Order of Protection

Jessie’s POV

I woke up before John, my head on his shoulder and a leg over him. Rolling to my side, I felt the stickiness on my thighs and the delightful soreness of my core from all the fun last night. I had been tired, but not THAT tired, and John had not shirked in his promise to love me until I begged him to stop. I smiled as I sat up and went to the bathroom, then into the shower.

I was busy with my hair when I heard the door open and John came in. A few minutes later, the shower door was opening and I was pulled into a hard chest. “Morning love,” he said in my ear.

“Thank you for last night,” I said.

“Trust me, it was my pleasure.” He took the washcloth and started to clean my body. I relaxed into him as he groomed me, my wolf enjoying the attention. I could feel his excitement against my ass, and I could smell my own arousal as he ran his fingers over my willing body. I loved John, I loved being his mate, and being in his arms like this was pure bliss.

I turned around, putting my arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss as our bodies molded to each other. His hands ran down my back, then cupping my ass he pulled me into his length. “You’re hard already,” I said with a touch of amusement.

“Looking at you makes me so hard a lineman couldn’t climb it,” he said as he kissed me again. His hands picked me up by my butt cheeks, lifting me towards his tip.

“John, Jessie, we need you to come to the Alpha’s office,” Alpha Stan said.

“We need twenty minutes, Alpha, we just woke up.”

“She’s already pregnant, John, and a lot of people are waiting. You have ten.”

Busted. He let me down, and I rinsed off and left him alone and frustrated. “I guess it’s my turn to give you a rain check,” I said as I dried off. I was doing my hair as he got out and pressed his back to me. “Come on, we don’t have time,” I said as I combed my hair out.

“I need to get you in a remote cabin again, where we don’t have interruptions like this,” he complained as he walked out. We held hands until he sat me in the chair in the conference room, sitting next to me was Chair Robert along with Alphas Sven, Stan and Viktor plus Patrick and Mischa. “Alphas,” he said respectfully.

“We’ve been discussing the decisions you made last night about your future,” Stan said.

“Mischa and I are honored that you would want us to take over the Moscow Pack, and we accept the position,” Patrick said with a wide smile. “I have talked to Alpha Javier already, and I will continue working with him until Mischa and I are mated and ready to take over.” Alpha Viktor was beaming with pride.

“And I would be proud to have you as my neighboring Alpha,” Sven said, “But there are a few things that need to be resolved first.”

“You’re still in the United States illegally,” Stan said. “And you’re a convicted felon. We can’t allow you to be found here, you would have to serve the remainder of your sentence for violating your parole PLUS there could be Federal charges for how you got here. I’ve talked to Charles Thompson about this, and I agree. The only choice for you is to get back to Scotland before you are discovered.”

“How?” He was squeezing my hand hard, not liking this at all.

“Cuddles will be flying back with us tonight, our plane will refuel in London and he will be picked up there by the Highlands Pack,” Viktor said. “You will shift before we leave Pack lands, and travel with us to Duluth where our plane is waiting. You will then stay in your old Pack until we can figure out a way to get you here legally.”

“Wait, what about Jessie?”

“I have to go to Russia, the Court will want to rule. Until I claim the estate, Yuri still has a reason to kill me.” I was shaking, my wolf and I did not want to be separated from my mate.

“Not yet you won’t. The humans, the FBI and law enforcement still believe you are dead based on the Youtube video that was released. You and Sven have a lot of explaining to do before you’ll be able to leave the country.” Shit. “Since you faked your own death, even though you had a good reason, they could still charge you for the Lake Superior search, the officer overtime, everything.”

“And I have to explain how I took three hundred million dollars for a murder,” Sven said. “Charles has looked at the videos I made with Alpha Yuri, and that should be enough. The only down side is that I will have to pay taxes on the money as business income if I bring it into the country. You too.” I snorted, taxes in Minnesota were pretty high. “Again, we need to get in front of this before she is spotted. She needs to travel with me to the Minneapolis FBI field office, where we will meet Charles and straighten all this out. At that point, everyone in the world will know she is alive and well.”

“I’m pregnant, I can’t shift or use magic,” I said quietly. “How will you protect me?”

Stan leaned over and put his hand on mine. “Sven and I will both assign warriors full time to protect you. In addition, we’ve hired a team of human bodyguards experienced in executive protection to work with you where we cannot go. All are licensed to carry firearms and highly trained.”

“And when you go to Russia, we will do the same,” Viktor said. “Alpha Javier has granted me permission to bring my warriors to Moscow to provide protection.”

“I would appreciate that,” I said, “But why not Moscow pack?”

“We are not certain of the loyalties of all the men with Yuri still out there,” Patrick said. “Better to cover you with members of Mischa’s Pack and law enforcement.”

It all made sense, but my gut was rolling over itself with the knowledge that I would soon be separated from my mate. “When do we leave?”

“In an hour,” Sven said. “I have an appointment at three PM with the FBI Agent-in-Charge.”

Dammit. “You are all in agreement on these plans?”

Robert nodded. “The Councils agree, and so do the Alphas.”

“I better go pack then.” We all stood, and I took John’s hand as we walked quickly back to our room. “We don’t have much time,” I said as we walked in, pulling my dress over my head. “Make love to me, John.”

“With pleasure,” he said as he moved me to the bed.

Beta Polina’s POV

I pulled out one of the burner phones as I drove south, calling the police emergency number. “Yuri Zubkov is hiding in a bunker under his headquarters building,” I said to the operator. “There is an access via an electrical service tunnel that leads to an open manhole in Stolnitzy Park.” I closed the phone, breaking it in half then tossing the pieces out the window.

I pulled out another phone from my backpack and made a call to a man I’d used before. A black-market arms dealer, he was expensive but had what I needed. “That’s a lot of material, Po. I need a couple days to put it together, and it will be expensive.” He quoted a price, but I didn’t care, I had that much in Yuri’s escape accounts.

“I will call you at 1700, two days from now,” I said. When he agreed, I ended the call and destroyed that phone too.

Taking out a third phone, I called my mother, who was caring for my three children. “Mom, it’s me,” I said.

“Baby, are you all right?”

“No. He’s gone, Mom, they butchered him.”

“I know.” We didn’t have to say anything, we both knew the pain of losing a mate now. “What are you going to do?”

“He asked me to avenge him, Mom. I’m doing that. I don’t know if I’ll come back.”

“Your babies will be taken care of, you know that. I love you, baby. Do what you need to do and call me after.”

“I love you, Mom. Tell my babies that Daddy and I loved them too.” I hung up the phone, crushing this one as well. I would not make another call now until I was ready to pick up my product.

I stopped on the outskirts of Moscow, going to a drugstore and buying the hair dye and makeup I would need to perfect my alternate identify. I used their restroom to color my hair, coming out a redhead. I drove off, using my fake identification and credit card to rent a hotel room. Falling into the bed exhausted, I though of my mate as I dropped to sleep.

Alpha Yuri’s POV

I woke to a knee in my back, my arms being pulled back by multiple hands. I struggled, but I had no energy, and before I could do anything my hands were cuffed behind me. They pulled me to my feet as I blinked and tried to shake the cobwebs from my head. “Юрий, вы арестованы,” (Yuri, you are under arrest,) the man said. He was dressed in black with police insignia, a helmet and darkened visor covering his face. The other men like him were swarming the rooms of my bunker. I was grabbed by a man on the other side and led out.

I tried to reach my wolf, but he wasn’t responding to me. I looked around the rooms as they led me into the computer room, flashlights and portable lamps illuminating the room. The computers were dead, and I saw the cover open on the switch for the EMP device. One of the computer techs was on the ground, a towel over his face. The others weren’t visible, but they wouldn’t have been able to get the drop on me like that.

It was Polina. She had come into my room, she was the one behind me when I walked out, she was the one who hit me with a drug. When I saw the open hole in the floor that the police were coming through, I knew she had betrayed me.

She was now at the top of my list, but my revenge was far from my biggest problem right now. The two men escorting me were talking with their boss, who was getting men ready in the access tunnel. When they were ready, they sat me on the edge of the opening. Two men supported me as they lowered me to the waiting men.

When we came out of the tunnel, it was a police and media convention. I was paraded past the gathered press, bright lights in my eyes before I was pushed in the back of an armored vehicle. Chains were placed around my feet, and my handcuffs were attached to the back. Three armed policemen got in with me, and a convoy of vehicles left with me to head to jail.

I had no money, no wolf, and no way to escape. The Sicilians would kill me, the Council had already sentenced me to death, and the police would never be able to protect me.

We stopped, and the door opened after the chains were detached from the bench. I was walked to the door, men waiting for me to jump down, and that’s when it felt like I was punched in the chest. Pain exploded through me, and I collapsed in their arms as I heard the gunshot.

I was laid on my back, my heart had been shredded by the bullet, and the last thing I saw was an officer’s face as he called for help that would not arrive in time.