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13
“I’d like to think so. I met her shortly after she moved here, I took her confession when she arrived. She was a mess; still reeling from the rape, her dreams of college shattered, and facing single motherhood. I counseled her for months, helping her get past her feelings of grief and shame. If that wasn’t enough, he own mother was crushed by her return, and her health was failing. It was a lot to take.”
“She was a good woman?”
He nodded. “Your mother was very strong woman. She did the best she could, and when she could do no more, she did what she thought she had to do. She loved you, never doubt that for a moment. Losing her, it felt like I lost a part of myself. I had promised her I would protect you, get you away from him, and that’s what I did. I had her sign the adoption forms just in case, and I found an American family I thought would give you a good life.” He looked over at me. “Did they? Were they good to you?”
“They were good people, but life got in the way. My father died when I was two, victim of a mugging. My Mom had to go back to work, she did her best but eventually her medical bills took everything from her. I had to drop out of school to help her, she died recently.” I wiped a tear. “Can I meet my father?”
“I hope you never meet him, because that man is in the deepest pits of Hell right now. A truly evil, unrepentant man. He died recently, and that is something we need to discuss.”
“Why?”NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.
He sighed. “Your father was a rich man, a VERY rich man. He died with no heir, his estate is tied up in the courts right now. We have the documents that can prove your heritage, and I have more. A DNA test will be conclusive. If you want, we can visit a lawyer and start the process of filing a claim to be declared his heir and inherit his empire.”
I thought about it. Did I want anything from that man? “How rich is VERY rich?”
“The estimates of his estate range from just over a hundred to eight hundred million, but only his lawyers truly know.” My eyes bugged out. “In American dollars, I converted it myself. You’d be a very rich young lady.”
Oh. My. God. “Can we see this lawyer now?”
“I already got you an appointment.”
Patrick’s POV
I hadn’t heard from Jessie since her text, and she hadn’t responded to my phone calls or text messages. Dad had explained to me the danger she was in, and after one last call, I had to know. I got in my car and drove to her cabin; her car was not in the garage. “Jessie?” No one answered.
I looked in the window, it was dark. I pulled out the key my father had given me and used it to open the door. The cabin was dark and quiet; nothing had been disturbed. I looked around for a few minutes before I saw the note on the table wasn’t the same one I left. “Patrick- I’ve gone to find out about my mother. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a while. -Jessie”
Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. “Dad? Jessie’s gone, her note says she’s heading to Russia to find out about her mother.”
He roared through the link and called me to come back home. I just hoped we could catch her before she delivered herself straight to her enemies.
Ch. 11
Alpha Stan Larsen’s POV
I told Patrick to get his ass back here, and went for the phone. I sent a text to Alpha Viktor, asking him to join the video link, and it was urgent. Then I poured myself a drink. A tall drink, straight Irish Whiskey, and I gulped a little down. I let the burn settle over me as I linked for my mate and my Beta to join me in the office immediately.
“What’s going on,” Larissa said as she opened the door from her adjoining office. She took one look at me and ran to my side, pressing her lush body into my side. My wolf calmed, I scented her hair and relaxed. Sitting down, I pulled her into my lap, something I did when I needed to keep from losing control. She was the only one who could keep me from a rage when bad news was around, and this was close.
“Patrick will be here in five minutes, Alpha.” Peter came in and sat in his usual chair across the desk from me, leaving the other for his son.
I quickly filled my mate in on what had happened, and she called for Abigail to join her mate. She arrived with her son Patrick, and he sat on the chair while she sat on Peter’s lap. “How the hell did we miss this?”
Patrick hung his head. “It’s my fault, sir,” he started. “I told her about Chicago, how she could get a passport overnight. I should have kept a closer eye on her.”
“Yes, you should have,” Peter said. “The question now is how far she’s gotten.”
“Betas, I need you to find out where she is now. Patrick, go pack. I need you to be ready to get her back here if she’s headed to Russia already. Go, we don’t have much time.” They practically ran out of my office as Abby’s fingers rubbed the back of my neck.
“She’s got more spunk than I imagined,” she told me. “I should have known, though. She’s a Beta’s mate, and an Alpha’s daughter. We should have anticipated she wouldn’t ask or wait for help.”
“I know. I’m waiting for Alpha Viktor to call back, if she’s there now, he’s the only one I trust to help.” I rubbed my hand down her back, causing her to rumble her pleasure low in her chest. I ran my hand up by her neck, finding the spot behind her ear that always caused her to squirm with pleasure. She settled herself into my chest as we shared a moment.
Of course, that was when the computer beeped that a video call was coming in. “Dammit,” I said as she sat up. She put her arm around my shoulder as I leaned forward and accepted the call. “Thank you for calling, Alpha Viktor,” I said.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear back from you so soon, Alpha Stan. Nice to see you again, Luna Larissa, you look better than ever,” he said smoothly.
“Thank you, Viktor. Give Marina my regards,” my mate said.
“This isn’t a social call, unfortunately. It appears our human guest is on her way to Russia right now to look up this Father Kempechny and find out more about her parents. It’s possible she is already there.” I watched his eyes widen, he understood how bad this was. “We’re trying to locate her now, but if she does make it, we need help protecting her until we can convince her to return.”
He shook his head, dropping his head to his hand. “You need a lot of help for a woman like that,” he said. “I’ll get some men there. It’s not my territory, but with Yevgheny’s pack in tatters, I can get away with it. I’ll get some warriors up there, have them watch the good Father’s church and apartment. What if we spot her? Should we grab her?”
“No, she knows nothing of werewolves and we need to keep it that way. If she’s scared off, she’ll never accept Beta John as a friend much less a mate.” I got a link from my Beta, he verified she had been on a flight to Moscow that arrived about eight hours ago. I passed the details to Viktor, along with a photo we had of her.
“We just need her watched until she can get back onto the plane and back to us,” my mate said. “We’re sending Patrick over there as soon as we can get him a flight. Hopefully he can keep her out of trouble and convince her to come home before someone finds out who she is.”
“True, because if she mentions her real name to the wrong people, she’ll be dead before the end of the day.”
Jessie’s POV
The drive to Moscow left us with plenty of time to talk, and the Father was a fountain of knowledge about my mother. I learned more about her in that drive than I could dream of my mother; the foods she liked to eat, her love of Ballet, her devout faith. He shows me a photograph of my mother, holding me when I was a newborn. I could see the love in her eyes as she looked down at me, and yet it didn’t reach her face.
We arrived in the late afternoon to an office building in the east end of Moscow. “No matter what, you are not to use your real name with her,” the Father told me. “She will be given all the information we have on you and your mother EXCEPT your real name. You will only be Natalya here.” Riding the elevator, we soon arrived at the elegant office of Olga Alexandrov, a prominent estate law attorney. She was a severe looking woman in her forties, wearing a dark skirt and white shirt with her hair in a bun.
We were led to her conference room, and I let Father Kempechny take the lead. “Thank you for seeing us on some short notice, Mrs. Alexandrov. I am pleased to introduce my friend Natalya Klishnina. She only speaks English,” he said apologetically.
“That is not a problem. A pleasure to meet you, Natalya. What can I do for you?”
“Natalya is the daughter of one of my parishioners. In 1996 she was raped by the owner of the club she worked in and returned to her hometown pregnant. She gave birth to Natalya there.” He handed over a copy of my birth certificate, the father listed as “Unknown.”
“You seek your mother?”
“No, she died when I was four months old,” I said.
“She was killed on orders of her father, Yevgheny Zubkov.”
Olga’s eyes got wide and it took her a moment to recover before her professional face was back. “Zubkov? The head of the Mafia in Moscow?”
“Yes. His estate is currently in probate because he died without an heir. Natalya is his daughter, she wants to file to be recognized as his daughter and receive the inheritance his direct descendent should get.” The Father patted my hand on the table. “Natalya never knew his name, not until today. Her mother confided in me his identity and I helped to hide her after her mother was killed by him. She went to Zubkov when Natalya was a baby, asking for support, but was killed instead.”