Were in the City Ch. 21

Beth trembled. "Jacob got another one. There can't be many more. How many are with you?"

"There are two watching our backs to the south, nine of us around you."

Beth nodded, "Ok. I've told Jacob and Jessie. Liam's badly hurt. We can't reach Bobby but Jessie says he's still alive. Last thing we knew he was on the balcony on the top floor looking south."

Jenkins passed this information onto his warriors. A wolf came through the front door and went up the stairs to find Bobby. Beth quickly told him, "Jack Richard is chained up in a room upstairs. Leave him there." He nodded, passing on that tidbit too.

"Beth, you've broken our pack bond?"

"Sorry Bill, Bobby and I accepted Jessie so we could all communicate."

He nodded, "Makes sense. We'll sort it all out later. Where are Liam and Jessie?"

Beth pointed with her head, "Through there, she's watching the back. There's an Algonquin wolf with them named Tim, he's under our control so don't worry about him." She sighed, "Go to them, I'm ok here for now."

Liam was lying down behind the bar in the open living area at the back of the house, a stranger ... Tim? ... with a medical kit was dealing with two bullet wounds in Liam's upper body and one in his leg. Jessie was standing, looking out a broken back window, dressed in nothing but a bloody shirt.

"You ok?"

Jessie nodded, "Yes. Have you got someone with medical training here? Tim is doing his best but Liam's wounds are serious."

Jenkins called out and shortly one of his pack was working on Liam. He heard from the wolf who had gone upstairs, "Bobby's unconscious with a nasty head wound. Malcolm is bringing him down here."

Jessie looked at him, "What's your plan now? How are you going to get out of here and with whom?"

"Everyone who can will run back out the way we came in. I take a car and drive out with anyone who is injured. We've got a safe house set up a few hours away."

She nodded, pointing outside. "There are two SUVs with keys in the ignition right out there. Will you take Liam, look after him?"

"Yes, anyone who is not an Algonquin wolf who asks to leave I can take. The others don't know who he is, I'll keep him safe."

Jessie sighed with relief, "Thank you ... I need your help with something else. Can you spare two wolves to help Jacob? He's moving towards the warehouses to the east and he needs backup. At least 20 Were are imprisoned there and Jacob is going to free them. We got Tim to broadcast an order to abandon them and regroup on Algonquin land so we hope there are no guards left but it would be better if Jacob had help. He's got a broken arm."

Jenkins cursed, but nodded. "Done. They'll meet him at the western treeline by the first building. They can't stay long, half an hour at most."

Jessie sighed, looking over at Liam, and then whispered, "I need to speak with you alone right now."

"Let's check out those SUVs."

Exiting through the back door and out to the parking area, Jessie turned to him and said "Can you make do with just one of these vehicles? I need the other one."

Jenkins looked puzzled, "Why?"

"I'm going to have Jack Richard continue with his plan for me. I need to get to the other Richards. Three more of them are in Ontario and Jack is supposed to get me there."

"Alone? Are you insane?!"

"Probably. But it is a chance I have to take. I thought I could just take this estate and claim it but it isn't enough. The Richards will disappear and always be a threat unless I can deal with them now."

"I let you do this and I'm pretty sure everyone else will want to kill me for letting you go."

Jessie grinned, "You're an Alpha and I'm an Alpha ... tell them to deal with it." She sighed, "Nobody else is in any shape to help right now. The other Richards won't wait long for Jack to catch up with them before they fly out of the country."

"Do you know where they are now?"

"Not exactly but I'll get Jack to tell me where we are going and let you know before we leave. I think Helen knows where they are but her group is in trouble ... do you know that?"

"Yes, she told me it was likely that they were going to be attacked. We are on our own to get back home."

Jessie nodded, "Things are going to be a mess pretty quick if they aren't already. Don't stick around this province any longer than necessary. I need Beth to do a quick video for me before Jack and I leave. I want to be on the road within 30 minutes. Say nothing to anyone else about this please."

He sighed, "Ok ... "

Jessie walked back into the house while he verified the SUV he picked was ready to go.

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

Jessie's POV

All she really wanted to do was stay with Liam. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, weak from loss of blood, having trouble breathing. She was caught between her worry for the two men she loved and the necessity of having to leave them to find a way to deal with the Richards. Every step she took that moved her further from her family was painful and her other half was screaming at her to think of another plan. She held Liam's hand for a moment, then stood up and found Beth.

"I need you make that video Jack wanted. You up to doing it right now?"

"Why now?"

"Because Alpha Jenkins is going to be taking you home right away and I need it to make my claim. I need it now."

"Ok ..."

"Good, stay here. I'll go get the equipment. Which room were you in?"

"End of the hall."

She ran up the stairs, stopping to check on Jack. He was still lying on the floor, his face a combination of fury and worry. She put her hand on his neck, asked him a few more questions, then got the video camera, laptop and thumb drive she found in Beth's room and went back downstairs.

It took about five minutes for Beth to make her statement. Jessie put a copy of the video file on the thumb drive, emailed copies to Helen and Jenkins, uploaded another copy to Helen's secure server.

Asking Beth to wait, she gathered up a bunch of things and came back. Holding out a small square of cloth with her fingertips she asked, "Beth, may I have a sample of your blood?"

"Why?"

"I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but if I or a child of mine ever needs to prove our lineage then DNA testing may be required. I want to make sure our side has as much information as possible. This was the best thing I could come up with on short notice."

Beth nodded and Jessie carefully dabbed the cloth on Beth's arm wound. After placing the cloth in a baggy with Beth's name on it, Jessie sealed the baggy and put it into a large envelope. She hugged Beth, tears in her eyes, "Thank you for everything you've done."

Jessie put a sample of her blood in another baggie, and did the same with Jack Richard (she was proud of her self-control, only making a small cut rather than viciously stabbing him as her other half would have liked her to do). She found clothes and a cell phone in one of the staff's rooms downstairs, made a short video of her own, spend a few minutes writing some notes which she added to the envelop, grabbed some food and drink from the kitchen, and was ready to leave.

Once Jenkins was finished loading Liam, Bobby, Beth and the medic into his SUV he walked back to the house and asked "What should we do with Tim?"

"I'll deal with him before I leave. Jack and I are headed to Timmins Ontario, it will take about 8 hours to get there. Mark and Stephen Richard are in Paris France."

Jessie sighed, "Alpha, I need ask you for another favour, and it's a big one." She handed him the envelope. "Inside is all the information I know about my ancestry, some blood samples, and a memory card with two video files -- one made by Beth and another made by me. I've also sent both the videos to you and Helen. The Richards want control of me or my mantled offspring. My video testimony outlines their plan and I make it clear that I would never willing go along with that plan. I don't know what's going to happen next for me, I don't know if Helen is going to survive ... I need you to keep this and promise me that if I disappear, if one day any of those damn Richard men appear with someone they declare carries the Richard alpha mantle, you will use this information and all the resources you can muster to fight their right to control that person. Will you do this for me?"

Jenkins groaned but said "Fine. I will do everything I can. I've got myself and my pack in this far ... but I would very much prefer it if you didn't disappear. Be careful please."

Jessie nodded, "I will. Now, about my family ... Liam is too badly hurt to come after me but Jacob will be a problem. How far apart can pack members be and still talk to each other?"

"There's no exact number but 30 to 40 miles is a good rule. Your ability to sense the wellbeing of pack members extends beyond that but it isn't infinite."

She nodded, "Good to know, thanks. Will you take Jacob with you too if he will go?"

"Yes, if he wants to he can come with us. I'll drive over to the warehouses and check on the situation there before we leave. My wolves will follow so you will be alone once I leave. Good luck." Jenkins turned and left.

She grabbed Tim's arm, about the issue some final commands when she remembered something. "Tim, were you one of the people who ambushed our car on the highway?"

He nodded.

"What happened to the car?"

"We set it on fire."

"Did you search it first, find anything in the trunk that someone took with them?"

"No. We just took you three and set it on fire."

She laughed softly, her gryphon groaning sadly. The Richard Alpha medallion was gone ... well good riddance ... it was a symbol of old ways she would never accept or follow, it was better lost.

"Tim, I want you to go back to your bedroom, lie down on your bed and go to sleep. When you wake up you will not remember anything that happened today. You will remember going to bed last night but nothing else. All you'll be able to say is that you must have been drugged. Do it now."

Tim nodded and walked downstairs.

Jessie went back upstairs to Jack. Laying a hand on his neck, she said, "Lucky you, your fate is delayed. You will remember what I told you to do when you walked out of this house but you won't do it right now. You will only do what I told you to do if I say to you 'Time to run cousin' or when you reach the door of the plane to France. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good, so now we are both going to take a bathroom break and then get on our way to Ontario. Do you need to let them know you are coming?"

Jack nodded, "Just a text."

"Good, we'll do that later. You will do what I say and only what I say from now on."

Once they were both in the SUV and their destination plugged into the car's navigation device Jessie took a deep breath.

Jacob, how are you doing?

Good, everyone is free. No one is in bad shape, just scared, hungry and thirsty. There are vehicles here so Jenkins is getting those who want to leave that way organized. A few are going to run out on their own. Found Bobby's family, they are going to follow Jenkins.

Great! Stay with Liam and Jenkins. I know where you are going and will meet you there.

What are you doing?

Snooping around a bit, making Tim forget everything and dealing the Jack. He'll never be a problem ever again, but he'll have plenty of time to reflect on his life believe me. I'll tell you all about it later.

Ok. I'm going to wreck the tunnels here and set the buildings on fire before we leave. That should put a dent in the business for a while.

Perfect. See you soon. Look after Liam. I love you both very much.

Thirty minutes and about fifty miles away Jessie heard Jacob's faint call, Jessie where are you? ... Jessie answer me! ... Jessie?! She hoped Jenkins would be able to cope with someone she knew would soon be a furious, frantic wolf. She hoped one day she'd have the chance to ask Jacob and Liam to forgive her.