The Last Shewolf Ch. 17-23

"Yes, Alpha. I will protect her, and we will do what is needed," he said.

"That is all." We both got up and left the room, leaving the Betas behind to talk more.

It looked like we were going to Bill's in Robbinsdale.

Ch. 19

Vivian's POV

Sturgis was coming in just over three weeks, and part of me really wanted to go.

The Club went every year to the biggest motorcycle rally in North America. I'd seen their pictures, it looked like a blast, and they raved about the rides and the fun they had out there. I was more comfortable on my motorcycle now than a car, I wanted to join those huge rides, see those people, get the experience of it.

It was the other part of me, the cautious part, the part that kept me out of danger, that was telling me no. Well, that along with Snake. I was tucked into his side in bed, still a little winded from the late morning sex we'd had over the last thirty minutes. Snake had gone down to make breakfast while I slept in, then came back to take care of me. The man kept me satisfied, I loved him, but he was even more protective of me than my wolf. "I can't protect you there, Viv. We've gotten lucky so far, we haven't met other werewolves who ride, but that doesn't mean there aren't those. Sturgis gets bikers from all over North America, the world. All it takes is one rogue."

"I can defend myself, you know." I had my silver coated knives, my guns.

"You can't carry in South Dakota, they don't have reciprocity with Minnesota," he said. "As for the knives, weapons aren't allowed in the bars and venues. You'd have to leave them with your bike, and that leaves you vulnerable in the crowds. The same crowds where just one wolf getting one sniff of you could lead to me losing you." He pulled me on top of him, cupping my face and bringing me in for a kiss. "You can't believe how crowded everything is. There's barely places to park, to walk. No escape routes, no getaways."

"And all it takes is a few minutes and it's all over for me," I said as my head dropped to his chest. "This sucks." It was true, I could be taken and mated against my will if I was out of the Club's protection for even a few minutes, I'd already had that proven to me. Once the bond took root, I'd end up following my Mate instead of my husband. I'd never see him again.

"You could go without me," I mumbled into his chest. The Club shouldn't suffer because I stay behind.

"My place is by your side," he said as his hand ran down my back, setting tingles alight where he touched. "It's always with you." I was starting to rev up again, my body responding to him, and I could feel him starting to recover. I reached down, encircling him, coaxing him to hardness before placing him at my entrance. I sank down, loving the feel of him inside me as I reached the bottom.

"We could spend a whole week doing this," I said huskily, my lips brushing over his hard pecs as he cupped my ass and moved in and out slowly.

"I'd love to, but we'll be a little busy." I closed my eyes, giving myself over to the sensations. I didn't want to think now, I just wanted to be- to live in the moment, to give myself completely to him, to feel the release that I craved. He felt my need and picked up the pace. I pushed myself up, my breasts dangling over him as I started to drive down fast. I gasped as he took one in his mouth, sucking hard, I felt the sensation shoot through my body as my first release crashed over me.

I collapsed back on him, and he didn't slow down as he rolled me onto my back. I was completely at his mercy now, my legs were pinned to my chest, I couldn't think straight. We came together, my scream caught in his lips as they crashed together.

It took a few more minutes to get my head straight, during which time he rolled us to our sides and held me to his chest. He popped out a minute later, adding to the mess the sheets had become, but I didn't care. I felt loved, well loved. "Wait a minute," I said. "Busy with what?"

He was nervous now. "Well, I kind of promised... you know, since we..."

"What did you do, William Brian Hardigan?"

His face fell, I only used his full name when I was pissed. "I promised we'd help take care of the children while the club was in Sturgis."

"So let me get this straight. You're not letting me go to the rally, and we're not taking our own little vacation together. Instead, you signed us both up to babysit a dozen children here at the Clubhouse for a week."

He nodded. "Basically."

"Fine, but I'm not going to be the one changing diapers and feeding them. I think Fluffy is going to spend the whole week with you while your 'friend' is in Sturgis."

"I'll stock up on dog food, then."

I sent him a glare that could freeze water at twenty feet. "Fluffy likes burgers, fries and shakes," I said. "If she doesn't eat right, she might take it out on you, you'll find a present in your boots or something."

"She wouldn't," he said, but I could see he wasn't sure.

"The wild side of me is still there, and you know how naughty a puppy can be."

"I'll take care of you, Fluffy." He started tickling me, chasing me out of the bed.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "DeWalt? Moose said to call him at his work. It's important."

"Thanks Crash, I'll be down in a few." I took a shower, drying off quickly then going out to the closed and pulling on some clothes, I'd taken to wearing jean shorts and Harley T-shirts or halter tops in the summer. I bent over to put on my sandals, wiggling my butt at him as I did.

"Keep that up and you won't be leaving this room," he said.

"If you could keep it up I wouldn't want to leave the room," I said with a grin. He tried to smack my ass as I walked by, but I was too fast and was out the door before he was out of bed. I smirked at him as I closed the door, ignoring his naked body as he walked to the bathroom. I walked down the hall, past the room where the kids in day care were playing, then went to my office. I closed the door and opened my address book, finding the number. I asked for Moose, and waited a few minutes for him to pick up.

"Bill's Gun Shop, this is Michael," he said.

"Hi Moose, it's DeWalt. You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah. A young couple was here when I opened this morning. He said his name was Carson; he was tall, strong, black hair, she was younger with long blonde hair. She said her name was Jessica and she worked with you at your last job in the Boundary Waters."

Jessica Anderson. She was down here? Something was wrong. Contacting Moose was for emergencies. "I know them. Did they say what they wanted?"

"Just that they needed to talk to you, it was urgent. They said they are staying at a hotel, here's their contact information." He read the phone number and room number to me. "Do I need to worry?"

"Not yet. Thanks for the help, Moose. And don't worry, I won't do anything stupid."

"I hope not, DeWalt, I want you sticking around the club. You make Snake almost tolerable to be around." I laughed and hung up. Snake knocked and came in as I was thinking about how to do this, he looked good in a pair of tan shorts and a Jacksonville Harley-Davidson T-shirt. "I got a call from my old assistant, Jessica. She's in town, she came to the gun shop and talked to Moose this morning."

He sat down in the chair by my desk. "It can't be good if she drove all the way down here. From what you told us, they aren't letting women wander around."

"Well, she's got her mate Carson with her. He's a good man, treated her well when I was there. He was her security for a while before I left." I showed him the hotel. "I want to meet them, but I want to make sure it's safe."

He nodded. "It could be a trap to draw you out. Given how desperate they are with a dozen pregnant females, I wouldn't doubt it."

I looked out the window. "I have to go. She's a friend, I need to help if I can."

"Fine, then. But we do it my way." He went downstairs to talk to the Club members who were around. An hour later, I had called and made arrangements for them to meet me at the Mall of America parking ramp. "It's a good place, full of humans and law enforcement, and everything is on camera," he said. A few Club members had been sent ahead to wait there, even before I called, so they would be able to tell if any Pack members were trying to set a trap for me.

It was just after one in the afternoon when Snake pulled into the ramp on the top floor of the East ramp, stopping by their car. I was parked well away in the lot, having arrived while their attention was on Snake's van. With my braid, sunglasses and Harley bandana, I doubted they'd see me for who I was. He got out and knocked on their door. "Hi, I'm a friend of Vivian. I need Jessica to get in the van with me now." "I'm not comfortable with you, I don't know you," Carson said.

"I don't care. If you want to talk to Vivian, you do what I say, when I say it. She doesn't trust you, and I hear she has good reason not to. You stay here, and I'll bring her back when they are done." They argued for a minute, but eventually he gave in. Jessica got out of their truck and hopped into the back of the unmarked cargo van. I was already on the way to the ramp; a Club member would watch him to make sure he didn't follow. If necessary, he would take out his tires. Other members would follow on their motorcycles from behind, making sure we weren't followed.

I drove back onto the freeway, heading for the meeting place we had set up. The Fort Snelling National Cemetery wasn't far away, and there was a flagpole and memorial set up near the entrance. I parked my bike and walked over to the visitor's center, nodding to Crash as he did a circuit of the area. A few minutes later, Jessica was dropped off at the curb and slowly walked to the benches. When she sat down and Crash nodded it was all right, I walked out towards her.

She smiled widely when she spotted me, jumping up and giving me a big hug. "Doc, I've missed you so much," she said. "Thank you for meeting me."

She looked good, mated life agreed with her, but I could see the strain and the frustration in her eyes. We spent almost an hour talking, as she filled me in on everything that was going on. By the end, she was crying. "I can't do this, Vivian. I'm not who they need, they will all die if you don't help."

"I never said I wouldn't help, Jessica, just that I was not ever returning to that Pack," I said. "I won't endanger myself or my life with increasingly desperate wolves. I do have a way around this, but the Alpha isn't going to like it." Snake and I had continued our exercise, spending weeks working through the details until we had a plan. "I will take over the care of the pregnant women, but on MY terms and territory. Here is the offer. All of the pregnant women, plus you, will drive to a place in Duluth I will give you later. My human friends will pick them up and take them to a secret location; they won't be allowed to know where they are going, they will be blindfolded, and the rooms they are kept in will have no windows. My friends and I will care for them, give them the best medical care I can, and if any survive I will return them to the Pack. If they don't make it, we will cremate the bodies and that's it. Your Alpha, their mates, they won't know where they are."

She looked horrified. "They'll never agree to being separated from their mates," she said.

"Then their mates will die," I said. "It's a take it or leave it offer. When they come down, I want all the medical supplies and equipment I left up there sent along, we'll have a truck for them to load it into. It doesn't return, it wouldn't do you any good anyway. Those are the terms. Ask you Alpha if they are acceptable."

"He's still up North," she said, "I can't reach them. He authorized us to negotiate for him, so we accept your terms. We have no choice."

I gave her a hug. "I know. I'm sorry, but you understand I have to protect myself. I will call you in two days with the details. Oh, and one more thing." She looked at me again. "Part of the deal is that if you want to, you and Carson can break your Pack bonds and stay. We both know what is going to happen if this year goes bad. The Alpha will need another mate, and he's had his eye on you. Your mate won't stop him, he'll kill him and take you in a heartbeat."

"I know." She was crying as we hugged each other goodbye.

I saw the van pulling up to the curb, he had seen the hand signal that I was done. "Get back in the van, he will take you back to your mate. It's going to work out, Jessica."

"I hope so," she said. She walked away and got in, immediately they drove off. I waited a few minutes before walking back to my motorcycle, which was parked next to Crash's. We drove back to the clubhouse, taking routes and doubling back occasionally to make sure we weren't followed.

I was crying the whole time.

Ch. 20

Alpha Clark's POV

"She wants me to WHAT?" I damn near jumped over the desk and attacked them, only Madeline's hand on my back kept me from losing it. Jessica was practically rolled into a ball on the chair, my dominance had rolled over her like a wave and her wolf was completely submissive. Carson was showing his neck, but he was positioned between me and his mate. He wouldn't let me get to her without taking him out, but that wouldn't stop me for long. I finally sat back down, reigning in my wolf who was furious at the idea of letting my mate leave me.

"She... she said we could bring the pregnant females to Duluth, they would be picked up there. She would take care of them, provide them medical care."

I looked over at my Beta pair, both were anxious. Denise was moving closer to the young wolves, she liked Jessica and didn't want her hurt in my outburst. "Please, Alpha, let's hear her out without losing our shit," she said softly. "You sent her to find Doctor DelMara and make a deal, she came back with one. At least let her finish before you dismiss it."

I sat back, pulling my mate into my lap. My hands covered hers over her baby bump, moving my fingers around as I calmed. Denise was a pain in my ass, but she was usually right. She had more backbone than her mate did, but he was better at things requiring brute force. I reached over and pulled a pad of paper out of the drawer with a pen. Focusing, I wrote "Females transferred to Doc's care at her location after transfer in Duluth" as the first item. I looked up at Jessica, she was sitting normally now, but Carson was on the edge of the seat protecting her. "What else did she want?"

"The medical supplies and equipment that we have up here, she wants them."

Beta Charles looked up at that as I wrote it down. "Wait, we need that stuff!"

Jessica shook her head. "Other than the basic first aid stuff and exams, I don't know how to use most of it anyway. It belongs with the doctor. She has tissue samples, reports, a lot of things she was working on to figure this problem out. She needs the lab equipment and supplies to do her research. She wants the drugs, even that expensive IV treatment she ordered last year."

"The one that cost more than half a million?" I had been making the transfer when my first mate, Connie, had started to bleed. With her gone, it had been sitting in the refrigerator. She had been very clear that it could easily kill if not used right. "She can take that, but it is for the Luna. What else?"

"She wants blood. All of the adults and older children need to give a pint before we leave. If last year is any gauge, we'll need a lot." I wrote it down, I wasn't going to argue this one. "Anything else?"

Jessica swallowed, "I am to be allowed, along with my mate, to break the bond with this pack and remain with her if we choose to do so."

"AB-SO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT!" I roared. There was no way in hell I was going to let Jessica leave the pack, ever. She was a hot little number. I hadn't moved fast enough with her after Connie passed, thinking she was still too young since she was still in high school, not even half my age. Still, I didn't think she'd take a choice mate so quickly. If Madeline didn't make it, she was top of my list for the next Luna. "She can't take the only person here with any medical training or experience. Some of the women may not agree to go, they will need help too, and I need Carson here to protect the Pack."

"Alpha, calm down," Denise said. "Write it down, take a breath or two." I sat back, writing it down, swearing to Luna it would never happen as I did so. "Jessica, do you want to go with her?"

"Our home is here, Beta Denise. It's all we have."

I smiled at that. "Is that all?"

"Yes Alpha." She leaned into her mate's chest, I had upset her.

I looked down at my list. "So, she wants us to turn over the patients to her, just the women, no mates or protection, no contact with the Pack or their mates. She wants all our medical supplies, all our blood stock, and our medical assistant and her mate. And what do we get in return?"

"She takes care of our females, Alpha. She is a good Pack Doctor, she will give them the best care she can." Jessica was loyal, I had to give her that. She just didn't see the big picture, but she was so young and trusting. It was both endearing and dangerously naive. "If anyone can find a way to save a mother and baby, it's her. We were working on how to stop the bleeding, on how to deal with preterm babies. We can give them a chance."

I sat back, my fingers tapping on my mate's belly as I thought about it. She was offering all the care I needed, but the loss of control grated at me. I could get the exact same thing just by getting her marked and mated by a man in my Pack, and she'd never leave then. It was a much simpler and more direct solution than taking eleven pregnant women away from their mates to die in an unknown location. And die they would, unless something had changed.

I got up, setting my mate in my chair. "I can't order men to give up their pregnant mates, it has to be their choice. My love, I need you and Beta Denise to call a meeting in the dining room, I expect all pregnant females and their mates to attend. Have the kitchen staff set up snacks and drinks. I'll be down there in twenty minutes."

"So quickly, boss?"

"We don't have much time to set it up, so yes. Jessica, I need you to stay in the clinic and do the blood draws. I'll have people cycle through the rest of tonight and tomorrow, it will keep you busy."

"Alpha," she said, "Don't you want me at the meeting?"

"I think I can handle it, and it would be better if we didn't have to worry about protecting you when this happens. You saw how I reacted, the other ten males could be the same. Let the Betas and I handle it instead. You stick to drawing blood and preparing to move the equipment. I'll require a decision by noon tomorrow, that will give us enough time to get everything ready for the move."

"Yes sir," she said.

"Carson, I need to talk to you and Beta Charles while the others are doing their part," I said. The dismissal was clear, the three ladies got up and left the room. When they were gone, I stared at Carson. "Tell me about the meeting with Doctor DelMara."

"Well, sir, I never saw her. We got to St. Paul and went to Bill's Gun Shop and asked for a guy named Moose. This big human works there, we told him who we were and that we needed the Doc, and left him our contact info. A few hours later she calls and has us meet on the top of a parking garage at the Mall of America."

"Really? That place is cool, I need to go there sometime," Charles said.

"We didn't go in, sir. We are waiting like we were told when a white panel van pulls up next to us. This guy gets out and comes to my window; he's human, but he smells of Vivian. He tells me Jessica needs to get in the van and come with him, ninety minutes later he's dropping her off. She was taken to the national cemetery nearby and met her there. As soon as she was back, we drove right back up here to tell you."