Chapter 53: Aftermath

Luna Carolyn’s POV

“We’re entering Pack lands,” I sent to Lewis as we drove past the guards at the entrance.

“How are you,” my mate replied.

“Tired and hungry. All our food was left behind, and we got back here as quickly as possible.” I could still taste that pizza, and I wanted more.

“I’ll have the kitchen send some food to the clinic. I need you and Bonnie to come to the clinic. The guards will let you in.”

Now I was alarmed. “What’s going on?”

“Luna Brenda of Marengo Lake killed Alpha Mark Conway of Stillwater.”

“Why?” I felt terrible, Luna Belinda was fourteen weeks pregnant with their first child, and now their baby wouldn’t have a father.

“Brenda paid Mark fifty grand to kill Alpha Leo Volkov. It’s all on tape, but she pulled a knife and killed him instead of paying him the money. When our guards arrived moments later, she killed herself.”

“Oh, my LUNA.” What a mess, two Alphas dead at the Gathering? Three with Leo? “Is Belinda at the clinic?”

“We took everyone left in both Packs into custody, and Luna Belinda started to miscarry. She’s in the clinic now. The other Council members and I are waiting for news. Come straight here, to the conference room.”

The driver was already heading there, thanks to Donna, but her mate hadn’t told her why. I filled her in before the car stopped. We were out of the back in a flash, hurrying to the door and pushing aside the guards. “Belinda must be a mess, she’s going to need us to pull through,” I said as we moved down the hall. We burst through the door, and I froze. “What the HELL,” I said as I saw Leo and Adrienne sitting in the corner. “You’re DEAD!”

“Don’t say anything to anyone outside this room. We don’t know how big the conspiracy was yet,” Chairman Sanders said.

Lewis pulled me into his lap; I leaned back, letting him scent me to calm his wolf. “Olivia and Vicki took off after they heard you were dead! Have you at least told them it isn’t the case?”

“We can’t tell anyone outside of this room until morning,” the Chairman said.

My jaw dropped; I couldn’t believe it. “OLIVIA AND HIS BETAS THINK HE IS DEAD! How can you DO that to them, to his Pack?”

“That’s enough,” Chairman Sanders said with a growl. “Council business takes priority over a minor inconvenience to a Pack, especially when the Alpha involved is already facing death!”

“I…” I shook my head; I couldn’t believe this. “There is a little girl out there who will be crushed when she finds out her Alpha, Unky Leo, is gone. His Pack may already be disbanding, afraid of what will happen if he is gone. This is madness!”

“Control your mate, Chairman Wolfe, before I have her silvered and restrained,” he replied. He didn’t like a woman questioning his decisions.

“Why not silver someone else, it worked on a FIVE-YEAR-OLD,” Bonnie said.

“WHAT,” Leo asked as he jumped to his feet. Two guards behind him shoved him back down in his chair. “YOU SILVERED MY HEIR?”

“The Lunas stopped that as soon as we found out about it, Leo,” I said. “It was a serious lapse of judgment by people tasked to place her in protective custody. Bonnie and I took them all to the Atlanta Aquarium for Vicki’s birthday, and she had a great time. If it not for the news of your fake death, she’d be here with you right now.” Adrienne calmed him down, and I continued. “What will they do now? Where will they go?”

“They’ll hide from you,” Leo said. “With me gone, Vicki has no protection from those who would use or kill her. Mike, Anita, and Liv will disappear to protect her.”

“Shit,” Lewis said.

“Worse than that. My Betas will expect the Pack to be taken over by the Council, so they won’t call anyone or ask for help. They’ll find somewhere far from any Pack and settle down. I’ve given them access to funds that can support them for years if needed.” Leo put his head in his hands, and I could feel the pain off of him. Vicki was family.

“We’ll deal with that in the morning,” Sanders said. “For now, you should get some sleep. The Captain is conducting interrogations with the other Pack members to see what they know. We should be able to ‘undead’ you when the hearing picks up in the morning.”

One of the guards came in with a tray filled with sandwiches, chips, and drinks. Lewis got me an Italian meat sandwich, Cool Ranch Doritos, and milk. With everyone eating and the Chairman on edge, it was better to shut up and eat.

One of the doctors poked his head in, his scrubs stained in blood. “We did everything we could, but she lost the baby. We couldn’t stop the blood loss. Belinda didn’t make it; we called it five minutes ago,” he said before he went to shower.

My sandwich fell to the table, and I started to cry.

Olivia’s POV

It was two in the morning when Anita woke me up. “We’re almost to Mobile, Alabama. I need to get gas and let Anita drive,” he said. “We should all use the bathroom. Bring Vicki, too; we won’t stop again until morning.”

I rubbed my eyes; Mike was slowing as we exited Interstate 85. He pulled into the truck stop and parked by the gas pump. I turned to Vicki, shaking her gently until she stirred. “Come on, Sharkbait! Time to go to the bathroom.”

She rubbed her eyes and slowly woke as I undid the buckles on her toddler seat. She didn’t want to walk, so she held onto my neck as I walked across and into the bright store. I found a family bathroom and went in with her. “I don’t need to go, Mom,” she said.

“We’re going to be driving for a while, so go anyway,” I said. After we were both done and washed, I carried Vicki back out. She was asleep again before Anita came back with a bag.

“What did you get?”

“Mountain dew and chocolate donuts,” she said. “I can drive all night on those.” I just rolled my eyes. “There’s still pizza around. I picked up some apples, bananas, and Twinkies, too.”

“Twinkies?” I just shook my head. “They have an expiration date only because the Government makes them have one!”

“This isn’t Zombieland, even though he was right,” she said.

“They are so artificial they don’t even spoil! Anita, if a pill bottle says ‘take with food’ and all you have are Twinkies, you should wait,” I told her.

“Creamy goodness and spongy cake! More for me, then,” she said with a grin. She pulled up to the door, waiting for Mike to get out of the restroom.

“Where are we going?”

“It was a combination of two factors. We looked for the best aquarium in Texas that wasn’t near any Packs. We’re heading to Corpus Christi.” Dang, that was almost to Mexico. “It’s too hot, open, and dry for Packs down there. The other option was near Dallas, but there is a Pack in Denison.”

“Seriously? We’re picking a hiding spot based on aquariums?”

“Vicki needs distractions. There are worse ways to do that than to hop from aquarium to aquarium.”

I thought about it. “What if we run across other werewolves?”

“We leave,” she said. “We won’t be staying anywhere more than a day or two. It’s better to stay on the road.”

Mike got in the passenger seat, and Anita got back on the road, following the navigation system. I moved back to the third row, laying down to sleep. I’d drive at the next stop.

Ivan Volkov (John Petersen’s) POV

So far, the Summit was a waste of my time. I wasn’t allowed in the courtroom to support my brother because I wasn’t an Alpha anymore. Brenda didn’t include me in any of her discussions, as I was ‘only’ her protection. Once she figured out no one was going to challenge her, she told me to stay away from her.

That was the easiest order to follow that she’d ever given me. I hung out with the Betas, drinking and watching sports in the basement until it was time for the singles to head up for the mandatory disappointment period; the ‘scratch and sniff.’ A few of us hung together, passing a bottle around as we waited in line. It irked me that I had to go; what did they expect would happen? My real mate had rejected me immediately, and the arranged mate did it after we had two children. I would cut my junk off before I’d take a third try at this mating thing.

The bottle of tequila we were passing was almost to the worm when I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I reached my hand up over my heart, unable to breathe. “John, are you all right?”

I shook my head no as I dropped to a knee. As quickly as the pain came, it went away again, and with it went the Alpha bond I had to Brenda. I shook my head as my wolf howled. There was only one explanation.

Luna Brenda was dead.

“Brenda… something happened to her,” I said as I stood up. “I have to find her.”

I tried to smell her, but there was nothing. She wasn’t in the area. Finding one of the security guys, I explained the problem. He linked with his boss, then gestured for me to follow him. “Luna Brenda has been found dead. Follow me please, Alpha Volkov.”

Alpha Volkov. After she rejected me, I went back to my old name, no longer needing to keep the Petersen name that she and our children had. I may as well go back to my birth name. I walked with the security guy towards their building; I could see people coming in and out. Before I could react, I was surrounded by a half-dozen me, one with silver shackles. “Ivan Volkov, you are under arrest. Kneel and be silvered.”

“On what charge,” I asked.

“Conspiracy to commit murder,” he said. I looked around; the men had pistols loaded with silver ammo and cattle prods. There was no point in fighting; I went to my knees and allowed them to handcuff me. The men placed a silver detention collar around my neck and shackled my ankles with a chain connected to my handcuffs. The men pulled me back up, then took me to the cells. I was processed and led into a cell in the basement. They didn’t say anything as they removed everything but the collar and left me alone.

They must have figured it out.

I was technically guilty of murder. With Brenda gone, the Council must have decided to clean the house at Marengo Lake. I had arranged for Vicki’s kidnapping, a bungled job that resulted in her great-grandmother’s death. I would plead guilty and face my death with honor.

As I fell asleep, I wondered if I would have a chance to apologize to my daughter before it was too late.