Chapter 19: End Of The Year

The days leading up to the New Year were hectic for our little Pack. Both of us had interviews with the FBI, who were looking into who else might have been involved in the kidnapping attempt. When they searched their Stillwater home, they found evidence that pointed to a decade of criminal activity. Cash, burner phones, guns, and burglary tools were all present. The jewelry and other items they found tied the couple to a string of increasingly dangerous burglaries, including several home invasion robberies.

The problem was that nothing had been taken from their home, except Liv and Vicki.

We had discussed what we were going to share with the investigators and agreed we would not mention anything about werewolves or Alpha mantles to the humans. We did agree that she could tell them about Vicki’s father and how he reacted to the news that she was pregnant. Larry thought it would help keep the Marengo Lake pack off our backs if they knew the Feds were watching them.

Both of us were involved now because John Petersen, formerly Ivan Volkov, was my younger brother. I told them part of the truth; that John had married and move to Wisconsin, and we hadn’t been in touch since after my wife died. I’d withdrawn from my family, and he gave up trying to see me. I didn’t know until after Liv came to stay at my house and saw the photos that John was Vicki’s father. She had not had contact with John since he told her to get an abortion. When asked why she didn’t list his name on the birth certificate, she was blunt. “To him, I was a nothing more than a fun fuck before he went back to his new wife. I wanted nothing to do with him and nothing from him. He would have no claim on my baby, EVER.”

Truth, not the whole truth.

They promised her they would follow up with him, but they wouldn’t get much. They hadn’t been able to keep our names out of the paper, but none would reveal that they were now living with me. “She’s my niece, and they have nothing. We’ve been friends for years, and I had an empty apartment above my garage. My in-laws brought them to my home after the attack, and she accepted my offer to rent it to her. Neither of them can handle being in the place Grandma was killed, and it was in her grandmother’s name, not hers.”

The advantage of stalking her meant that I wasn’t a suspect. They did interview people at Wiederholts and in the neighborhood, but they wouldn’t find anything.

I gave the agents the information I had on him, including his address and a photograph from his wedding.

The FBI also asked about Liv’s relationship with her parents, and she was open about that too. She told them their reaction to her pregnancy and how they had disowned her. When Liv went to live with her Grandmother, they cut ties with her as well. “They don’t want anything to do with me or my daughter, and all the kidnapping did was embarrass them. They didn’t care enough to kidnap us.”

She called Mike at Wiederholt’s and tried to quit her job. “The FBI thinks someone hired the kidnappers, and I might still be in danger,” she told him. “It is going to take months to deal with my mother’s estate and everything else. I don’t want you to hold a job open when I don’t know if I’ll ever return,” she told him.

I could hear his response. “That doesn’t mean you have to quit. Take a leave of absence; if you need two months, call me back in February and let me know how you are doing. Everyone misses you around here; almost every night someone asks me about you.”

“I’ll be all right. Grandmother had some insurance, I might go back to school full time when things settle. Thank everyone for thinking of us.”

“We’ll see you at the memorial service,” he said. “In the meantime, if you need anything, just call.”

“I will.”

He paused for a second. “Have you talked to Leo? I still can’t believe that the old man took those two out. Is he all right?” I bristled at the ‘old man’ comment, I was *only* 51!

“Leo is doing ok. It was a shock for everyone, but thank God he stopped them before they got out of the parking lot. God knows what would have happened to us if he hadn’t been there.” I smiled; I had defended my family, and I felt satisfied. It was the first Alpha-like thing I had done in years.

“I think it will be a while before he has to pay for his dinner in my place. He’s a hero.”

“He also killed two people in front of a young girl, and that isn’t easy to get over. We’ve all got some things to work through. Thanks, Mike. I’ll stop in when I can and pick up my check.”

“We should go Tuesday; they’ll expect me there,” I said. “If all of us go, we’ll be safe there.”

“I don’t know,” she said, “Would a house full of werewolves want to eat huge slabs of prime rib?”

I tried to keep a straight face, lasting a heartbeat longer than she did. “It would be good to see your friends there, and Sharkbait loves her beef now.”

Liv rolled her eyes; ever since the shift, Vicki had been eating a lot of meat, the rarer, the better. Some of the Winona Pack members even took down a buck, dragging the fresh meat into the woods behind my home. Vicki had come out with the others, getting her first taste of ‘fast food’ in her canine form. Anita had been training her hard, taking her out every night from sundown until past ten in her wolf form. She was learning how to function as a wolf and use her senses to her advantage. She learned how to run in the dark, how to move without making noise, how to stalk, and how to track. Last night had been her proudest moment.

Flashback

“Unka Leo, bring Mommy to the back door,” she sent me just after nine. I found Liv with the others downstairs and brought her up to the kitchen. When we opened the door, Liv jumped into my arms and screamed. Like a cat, Vicki had brought Mom a fat jackrabbit in her mouth, the blood staining the fur around her mouth. “Momma doesn’t like my present?”

“Momma didn’t expect her little wolf to be bringing her dinner,” I sent back. I managed to turn Liv back to look at her daughter. “It’s all right. Is that your first rabbit, Vicki?” She nodded. “I’m very proud of you. Go back to the woods and eat it, then wipe your face in the snow before you come inside.” She ran back down the stairs and into the woods as I closed the door.

“I suppose I have to get used to her eating other animals, but did she have to bring it to me?”

“She was proud of herself and wanted to show you. Catching a rabbit isn’t easy; she has to stalk close enough before attacking and be quick enough to get it before it escapes. It’s a testament to how fast she’s learning.”

“It freaked me out a little. I’ll be sure to congratulate Vicki and Anita, right after she finishes brushing her teeth and taking a bath,” Liv said.

Present time

The training was leaving her exhausted each night, and she was sleeping until nine or ten in the morning. During the day, Anita was teaching both of them about living in a Pack and around other wolves. After lunch, the two of them went up to their apartment for classes, while I went to my office. The first order of business was to make a reservation for twenty at Wiederholt’s for Tuesday night. With the holiday it was busy, but I didn’t mind coming in with the old people at five. The hostess was thrilled to hear from me and was happy to change my usual table for one to a much bigger one.

The next thing I needed to do was to send out a formal notification to the surrounding Packs of the Miesville Pack territory and leadership. Larry and I had decided that these needed to happen before we started any recruiting of new members; the Alphas wouldn’t like it if they lost people to an Alpha they weren’t aware of. I listed myself as Alpha, Mike & Anita as my Betas, and one adult and one juvenile member to round out the minimum number. My Pack territory would be centered on my eighty acres of land south of Miesville. Every Pack was allowed a ‘buffer zone’ they could control around their owned property, up to two miles in every direction. Where this crossed the buffer of other Packs, the difference was split.

I still had the map from when I was Alpha. My property anchored the western edge of the territory, while most of the homes and land were farther east along the Cannon River Valley. Since I was no longer in that Pack, my area was no longer claimed by them. I’d verified this by runs along the County and State lands in the river valley, and set up my own boundary markers the old fashioned way.

I peed on the trees and rocks along the new border.

I used my computer and a satellite map to mark out the territory and the buffer, which included the Miesville Ravine and the north side of the Cannon River. Printing out copies, I addressed them to the Alphas of the five closest Packs and put them out in the mail. It would be after the New Year by the time they arrived, which worked for me. There was not going to be any hiding of my Pack or of Vicki now that she had shifted. Her scent was much stronger now. Anyone in the same room, or passing her on the street, would know exactly what she was with a sniff.

Whether it happened at Wiederholt’s or at the memorial service, we’d have extra wolves around.

By the time New Year’s Eve rolled around, Sharkbait could shift smoothly between forms. I had given her an Alpha order not to phase into her wolf unless an adult told her, and I was confident she would be all right in public. Wiederholt’s was a test run; emotions would be much higher at the memorial.

It was a beautiful, warm afternoon, with temperatures near thirty. Brent had driven to Winona yesterday, returning with a trailer with two snowmobiles and gear. Two or three extras would be enough of an escort to let Vicki and Liv out of the house. “Who wants to go snowmobiling,” I asked everyone after lunch.

“ME!!! Please Unka Leo, go riding and go FAST!” I knew our little speed demon would be up for it.

“Liv? Do you want to go?”

“If it’s safe,” she said. I told her we’d have two escorts, and she agreed. “Come on, Vicki! We need to get ready.” Vicki ran up the stairs to get her winter gear and wool socks on.

“I’ll meet you in the garage,” I said as they disappeared. Brent was looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. “I take it your sled has room for a passenger?”

“If it’s the right one,” he said with a grin.

“I’ll tee it up, but you have to convince her. Make sure you have a pistol.” He took off to get his stuff, along with Craig and Connie. I changed in my room, placing my Glock in a shoulder holster under the light shell I’d wear with my snowmobile suit. Liv was already in the garage getting Vicki dressed by the time I got out there; we finished dressing out, then I opened the door and pulled the sled out into the driveway. Brent and Craig were waiting, their sleds idling. “Liv, do you want to ride with Brent? It wouldn’t be as crowded as three of us on this machine.”

“Momma, race you!” Vicki loved the idea.

“Are you sure,” Liv said as I looked between them.

“It will even out the sled weights,” I said.

“Can I drive some,” Liv asked Brent.

“Whenever you’re comfortable with it, it’s all yours,” he said. Liv nodded and moved over to sit behind a beaming Brent, who was looking forward to her snuggled into his back, or his arms around her waist, for a few hours.

“Brent, you lead, we’ll be in the middle. Craig and Connie, you stay back and watch our six.” He moved out, and Vicki was bouncing as we slid in behind them. We exited the driveway and drove north until we caught the trail.

“Ready to open it up, Alpha?” Brent’s voice had a teasing edge; I think he just wanted his mate to hold him tighter.

“Stay safe, we’ll keep up with you,” I replied.

“Go, faster,” Vicki added. She could link with any of our Pack members in either form now. Faster is what we did, the bright sunshine giving us the visibility we didn’t have the last time out. We were pushing eighty on the flats, and that close to the ground, it felt a lot faster than that.

We went as far as Farmington before pausing for a break. “Having fun, baby,” Liv asked as she got off Brent’s sled and came over to her.

“SO fun, Mommy,” she said.

“Brent, can I drive back?” He nodded and moved back on his sled so she could get in front.

“Sharkbait drive, too?”

How could you say no to those eyes? “I’ll have my hands on yours. If I tell you I have it, you let me take over, no arguments,” I told her. “Let’s start out slow in the first field, the ladies are driving.”

“You go first,” Liv told me. Vicki had to sit in my lap to reach the controls, and I wasn’t going to let her go more than ten miles an hour that way. She had some trouble steering, so after a hundred yards, she was ready for me to take over again. I got her settled and waved for Liv to take the lead position. It turned out Liv was just as much of a speed junkie as her daughter, and we raced home at high speed. We arrived back home just before sunset, just enough time to shower and change for dinner before we had to leave for Wiederholt’s.

We took five vehicles north, parking together in the back lot. I let Mike go in first with some of the Winona Pack, while Anita and Brent stayed close to their charges. “We’ve got a few werewolves here,” Mike said.

“It’s not uncommon to have some here,” I sent back.

“What the hell is HE doing here?”