My Mystery Mate Ch. 24-25

"You'll kill me if you do that any better." The perspiration glistened on her face and chest as she relaxed and caught her breath. She felt his hard length pressed against her. "I mean, really? Twice already you've filled me up and you're ready to go again? Don't you know I'm already pregnant?"

He smiled at her. "Of course, my love, but the baby is well protected and you haven't lost that new mate smell." She whacked him with a pillow as he started to laugh at her. He caught her lips with his, pulling her up until she was positioned just above his erect cock, and then the phone rang.

Just Outside Pack Border

Gila Pack, NM

Mike's jaw dropped as he looked over at the person in the driver's seat, then down to the large revolver held in his hand. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ron. Beta Ron Washington, of the Thurmont pack in western Maryland."

Mike looked around, panic in his eyes. "Where is my driver? What do you want?"

"Your driver is safe for now. I'm here for her."

"Black Ker? You want to get Black Ker as well?"

He shook his head, menace in his eyes. "No, I'm here for my granddaughter. And you... you are the bastard who took her."

The information clicked in Mike's head, and he made a desperate grab for the pistol but Ron was waiting for it. A boom filled the car as the .410 gauge shotgun round was fired; dozens of small silver pellets entered his arm and right shoulder. He screamed in agony as the arm dropped useless to his side. Abandoning that effort, he tried to open the car door with his good arm only to have the door pulled open. He fell to the ground, landing hard on his injured shoulder, and screamed again. Strong arms pulled him clear and tossed him face first on the pavement, then moved quickly to cuff his hands behind his back and shackle his legs. Once he was trussed and patted down for weapons, he was pulled to his feet and was face to face with the most recognizable wolf in the country.

Alpha Renee Hastings was growling in anger, and her mate Robert was working to hold off a shift. Both glared at the man who had taken their charge with looks that promised pain. "Doc... check him out." A man stepped forward, he had put on rubber gloves. Mike flinched as he poked at the multiple wounds, the silver was burning him from the inside and the pain was intolerable. He gestured for the men to lay him on the hood of his car, then tore his shirt clear. Pouring alcohol on the wounds was enough for Mike to pass out, and it took him ten minutes with scalpel and forceps to remove the last of the small pellets.

While he was working, Renee had opened up the back seat and carefully opened the backpack that had been tossed on the floor. Lynn was still asleep; the drugs she had been given would keep her that way for a few more hours. She gathered her in her arms and got out. "Take him to the Pack cells and chain him well. When he awakens, let us know."

Telluride Pack House

Colorado

The caravan pulled into the circle before the huge Pack house, the vans stopping and the people jumping out. There were shouts of joy and hugs as the Pack members returned, and excited shrieks for Marcus from his family as he introduced his mate, Michelle. Alpha Francis was greeting everyone, but as soon as the required pleasantries were done he pulled the drivers aside. "Where is Mike?"

The drivers looked at each other. "He turned off behind us as we were leaving the territory. We haven't seen him since." The other drivers nodded the same.

"Did he contact you, say anything?"

"No sir, he told us before we left to drive straight home, no stops except for gas and bathroom. I figured he had some business and would catch up later. Do you think he is all right?"

The alpha smiled. "I'm sure he's fine, he's probably just delayed." His face hid the concern he held, rushing back to his office he called Mike's cellphone. No answer. Then he called his driver, no answer either. Something was wrong, he should have caught up to the main group easily.

Gila Pack Prison

New Mexico

Beta Mike Donaldson started to wake up. His body ached, and his face was numb. He opened his eyes and looked around, the dirty stone floors met dirty stone walls. He moved his hand up to wipe the slobber trail from his mouth, but his hand stopped short when the silver coated chain pulled taut. He raised his head, checking his other arm it was not bound. He traced the chain to the wall above a bed where it attached to an anchor plate. Pushing his body off the floor with his arms, he managed to get to his knees then sit on the thin mattress laying on the concrete pad. He blinked a few times, the light was low but his wolf vision could penetrate it.

"You're up." The familiar voice called to him from across the dark chamber, and he heard chains rattling as the man moved closer. The man came into focus as he moved to the middle of the room where the light was better, his arm behind him as he stretched the chain. He looked bad; he showed cuts and bruises all over his body, and his unchained arm was held tight, his thumb hooked into his thin pants. "You've been out since yesterday, it's just before dawn now. How are you feeling?"

"Better than you look, Andy." He saw the pain in his friend's eyes as he tried to stand up tall. "I never had a chance, did I?"

Andy shrugged his shoulders. "They arrested me as soon as you were out of sight. I've been stripped of rank, tortured and tossed in here until they could get us ready for trial. It's going to be a short one. I'm not going to fight it."

"Why not? You have to try."

"No, I'm already dead. At this point all I can do is try to make it so my mate and my child can survive. I can't let her see me like this, I don't want her last memory of me to be of them tearing me apart in the ring. I'm going to plead guilty, and request a clean and quick death, down here. No trial, no spectacle. It's all I can do for them now."

Mike leaned back against the wall, his shoulders slumping. He was in a rival Pack prison, after having kidnapped a young one from their territory. The sentence was death, and it would be a long and painful death as they would allow a number of people to participate. His only chance was that his Alpha would stand up for him, would threaten war if he wasn't released, but he knew that wouldn't happen. No Alpha these days could be known for kidnapping children and keep the Council and the other Alphas from re-moving him.

No, he was truly abandoned and his remaining life would be short and painful.

Andy slowly sat down on the ground and looked at him. "So why am I going to die for helping you? Why is Black Ker so important to you?"

He laughed. "She's the one who killed our Alphas. She killed a Beta, killed a number of our Pack. She needs to die."

"But why go to this length? She can't hide forever, someone will pick her up and she will be brought to trial."

Mike laughed, but it was a hollow laugh. "My Alpha and I couldn't take the chance that she would make trial. She can't be allowed to testify."

Andy looked at him. "That's what happened at the El Paso pack, isn't it? You sent men to kill her while she was in the hospital, before she was even awake." Mike nodded. "Good friends of mine were hurt by that. The last time I talked to Dr. Julia, Richard was still healing from his punishment for helping them escape."

"It would have been so much easier if they just would have killed the bitch then. She's got nine lives and then some. I went to the canyon she tried to jump over, I was sure no one could survive that fall, but she did." He shifted nervously against the wall. "If she would have done what she was paid to do, none of this would have happened." Andy looked up in shock. "David and I were on the way out. He was still the lead Beta, but he was clashing more and more with the Alphas and they were starting to resent his views. He and I are more... well... traditional than the Luna. After Wolfstock, they made a bunch of changes that weakened the Pack, that kept us from doing our jobs. It was just a matter of time before we would be demoted or exiled."

"What kind of changes?"

"Simple stuff, like the mating ring. My mate is who I chose; when I hit thirty and didn't find my true mate, I didn't want to wait. I found a beautiful young woman in my Pack, and I chose her. She screamed and struggled as I brought her to the ring, declared her as mine and marked her. Her wolf took over and marked be back that night, she was still screaming and struggling but for a different reason by morning." He sighed. "Once he banned the practice, it was like he was saying my mate wasn't my real mate, that I shouldn't be with her. David was the same way, he took the woman he wanted and didn't apologize. When her parents objected he intimidated them into submission, and when her true mate found her, he killed him." He looked off at the wall. "It was them or us, but we couldn't be seen as the ones who did it. After Wolfstock changed the Alpha succession rules, we knew that if we tried to follow the new process it wouldn't work. The Pack loved their Alphas, and feared us. That's why Black Ker was our solution. If someone else, a trained assassin from outside the Pack did it, then we would be next in line. No one could blame the Beta for not being able to protect the Alphas from a ghost like her. So, we stole the money from the safe we needed for her fee and contracted out the assassination of our Alphas."

Andy just looked at him. "So what happened? My Alphas said Ker never touched your Alphas."

"I know." He smacked a hand against the mattress. "We knew she was going to come, what she didn't know is that we weren't going to let her get away. I was on patrol in the treeline, when she left I knew it was time. I hadn't felt the bond break, but I thought she might use poison because the breaking would wake the whole Pack and she wanted to get away. So after twenty minutes, I raised the alarm. The Alpha personally led the team, he had woken and found the safe open. David was with him; his job was to make sure she died. I went with the Luna and the women and young ones to the safe room." His shoulders tensed then relaxed. "After a while, we realized she had double crossed us. David told me that I had to take care of the Luna, he had too many people around. We had some rat poison in the back room where the food was stored, I mixed some of it in with the coffee I made her." Tears came down his face. "When she drank it, she didn't get enough in to make it quick. She suffered for a while, it was horrible. The women were beside themselves. The Alpha raced back but he was too late. When her bond broke with him, and we confirmed she was gone, his wolf took over and he killed himself."

They stopped talking when a key rattled in the door, and it opened to reveal Alphas Robert and Renee.

Kansas Turnpike

Near exit 227

"Hello?" Linda's voice was full of worry; she didn't expect this call.

"Linda, it's Alpha Renee." Her voice sounded terrible. "You need to come pick up Lynn, I need you here as soon as possible."

Linda bolted upright, her eyes wide. "What happened?"

"There was an abduction. The Telluride Beta took her from Maria's house, she's all right, we managed to catch up to them just after they crossed our border and got her back. She was drugged, it's worn off now but she misses you. Here, someone wants to talk to you."

She heard the phone being handed over. "Linda, it's Dad. She's awake and physically all right, but she barely knows me and doesn't feel safe with Caleb and Maria after what happened. She needs her Mom. Please, come get her. I'll come with you and help protect her. We don't know who else knows she is here." He started to break down. "I just found her and I came so close to losing her. Please... we need you here." He handed the phone back.

"Linda, make your way to our side of Albuquerque and we'll bring her to you. When can you be here?"

She linked to the Pack members driving and navigating, they changed the destination in the GPS and relayed the answer. "We're about twelve hours away. I'll call you when we get closer and we can set up the meet." She closed her eyes. "Renee, please- keep her safe until we get there. I can't handle losing her."

Rest stop
South of Albuquerque, NM

Joe and Linda were sitting just behind the drivers as the RV pulled into the truck section of the rest stop. The RV was parked, and Joe and Linda walked to the door. Looking back, she addressed her Pack. "We'll be back in a few minutes. If we give you the waveoff, you get out of here and find a place to hide. Do you understand?" The Pack members weren't happy, but they exposed their necks in sub-mission.

"The transfer is in the ladies room, this place is full of humans so no shifting, no shooting." They opened the door and walked out into the dry air, the pavement still hot despite the sun having set.

They walked hand in hand across the parking lot to the sidewalk leading to the building. They could see Renee inside near the bathroom entrance, so Joe opened the outside door for his mate and stepped through. The smell of wolves, many wolves, hit him just before he could pull her back, but it was too late.

Dozens of wolves in human form raced to surround the door from outside, while twenty others swarmed to line the doors and windows in front of them. Joe and Linda looked around, they couldn't stay in human form and get out of this ambush. With a mental communication, they turned back to back. Joe gave the Pack the wave-off signal, they had started to come out when they saw the wolves racing around the building. The Alpha command stopped them, and in moments they were moving. Joe watched as they accelerated down the ramp, relieved that no one was following them.

Linda was struggling to hold back a shift as her mind struggled to process the betrayal she was feeling. Renee walked towards them, holding Lynn in her arms. Seeing her made her relax, but she also knew that she couldn't fight without risking her daughter. She glared at the Gila Alpha as she approached.

Renee moved between her Pack soldiers and looked at them. "Linda, Joe, I'm sorry." Both looked at her. "By order of the Alpha Council, you are both under arrest."