Were in the City Ch. 19

Care to join me in making a part of the Were world a safer, better place?"

Alpha William Jenkins wondered what he'd ever done to deserve this. It seemed he was caught in one of those "wait-what-do-you-mean-you're-a-lost-princess" stories his young daughter loved so much. There was a Richard Alpha heir, she wanted her kingdom, and she was going to save her people. Shit!

He'd been prepared for a plea to save the twins but not this. Was it even believable? Just because she was wearing the fancy piece of jewellery that Mark Richard had been so annoyingly insistent that he find and return did not mean she deserved to wear it. This could just be some elaborate scheme by the de Vries brothers to create confusion and gather support for another attempt at the Richards - it was a clever one it that's what it was.

Yet ... Jessie Taylor seemed sincere. She'd been touching him when she said who she was and he could sense no deception, she believed she was the Richard heir. What she was asking of him ... could he take that chance? However appealing the thought of removing the Richards was, he would be risking the lives and future of his pack to help her.

Beth was looking at him. Bill she's telling the truth. I was the one who helped her find out who she is. The picture of her grandmother ... only I could have identified her ... it was Miriam Richard, Jacques Richard's daughter. I did not expect her to take it this far this fast but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She's young and inexperienced but she is an Alpha and it seems she's found her purpose. Let's help her as much as we can, please.

Jenkins had to give an honest answer to Jessie's question. "I care ... I do. Do I want the Richards gone? ... I do. But join you? ... I hope you understand, but I couldn't help you unless there was a failsafe in any agreement. If something goes wrong, if you are discovered or you get into trouble, I and mine may not be able to help you. In fact, if it comes to it, I might have to report you to save my pack - and I would do it. Can you accept that?"

Jessie nodded, "Yes, we understand. Will you agree to keep our secrets as long as you can, and give us as much warning as you can if your silence must be broken?"

Jenkins looked at Beth and Dean. They were both nodding. "Very well, I will agree to that."

Jessie wanted something more. "Can Beth and I meet again? We can do it carefully and quietly. In order to prove who I am I will need Beth's sworn testimony regarding my grandmother's existence. Beth, will you give it?"

Beth nodded, "Yes, I will."

Jenkins was worried, "Beth, your knowledge will make you a target if this gets out."

Beth sighed, "Yes, I know. All the more reason for us all to keep their secrets."

"Very well, we'll sort out how you can meet or just talk with Beth. I think it will be best if any meetings happen here. I won't invite any of you onto my pack's territory, sorry, and if we don't know where you are living that will keep you safer, yes?"

Jessie nodded, "Yes. I would like to ask one more thing. I am going to need as much support as I can get in the Council. There are six packs in this part of the country. I'm sure you know the other five Alphas well. How many of them might consider supporting me do you think?"

Jenkins frowned, "I think four others can be persuaded if you are as forthcoming with them as you have been with me. The one holdout would be the Western Cedars Pack. The Alpha there sides with the Algonquin Pack Alpha in Council, it would be best if you stay away from him. There are other Alphas farther away that would be interested though, I can give you a list of names."

Jessie smiled, "Thank you. I have a lot to learn about every Alpha on the Council - will you help me, give me your thoughts about each of them?"

He sighed, "Yes, I can do that."

Jessie nodded, "I meant what I said earlier. If there is anything we can do for you, ask us - we will help in any way we can. Before we break this up for today may I speak with Beth alone for a few minutes?"

Jenkins nodded. Jessie stood up and walked over to Beth, offering her arm. Beth stood up and they walked slowly down the beach.

"Beth, I have more information to share with you now about my grandmother. I found a letter from my father that revealed more details. Miriam had two children, twin girls she named Lillian - my mother's real name - and Elizabeth. You may never have found her but she knew who you were."

Beth sighed, "You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you."

"I'm afraid I have some bad news too. Miriam, her husband and her daughter Elizabeth were all killed by someone on the same night - I think this happened in 1922. My mother survived, but was badly hurt, and had tremendous struggles for the rest of her life."

Beth's eyes were full of tears and Jessie had her sit on a log. "Killed ... why?"

"I don't know. I will keep looking for answers, I promise you. Anything I find out, I will share with you."

Beth nodded, "Good, thank you." She wiped her eyes and said, "I've been wondering ... what pack did your father come from? What rank was he?"

Jessie smiled, "My father was a good man, strong and smart ... and simply human."

Beth gasped, "You're a half-breed? Robin ... sorry ... Jessie ... that's a big problem for you!"

"Why? I'm a Were, same as my mother."

"Yes, that happens. But the children of such unions may be weaker, lower ranked, have shorter lifespans. You claim you are an Alpha but with an ordinary human parent your enemies will encourage everyone they can to challenge you, saying that you are not fit. There's a tremendous amount of prejudice in the Were world regarding half-breeds. You may have to prove yourself in battle for the rest of your life!"

Jessie sighed, "Great, just what I need. Well, nobody has ever said that what I want to do was going to be easy. At least I'm warned, so I'll prepare to counter whatever comes up. I'm surprised that Helen and the others haven't said anything about it though."

Beth looked at her, surprised, "They wouldn't have that prejudice would they? Helen especially."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know? Helen Lavalle married an ordinary human, had a daughter with him. It undermined her influence in some places but she has never let anything stop her from doing what she feels is right."

Jessie shook her head, "I'm sorry to say that I have never asked about Helen's family. It's never come up before. She has a daughter, that's nice to know."

"Had a daughter ... her daughter was killed 20 years ago."

Jessie gasped, "Was it during this war everyone mentions? I haven't got all the details about that yet."

Beth sighed, "You should probably ask Helen and your twins about it ... I only have an outsider's knowledge of what happened ... but yes, what I know is that the Richards and their allies tried to wipe out Helen's organization 20 years ago. In the initial attack Helen was critically injured and her daughter Lily, Helen's heir and co-leader of the group, was betrayed and torn apart by a group of wolves from the Algonquin Pack. Jacob and Liam de Vries, and others, took their revenge. Jessie, the entire family of every wolf involved in killing Lily was wiped out. Any wolf from the Richard side that had participated in any way was targeted and most were eventually killed. The whole thing escalated to the point where no wolf was safe within a large part of Eastern Canada - if you saw one that wasn't known to you, you had to assume it was kill or be killed. It was a disaster and was getting lots of notice by the human world as well. It had to stop, so there was an arduous negotiation resulting in a cease fire on both sides but there is no true peace even today."

"You want to walk into the middle of what is really a huge mess and declare yourself the Richard Alpha. You'd better be ready for anything and everything, because when you do that you'll be upsetting something that is balanced on a knife-edge. Remember all the lives you'll be risking, most of them good people who just want to be safe, secure and happy with their families."

Jessie felt a bit sick. She'd been so focused on Jacob's and Liam's situation that she hadn't really appreciated how much what she wanted to do would affect the lives of others. "That's why we need as much time as we can get Beth, to decide what to do and how. I promise you, I will try very hard to keep it contained to as few people as I can."

Half an hour later everyone was saying goodbye and getting in their vehicles. Jessie should have been pleased with how well the meeting had gone, but now she wondered if the whole idea of claiming what was hers was the right way to go.

*********************************

Jessie couldn't sit still. A few minutes down the highway on the way home she felt a desperate need to leap out of the car and run for miles.

"Jacob, find a spot to pull over where we can hide the car."

He glanced over at her, "What's wrong? You ok?"

"Just pull over please."

As quickly as he could, Jacob pulled off the road into the trees. Jessie got out and took some deep breaths as she paced back and forth. They were parked on a higher spot and she glimpsed the ocean through the forest to the west. She looked back at the twins who were both now standing outside the car looking at her.

"Are we on anybody's land or can we do what we want here?"

Liam answered, "This is all government land. There's a public hiking trail close to the coast, otherwise it's all wild."

"Good. She doesn't want to be the car right now, she's feeling trapped. I need to run!" Jessie quickly stripped, dropping her clothes in a careless pile on the ground. She looked the twins. "Last one to get their paws in the ocean is a mangy lazy dog!" Shifting, she yipped loudly and took off into the trees.

Jacob grabbed her clothes and popped the trunk open, throwing his clothes and hers in as Liam stripped quickly beside him. As Jacob bent to hide the car keys under a rock Liam took off after Jessie.

Shifting, Jacob called to his brother, Be careful! Remember her leg! Don't push her too hard, there are ravines and drop-offs all over the place.

Jacob knew Jessie had no idea what she had started, they hadn't discussed this kind of thing yet. She probably thought she was just running off a lot of pent up stress from the past few days. His wolf however - and Liam's - had a very different view of things. They were now chasing a very desirable female in a game as old as time.

Jacob chose a route slightly south of Jessie's track and poured on the speed to catch up. Running parallel for a while he let Liam herd her forward while he kept an eye out for dangerous ground. She was doing well, light on her feet and making good decisions as she ran. She'd leapt over two narrow ravines with ease. He and his wolf were proud of her.

The smell the ocean was strong and he became even more careful. There was usually a significant drop-off before a beach. He pulled ahead to check and sure enough, there was about a 15 foot drop to the sand.

Jessie, slow down, there's a large drop coming up!

He was standing still as she came flying forward out of the trees and leapt off the edge.

Jessie! WTF!

She hit the loose sand and rolled several times, scrambled to her feet and continued to move forward towards the surf.

Mangy lazy dog! Ha!

Liam raced past him and took his own idiotic leap off the edge. Jacob shook his head - why was he the only one with any sense in this family?! He ran along the edge following them from higher up until some rocks allowed him to move down onto the beach in a short set of much more sensible drops.

The two of them were soaking wet, dancing around flinging water and sand at each other with their hind legs. Jacob's wolf decided it was best to sit in the shade of a log and preserve his dignity. Liam kept trying to get his nose right up to her tail - he was no doubt aroused by the chase and Jessie's energy just as Jacob was - but Jessie kept twisting and growling, finally whacking him on the nose with one of her front feet. Jacob was pleased. He knew she wasn't ready - to have sex as wolves was to make a commitment to each other that Jessie needed to understand before anybody went that far.

Finally they were tired out and trotted over to Jacob. Jessie flopped down with her head on Jacob's back and Liam leaned up against her. Jacob huffed ... I may be a mangy lazy dog but you two are stinky filthy wolves!

And thirsty ones. Is there any fresh water around?

Figure that out for yourself Jessie, use your senses. Let her help you.

Jessie stood up and slowly turned, breathing deeply. Yes, there's water at the south end of the beach.

Good. Let's go get a drink ... and you two can rinse all that sand and other gunk off!

Jacob stood and jumped up on the log. The sun was warm, the sea air was fresh, his family - even if they looked like drowned rats right now - were well and fit, and they were still able to stay where they were in the city. He hadn't felt so alive in a long time.

He suddenly took off, racing down the beach as fast as he could go. Last one to the stream does the dinner dishes for a month!

Liam stayed at his heels all the way there but Jacob beat him. The two of them had a long drink wondering what was taking Jessie so long. It was over 5 minutes before she showed up, a big fat rabbit in her mouth.

Look what I caught!

Jacob and Liam were happy, they had wanted her to make her first kill and get used to hunting in case she needed to survive and travel as a gryphon in the future. It was impossible to do that kind of training in the backyard of the house.

She dropped it on the ground. Now what?

Jacob chuffed ... You eat it of course.

Ick! Just crunch my way through it?

Don't let your human sensibilities get in the way Jessie. You must accept what you are. I guarantee you, it will taste good.

Ok, here I go ... you know, it's actually not bad at all ... wow, I didn't realize how hungry I was! ... I want another one ... maybe two or three more!

Jessie felt quite pleased with herself even if she hadn't been particularly neat in eating her first "natural" meal. She took a long drink of water and suddenly let out a big burp ... OMG! Gryphons can belch ... really?!

Liam shifted, rolling on the ground laughing his head off. "Why is there never a cell phone camera when you need one. I would have played that over and over and over again!"

Jessie looked at Jacob, He needs a dunking right now ... help me?

Jacob nodded, they both shifted and grabbed Liam, tossing him into the pool. Jessie started laughing but that cut off as Jacob pushed her in. "Both of you need a bath."

The water was shockingly cold. She rinsed her hair and rubbed the mud off her skin quickly before her hands and feet froze, then scrambled out as fast as she could. Liam did the same. Jacob sat grinning at them both as they danced around trying to warm up.

Jessie groaned, her teeth chattering, "Why don't we magically clean up when we shift for heaven's sake! Everything else changes, why not that too?"

Liam shivered beside her, "Something to do with the elements - earth, wind, water, fire - they and their effects remain with us no matter what form we take. At least that's what our mother told us. Come on, let's find a sunny place to sit!"

*****************************

It turns out sex is a very effective way to recover from near-hypothermia. Jessie wondered if that option was specifically listed in any medical guides. She and Liam had "helped" each other and then had a debate about whether or not Jacob deserved any attention given his lack of participation in their antics earlier in the surf and his apparent enjoyment at seeing them freeze to death. Finally Jessie made the point that he was a mangy lazy dog, so a bit of pity sex might provide the motivation to improve his situation in future and Liam agreed. It turned out Jacob was not lazy at all and Jessie was glad they were miles from any witnesses, given the amount of noise they both made.

Later, the three of them sat huddled up together with their backs against some warm rocks, listening to the sounds of the ocean and the calls of sea birds. Jessie's mind wandered as her eyes closed.

Suddenly she sat up, "Oh crap! ... I wonder ... what if ..."

Liam looked at her with only one eye open, "What?"

"Give me a few minutes to think." Jessie stood up, grabbed a stick, walked over to the damp sand where the tide had gone out, and started making marks. The twins watched as she made what looked like a timeline on the beach. She paced back and forth for quite a while mumbling to herself. Both men enjoyed every second of the view. Liam muttered to his brother, "I could watch this all day!"

Finally, Jessie walked back to them and sat down, "I need you to check my thinking please."

She looked at the twins, "When a group of people get together to make important plans, if everyone agrees that assumption X is true then it is the duty of one member of the group to assume that X is false and look at what it would mean if the group has got it wrong. Standard risk management stuff. So, a little while ago I wondered if we've been working with bad assumptions."

"When Jacques Richard died and neither of his sons got the alpha mantle, what was everyone's assumption?"

Liam answered, "That the mantle was lost."

"Does that ever really happen if an Alpha has children?"

Both Jacob and Liam shook their heads, "Not that I know of but in theory it could."

"What if Mark and Stephen Richard didn't believe it was lost, and assumed that it went to someone else. They would be looking for the recipient wouldn't they? ... initially it would have been an unknown brother or sister, maybe a child their father had with someone other than their mother. They assume that the alpha mantle is out there, with someone else ... someone who might one day return and claim their place."

"What do the Richard men want more than anything else? What is everyone's assumption?"

Jacob answered, "Power, influence, wealth."

Jessie smiled, "No, it's something you both and Helen want too - they want independence, control of their own lives and decisions. The Richards don't have that! They are betas, under the authority of pack Alpha. They can be compelled by their Alpha can't they, and they are stuck. If they reject their Alpha, they probably lose control of the Richard Pack Trust."

"The Richard men can never get the alpha mantle back, correct? It follows my bloodline now, not theirs. If I die without children, the mantle is lost, it can't transfer to a cousin?"

Liam nodded, "Yes, that is one assumption I know is right."

"So what would you do if you were them? You are sure that an Alpha who can take the Trust away, take all your wealth & power away, exists somewhere ... and you desperately, desperately want to be free of your current situation ... and you don't have any qualms about doing whatever you need to do to get what you want?"

Jacob answered, "I'd keep looking for the person with the Richard alpha mantle and when I found them I'd find a way to control them, make them do what I wanted ... if there is a way to do that to an Alpha ... don't know about that though."

Jessie nodded, "That would be the plan. You can't be the Alpha but you control the one who is. So, one more assumption - the Richards don't yet know I'm the Alpha they are looking for. What if we are wrong about that?"