The Werewolf Order (Erotica)

“Don’t worry about us, we can handle this. You need to delegate as an Alpha or you’ll work yourself to death,” she said with a smile. “When you get back I’ll fill you in on how things are done.”

I gave her a hug, she’d been so helpful to me since I had been here. I learned a lot about being a good Luna just from watching her interact with people. “Thank you. Thank you for being here for them,” I said as I fought back tears.

“It’s what an Alpha couple is about, really. It’s not just giving orders and politics, it’s about keeping the family together.” We said our goodbyes, then went back in the elevator and down to the parking garage. Three vehicles filled with warriors were waiting for us, our bags already loaded, plus one more I didn’t expect. “Larry, what are you doing here?”

“I’d like to come with you,” he said. “I need to talk to Konstantin, in person.”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Of course,” I said. We got in the back, and he sat in the third row behind us. I gazed at the security, the bulletproof glass, the man riding shotgun with a submachine gun by his side, the escorts. It was hard to believe I was driving a piece of shit Ford Focus to my waitress job six months ago. Now I needed armed security because I was one of the richest women in Russia. Oh, and I was a handshake away from being in charge of over five hundred people and portfolio of properties and investments.

It was heady stuff for a girl who didn’t even finish college.

I relaxed onto John’s shoulder as we drove out of the city. Larry didn’t say much, but I could sense how nervous he was and had a good idea what it was about. “Larry, we’re friends and Pack mates, first and foremost. Nothing you can do or say will shock or hurt us, so just come out and say it.”

He lowered his head, looking at his hands for a moment before he looked up. “I want you to forgive Elizaveta and join me in a plea for mercy. I’m a mess right now with her being in the cells, I don’t know if I can survive them executing her.”

I looked at him closely, seeing how his clothes hung loose and his face was gaunt. His eyes were the worst, what was once full of life and mischief was now filled with pain and loss. He was a ghost of what he had been a week ago. “You realize that John was almost killed, along with two close friends. I just left the clinic room where a man your age is recovering from losing all but his right arm and will face a lifetime of pain and struggle. When we return, we will attend the funerals for seven brave men who died trying to stop Polina’s madness.”

He nodded, shaking as the sobs racked his body, but I wasn’t done. “Your mate didn’t just get them killed, that was what Polina settled for. No, she walked out of the Pack House, turning her back on the people she grew up with, and walked away. No warning, no second thoughts. If she hadn’t met you on the way out, I’d be dead right now. You would be dead. John. Patrick. Mischa. Alpha Stan. The Council. The entire Moscow Pack, including women and children. Children, Larry. The same children that John and I were playing with before I left, innocent children who deserve a chance to live.”

He was sobbing loudly now, completely breaking down in front of us. “She warned us,” he finally said.

“Yes,” John said, “And I am forever grateful to you for finding her and chasing her down so we could stop Polina, but that was never her intent. She confessed when she was caught, Larry. It wasn’t because she suddenly grew a conscience. She confessed because she hoped it would disgust you enough to kill her or let her go.”

I crawled over the seat, taking him into my arms as he broke down. It wasn’t his fault, NONE of this was on him. He was a good man who was getting royally screwed over by Fate on this one. Luna would have been kinder to him if she let him die before finding Elizaveta. Now, having marked and mated her, they were irrevocably tied together. When she was executed, something none of us could or would stop, he would be devastated.

I couldn’t let him be lost to the madness, not after all he had done for me. “We will be there for you, Larry. You will get through this, somehow.” He kept crying on my shoulder until he finally fell asleep. I laid him on the seat, covering him with a blanket before going back to sit with my mate. I hugged him tight, my wolf whining at the mere thought of losing him. When he had told me goodbye and to take care of our child, I felt like I was going to die too. “You’re the werewolf, tell me we can help him.”

“It’s not easy,” he said. “Their wolves bonded, and you can’t take that back. Most cases like this, the surviving wolf has to be put down because it goes crazy. The only other option is to kill his wolf and hope his human side isn’t broken beyond repair.”

“What a shit sandwich he got served,” I said.

“She may have been a good wolf once, but not now. I read her confession. She wanted to save her brother, but the cost was more than she ever thought. She’d been betraying her Pack for years. The Alpha could have executed her just for that, it’s no wonder she had an escape plan in place.”

“What if they don’t execute her?”

“That won’t happen, Jessie, there are too many crimes for her to live, and her guilt is not in doubt. Mercy for her is a quick death.”

I didn’t understand werewolf justice. “Humor me. Let’s say she isn’t killed, what happens?”

“She’d have to be imprisoned, probably for life, in the Council cells in Germany. Her wolf, who was against this from the beginning, would have to be killed so it didn’t go feral from the isolation.”

“And if she was eventually released?”

He snorted. “Right after monkeys fly out of my butt?” I smacked him. “Alpha Javier already exiled her from the Pack. With what she has done, no pack in the world would ever take her. Her wolf would have to be killed, and that would kill Larry’s wolf, so we’re back in the same boat. There is no happy ending for these lovers, Jessie. They were doomed from the moment they looked in each other’s eyes.”

Jessie’s POV

“I’m really looking forward to tonight, my love,” I said as John held me tight, still inside me after a post-dinner romp in our room at the Kstovo Pack house. I moaned softly as he shifted just a little, I was still sensitive from our fun time. “I’ve never been on a Pack run.”

“You’re going to love it,” he told me as his knot moved enough to send a new round of tremors through my body. The things this man could do with me… I never knew such pleasure could exist in the world. “They have a big area to run, Konstantin told me. It will feel good to let our wolves out.”

It was true, all the travel and the problems had kept our wolves in check for far too long. She wanted to run, to be with the Pack, and mostly to run with his wolf by her side. We had arrived the previous evening, and both Patrick and Konstantin were now fully healed. I taught John what I knew about healing, and he did most of the work, so I wouldn’t be so tired out. We knew he could form fireballs and heal, but what other powers he had gotten from me we did not know.

Finding a witch that we could trust to help train us was high on my list when things calmed down.

Larry was still an emotional mess, but the change of scenery and the kindness of Konstantin and Patrick helped. Konstantin penned a letter that we all signed, even his parents, formally asking the Council to extend mercy to Elizaveta and not to seek vengeance on our behalf. It also helped that this Pack didn’t look at him with a mixture of pity and disgust.

He looked over at the clock and kissed my forehead. “We need to go soon,” he said. “Moonrise is in twenty minutes.”

“Just enough time to shower,” I said as he finally shrank enough for me to roll off him.

“NO.” He grabbed my arm and kept me on the bed. “You are new here, and there are many unmated males. I need my scent to be strong on you and in you, so they know you are MINE.”

More wolfy stuff to learn, I guess. I’d had him to myself for so long on the island, I didn’t really notice how possessive he could be over me around others. “I have to clean up, you made a mess,” I complained.

“Stay here,” he said. He went and got some tissues, cleaning up most but also rubbing his scent into my skin. “It’s for the good of the Pack, the last thing they need is for a guest Beta to go nuts protecting his mate from horny males.”

“Will this be a normal thing? You rubbing your scent into me?”

“Only with new males around. Once we are established in a Pack and they know you, the men will behave.” He brought me a bottle of water as I watched the news coverage in Russian, hoping I could keep up with the language enough to figure out what was going on. The attack by Polina had faded, and I knew from the Council that the St. Petersburg pack was in tatters. The Council had sent Councilman Thomas and his mate Olivia, along with a contingent of Council Enforcers, to take control of what was left. It was a mess.

He sat on the bed with me, moving pillows around until he could lean back against the headboard before he pulled me so I was sitting between his legs and leaning back onto his chest. “Have you made a decision on the Pack?”

I pulled his hands around my waist. “We need to talk to Patrick and Mischa,” I said. “After the run, since this affects them too.”

“The Council will all be there for the funerals, well, except maybe Alpha Thomas. Alpha Stan is leaving for home afterwards. It is the last chance to get them all at once.” We watched the news as his hands spread over my lower belly. “I can’t believe we are having a baby,” he said.

“Just wait until I’m fat and hormonal,” I said.

“You will never be more attractive to me than with your belly rounded with our child,” he said as he kissed my head. “Come on, it’s time to go.” There was no point in getting dressed as we were going to shift as soon as we got out back, so we each pulled on a robe and sandals before leaving the room. I knocked on the door next to us, and Larry came to the door a minute later, dressed in shorts and an old shirt. “Let’s run,” John told him as he pulled him out. “Your wolf will appreciate it.”

“My heart’s not in it,” he said as he was pulled along the hallway.

“I know, but it is better than hiding in your room. Let the Pack strengthen you, they aren’t ours but they do care and you have friends here.”