The Last Shewolf Ch. 17-23

"Human? She's using humans for security?"

"Yes sir. And I think they know about us." I looked at him quizzically. "I could smell silver on him, along with gunpowder and oil. I think he had silver-tipped ammunition."

My claws extended, this was very dangerous. If she had already informed humans of what she was, she was subject to instant execution, no trial. "Any idea who he was?"

"No sir, but I did get the license plate of the vehicle." I wrote it down, one of our men was in the Sheriff's Department and could figure out who it was.

"Thank you, Carson. You did well, and you protected our Pack. Join your mate and get some sleep."

"Thank you Alpha. Beta." He stood and walked out. I went over to the bookshelf, grabbing two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. I poured two, handing one to Charles as I sat back down. "Thoughts, Charles?"

"If she's told humans about us, it gives us some leverage in that we might be able to threaten her to come back or face the consequences. However, we don't know how much the humans know, they might know where we are, how many of us there are. If they know about silver, they could be a threat."

"It would help if we knew who they were. Other than the doctors up here, who else? It doesn't sound like that guy was from her medical school."

"Well, sir, there are some clues. This Moose guy at the gun store. She's been calling here, I could check the phone records. And remember last summer, those bikers who brought her back?"

"Yeah, she said she saved one of them. The Northwoods Riders, if I remember right."

Charles smiled. "Those are the ones. Who owes you more than a biker gang when you save one of their lives? Certainly, they would be capable of giving her security."

I smiled, it was perfect. "We're going to go ahead with the transfer. They won't let her anywhere near here, but that's all right. We'll wait for her. We're going to figure out where these bikers are, where she is hiding, then we'll get her back."

"How? She doesn't want to come up here."

I just laughed, she was a hot, smart woman in a world with no single females left. I would have no shortage of volunteers. "I'm sending male volunteers down to St. Paul. I don't care if they have to walk the city smelling for her, they will find her. And the one who finds her and fucks her gets to keep her. She'll be back here inside a week, along with Jessica and Carson and all our women. Just like it should be."

Ch. 21

Vivian's POV

"You need to rest, love. This will all be here tomorrow." Snake pulled me back into his chest, forcing me to relax into him as my eyes struggled to remain open. He kissed my head gently. "Come on, let's go home."

I looked around the room, my eyes only seeing all the work that needed to be done tomorrow before the women would arrive, if they chose to arrive. Snake's exercises in preparation had paid off big time. I never would have found this place if we hadn't focused on the problem, that whole exercise in listing everything I would need to help the women once they arrived. I had procured an exhaustive list of equipment that I would need, along with a hidden location to use it. There was no way in hell I was bringing anyone associated with that Alpha into my home, I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Snake didn't either, that was why Viper and the other guys were taking such precautions in the transfer. They were already in Duluth, setting up for the exchange of up to twelve pregnant shewolves in the morning.

It was like Luna was looking over my efforts with how it fell into place. I was searching for used medical equipment when I came across a real estate listing for a veterinary practice. It wasn't a large building, it had been run for decades by a single veterinarian and some assistants in Maplewood. When he suddenly passed, his estate could not find anyone to take over; the building and its contents were available for a price, including an assumption of the remaining two years of the lease. I immediately called and made an appointment, and before I left we had agreed on a very reasonable price.

Most of their work was on pets, but they did have the equipment to work on large animals as well. The X-ray machine was old but was workable, the ultrasound was nearly new. The lab was small but capable. The small surgical suite would need a new bed for humans, but otherwise was well equipped. The supply room was stocked, including a number of drugs that would be helpful to me. By converting the office and lobby into living spaces and fixing up the break room into a small kitchen, it would work well for what I needed. It even had a small crematorium; it wasn't large enough for a whole body at once, but in parts it was better than building a bonfire in the suburbs. It solved so many problems at once for us.We left the windows boarded up, not wanting to show anything going on inside. The front faced a busy road, but in back was a fenced-in area that was hidden from the neighbors; once we drove the vans in, we couldn't be seen easily. If anyone inquired, we were preparing the property for auction.

We had driven a van over with the equipment from my clinic and from storage, all the things I had been searching for over the summer. While I was setting things up, Snake and Moose had been making runs to the stores. The ladies of the club had taken over preparations for the women, cleaning the rooms and setting everything up into a functional dorm. They had left at ten, and I was still working in my lab after midnight when he'd finally had enough. I let him lead me to the door, turning out the lights behind us as we headed for the van. "Shit, I forgot my cut. Go start the van," he said.

I opened the door and walked out into the back lot, taking a deep breath as I looked up at the night sky. I hadn't gone two steps when I froze, I could feel him, smell him, but as I turned around it was too late.

Strong arms wrapped around me as I was lifted off the ground. Kicking didn't help, and my head butts landed harmlessly against his strong chest as he walked me to the front of the van. "Donovan, don't do this." I could smell his arousal, it was calling to my wolf, a deep woodsy smell of animal lust.

"Oh, Vivian, how I have dreamed of this day. Alpha Clark sends his regards, and his congratulations on your upcoming mating in about, oh, two minutes." He pushed my back against the hood of the van and forced me down onto the hood, my legs dangling off the ground. His left hand easily caught both of mine, holding them together above my head as I struggled against him in vain. I wasn't weak, but I wasn't a trained Pack Warrior either.

"Please, don't do this, Donovan, I don't want this." I shivered as his right hand went down my side, caressing the side of my breast as it made its way down. I felt the nails shift into claws, cutting away the shorts from my waist before he cut away my underwear. They fell to the ground, leaving my lower half bare and open for him.

"It's what is best for you, and something that I want. The Alpha sent five of us here, promising that if we found you, we could mate you and keep you. This little bout of independence doesn't serve you or our Pack. You belong with us, under Alpha Clark's dominion as his Pack doctor, and a mated Pack woman. Did you really think that he would turn over all those women to you, including his own mate, without a plan to get you back? Foolish woman." I spit in his face, he just smiled. "I found you first, and I win. You'll learn to love being my mate, Vivian. I'll keep you happy, and with this tight body, I know you'll keep me VERY happy." His tongue licked my neck, right on the spot he was going to leave his mating claim. If he managed to screw me to orgasm and bite there, I would be tied to him irrevocably.

"She's already happy, asshole." Donovan stood up and turned, and I looked back to see an angry Snake coming out the back door. His Colt was in his hand, silver bullets at the ready, but I was right behind him.

"Walk away before you get hurt," Donovan growled out. "She's mine, and I'll kill to keep her."

"Funny, so will I." I didn't give him a chance. He had let go of my hands, and I quickly reached under my shirt for the combat knife I kept on a lanyard between my breasts. With his attention on Snake, he didn't consider me a threat. That was his last mistake.

I unsheathed it as I reached around his waist with my left hand. I used the hold for power as I stabbed up with the knife, pushing it into the junction of his vertebrae and the occipital plate on the back of his head. The six-inch blade easily penetrated the bone, destroying the brain stem. It was a lights-out kill; that portion of the brain controlled breathing, heartbeat and all motor function. He fell to the ground bonelessly, dead before he could understand what had happened.

I scrambled off the hood and reached down, removing my knife and cleaning it on his shirt before putting it back in its sheath. Snake ran over, pulling me into his chest. "Shit, Viv, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I said. "He didn't get a chance to do anything. Bring him inside for me?" I was strangely numb, like my emotions had been disconnected. My wolf and I were probably in shock, but I had no time to break down. I reached down and grabbed my destroyed clothing. I removed my keys and opened the door. Walking into the building I tossed them into the garbage. I went to the lab, opening the cabinet with spare scrubs I pulled a pair on, rolling up the bottoms as they were too big for me.

I was only when I looked in the mirror that my mind started to process what just happened, and how close I had come to a second rape and forced mating in less than a year. The adrenaline crash hit at the same time; I started to shake, my body shivering and my brain shutting down. I slid down the locker to the floor, the emotions overwhelming me as I buried my face in my hands.

I don't know how long I sat there, I lost track of time. This was the third male I'd killed, but it was so much worse than the first two. Those had been during a three-on-one situation with rogues, men who were crazed and dangerous. This? This was my friend, my protector, the man who stayed by my side and slept in wolf form each night outside my door. He was like family to me, and he so casually talked about how forcibly mating me was the right and good thing to do.

His words shook me to the core. How much had he hidden his attraction for me during the time I was sleeping with Matt? How could he know me so well, know I didn't want this, but still think it was all right? It was like I was the prize.

Actually, that was EXACTLY what it was. Alpha Clark had sent five men on a hunt for me, winner take all of me. The fact that they would have to rape me, take away my choice forever, didn't even slow them down. My desires were meaningless, even for men I considered trusted friends.

I cursed him and his Pack, vowing to destroy that man's reign over the good wolves I knew in his Pack.

Snake opened the door and looked in. His face fell as he took me in, crying uncontrollably, shaking and holding myself. "Shit, Vivian," he said as he rushed over. He picked me up and carried me to a chair, sitting down and holding me across his lap. I buried my face in his chest, letting all the emotion out as my wolf calmed herself with his scent. We had some deep discussions, my wolf and I, about Snake. She loved him as I did now, saw him as a strong man and a good protector for her. He'd never let me down.

I told him everything that had happened, everything I knew, then I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up the next morning in bed, the light coming through the cracks in the drapes and landing right on my eyes. I looked up, it was nine thirty in the morning. I sat up, looking around for Snake and not finding him. His scent was weak, he had been gone for a while. I got up, seeing I had been changed into pajama shorts and one of Snake's T-shirts. I quickly used the bathroom, then put on sandals and shorts and headed down to the club.

I saw Moose at the bar, eating a bowl of cereal. "What, no hot breakfast? Where is Snake?"

"Gone. He left me here to keep watch over you, he said he would call if he had a chance."

I sat next to him and grabbed a bowl and some Raisin Bran. "Where did he go?"

"Duluth. He said he had some unfinished business with some Clark guy."

Ch. 22

Snake's POV

I walked back downstairs, still pissed off about what happened. I couldn't calm down enough to sleep after I got Vivian back home and put her to bed. I asked Moose to make sure she stayed safe while I did what I had to do. I knew he would protect her while I was gone, that wasn't what was eating at my gut.

I almost lost her tonight. If I didn't take care of this problem, she would never be safe from them.

I grabbed some stuff out of the shop, finding Scrape working on his latest restoration project. Scrape was a welder by trade and an absolute maniac on the road. He drove so fast that if he ever crashed, they'd have to scrape him off the road, hence the name. He flipped up his welding mask and looked at me, his scarred face from a previous crash took a while to get used to. "What are you doing, Snake."

"Going to the clinic, then heading north to the meetup to kick some ass," I said.

"Good, it's too damn quiet around here." He set his stuff down and pulled off his welding jacket, exposing the scars on his shoulder and arm. He wiped the sweat off with a towel, then put on a wifebeater and his cut along with his worn jeans and boots . "You're not going alone. DeWalt is being watched?" I nodded, Moose must have told everyone here what had happened.

"Moose is taking care of it, plus some of the women are here. They are strapped as well." We taught our women to shoot, they weren't weak ones who would hide in the corner. I know I wouldn't want to go against Teri and her favorite shotgun.

"Viper know we're coming?"

"Teri will tell them when they check in."

"I'll follow you." I did a double take, he wasn't the kind of guy to follow, he was the guy who was already there before you decided to leave. I went out to the van, he pulled his big Harley next to me before I left.

The ride was short and quiet at this time of night, and we let his bike out by the street while I opened the fence and parked in back. "We've got a little cleanup to do," I said.

"Figured that." We walked into the back of the clinic, and I opened the storage room where the guy had been dumped.

Scrape rolled the guy over, inspecting the wound. "Fucking clean kill, brother. Remind me not to piss her off." He started removing his clothes, we'd burn them, while I removed everything from his pockets. His wallet had $822 in cash, which I put in my pocket. He had a receipt and key card for a hotel not too far away, and keys to a Ford. I put his driver's license and credit cards with his clothes, we'd burn those before we left.

Once he was stripped, I brought in the big cooler. Scrape helped with lifting him and setting his upper body in the cooler. We had to push down to get his legs and feet folded so we could close and latch the top; we used some rope to make sure it didn't pop open. After we put it back into the van, we came back inside to clean up the evidence.

Scrape got to work with bleach and a mop, cleaning up the stains in the storage room and the driveway. Meanwhile, I used the crematorium to turn the clothing and identification into ash. It was a handy little thing, the club could find uses for it.

The only thing I hadn't burned was the truck key. If it was in the neighborhood, I didn't want a missing person traced to us. Scrape grabbed the key. "We can drive around in an expanding circle and use the remote to find it. Then we can drop it back at the Holiday Inn." It was a good plan, and it worked quickly. We found it parked in front of a mini-mart a couple blocks away. Ten minutes later, it was parked in front of the hotel and Scrape was pushing me out of the driver's seat. "You need to sleep, Snake. I'll drive the first couple hours."

"Thanks, man." I buckled up in the passenger seat and leaned the seat back as far as it would go. Army life had taught me well, I was out before we left the parking lot.

"Wake up, Snake." I opened my eyes, we were at a McDonald's. The sun was coming up, it was 5:30 in the morning.

"You were supposed to wake me up," I said.

"You needed your sleep for what you have on tap this morning," he said. "Come on, drain it and grab some breakfast. We're about an hour away from the exchange point." Vivian had set it up when they agreed, the meet was to take place at ten AM, but we hadn't told them where in Duluth yet. Viper, Doc, Hammer, Dagger, Rocket and Crash were already in place. By the time they arrived, we'd have sniper coverage of all sides of the site. Winchester Silvertips in hunting calibers, elevated firing positions and scoped rifles... it would be a turkey shoot if they tried anything.

Fifteen minutes later, I was driving on the freeway again with a tall coffee and a McMuffin. Scrape took a quick nap, waking when we were in the city. The area we had picked was an industrial park near the docks, a place with big empty parking lots and buildings. I pulled behind the warehouse that we were staging from, Viper waving me over. They had talked to Teri in the morning, so they knew what happened and they were pissed.

DeWalt was one of ours, and you didn't fuck with us.

We went over the plan; originally Viper and Dagger were going to meet them, and Hammer and I would drive the large rented U-Haul. They had room in the front for the medical equipment, and had set up couches in the back along with coolers of food and drink for the women in back. Doc would ride back with the ladies in case anything happened, his first aid kit already loaded. I told Dagger I was taking his place; Carson had already seen me, and it was best if as many faces as possible remained out of sight.

We had plenty of weapons available. Viper and I both put on concealed .45's, along with silver knives in our boots. Doc had a pistol as well, plus we had an AR-15 in the cab of the truck Viper would be driving. The rest of the guys took rifles, they would take up positions between fifty and two hundred yards away, easy shots for us. Finally, I grabbed a pineapple grenade and put it in my pocket.

The guys took their motorcycles and parked them near their sniper positions, so they could get away quickly if needed. Viper had called them at 7:30 with the location, so we moved the truck into position and sat to wait. I took another nap, I'd need to be sharp. All of us had small radios with earpieces, voice activated microphones attached, and the snipers were watching in all directions.

At 9:52, we got the first call. Two Suburbans and a Escalade were approaching from the north; it had to be them. Viper put the truck in gear, parking in the center of the meeting area, the back of the truck facing north. I left him in the cab as I walked out. "Opening the back," I said as I unlatched the rollup door. I pushed it up, exposing the couches, and pulled out the ramp from underneath. The big cooler was right up front, and I pulled it out and down the ramp before setting it twenty feet from the ramp.

"They're here," Dagger said as the vehicles pulled into the open area of the lot. I turned, arms crossed on my chest as I stood in front of the cooler and waited. The three vehicles stopped in a line, and a big guy got out and opened the passenger door of the Escalade. The guy who stepped out looked dangerous, and I knew this was the Alpha. He walked towards me, flanked by the big guy who must be his bodyguard.

"Where's Doctor DelMara," the man demanded as he stopped on the other side of the cooler from me.