Order of Protection Ch. 15-22

He and the other men were looking at me slack-jawed. I'd just waded through three of his men and barely broke a sweat. "Yes, you pass," he said. "It seems we underestimated you." Konstantin and a few other men brought stretchers in, and the injured were carried to the Pack hospital. They would be fine in a few days.

"I do more than play on the computer and drive my fancy car," I said with a smirk. "What did you say to them before they went into the center?"

"I told them to kick your ass," he said as we both laughed.

"Can I watch some of your men spar?" I had an idea of how they trained by the tactics they'd tried to use, mainly wrestling and boxing techniques. They work well if you have a size advantage, but it could be turned against you if you met a different fighting style.

I sat with Alpha Viktor as his top Betas ran the others through their training session. "Tell me, Patrick, what can I do to keep my remaining men from being taken down the way you did?"

"Your men are strong and big, but you've stagnated in their training. They all fight the same ways, and only against each other. I won because I fought with a different style and did things they didn't know how to counter." I watched as one of his men shot the leg of his opponent, trying to get him to the ground. "My Alpha makes it a point to send his Betas to train with humans in different fighting styles. I've been doing Krav Maga since I was twelve; others have learned in Mixed Martial Arts gyms, judo, taekwondo, jujitsu. We do enough to learn with the humans, then we bring the techniques back and train the others in our Pack with the things best suited to our abilities."

"And this works?"

"Yes. Everyone becomes an expert in one discipline, but we also learn enough about the other disciplines to know how to use and defend from them." Viktor nodded, he wasn't happy as he saw what I was talking about.

"Will you help me train them when you return for the mating?"

"Of course, it would be my honor. I'm pretty sure I got their attention."

"Good. Go shower and change, then meet Marina and I in my office in twenty minutes. I need to speak to you about something in private." He walked out, and I headed for the locker room.

I arrived at his office a few minutes early, Marina was sitting in his lap and Konstantin was in the chair across from his desk. He didn't look happy with me. "Maksim is going to be out for four days with that broken femur, and you tore up Dima's knee enough to sideline him for three."

"Then they should have fought better," I said as I sat down. "I didn't eye gouge, shift or break necks."

"Stop it, Konstantin. He showed me today how poorly we are training our men, and that will be changing. After the mating ceremony, I'm sending you to a Mixed Martial Arts academy in Moscow. You'll learn, and you'll teach when you get back, but right now you'll listen." He turned to me. "We have to move Jessie out of the hospital tonight," he said.

"Wait, WHAT? Is there a threat? She's not even awake!"

Marina fixed me with a look that immediately made me sit down. "We're fully aware of that, as is our Doctor. We don't have a choice, though. Yuri is coming for your claiming ceremony." That was something I never expected.

"The European Council was thrilled to find out that our daughter was to be mated to you. Since a number of other Alphas from Europe and North America will be here, the Council wants to tag on and hold a meeting the next day. I had no choice but to offer to host, and since it was a Council event, Yuri and his mate and Betas will be here. We need to get Jessie to a remote cabin our Pack owns and clean the hell out of the hospital, so they don't pick up the scent."

I sat there for a moment, figuring things out. "I need to be there when she wakes up, I'm the only one she knows," I said.

"We can't risk it. If you are with her, her scent could come through and they might be able to tell she is here," Marina said. "I talked to your Alphas, they are bringing Brian and Larry along. She said both of them knew Jessie and would not be missed at the ceremony. They will be here in the morning, and after they arrive, you need to stay away from her."

"And I'm putting you against Konstantin tomorrow. When he's done with you, I won't expect you to smell of anything except sweat and blood," Viktor added.

I looked at Konstantin, a smile on my face. His superior attitude had taken a shift today and I took his friends apart, he no longer was confident he could take me, and he didn't like that. Sooner or later, we were going to have it out. "Can we do that tomorrow night instead?" Viktor looked at me quizzically. "After Mischa is home. I want her to know I can protect her from anyone, even her big brother." Viktor laughed, Konstantin glared, and Marina just smiled as she nodded.

Beta John's POV

I walked into the room and sat down at the table across from Alpha Stan. He looked troubled, I could see he was nervous about what he had to tell me. My mind went immediately to Jessie. "Is Jessie all right? What happened?"

His face fell, he wanted to ease into this and I wouldn't let him. "I need you to relax and listen, John." He switched to link, which he could use since he was now my Alpha. "You are not to shift or react with your wolf. If I see you getting agitated, I will leave."

Using the link was better anyway, the sessions were videotaped and I didn't need any misunderstandings because we had to talk around things. "I understand, Alpha. Now what is going on with Jessie?"

"She is still in Russia. While she was walking through her town of birth, walking with Father Kempechny, she was the target of an assassination attempt. She survived, but is seriously injured."

I started to see red, the command washed over me. I closed my eyes and shoved my wolf back, he was furious his mate was hurt and wanted out. I just, we just couldn't let him. It took a minute before I could open my eyes again. I took a deep breath and let it out. "How is she?"

"She nearly died. She is with the Kstovo Pack, in their hospital. Patrick and their Pack were able to get her out and get her help in time. The doctors say she is recovering well, but it was bad. She had multiple injuries from the blast, but the fractured skull is the most serious. I have doctors from the Mayo Clinic consulting, she's getting good care. A few days more to let the swelling in her brain come down, then they'll bring her out of the medically induced coma."

"I should be there."

"Yes, but you cannot leave. Even if you were there, there is nothing you could do. Luna Larissa and I, Betas Peter and Abigail and two warriors are heading over to Russia tomorrow. We will bring her home. You need to trust us to take care of her and stay calm."

I nodded, I had little choice right now. "Why was she attacked?"

"It turns out her biological father was Alpha Yevgheny Zubkov of the Moscow Pack, a powerful Russian Mafia boss. He killed her mother when she was a baby. Now that he's dead, Jessie found out the truth. She met with a lawyer, and her lawyer filed papers in court to be declared his daughter and heir."

"She's the daughter of an Alpha?"

"Yes... and not only is leadership of that Pack unknown, if she is declared his heir, she gets the money and lands that otherwise would go to Yevgheny's brother. Alpha Yuri Zubkov of the St. Petersburg pack."

My mind was reeling. My beautiful young waitress was a null daughter of an Alpha, and heir to a Pack and fortune. "What can I do to help?"

"Stay out of trouble and get out of here, you can't do any good behind bars. Learn the language, she might be spending her time over there in the future. Hell, you might even be Alpha if you play it right."

"Not if she rejects me," I said.

"That is what you need to focus on. Protecting her and getting her to love you depends on getting out of here and getting next to her without scaring her."

"I'll do whatever it takes, Alpha." Our time was up. I walked back to my cellblock in a stupor, my mind reeling over what I'd just heard. I laid on my bed and just tried to sort it out in my head, and an hour later I still was reeling.

Ch. 19

Patrick's POV

I took the towel tossed my way and wiped the sweat off my face and chest. I looked back at Konstantin, he was groaning on the mat and holding his neck as he tried to breathe again. Our match had been fun and fair; he wasn't charging in like his friends, he was testing me and looking for weaknesses.

He hadn't found many. I had toyed with him, finding his limits, then when I was ready I ended the fight with a furious series of strikes. I cuffed his ear, blowing his eardrum out, then followed with a spinning elbow to the face and a kick to the hip. He collapsed on one knee, and I didn't let up. I punched his jaw, then his throat, knocking him to the ground. When he was going down, I got my legs around his throat, hooking my right foot under my left knee. Leaning back, I smiled as he was in a submission chokehold. He tried to hit me, but I grabbed his hand and controlled it while the lack of oxygen did its job.

He tapped out, and I let him go.

"Patrick, that was amazing!" Mischa was smiling as she jumped into my arms, I caught her and spun her around. "I've never seen someone other than Dad take him down before," she whispered in my ear.

"It was a good spar, your brother has some skills," I said in a normal voice. "But no one was going to beat me while you were looking on." She rested her head on my chest, clearly soaking herself in my scent. I was happy as well, she didn't have my mark but she sure as hell smelled like me now. She moved back a little as her parents approached. "I love you," she whispered while she could.

"You are my everything," I whispered back.

"Well, Patrick, you are more formidable than we thought," Marina said as she pulled Mischa to her side. "I'm seeing just how wise Luna was in pairing you two."

"Thank you, Luna," I said as I wiped myself with the towel. "I better go shower." I tossed the towel to my mate, she held on to it and I smiled as I turned away. She held in her hand as she left, it would end up in her room with the shirt I'd given her the night we'd first met. I had come back to my room one night to find one of her sleep shirts on my pillow, and I had the best sleep ever that night. Our wolves calmed down with the scent of our mate around.

I was halfway through the shower when Konstantin joined me in the room. "You fought well, Patrick. When you return for your mating, I will give you a better fight than that."

I shook his hand. "I'm sure you will, you are skilled enough to pick things up quickly and your size is a big advantage." I went back to washing off.

"I didn't know what to think of you when you arrived, but I think you will do well by my sister. She is happy, you just keep her that way and we won't have any problems." He stuck his head under the spray, washing the blood off.

"Your sister is an amazing young woman, and I'm so happy I found her. I will do everything I can to let her reach her potential and her dreams." He nodded, and I stepped out. A few minutes later I was walking out of the training building.

Alpha Viktor was waiting in front of an ambulance, and Sergey was at his left. I could smell Jessie was already loaded. "Hop in, Jessie's already loaded." I went around to the back, the doors were open. Jessie's gurney was inside, monitors and IV line attached to her, and Doc was up by her head. Sergey and I got in, then the Alpha closed the doors and went around to the front. The ambulance started the ride out of the main compound.

"How far away is this place?"

"I don't know," Sergey said. "The Alpha is keeping things close to the vest. Only he and the driver know where we are going, not even Doc knows." I looked up, the windows in the back were blocked, and a curtain divided us from the cab. "It's for the best. You can't go back there anyway, and what we don't know we can't spill."

He was right; the old phrase was "Three can keep a secret if two are dead." I reached out and held my friend's hand. Finding my own mate had made me realize just how important she was to John, and I needed to bring her back to him.

Jessie's POV

Two days later

I was floating.

Darkness surrounded me, and instead of peace I was scared. I was alone, somewhere. I tried to open my eyes, and nothing happened. I tried to open my eyes, and nothing worked. I listened, and there was no noise. I screamed, nothing happened. I couldn't hear my breathing, I couldn't feel my heartbeat.

Was I dead? Is this emptiness all there was now?

I drifted in the void, thinking about how my life had changed. I never knew my biological father, I was glad I didn't. My mother was a lot like me, or so the Father said. Wait, Father Kempechny? Where is he? Did he die to? I called out to him, but again nothing happened, there was no noise. I remember walking with him, then the bright light and then this void.

I thought back to my trip to Russia, all I had seen and learned. If I had never learned my Father's name, I might still be alive, I might be happy. I might have filled my camera with photos I could bring home and show my friends.

I did find out, and then I did something about it. Why? Would knowing my father was a criminal, a rapist and a murderer of my own mother, did that somehow make my life better? Would taking his fortune somehow bring my mother back?

I knew it wouldn't, yet I still wanted it. His brother was just as vile as my father was, and the money was better in my hands. I could do great things with it; I could help people. Change lives. Make a legacy.

If I could only open my eyes.

I drifted off again.

A noise made its way into my consciousness. A buzzing, like an alarm. I tried to turn, to open my eyes and see what it was, but nothing. The buzzing stopped, but then I heard something else. A voice. "She's starting to come out of it now," the man said. I didn't recognize it.

I started to see lights, but I still couldn't open my eyes.

"Come back to us, Jessie," a different voice said. I felt something... he was squeezing my hand. I started feeling pain; my head, my stomach, even my leg. It felt like I was swimming for the surface as more and more of my senses started to come back. A sharp pain in my stomach caused me to try to squeeze my hand on his. "Doc, her hand," he said. "She squeezed me back!"

A light shone into my right eye, my eyelid moved out of the way. I looked away, it hurt. "She's waking up. Keep talking to her, Larry."

Larry. Patrick's friend, the one who helped me move. Where was Patrick? The doctor sounded Russian, why was Larry here?

I squeezed his hand, I was so confused. I wasn't dead, I hurt, I was so confused. "Just relax, Jessie, you're doing fine. We're here with you." We? Where is Patrick?

"Just open your eyes, Jessie. Larry promised he'd buy us pizza if you woke up today."

"Leave her alone, Brian. You can't make her wake up to win a bet!"

"Hey, it's pizza. She'll want some when she wakes up, we'll order her favorite."

I blinked my eyes open, the light was too much and I closed them again. "Gar..." My mouth wasn't working too well.

"Relax, Jessie. Take your time, we're right here," Larry said.

"Gar... bage."

"Garbage?"

"P... Pizza."

"Jessie? You're back!" I felt a hug, and Brian kissed my forehead. I cracked an eye open as he was dancing a little. He started singing to the tune of 'My Boyfriend's Back.' "My Jessie's back and we're gonna get some pizza, Larry, Larry, go buy some pies."

The doctor moved the boys out of the way and I spent the next half hour being checked over by the doctor. I was able to drink some water, which felt amazing, and sit up in bed. He checked my vitals, my eyes, asked questions to see how much I could remember, and finally left me alone with my friends. "My pizza?"

"It's on it's way," Larry said. "I'm so happy to see you up and talking again. You scared me, scared all of us." The Doctor had filled me in on all my injuries, giving names to all the places I hurt. My leg was still in a cast between ankle and knee, and I had a bandage over my stomach. My ribs hurt when I breathed, and my head ached. Other than that, I was fine.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think anything like all this would happen when I left. I just wanted to find out about my biological parents." I looked at the two. "Where are we?"

"East of Moscow," Brian said. "We moved you from the hospital because it was safer to hide you here than leave you around others. We think Yuri tried to kill you, and he will try again if he finds you."

"He's got billions of reasons to do so," I said. I'd been out for a week, I just couldn't' believe I had been targeted so quickly. "What happened to Father Kempechny?"

Brian picked up my hand and looked in my eyes. "He didn't make it, Jessie. He died soon after the blast." I felt the tears flowing and closed my eyes as I laid back in the bed. Brian kept holding my hand as I dealt with my grief. "He was buried two days ago."

"And Patrick? Why are you here and he's not?"

Brian looked over at Larry, who decided to leave the room after saying he had to wait for the pizza guy. "Patrick is at his engagement party."

Ch. 20

Patrick's POV

We waited in the terminal at the small airport outside town as the Learjet carrying my family made its final approach. I'd been linking with my mother since they came within range, so hopefully she'd let someone else say something when they finally got here. I looked over at Alpha Viktor, he was putting his phone back in his pocket with a smile on his face. "She's awake and doing well," he said.

I relaxed, this was good. She'd been in a medically-induced coma for a week and needed to be awake to go through Customs. Sending her out in an air ambulance would be too visible for someone looking for an injured woman leaving the country. Viktor and I had discussed with the other Alphas the best way to sneak her out without raising suspicions. What we had settled on wasn't ideal for her, but it was the best we could come up with. The first part was getting us all here with Yuri, who was arriving a few hours after my parents.

We didn't say much as the jet landed and taxied towards the hangar we were waiting in with the cars. They waited as a Customs agent boarded. Five minutes later he was gone, and they pulled in and shut the engines down. As soon as the door opened again, my mother was rushing down the stairs. "PATRICKKKKK!" She almost knocked me over, and I held her up as she kissed my face. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Mom," I said as I finally got her back on her own feet. "Mom, you remember Alpha Viktor?"

The Alpha took her hands, lifting them to kiss the back, as more was inappropriate for a mated woman. "You look wonderful, Beta Abigail. Welcome to the Kstovo Pack, Beta Peter. Thank you for coming, and for raising such a good son for my daughter."

"It is an honor to be here, and to be joined to such a prestigious bloodline," Peter said formally.

Alpha Stan and Luna Larissa Larsen had waited on the plane for a minute before joining us. "Alpha, Luna," I said as I bowed my head respectfully.

"Welcome to Russia, Alpha Stan and Luna Larissa. Larissa, Luna Marina sends her regrets, but she's swamped with the preparations for the ceremony and says she will catch up later."

"That's quite all right, Viktor, I can only imagine how busy she is. Not just a claiming ceremony but a European Alpha Summit? She must be exhausted already." She moved over to me. "Congratulations on finding your mate, Patrick. May your lives be full of joy and pups." She hugged me, and I lightly patted her shoulders before she stepped back.