Were in the City

Jacob's POV

On the road to Jenkins' Safe House

Jacob did his best not to groan too loudly inside the SUV as a Jenkins wolf maneuvered the broken parts of his arm back together. Once that was done, an improvised support made from the back of one of the seats was wrapped around the break and secured with some rope they'd found in the emergency bag under the floor of the back compartment. It was a bit awkward but wasn't the worst solution Jacob had ever seen.

He kept checking on Liam, who was lying across a set of seats with his head in Beth's lap. Still breathing, wounds tightly bound, he would make it as long as they got him someplace where he could get complete care in the next few hours. Bobby was slumped in a seat behind Beth, his head wrapped carefully. He'd regained consciousness as they'd loaded the other vehicles at the warehouses. They were letting him doze now but Beth was waking him at regular intervals to make sure he didn't slip away again.

Beth met his eyes and nodded,

Don't worry Jacob, I'm watching them both carefully. I will let you know if anything changes.

Beth continued to surprise him. She was a lot stronger than she looked. He was feeling more and more protective of her and Bobby. Is that what a pack bond did? He found himself thinking that he would miss them both when they broke their small pack's bond and returned to Jenkins.

They had made it out of the Richard estate, Jenkins driving, leading a convoy of 6 vehicles, and were on the main highway headed for a safe house Jenkins had set up. Jacob didn't want Jessie too far behind them.

Jessie where are you?

There was no answer. They were not out of range for pack-talk yet.

Jessie answer me!

Nothing.

Jessie?!

Beth, what was Jessie doing when you last saw her?

She was talking with Bill. She handed him an envelope.

"Jenkins, Jessie isn't answering my call. Do you know what she's doing? Is she following us?"

Jenkins let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Everyone please remember we are in a moving vehicle and I'm driving ... No, she's not following us. She's headed to Ontario with Jack."

Helen covered her ears, both Liam and Bobby jerked awake as Jacob yelled "STOP THE CAR! NOW DAMN IT! STOP!!!!"

Jenkins kept driving. "Jacob, what can you do? Its hundreds of miles and you've got a broken arm. You couldn't catch up to them even if you had four good legs."

"I'll take this SUV, everyone else move to other vehicles ... now ... please!"

"The others are packed full, there's no room. We need this car too."

"Fuck that, I don't care if you have to sit on top of each other. Stop the bloody car right now or so help me I'll jump out while we are moving."

Liam was struggling to sit up and Beth was trying to keep him down.

Liam lie still, your wounds will start bleeding again.

Jessie's in trouble?

Not yet, but she's alone and headed straight for trouble damn her.

"How could you let her go? She can't take them all on by herself. She's driving right into their hands. She needs backup."

"She'd made up her mind. She has a chance to deal the Richards a big blow and couldn't pass up that chance."

"Find me a car. Any car. You've got 5 minutes before I rip this door off its hinges. I will not continue to move away from her."

"We are only a few minutes from our original starting point. We are going to stop to pick up the supplies we've cached there. Can you wait until then? You at least need some clean clothes Jacob."

Jacob nodded reluctantly, "Fine. But I'm not staying with you. One way or another I'm going to her ... where exactly is she going by the way?"

"Timmins Ontario. There's a plane waiting at the airport for Jack and the others."

He did some calculations and groaned, "That's at least 8 hours away now, and she's going to have at least an hour's head start ... probably more. Shit!"

As the minutes ticked by Jacob stared out the window, despair slowly settling into his bones. If something happened to Jessie, if they took her away .... Don't think about that, think only about getting to her as quickly as possible.

The advertising on a highway sign they passed gave him an idea. "Jenkins, how much money can you get access to right now?"

"We've got credit and debit cards in the cache. Why?"

"I'm going to need a lot. I'll pay you back with interest. Get me clothes and money and then drive me to Apple Valley Scenic Helicopter Tours. The sign back there says it's about 20 miles ahead. I'm going to buy a flight to Timmins."

Jacob glanced at the clock on the dash. If he could get on a helicopter within the next hour ... and it didn't have to refuel on the way (oh please let them have one with extra fuel tanks) ... then flying straight to Timmins over all the lakes and other features the highway had to wind around would mean he could get there at pretty much the same time as Jessie, maybe a little ahead of her. He could even sleep on the way there.

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Jessie's POV

On the road to Timmins Ontario

A long drive at the end of a long day, not really a good idea ... and she was going to end up arriving at their destination exhausted, a perfect setup for stupid mistakes. Jessie wondered if she could safely command Jack to drive while she slept but there were probably lots of ways that could go wrong so she couldn't take the chance. She shook her head and let out a long sigh. There was a bad pattern developing in how she dealt with things - jump into some crazy action and then spend a lot of time second guessing it. Fuck!

She was learning not to become overconfident of her special abilities -- they had a lot of flaws. She could get some good clues about any Were she touched, but only a lot of time could give her a really deep and broad sense of things and she was never going to get a lot of time with any adversary. She could issue plenty of commands but the stronger the individual the more ways there were to fight back, and the more complex the orders the more likely it was that unintended things would happen. Best to keep it simple stupid (KISS principle even for supernatural abilities .... Arg!)

About two hours into the trip Jessie started asking Jack Richard questions to keep herself awake. Might as well learn as much as possible about the delightful (not!) family she was unfortunately part of. An hour after that she felt like throwing up -- how much did Helen, Jacob, Liam know of these things? Why hadn't they told her more, warned her about just how screwed up it all was? Helen had never been wildly enthusiastic about Jessie's ideas, always hinting that it was more complicated than she thought, and as she listened to Jack she knew she'd now dipped her toes into quicksand ... it could easily suck her down, finish her and those she loved. The Richards had had many, many years to build a massive empire and corrupt so many others. Even if she did manage to take out the six men at the center it would take many, many more years to clean out the rot that surrounded them ... if that was even possible.

As she listened to Jack, feeling increasingly horrified, she wished Jacques Richard's daughters Silvie and Mariam had been able to live the lives they should have had. How would today have been different if the twins had grown up together, supported each other, fought back against Jacques' twisted desires ... if Silvie had accepted Jacob as her true mate; if Mariam had met and accepted Liam as her true mate? Jessie was sure that was what had been intended. When Jacques died Mariam would have become Alpha at a time when a woman in that position would have been unusual, at a time when women were beginning to assert and gain rights in the wider society. There would no doubt have been challenges but Jessie was sure that it wouldn't have all ended up as sick and ugly as it was now.

She and her mother would not have existed in that alternate reality. Even so, too bad there wasn't a time machine to go back and change history so that the weight of all this wouldn't be crushing her now. Jessie was mad. Why was all this her problem for heaven's sake?! It was all a lot worse, much more complicated now, some 150 years after her grandmother was born. How was she supposed to ... what was it again ... "create a new pack over the bones of the old one"? She had free will, why not walk away from it all? Stupid freaking curse, what a pile of crap! Find somebody else to play this game, not me!

There was only one problem, one cruel sweet trap. She was stuck with what Silvie and Mariam had lost: Jacob and Liam. There would be no peace for her, no way to ignore what she was, as long as she remained so deeply and completely connected to them. She was only a few hours, a few hundred miles from them and it hurt. They had been fighting five times longer than she had been alive and had never given up -- could she wimp out only months after this had all started for her? Nasty as the whole situation was now, how much worse would it have been without their efforts along with Helen and her group?

So she would keep going, focus on one thing at a time. Maybe it wasn't up to her to fix everything, to build something new ... maybe just get it started? She could make sure there were bones to build over at least. She would start with that.

The hours and the miles went by. Jessie kept asking questions and Jack babbled on, giving her a crash course in how to make a fortune off the misery of others, how to manipulate, threaten, buy, destroy your way to whatever you wanted. Jessie wondered who she would have been if she'd grown up within the Richard family -- one evil bitch, that was certain. It made her wonder ... Jack had said several times already that the Richards were proud to be "pure" wolf, from an ancient Were line ... so how did that jive with their plans for her offspring? She was a gryphon and any children she had could end up gryphons too. Even if a child became a wolf he or she would not be the Richard definition of "pure" wolf. That would end if they wanted the alpha mantle back. Too bad she wasn't something like a WereToad or a WereSlug -- something slimy and stinky -- that would fit nicely into their "pure" lineage if they ever were to succeed with their plans for her.

Less than an hour before Timmins Jessie pulled over for a quick meal break. She needed as much energy as she could get for what was coming. Jack got water and nothing else -- she wanted him as weak as possible. His voice was ragged from all the talking, he looked tired. If he wasn't acting exactly like himself when they met the others that could be his excuse. The last thing she did before getting back on the road was to put a silver collar around her neck (unlocked) and silver restraints on her wrists (also unlocked). She had to look like Jack's prisoner.

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Jacob's POV

Timmins, Ontario

It was just after 11pm when Jacob stepped quickly but carefully from the helicopter. They'd made to Timmins in record time but even so he was worried that Jessie and Jack had been in Timmins for a while already.

Jessie? ... Can you hear me? ...

He got a response, but it was faint and odd, like a confused sigh.

Jaaaa ... Jaaaa ... Jacobmmmm??

It didn't do more than reassure him that she was still alive. When he tried again he got no response at all.

The helicopter pilot was very familiar with the airport and had given Jacob a full overview, pointing him to where private planes would be parked and loaded prior to takeoff. He walked to that area, approaching quietly. There were two planes, only one with a pilot who looked to be doing a pre-flight check. There was a security perimeter so Jacob found a spot to hide and watched from the shadows. A breeze blowing his way brought the scent he needed -- the pilot was a wolf. Now he just had to wait.

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Jessie's POV

Timmins, Ontario

Well, it wasn't as bad as it might have been ... but it wasn't great either. Not that she cared at the moment. She was high, struggling to focus, unsuccessfully fighting the urge to giggle as she watched four Richard men argue. It was three against one. Poor Jack, she'd messed him up so much that he only had a small set of responses to choose from for every question.

They had arrived at a hotel near the airport less than an hour ago. Jack had texted his son Peter when they'd entered Timmins and had been directed to where the others were waiting. Jessie had thought she'd thought of everything when she'd asked Jack about any code-words he was supposed to use to verify his situation -- he'd told her there were some and they'd used them -- but she hadn't thought to ask about what condition she was supposed to be in when they arrived. She'd walked into the hotel suite restrained but sober and Stephen's son Joseph had fixed that before she understood what was happening. At least she wasn't unconscious and nobody had checked to see that her restraints were actually locked.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Get your shit together!"

Jack growled, his voice hoarse and breaking, "I'm exhausted damn it! You've all just been sitting around while I had to fight my way out of there with her and then get here."

"We get it ... poor you ... but you volunteered to stay behind, you knew what could happen ... stop complaining and answer the damn questions!"

Jack groaned, holding his head with both hands. "Beth Parker's video is on that thumb drive and Jessie Taylor is sitting right here on this couch. Isn't that enough?!"

"Fuck Jack, you know it's not. Is the rest of it working? Are Beth Parker and the de Vries scum dead? Who attacked? We need to send all the wolves with us away now using the excuse that the Algonquin Pack needs their help -- will that stand up when they check it by phone? Details Jack, we need details!"

Jessie realized she needed to intervene in some way, but it was hard to think clearly. It would be so easy to close her eyes and drift. She dug the nails of one hand into the palm of her other hand trying to stay present. She mumbled, "Jacob and Liam are gone ... I felt them go ... you'll pay for that I promise you. So many gone ... Beth didn't deserve what you did to her ..."

"Well thank God somebody's talking!" Joseph walked over to the couch, grabbed her face with one hand and tilted her head so he could look in her eyes. Bingo. Jessie deliberately bit her tongue to let the pain sharpen her focus. She could feel the way he thought of her simply as an expendable tool that he was going to enjoy using and couldn't stop herself from saying "Jack told me what you all intend to do with me. I hope your dick never works again. I hope it hurts like hell every time anybody including you touches it!"

Joseph laughed, squeezing his hand on her face. "Normally a wolf would threaten to rip my dick off. I guess being whatever weird thing you are you don't know how to threaten a wolf properly. That was pretty pathetic."

Jessie stared at him and said softly, "Yah? Well then, how about this ... the next time you see daylight you will go deaf and blind and dumb ... forever." She giggled again, "... and your dick will still hurt like hell."

Jessie heard Jack make a choking noise, like he was trying to say something but couldn't, while Joseph shook his head and laughed some more. "Wow, the drug is sure messing with your mind isn't it my dear? Caught in a delusion of grandeur aren't you!"

Peter growled, "Enough Joe ... are we good to go or not?"

Joseph shook her head roughly then let her go. He looked at his cousin, "Well Jack, are we good? Who attacked? Is the Algonquin Pack feeling threatened enough that it makes sense to send everyone back to help?"

Jessie knew nothing she'd told Jack he could say would answer those questions to the others' satisfaction ... come on, think damn it! ... she spoke up again. "He can't tell you who attacked can you Jack? He was too busy keeping his head down and ordering others out of the house to get killed. There were bodies everywhere. Jacob always said you all hide behind others ... cowards all of you!"

A hard slap to the side of her face had her seeing stars and she sagged to one side on the couch. "If you know what's good for you, you'll watch what you say from now on ... and never mention those fucking rogues ever again."

The fourth member of the family, the one Jessie knew had to be Joseph's son Frank, finally stopped pacing and declared, "Look, let's just get on with it. It seems there were enough wolves attacking that I'm sure some of ours had to retreat and call for help. Send the order Joe. I want to be on that plane before midnight."

Jessie watched Joseph nod, "Fine. Remember, nobody but me does any pack-talk until we are all on the plane by ourselves. We can't risk anyone getting the impression that we are doing anything other than what I say." He stood still for a moment, then said "Ok, it's done. Get whatever you are taking with you ready, we are out of here in ten minutes."

There was a knock on the door to the suite. Joseph looked at Peter, "Take her to a bedroom. We don't want her seen ... or you Jack, go with them."

Peter grabbed Jessie around the waist and dragged her off the couch through a side door, closing it behind them and tossing her onto the bed. She heard a discussion going on in the other room, something about the merits of driving vs. flying and important meetings that couldn't be delayed. It didn't sound like whoever had knocked wanted to do whatever Joseph had ordered.

Jack was staring at her, standing between her and his son as Peter stuffed some last bits of clothing into a suitcase. He couldn't say or do much without her say-so but he was doing what he could to prevent her from touching his son. When Peter went into the bathroom Jessie found herself unable to resist skewering Jack one more time, whispering "Just so you know ... Tony's disappearance is my doing too, he'll never be back. Soon there will be nothing left of any of you." If looks could kill, Jessie would have expired on the spot the way Jack was glaring at her.

The bedroom door opened, "All good. Let's get going."

They left her where she was as luggage was gathered up. Jessie was feeling increasingly tired, her eyes kept wanting to close, what was going on around her seemed more and more distant and fuzzy. Just before she surrendered to sleep she thought she heard Jacob call

Jessie? ... Can you hear me?

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Jacob's POV

Timmins airport

The pre-flight check appeared to be done. It had included spraying something on two surveillance cameras in the area so Jacob knew whatever was going to happen no record of it would be captured. The plane's cargo doors were open and the pilot was sitting on the stairs leading up to the passenger door vaping something that smelled like chocolate-peppermint cheesecake. Jacob didn't think that flavour was a good choice for any male wolf who wanted to be taken seriously but to each his own. Anyone who smoked or vaped that close to fuel tanks wasn't that smart to begin with.

It had been about 30 minutes since he'd started watching, it couldn't be much longer before passengers arrived. He'd used the time to work out two different routes through the security barrier to get to the plane and had removed the rope from his make-shift splint so he could yank it off in an instant if he needed to shift. He'd also taken another dose of pills to keep the pain in his arm from distracting him.

He heard a vehicle approaching and pulled a handgun from his pocket. The pilot stood up and walked over to the security gate, releasing the lock and waving the SUV through. There was only the driver and a lot of luggage in the car. Jacob recognized Frank Richard - he had the right plane. The two men loaded all the bags into the cargo area and closed the doors, then stood talking by the stairs.