Captain is conducting interrogations with the other Pack members to see what they know. We should be able to 'undead' you when the hearing picks up in the morning."

One of the guards came in with a tray filled with sandwiches, chips, and drinks. Lewis got me an Italian meat sandwich, Cool Ranch Doritos, and milk. With everyone eating and the Chairman on edge, it was better to shut up and eat.

One of the doctors poked his head in, his scrubs stained in blood. "We did everything we could, but she lost the baby. We couldn't stop the blood loss. Belinda didn't make it; we called it five minutes ago," he said before he went to shower.

My sandwich fell to the table, and I started to cry.

Olivia's POV

It was two in the morning when Anita woke me up. "We're almost to Mobile, Alabama. I need to get gas and let Anita drive," he said. "We should all use the bathroom. Bring Vicki, too; we won't stop again until morning."

I rubbed my eyes; Mike was slowing as we exited Interstate 85. He pulled into the truck stop and parked by the gas pump. I turned to Vicki, shaking her gently until she stirred. "Come on, Sharkbait! Time to go to the bathroom."

She rubbed her eyes and slowly woke as I undid the buckles on her toddler seat. She didn't want to walk, so she held onto my neck as I walked across and into the bright store. I found a family bathroom and went in with her. "I don't need to go, Mom," she said.

"We're going to be driving for a while, so go anyway," I said. After we were both done and washed, I carried Vicki back out. She was asleep again before Anita came back with a bag.

"What did you get?"

"Mountain dew and chocolate donuts," she said. "I can drive all night on those." I just rolled my eyes. "There's still pizza around. I picked up some apples, bananas, and Twinkies, too."

"Twinkies?" I just shook my head. "They have an expiration date only because the Government makes them have one!"

"This isn't Zombieland, even though he was right," she said.

"They are so artificial they don't even spoil! Anita, if a pill bottle says 'take with food' and all you have are Twinkies, you should wait," I told her.

"Creamy goodness and spongy cake! More for me, then," she said with a grin. She pulled up to the door, waiting for Mike to get out of the restroom.

"Where are we going?"

"It was a combination of two factors. We looked for the best aquarium in Texas that wasn't near any Packs. We're heading to Corpus Christi." Dang, that was almost to Mexico. "It's too hot, open, and dry for Packs down there. The other option was near Dallas, but there is a Pack in Denison."

"Seriously? We're picking a hiding spot based on aquariums?"

"Vicki needs distractions. There are worse ways to do that than to hop from aquarium to aquarium."

I thought about it. "What if we run across other werewolves?"

"We leave," she said. "We won't be staying anywhere more than a day or two. It's better to stay on the road."

Mike got in the passenger seat, and Anita got back on the road, following the navigation system. I moved back to the third row, laying down to sleep. I'd drive at the next stop.

Ivan Volkov (John Petersen's) POV

So far, the Summit was a waste of my time. I wasn't allowed in the courtroom to support my brother because I wasn't an Alpha anymore. Brenda didn't include me in any of her discussions, as I was 'only' her protection. Once she figured out no one was going to challenge her, she told me to stay away from her.

That was the easiest order to follow that she'd ever given me. I hung out with the Betas, drinking and watching sports in the basement until it was time for the singles to head up for the mandatory disappointment period; the 'scratch and sniff.' A few of us hung together, passing a bottle around as we waited in line. It irked me that I had to go; what did they expect would happen? My real mate had rejected me immediately, and the arranged mate did it after we had two children. I would cut my junk off before I'd take a third try at this mating thing.

The bottle of tequila we were passing was almost to the worm when I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I reached my hand up over my heart, unable to breathe. "John, are you all right?"

I shook my head no as I dropped to a knee. As quickly as the pain came, it went away again, and with it went the Alpha bond I had to Brenda. I shook my head as my wolf howled. There was only one explanation.

Luna Brenda was dead.

"Brenda... something happened to her," I said as I stood up. "I have to find her."

I tried to smell her, but there was nothing. She wasn't in the area. Finding one of the security guys, I explained the problem. He linked with his boss, then gestured for me to follow him. "Luna Brenda has been found dead. Follow me please, Alpha Volkov."

Alpha Volkov. After she rejected me, I went back to my old name, no longer needing to keep the Petersen name that she and our children had. I may as well go back to my birth name. I walked with the security guy towards their building; I could see people coming in and out. Before I could react, I was surrounded by a half-dozen me, one with silver shackles. "Ivan Volkov, you are under arrest. Kneel and be silvered."

"On what charge," I asked.

"Conspiracy to commit murder," he said. I looked around; the men had pistols loaded with silver ammo and cattle prods. There was no point in fighting; I went to my knees and allowed them to handcuff me. The men placed a silver detention collar around my neck and shackled my ankles with a chain connected to my handcuffs. The men pulled me back up, then took me to the cells. I was processed and led into a cell in the basement. They didn't say anything as they removed everything but the collar and left me alone.

They must have figured it out.

I was technically guilty of murder. With Brenda gone, the Council must have decided to clean the house at Marengo Lake. I had arranged for Vicki's kidnapping, a bungled job that resulted in her great-grandmother's death. I would plead guilty and face my death with honor.

As I fell asleep, I wondered if I would have a chance to apologize to my daughter before it was too late.

Ch. 54

Olivia Lawrence's POV

Anita drove until the sun was up, and we pulled off the interstate as we approached Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Pancakes all right with everyone?"

"PANCAKES, YAY!" Vicki had woken ten minutes earlier and was a little sore and crabby from being in the booster seat all night. I couldn't blame her, my neck had a crick in it, and I'd had to wipe the drool from my face when I woke up.

"IHOP it is," Anita said.

"Just pull in front and get out, I'll fill the tank and come back to you," Mike said.

"Sounds good." She stopped in front of the doors, and I unbuckled Vicki and helped her out. Mike drove off as we reached the door. "Let me check it out first," she said as she went in.

I stretched my aching body out as Vicki copied me. "My butt is sore," she said.

"Mine too."

"Where is Unky Leo?"

I knew she was going to ask, and I didn't want to tell her the truth yet. We needed to be somewhere I could let her cry it all out. Hell, I needed a place to cry it out, but a pancake house wasn't that place. "Leo and Adrienne are busy in Atlanta. We're going on an adventure instead."

"Really?" Her eyes got wide as she looked around. "Where are we?"

"Louisiana," I said. "Do you know how the Mississippi River begins in Minnesota?"

"At Lake Eyetacka," she said.

"Itasca," I corrected. We had visited last summer with my Grandmother; we had jumped across the rocks where the river started in a bay on the Northwoods lake. It was only twenty feet across, while by the time it got near us, it was a big river. "We're almost to the end. After breakfast, we'll drive over the Mississippi again, close to where it goes into the Gulf of Mexico."

Anita waved us in, so I held open the door, and we walked into the restaurant. "This way," the waitress said. A minute later, we were seated in a booth with a booster seat for Vicki. She put down three menus and a paper kid's menu with some crayons. We ordered drinks, and by the time Mike was back, we were ready to order. "What would you like, young lady," she asked Vicki.

"Chicken-fried steak smothered and covered, with eggs sunny-side up and extra pancakes instead of hash browns," Vicki told her. The waitress looked at me and raised an eyebrow; I nodded, and she wrote it down.

"I'll have the same with the hash browns and a side of bacon," I said. Mike ordered a steak omelet, and Anita a breakfast combo. "I told Vicki we were on an adventure," I said. I continued over the link to the adults. "I said Leo and Adrienne were busy."

"Are you excited?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "What's is Loo-see-ana?"

"We're going to drive until around lunchtime so we can get to Texas. We'll find a place by the beach where we can stay a few days."

"Beach? The OCEAN? SHARKS?" She was bouncing in her seat.

"Yes, yes, and maybe," Anita said. "I hope we don't see any big sharks with Sharkbait in the water," she said with a smile. "We'd find out who has the bigger chompers!"

"Yay!" We finished breakfast and laughed at the waitresses' eyes as she saw Vicki's bulging stomach. I took my daughter to wash up as Mike paid the bill.

"Get out to the car now; another werewolf couple just walked in," Mike told me. "Don't look, just walk out." I made sure Vicki was ready and picked her up; I didn't want to be dragging her if something happened.

Mike was standing near the entrance, and I walked past him and out before he moved. Anita was waiting by the car; she buckled Vicki in while I got in the driver's seat. Mike took the passenger seat. "Just go," he said as soon as the doors closed.

"Who were they," I asked as I pulled out of the lot.

"I don't know. It was a mated couple, maybe fifty. The two just nodded at me as they went by; they didn't smell like rogues," he said.

"Did they scent Vicki?"

"I don't know," he said. He looked in the side mirror again. "No one is following us. Get back on the freeway and let's put some miles behind us."

I did, and he relaxed and fell asleep by the time we passed the Mississippi. With Anita sleeping off the meal as well, I appreciated the mental bond even more. Vicki and I were able to talk without disturbing the others.

We had a slower time through Houston, luckily not hitting it at the morning rush hour. Mike took over at the next stop and drove the rest of the way to Corpus Christi. We drove directly to the harbor where the Texas State Aquarium was, arriving about two in the afternoon. "Let's GO," Vicki said.

"We need to find a hotel, and it's late," I told her. "We need to eat lunch, too." I checked north of the aquarium and didn't like the look of the hotels, so we drove over the harbor to the south side where the larger hotels were. We settled on the Emerald Beach Hotel, the four of us taking adjoining tenth-floor double-twin rooms with a bay view. "What do you think of the ocean," I said as I brought Vicki out onto the balcony.

"WOW," she said. "It's salty and smells like fish!"

We ate lunch, then did some shopping. We all needed swimsuits and towels, plus I bought sunblock and swim goggles for the girl. I talked her into going on the beach today, and we'd do the aquarium in the morning.

We changed into swimwear, then went out to the beach behind the hotel. Anita claimed four lounges under one of the beach umbrellas. The groomed sand was warm as the rest of us ran across it to the gentle surf. Vicki screamed in happiness as she hit the water, jumping up as the first wave crashed into her. I held both her hands, keeping her steady as we kept moving into deeper water. The next wave would have been over her head; when she jumped, I helped her go over it. I stopped when the water was to her chest. "Dive the next wave," I told her. She was a good swimmer for her age, but I wasn't going to let her hand go. She had her goggles on, so when the next wave came, she leaned into it and went underwater.

For the next ten minutes, she was swimming the hotel beach "looking for sharks" in the shallow water. I'm sure they were out there; bull sharks, hammerheads, blacktips, and others were all present in these warm Gulf waters. It just wasn't likely to be on the well-maintained hotel beach.

When she got tired of our 'boring' beach, Mike escorted us as we walked north along the surf to the public McGee Beach. It was more crowded than the hotel beach. After a few runs into the water and some prospecting for shells and crabs, Vicki was ready to head back.

Mike ended up carrying a worn-out Vicki back to the hotel beach. Anita was already relaxing with a drink in the shade when we got back. We used the outdoor shower to wash the salt off, then joined her. Vicki fell asleep in her chair almost immediately. "Why don't you two go up and shower and change," I said. "We'll be up a little later, and we can go to a late dinner."

I didn't have to guess what Anita was planning as they walked off; she left the scent of her arousal behind. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri and watched the seagulls fly around as my daughter napped in the warm breeze.

Ivan Volkov (John Petersen's) POV

I hadn't been asleep long when the door opened, and a man walked in. The guard closed the door, telling him to bang on it when he was ready. "Who are you," I asked.

"I'm your lawyer," he said. He held out his hand to me as I sat up on the mattress. "Lawrence Fenwick. I was your brother Leo's lawyer, and I guess I'm yours now. I'm sorry for your loss," he said.

"Having Brenda dead is not a great loss. It solves a problem or two, although I had nothing to do with it."

"You don't know?"

"I felt Brenda die, then I was silvered and brought here," I replied.

"Your brother, Leo. After the jury left, he collapsed in the courtroom. It was a massive heart attack; he didn't suffer. I'm sorry."

I couldn't believe it. How could my brother be dead, and I didn't feel it? I reached out to him, but the bond was blocked. "I never felt the bond break," I said. "Does silver do that?"

"I don't know." Luna, this was all such a mess, a mess that I had started when I tried to remove Vicki from her home. If I had done nothing, she would have been under Leo's protection. Her great-grandmother would still be alive. And, Olivia might forgive me for how I treated her. "I'm afraid we don't have time to grieve your brother. The Council interrogators will be taking you soon and questioning you. That's why I'm here."

"She's dead because of me," I said.

"You need to stop saying that. You don't have a fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, but you don't have to volunteer information either. I'll be with you; answer the questions truthfully. They'll know if you are lying."

As we waited, I told him everything that had happened; my rejection, my arranged mating with Brenda, the fling with Olivia, and the failure to produce a mantled heir. I continued with the kidnapping attempt, the brokered agreement with Brenda, and our fragile agreement. "She didn't want me around her after no one challenged her on arrival," I said. "I've been hanging out and drinking. I don't even know how she died."

The door opened, and two guards came in. They moved me down the hall to an interrogation room. My lawyer watched from a chair in the corner while they shackled me to the chair. The interrogator, a former Alpha in his sixties who looked like Captain Picard on Star Trek, sat at a table across from me. "Alpha John Petersen," he said.