All Novel Sweet
12
Alpha Esca’s POV
I looked at the letter that Alpha Stan Larsen had sent me the photographs of, reading it again. He was right, the key was figuring out who the owner of the strip club was. It didn’t say which one, and it was two decades ago, but it was still a good lead.
I sent a text to Alpha Viktor Kirolinko, asking him to video chat with me. His Pack was located in Kstovo, well east of Moscow near the Kerzhenskiy Gosundarstvennyy Prirodnyy Zapovednik, a huge nature preserve. Located in the mountains and deep forests a good six-hour drive from Moscow, they had blended in to the local population for a thousand years without being noticed. With over two hundred adult members, it was a large Pack as well. Viktor was not a close friend, but we had known each other for decades and he had my respect as a good man and Alpha.
I didn’t have to wait long; the popup came up on my computer as soon as I had sat down. Accepting the call, I saw him sitting in his office, his Beta by his side. “Alpha Viktor, thank you for allowing me the time.”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
“It is no trouble, Alpha Esca. How is your Beta? John, wasn’t it? That unpleasantness at the summit?”
I grimaced a little. “He’s still in jail, he pleaded guilty to the assault of that vile man and has at least eleven weeks until he can be released, IF he can behave himself.”
Viktor just laughed. “I heard the story, the man deserved the beating. He should know better than to pinch the ass of a woman who is a Beta’s mate. I’d have killed him if he did that to my mate.”
“Actually, Viktor, his mate is who I am calling about. The St. Croix Pack is protecting her until my Beta is out of jail and can claim her. The Beta’s son has taken the lead in protecting her, and she recently told him that she is adopted. Her mother is dead, killed by her father, they were both Russian.” His eyes lifted as I continued. “Her mother worked at a gentlemen’s club in Moscow; one night the owner took her and raped her, leaving her with child. He killed her when she went to him looking for help in supporting their daughter. I’m asking your help in finding out who owned strip clubs in the Moscow area in 1996.”
Viktor had turned white as a sheet; I was getting nervous as he started talking to his Beta, his eyes growing wide before he practically ran out of the room. Finally, he turned back to me. “Alpha Esca, I don’t need to do research to tell you the answer to this. All of the clubs in the Moscow area are run by the Russian Mob.” He looked down at the desk. “And the head of the Russian Mob in Moscow then was Alpha Yevgheny Zubkov.”
My jaw dropped. “Alpha Zubkov? The one who was just killed, whose Pack is falling apart?”
“Yes. By Luna, this is a mess. This woman, you said she is human?”
I nodded. “Every report I had was that she smelled human, but what we can’t figure out is why she has a wolf mate. Everyone knows that mates are between wolves, so she has to have one.”
“Her father is an Alpha, no wonder he killed his mother. You can’t have rivals running around, and his own mate would have killed him herself if she had found out.”
“He was mated?”
“Yes, he kept it private and few ever saw her. She died in childbirth, taking their son with her. That was about fifteen years ago, and to my knowledge he never took another mate. There was no heir to his Pack, no one came forward to claim it. You realize what this means?”
I shook my head, too many things were running through it to concentrate. “No.”
“It means that wolf or not, she’s heir to the Pack and her Mate will be the new Alpha.”
“I cannae believe it,” I said as I rested my head in my hands. “She is determined to travel to Russia to find out the truth about her parents. She’s going to walk right into that mess.”
“More than that, they’ll kill her and she won’t know why. She’s in real danger if word of her gets out.”
Fuck me six ways to Sunday and back again. My Beta sure knew how to make my life hell. “Thank you, Viktor. I don’t have to tell you this needs to stay quiet.”
“Of course, Esca. Let me know if she decides to visit, my Pack can help with her protection.”
“Thank you. Goodbye, my friend.” I cut the video and let my head fall to the desk. I needed to have a drink, then I needed to call Alpha Stan back and let him know. It was going to take all of us working together to keep her safe and in the dark about what was going on.
John’s little mate was turning out to be a major headache.
****
Jessie’s POV
I woke from the couch, looking around it was dark out and I felt rested. I looked at the clock in the kitchen, it was almost two in the morning! I’d been out for hours.
I walked to the table, turning on the light I read the note Patrick had left for me. I picked up the letter, and thought about it for a while. Getting on the phone, I checked when the first flight would be available from Chicago and how much. Then I checked the web and verified that I could get a passport overnight if I had a flight leaving within 72 hours.
I bought the ticket.
I just had to know.
I wasn’t going to find out anything sitting around here. I had the money, I wasn’t working, and until school started there wasn’t much happening. It was the PERFECT time for an adventure. I turned Patrick’s note over and left my own. He and his folks had been great, but it was time for me to step out on my own and move on with my life.
I picked one that left the next night, then packed a bag with some clothes and went out to my car. I wasn’t tired, so I might as well drive. It wasn’t long before I was on the road, heading down highway 95 to get to Interstate 94 east. I stopped at a Walgreen’s drugstore on the way, having them take my passport photo while I loaded up on Diet Mountain Dew and a bag of chocolate donuts. It was all I would need for this little trip. At the register I saw a paperback version of The Last Shewolf, a hot new story that had hit #1 on the NYT bestseller list and put that in my cart as well. The flight was going to be long and I could use the escape.
My phone was loaded with the address of the US Consulate in Chicago, and it showed an arrival time of ten in the morning. I settled into the drive, setting the cruise control and watching for deer as I flew down the freeway towards Madison. I stopped there for breakfast, getting pancakes, bacon, eggs and candied apples at Cracker Barrel before I was back on the road. Traffic in Chicago sucked as I got closer, but at least it wasn’t rush hour anymore. I found a place to park then went inside the building. It took two hours of standing in line, paperwork filled out, before I could pay my fee. They said I could pick it up at noon tomorrow, which would be plenty of time before I had to be at the airport.
Patrick texted me, asking if I wanted to help with the dog socialization again this afternoon. I just told him I had some things I had to do and maybe next week would be better. I didn’t want him worrying about me, I was an adult and I didn’t need them worrying about me. I walked around downtown, window shopping, then decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium.
I was glad I had worn comfortable shoes, a holdover from my waitress days, by the time I was done walking around. I loved the aquarium, it was a huge one and I just couldn’t leave. By the time I retrieved my car, it was past nine. I found a hotel, shocked at the cost per night, and was in bed by ten.
I woke up before nine and went down to their business area where they had computers available for use. I used Google to look at everything I could find about Sergiyev Posad, then checked the travel sites to make sure I could get from the airport to there. The trains connected from the airport station, then I printed out the routes and schedule and put them in my purse. I downloaded as much reading material to my phone as I could, figuring I could continue reading on the flight.
I checked out of my hotel room and drove back downtown to the consulate, this time it only took an hour to get to the front of the line and get my passport. I drove out to O’Hare, parking in the long-term lots, then took the shuttle to the airport.
I checked in early, only one bag and my carry on. I had my book and my phone, plus a back-up battery pack. I planned to sleep half the flight anyway.
I called Father Kempechny back, letting him know my arrival time in Moscow. He told me to call him again when I got to the train station in the town, and he’d take me to see my mother’s grave.
The hours went by fast, I was so engrossed in the story of Vivian that I almost forgot to eat dinner before boarding. I read, I slept, and finally I was back in the country of my birth.
“Purpose of your visit?” The Customs agent was looking at my brand-new passport.
“Visiting a friend,” I said. He nodded and stamped it, a fourteen-day tourist visa. I moved through into the main area, following the signs that were in Russian and English to the train station. I got a window seat, looking fascinated at the city and the countryside of my heritage as we sped east.
All too quickly, we had pulled into the station at Sergiyev Posad and I walked off with my bag. I looked around at the old town, thinking of how my mother must have felt. I called the Father, and ten minutes later he pulled up in a battered old car. “Jessica,” he said as he pulled up. “You look so much like your mother,” he said with a tear in his eye.
“Thank you for helping her,” I said as I quickly hugged him. He put my bag in the back seat and we were on our way. I had him stop at a roadside stand, buying some flowers for her. Ten minutes later, at a graveyard behind a small Russian Orthodox church, I was seated in front of a grave. I laid the flowers down as the tears ran down my face, my fingers running over her name in the small granite marker. The Father had retreated, allowing me privacy with her.
“Mom,” I said as I took a photo, “I wish I had known you. I wish you hadn’t gone to him, hadn’t risked it all for me. Why go to him if he raped you?” My hands gripped the ground as I blinked to clear my eyes. “I know you did what you thought was best, and I had good parents while they lived. I just found out about you, and it’s too late for us now.” I stayed there for another twenty minutes, then walked back to the car where the Father was waiting.
“Come on, I need to show you some things back at my office,” he said. I hopped in and we were off. “You knew Ekatarina well?”