Order of Protection

Jessie’s POV

You know how they warn you never to run from a wild animal, because it triggers the predator instinct in them?

They are right.

I took my head start, rushing through the woods back towards the cabin. The island wasn’t that big so it wasn’t a long run. When I heard John’s wolf howl, I knew it was on. He was much larger than me, so I put my head down and ran hard through the trees. I could hear him crashing through the underbrush, his big paws thudding on the ground as he got closer. I saw the cabin as I broke out of the trees and thought I was in the clear.

I underestimated how much his wolf wanted me.

I was nearly to the steps when I was tripped up, rolling on the grass and leaves to a stop. He was on me before I could get up, his body over mine, his jaws holding the back of my neck into the ground. His musk was strong and my wolf loved the smell and the dominance, the strength and power of her mate. I felt myself open and prepare for him as our Wolfys did what Wolfys will do. He didn’t let go of my neck, he shuffled forward as I raised my hips and moved my tail out of the way. I felt his maleness poke around, then find the right place and his hips drove home in a single powerful thrust.

He howled in triumph as I grunted, feeling my body being filled by my mate. He let go of my neck, hooking his front legs around my hips he started to pound me hard as I lay there. My wolf was loving it, and I had to admit it was hot as hell and I was loving it too. Sex in this form was a little different than as a human, but it felt amazing. I was whining and growling as he continued his assault on me. Something was changing, though; it felt like I was being stretched inside. I whined at the pain as it worked back towards my opening, then forward again. “What is that,” I asked.

“My knot,” he said. His strokes got shorter, he was still fully in me but he explained that the base of his wolf cock was swelling to trap itself in me. Whatever it was, it rubbed my insides delightfully. He continued to pound me until he came with a howl, filling me with his seed as I exploded in pleasure around him. We fell on our sides, him still locked in me.

I tried to move but it wouldn’t. “Can you let me go?”

“The knot ties us together, it won’t go down for a half hour or so. If you keep moving and wiggling like that, we’ll just start over again.” It was his wolf’s way to make sure his seed stayed in and increase the chance of conception.

My wolf was all in favor of this, but I realized with horror that I was not on birth control and my last period was over three weeks ago. “I’m at my fertile point in my cycle,” I told him.

“My wolf knew that, it’s why he was so insistent on taking and knotting you,” John said. “He knew there was a better shot at conception in this form. He just didn’t tell me until now.”

“I could get pregnant,” I said nervously. My wolf was satisfied, my brain was panicking. “I’m twenty-one and was a virgin until yesterday, I’m not married, I’m on the run… how can I get pregnant?”

He started to groom my neck and head, relaxing me. “You’re mated, that is a stronger bond than marriage. If you want a ring and a church, I’ll give you that too. If we have a baby, I’d be over the moon. I’d love to have a little boy or girl running around with your eyes.”

My wolf was all for it, and deep down I knew I wanted children, I wanted a family with John, a house and a yard and a baby in my arms. I just wasn’t planning on it being so soon. “It’s too late to change it now, and it’s not like we can run to the drugstore for a morning-after pill,” I said. His wolf growled at me. “Not that I would use one, my wolf thinks the same way. I’m scared, John. Don’t leave me, I don’t want to be alone and pregnant like my mother was.”

“You’ll never be alone, Jessie. Yevgheny wasn’t your mother’s mate, they didn’t have the bond that we have. He raped her, probably assuming she was on birth control.” He licked at my face as I relaxed on the grass. “You have more than just me; we are in the St. Croix Pack now. I switched my allegiance to them when I came over to protect you so I could mind link with them, and as my mate you also become part of the Pack. We support, help and defend each other. You will never be alone, and I will never leave you.”

“They were like my family before we mated,” I said. “Patrick was like a brother to me, his parents were so nice to me after I was hurt.”

“They knew who you were to me, and they promised to protect you until I could make you mine. They knew you had no one else and they wanted to help. They accepted you as family back then,” he said.

“Will I get pregnant?”

“I don’t know. You smelled fertile, but you aren’t in heat. Werewolf females normally go into heat once a year for about a week, that is the only they are fertile and the couple goes into isolation for a week of constant sex. Even with all of that, most cycles don’t result in conception. The question is, would it be a good thing for you if you did get pregnant?”

“I’m not ready, it scares the hell out of me.”

“You’d be an amazing mother, Jessie.” My wolf agreed. “We will know in a week or so, if your scent changes.”

His knot had finally reduced and he disengaged from me, our combined fluids soaking my legs and into the grass. “Ugh, I need a shower.”

“How about a quick swim? You should learn how to swim in this form,” he said. He stood up, licking at my legs as I rolled onto my stomach. He turned and ran across the lawn to the dock. Taking a leap from the end, he landed with a huge splash in the water and paddled until he was watching me. “Your turn.”

I gathered my courage and started to move, my insides aching a little still. I broke into a run, leaping from the dock and making it most of the way to where he was before crashing into the water. The COLD water of fall. The temperature shocked me a little as I kicked back to the surface. I let my wolf have control, she moved my legs until my head was above water again. It only took a few moments before I was following John around, quickly getting used to the temperature. The fur helped, in human form it would be freezing.

We paddled around in the deeper water, then climbed out on the gravel and rocks until we were back on the grass. He shook his fur, sending water everywhere before he started trotting for the cabin. It took me a few tries to figure out how to shake my body like that. By the time I got to the cabin, he had shifted to human form with a towel around his waist. He dried my fur with one towel he brought. “Feel like shifting back and taking a shower?” I nodded. “It might hurt, but nothing like the first time you shifted. Each time you do it, your body adapts to the changes and it becomes faster and hurts less. In a day or two, with practice, it won’t hurt much at all and will happen in under a second,” he said.

“How do I shift back?”

“Imagine yourself as a human, skin, two legs, hands, and want to be that way. Your wolf will relinquish control and allow the change, just like you gave the wolf control when you shifted to this form.” I sat there, eyes closed and imagined being in my normal body again. I felt stabbing pains and heard the sounds of bones breaking and rearranging, but it wasn’t as loud or painful as before. When I opened my eyes, I was looking at my skin and my hands. The cool fall air was blowing over it, making me shiver. “Good job, my love,” he said as he held out a hand to me.

I took it and stood up, groaning in pain. He led me to the bathroom, putting me in first. The solar water heater was not very efficient this time of year, so by the time I had done my body and hair there wasn’t hot water left. “Sorry about the water,” I said as I stepped out. “By the look of you, you could use a cold shower.” He looked down and smiled, looking back with those puppy-dog eyes. “Nope, not happening. I just got clean and I have to go do the dishes,” I said.

He kissed me and moved into the shower. “Cold showers won’t stop me or my wolf,” he said with a smile. I walked out of the room, my arousal flaring already. I had a feeling we’d be mating a LOT over the next few days.

I started lunch, we would need the energy.

Alpha Yuri’s POV

“THEY HAVEN’T FOUND HER FUCKING BODY YET, YOU IDIOTS!” I was standing behind my desk, pushing back the impulses to kill my Beta and these three lawyers sitting across from me. “She’s DEAD, we have the video. Everyone has seen it. Show it to the fucking Judge and get my money!”

The lead lawyer paled, I could smell his fear. “It’s not that easy, sir. As we were saying, Ms. Donato has not been officially declared dead. Until she is, her petition is still valid. We did have a hearing this morning and the judge granted a continuance, but under the law she has to be missing for six months before she can be declared dead, even with the video.”

I walked over to the bar in my office, pouring myself a drink. Idiots. “And there is nothing we can do.”

“No sir. She needs to be declared dead either in Russia or America. Once that happens, her claim goes away and with no other claims against the estate, the judge can declare it for you.”

“Then make that happen. Work both sides, get me a fucking death certificate and get it done quickly,” I said. “Get out.” The lawyers couldn’t leave my office fast enough. I turned to my Beta, Sasha. “Arrange a video call with the people we had kill her. I need to know what they did with her body.”

“Yes sir.” He left my office as I sat down and looked out the window. I tossed the vodka back and poured another from the bottle I’d brought over. I had to do something, the loan interest was killing me. I was tapped out on cash from the original contract. The longer this went on, the more I’d have to sell properties, cash in investments, or give up businesses to keep the payments up. The Italians didn’t care, they wanted their money. Only a fool would default on such a huge loan.

It took until the next morning to set up the call. Once again, the other man was in silhouette, a puffy beard hiding the shape of his face. “What do you want,” he said to me.

“Jessie Donato has not been declared dead, and that is preventing things from going forward. I need you to let her body be found.”

He laughed at me. “You paid me to kill her, not to get caught. Her body will never be found.”

“She has to be found, I need a death certificate.”

“Then you go find her, I’m not wasting my time.” He paused for a moment. “We put her in a bag, chained it and weighted it with anchors, then dumped her into Lake Superior.”

“WHERE?”

“About a mile due east of Tofte boat ramp. Good luck, it’s in about four hundred feet of water. Do not contact me again.” He cut the connection. I turned to my Beta. “Any luck tracing that?”

Sasha shook his head. “The videoconferencing software hides the individual IP’s,” he said. “We’d have to go through the hosting company.”

“Do it,” I said. “And put a team together in the States. I need that body recovered, and I need it soon. And call the men off her lawyer, the last thing I need now is another reason to delay the decision.” He left, and I poured another drink. I had three days to go until the next payment was due. Spending a million to find the body was much cheaper.