Book To Read
49
“What is the process for declaring her dead,” Peter asked.
“I need time to look it up,” he said as he stood before us. “I have some familiarity with Minnesota law, but she has no real estate, no family,” he said. “The real worry is the court case in Russia. You can expect Yuri’s side to file the video as evidence of her death and seek to have her dismissed from the estate case.”
“Can they do that?”
“Of course they can, I don’t know Russian civil law but I can give you an idea in an hour or so.”
“Let’s assume he files to have her declared dead in the Russian courts,” Stan said. “Does this power of attorney help?”
“Absolutely. Patrick is obligated to act in her best interest under the power of attorney, and that best interest is clearly to keep her alive in the eyes of the Court as long as possible. As soon as the court declares her dead, the estate will pass to Yuri. Even if she were to reappear later, she couldn’t challenge the decision at that point. She’d get nothing.”
“What do we do with the power of attorney, then?”
He handed it back to me. “I recommend you visit your son in Moscow. Give him the paper directly, don’t let anyone else know it exists. When he gets it, he should take it directly to her lawyer and talk privately and quietly about the case. Yuri may have pulled his people back from around our Pack, but he’s still watching. If you make your visit look like you are visiting your son and talking to her parents about the wedding, it won’t be suspicious.”
“Book a flight,” the Alpha told me. “As soon as possible. Stay for a week or so. I’ll let Alpha Viktor and Alpha Javier know you are planning to visit and get permission to enter their territories.”
“It will be good for you to check in on our boy,” Peter said. “He must be devastated, he looked at Jessie like a kid sister.” He pulled me back into his broad chest. “Charles, go do your research. Peter, help Abigail find a flight to Moscow and get her on it.” We got up and got ready to walk out. “Oh, and Abigail? Please have Jerry and Ingrid come see me. Don’t interrupt them if they are actively mating,” he added with a smile.
“Jerry? Is this a good time?”
“Yes, Beta Abigail. We are visiting with my parents.”
“Good. The Alphas would like to see the two of you in their office.” I took Peter’s hand and walked back home, eager to start packing while he looked for a ticket.
Alpha Stan’s POV
A few minutes after the Betas left, I could smell Jerry and Ingrid coming. They had completed the bond, and smelled of blood, arousal and sex as they knocked on the door. “I won’t keep you long,” I said. “I just need to know the name of your Alpha so I can let him know you’ll be joining our Pack with your mate.” Her face fell, and she looked at her hand in his. “You are planning to move to this Pack, aren’t you?” Since both were Omega ranked, the female almost always moved to the male’s Pack. If they were of different ranks, the lower ranked would move to the higher ranked wolf’s Pack.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“I can’t tell you my Pack or Alpha, sir. I am under Alpha command.” She was shivering in fear, refusing an Alpha’s order was difficult for a wolf with low dominance. Just being in my presence made her nervous enough.
I sat back and thought about it; he had sent a wolf down to deliver the message, one who wouldn’t be considered a threat to any Pack on the way. “I see. Are you planning to return to your Pack today?”
“Those were my orders, sir. I cannot bring my mate with me, I’m not supposed to let anyone know anything about us.” She was clinging to Jerry, and he was shaking too. His eyes were turning black, he didn’t like the idea of his mate leaving him.
“I understand. I would never force you to break Alpha command. Would it be within the bounds of your orders to carry a letter back to your Alpha from me?”
“Yes, Alpha, I can do that.”
“Fine. You two go back and Ingrid, you stop by and pick up the letter before you leave. The same rules apply, keep it hidden and it is to be given directly to your Alpha.”
“Yes sir. Thank you, Alpha.”
“I’m happy for you both, it’s a wonderful thing to find your mate while you are so young. Ingrid, I consider you a part of my Pack already, when you return and if you desire, we can make it official. If the two of you decide to go to your Pack, I will let your Alpha know I will release Jerry to him. All you have to do is call and I’m sure he’ll be in a car and on his way five minutes later.” Jerry smiled, probably thinking it would be faster than that. “Now go spend some time together,” I said as I waved my hand.
“Thank you, Alpha,” Jerry said as they bowed their heads, then left my office. I started to pen a letter, basically saying I was all right with whichever Pack they wanted to settle in, and how happy I was for them. Jerry was a good wolf, a hard worker, and would fit in well if he moved. I also warned the Alpha about the potential for a court battle to have Jessie Donato declared dead. The fastest way to end the court case would be to produce the body; if he had done it, Yuri would be coming after him, needing to produce the body to get his money. As much as I’d love to tear to shreds whoever killed Jessie, I didn’t want Yuri to win either.
I sealed the envelope and put it in my pocket. At four, Ingrid took it and walked out of the gate, getting into her Ford Focus and driving away, leaving Jerry on his knees as he watched her car disappear.
Alpha Stan’s POV
I watched the young Omega drive away and waited until her mate was led away by his parents. He’d be feeling the effects of the separation; tonight would not be easy for either of them. The mating pull had brought them together, but it resisted them being apart. Most newly mated wolves spent a week or two in isolation before their wolves would separate.
I looked over at the guard. “Is the tracker in place?”
“Yes Alpha, in place and transmitting. We’ll find them.” I clasped his shoulder, thanking him for the idea. I didn’t like the idea of not knowing which pack it was that she was from, especially given what the Pack had done. If they delivered the message from Jessie, they were hiding her at the time, and they could be the ones who killed her.
I had spoken with Alpha Esca this afternoon, and the Highlands Pack was sending a half-dozen wolves over to help figure out what was going on. He was furious after seeing the video, and was out for blood. The men would arrive tonight, and would stay until he had recovered the bodies of his Beta and his mate, and exacted his revenge.
The video ended with Beta John straining to escape his bonds as Jessie slumped over, her throat sliced all the way to her spinal cord. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like for him to witness his mate being executed, and I knew he was probably dead as well. The Pack couldn’t let him live, if he escaped he would stop at nothing to kill everyone who had taken his mate from him. That was the way of our kind. With Jessie gone he had nothing left to live for.
A werewolf with nothing to lose, with no fear of death, was the most dangerous thing in our world.
Beta Peter and a few others had been going over the video, frame by frame, to figure out where it was taken when Ingrid had shown up. The pole and the concrete in the ground, the number of people around, all pointed to an area used for public punishment. The guards looked the part, and we could see the silver coating on the shackles that pointed to this being used on werewolves. I had asked my Pack members who had come from other places to look at the video and see if they recognized it, but no one had. Punishment areas were typically restricted to Pack members only.
My own men had predictable reactions after seeing the video. They knew how Patrick and our Beta couple felt about Jessie, and Brian had already been killed while defending her. Larry had come to me and insisted he be allowed to go back north and start looking, and I had sent three men with him. He was already up in Grand Marais and paid a visit to the Coven. The leader had disappeared, and the remaining witches were young and weak. Interrogation revealed nothing; their High Priestess had disappeared, along with the men who had come to see her. One young witch said she had seen Jessie leave with two bags and a man in a car.
After concluding they weren’t involved in killing Bruce or Jessie, Larry and the others left, warning them never to speak of any of this again. They didn’t know the treachery of their leader, they were just doing what they were told. If there had been any inkling of their involvement, Larry would have burned the Coven House to the ground with them in it.
I walked back to my office, hoping I had an answer to who it was before the Highlands Pack warriors arrived.
Beta John’s POV
I held Jessie in my arms as we napped, my right leg hanging over the edge of the hammock we were in, moving it occasionally to keep us gently swinging. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the cool afternoon breeze felt good.
Not as good as my mate in my arms, but good.
We hadn’t fully mated yet, but she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. Her body wanted mine as much as I wanted hers, it was her human brain that was holding her back. She needed to love me and trust me, and that took time. I moved my hand over hers as it laid under my shirt on my stomach, feeling the tingles. I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, she was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt along with wool socks. Laying on her side, her body was tucked tightly into mine, my right arm around her shoulders. She was leaving a little wet spot of drool on my shirt as she was in a deep sleep.
The last few days had been good. With no other distractions, we had talked for hours in between Russian lessons. I was way ahead of her, having studied in prison, but she was a sharp student. In another week, we would be speaking to each other exclusively in the language of her homeland.