Chapter 47: Shopping

Jack Coffey’s POV

International Border

The direct route between Winnepeg and Two Harbors would cross into Warroad to the southeast, but this route crossed back and forth into Canada several times before it stayed in Minnesota. I was only going to do this once, so I kept going east until I got to Highway 53. My new American passport and driver’s license didn’t raise suspicions at the Fort Frances border crossing. From there, it was mostly south to Duluth, then back up to Two Harbors. With Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, there wasn’t a fast route east-west in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota.

I needed to go to Duluth anyway.

I needed guns.

Mabel Johnson’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House

The girls had brought me to the pool after dinner, telling me that was the social center of the Pack during the winter and the best place to meet everyone. I was in awe of their Pack House; Bitterroot had barracks by comparison when I was there, except for the quarters of the senior leadership. I was sitting in the hot tub and learning about the leadership here when Alpha Rori walked in with her nannies and toddlers. She waved as she sat in the kiddie area with another woman. “That’s Brenda, one of her nannies. Zoe is the other. The babies are Cheryl and Mark.”

“The Alphas have twins? They are so YOUNG!”

“She’s twenty and is pregnant again. She’s the Blessed One.” No one had ever mentioned that story, so I got a quick history lesson. I didn’t even know Arrowhead had disappeared for almost two decades before coming back. “Wow.”

“Our Alphas are the best,” Tonya said.

“I have to ask her something, and I need to cool off,” I told them. I was still a little nervous being naked in public after all my decades living among humans, but it was getting better. I walked over to the kiddie area and quietly asked Rori if I could talk to her.

“Of course, sit down,” she said. I sat next to her in the shallow water.

Cheryl grabbed her toy boat and splashed her way over, plopping down on my leg with a squeal. “Who are you,” I said as she started moving the boat across the water.

“Share-el,” she said. “You play?”

“I’ll play,” I said with a smile. I knew how valuable babies were in Werewolf society, and the children of an Alpha were the future of the Pack. It was a big thing seeing that Alpha Rori trusted me enough after only a few hours to hold her baby. “I’m Mabel.”

“May-Bell,” she said. “Boat.”

“Go ahead and ask what you want,” Rori sent me as Mark sat in her lap.

“I have my apartment back in Ely, and all my stuff,” she said. “It’s not much, but I need it.”

She nodded. “Things are a little testy right now, with everything going on with the other Packs and the FBI. I’m fine with you going to get your things, but I want to send a few people with you. It’s not about you; it’s a Pack rule right now. No one leaves in a group of less than three, and a Warrior or higher has to go along.”

“I don’t want to bother anyone,” I said.

“It’s not a bother at all,” she replied. “We have a dozen people who joined in the past week, and some of them arrived with just their shirts on their backs. We’re sending a few cars down to Duluth in the morning to get them clothes and gear. You could join them and get things for you and Shelly. Hell, she didn’t even have a shirt on her back, and none of the other girls are close to her size.” I could see why; Shelly was nearly six feet tall but skinny as a rail. Even after she gained some weight back, she would need to shop around for stuff that would fit well and look good.

“I don’t know, Alpha. I don’t have money for clothes, and I’m fine using whatever is extra around here.”

Rori just laughed. “Oh, Mabel, you’re a breath of fresh air. Most of these people have lived their whole lives having everything provided for them, while you had to scrimp and save for what you needed.” She handed off Mark and Cheryl to the nanny. “Come on; we need to talk in my office.”

“Yes, Alpha,” I said. I quickly showered and pulled on some clean clothes out of the bins of Pack spares, then put on my walking shoes and sweater. I walked to the office, where I knocked on the door.

“Mabel, come in,” she said. “This is Beta Rick and Beta Teri, they came over from Banff earlier this week. They volunteered to assist you with your shopping, and with picking up your things.”

“Oh,” I said.

Rick and Teri smiled as they shook my hand and took in my scent. “It’s no trouble, we need to learn the area, and we both need to get new vehicles. We’re picking ours up from a dealer in Duluth, but it would be better if you got one from Ely.”

“New vehicle? I can’t afford a car!”

“We make a lot of purchases in cash, and it’s best if that isn’t all done in our back yard,” Rori said. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a bundle of hundreds. “There’s ten thousand here, plus whatever you can get for your car. I had Roadkill take a look at your Honda when he parked it; he said you’re lucky it got you here.”

That was true. If the floor rusted any more, I’d be able to stop my car like Fred Flintstone. “I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s not like that. You haven’t been here the whole time, but our Pack isn’t broke, and we want our people to own stuff. The money is a gift, tax-free, and above board.” She handed me a Visa card. “Every new member gets this too; it’s five thousand to get them started with clothing and stuff for their room. Here’s another card for Shelly; get her enough clothing to tide her over until she can shop for herself.” I had a stack of hundreds in one hand and two credit cards in the other. I couldn’t remember the last time I had more than a hundred dollars after bills got paid. “When we finish here, Teri will take you to the computer room to get your phone and laptop. They’re pre-loaded with everything you need.”

“It’s too much, Alpha.”

“It’s nothing special; everyone gets this. Once you get settled in and get your Pack work assignment, you’ll get paid for that. If you want to work out in the human world, you can do that too.”

By the time I got back to my room, my head was spinning. At my last Pack, I shared a tiny basement room with three other Omegas. I worked for room and board alone. I stood at the window, looking out at the forest behind the Pack House, and wondering how I got so lucky.

The next morning, I stopped in to talk to Shelley about her tastes in clothes and got her sizes. Rick and Teri got in my beater, and we headed south with five other cars to Duluth. I went with the others to the mall while the couple went to pick up his car. Four hours later, their new Ford Escape was full of shopping bags.

The shopping didn’t end there. Teri insisted we take advantage of the late-season sales and get some good winter coats and boots. The sporting goods stores had what she wanted, so we headed to Gander Outdoors in Hermantown.

I ended up getting two for myself, a lighter one, and a heavy-duty parka. I found a cute spring jacket for Shelly and put that in the cart too. I was looking at boots when I recognized a smell as he walked by. Peering through the aisles, I saw a man walking towards the gun counter I wanted no part of. “Rick, what is Jack Coffey doing here,” I sent.

“WHAT?”

“Heading back to the firearms area. I’d recognize that fucker’s scent anywhere.” He’d been to my old Pack a few times, and the memories weren’t pleasant for me.

“Leave your cart and head to the front entrance NOW,” my new Beta ordered. “We’re dialing 911.”

“You’re going to involve humans?” Even as a rogue, I’d never have thought of bringing humans into werewolf affairs.

“That’s what Alpha wants.”

I left the cart at the end of the aisle and walked quickly to get away from that vile man.