All Novel XO
27
Alpha Borya of the Yaroslavi Pack, which was northeast of Moscow, stood in protest. “I’m sure he would be more than happy to take over more land, more territory, and most of all the riches of the Pack lands his brother owned. If you allow this, I will not be able to travel west without his permission. You are turning over Russia to him, a criminal and a Mafia chief. He attracts too much attention, the authorities are already digging into his brother’s empire. How long until they find our secret?” He smacked his hand on the table. “NO! We make a stand now. We need to live in peace with the humans, drawing no publicity, no scrutiny. Giving him Moscow would be a huge mistake. I cannot agree to this.”
“Yevgheny was my BROTHER, I have a blood claim to the Pack,” Yuri said as he stood quickly. “What I do, what my Pack does to support itself is none of your business.”
It was time to play my card. “He has a blood claim, but Alpha Yuri is not the Alpha Heir of the Moscow Pack. Natalya Klishnina is. She is Yevgheny’s daughter and the rightful leader.”
“That daughter of a whore? The Pack needs an Alpha, not a stripper! She’s worthless!”
“ENOUGH,” Francois said. “I have heard of this on the news, she is suing to be declared his daughter and inherit her estate?”
“That is correct, sir. Yevgheny killed her mother when she came to him for help after she was born. She was adopted by another couple, both of whom are now deceased, and didn’t learn of her true heritage until a few weeks ago. The courts have the DNA testing and proof of their relationship. It is only a matter of time until she inherits his estate.” Yuri stood up, but a glance from Francois stilled him. “Yuri has already tried to kill her and failed. She is recovering from her injuries now.”
“THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!”
I glared at Yuri. “What is outrageous is using a car bomb to kill a beloved Priest who was with her in a populated town. It’s exactly the kind of attention we need to avoid.”
Council member Jurgen looked at me. “Even if this Natalya is heir to Yevgheny’s estate, a young female is not able to take over the duties of a Pack such as this.”
“Unless she is mated, sir.” His eyebrow raised. “Her mate is a very capable man. However, due to the visibility of the estate proceedings and the danger of further attempts on her life, the two are not able to come forth and claim the Pack at this time.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about,” Yuri said. “We all just agreed they need an Alpha now.”
“I have a proposal for the Council, then,” I said. “Place the Moscow Pack into receivership. I would ask that a Council member take control of the Pack for six months. This would be enough time to stabilize the Pack and set up a peaceful transfer of power to the rightful Alphas.”
“I AM the rightful Alpha!” Yuri’s face was red from the strain of holding his wolf back.
“You have a Pack, Yuri. If Natalya and her mate are capable and willing of running the Moscow Pack, it is her birthright. If she is not able to take that place, I would propose the Council organize a selection of interested candidates and select the best pair to take over.”
“I suppose you know someone?”
“Actually, I know several. Patrick and Mischa could do it. I’m sure other Alphas could put forward sons and daughters of Alpha blood. I’m sure we could find plenty of good candidates to select from. Alpha pairs who would guide the Moscow Pack back to its rightful place.” I looked around the room. “If we are serious about doing the right thing, this is the right way to go about it.”
The meeting hall erupted into debate. The Council members moved to the corner, talking together for a few minutes before returning to the table and calling for silence. “The Council agrees with the proposal put forward by Alpha Viktor,” Francois said. “Alpha Javier and his mate Abrianna have agreed to take over the Pack for a six month period, after which the Council will name a successor from the names put forward and examined. This matter is now closed.” There was grumbling, but it was over for now. “The final item is an evaluation of the combat talents of the American Beta Heir who is mated to Viktor’s daughter. I need four volunteers to assist who are experienced Betas or Alpha heirs.”
Immediately a hand raised from behind Yuri. “I’ll fight him,” Beta Shura said as he stood up to his full height. Yuri smirked, he thought this was going to be a mismatch.
So did I, because I knew Patrick.
*************
Larry’s POV
I don’t ever want to go through a day like this again.
Eight hours in the car, holding Jessie’s limp body in my arms or her head on my lap as we drove north to Scotland. We were checking in with Doc Connall every hour, and so far he was baffled. We stopped quickly at an apothecary store and he had us buy a blood pressure cuff, while Brian loaded up on snacks and drinks for the drive. Her vital signs were all good, she was resting, color was better, but she just wouldn’t wake up.
Doc didn’t understand what was going on. We had her medical records, so Brian spent some time reading things to him over the phone.
Finally, we were turning in to the long driveway heading up towards the Highlands Pack house. My eyes popped when it came into view. It was a castle surrounded by smaller and more recent stone buildings. We drove past the castle to a building off on its own; a man in scrubs was waiting outside with a gurney. “That’s Doc Connall,” Charles said before he stopped the car.
Brian got out and opened the back door, and between the two they loaded her limp body onto the gurney. Doc pushed her in, and Charles stopped us at the door. “She’s in good hands. The Alpha Heir wants to talk to you. Get back in.” We stayed there until I watched the door close. I watched Jessie’s feet hanging over the edge of the gurney as they turned the corner into a room.
The short drive back to the castle was tense. “What is so important we need to talk to him right now?”
“No idea,” Brian replied. “We’ll find out soon.” Charles walked us into the castle, up a staircase and down a hall to a large office. The space was well lit, round in shape, obviously the turret to the left of the entrance of the castle. The ceiling had to be twenty feet up.
“Welcome to Cluny Castle,” the young Alpha heir, Sean Milne, said as he walked over with drinks from the bar. “Please, sit, we have much to discuss and it has been a long day.”
I looked around, there was another man seated on the couch I didn’t recognize. “I’m Gamma James, and you’ve already met Theta Charles,” he said with a grin.
“Theta… no, he did not mention that. Larry Andersen, warrior of the St. Croix Pack, and my fellow warrior, Brian Carberry.” We all shook hands and at the Sean’s gesture we sat down, holding our whiskey glasses. I took a taste, it was excellent. “I must confess I’m a little nervous here, our charge is to protect Jessie and one of us should be with her now.”
Sean nodded. “We won’t keep you long, and she’s having X-rays and labs run now. I need more information from you; Charles was busy driving and didn’t see what happened.”
“I don’t know what I can tell you, really,” I said. “We were driving through the countryside, Jessie was looking out the window. A car pulled up and slowed, next thing I know there’s a shot and the window shatters. I reached for Jessie, but she had thrown her hands forward as she screamed. The car was rolled onto its back and slammed into the guardrail. Jessie went limp, I thought she was hit but I found no blood.”
“Charles, you never touched the car?”
“No, Alpha. It was a straight section of road, nothing going on. Like I told you, it was like the Goddess reached down and blew the car over.”
Brian leaned forward. “One more thing, Alpha. I looked out the window when the glass in back shattered. The entire car was lifted off the ground, then it was like it was pushed away from us as it rolled. It wasn’t natural.”
“Patrick was right, then.”
“I can’t think of another reason why it could happen. She tapped into the powers that Father Kempechny passed to her before he died. She may not know or be able to control the powers of her witchcraft, but it was able to act to protect her.” I looked at Brian. “What else is she capable of?”
“I have no idea,” Brian said.
“I have a friend who is head of the local coven; I’d like to give her a call and have her come see Jessie. She’s your charge, though, so I didn’t want to do this without your agreement.” I was a little surprised, we were guests in this Pack, but Sean was making it clear we were in control when it came to Jessie. It didn’t matter to him that she was Beta John’s mate; until they mated, he respected the arrangement his father had made with our Alpha to watch over her.
“What does the doctor say,” I asked.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“He cannot find any physical reason for her lack of consciousness,” Sean said. “She’s resting comfortably, but he’s run out of tests he can run with the equipment here. He agrees with me that it probably isn’t a physical injury causing this.”