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“Well, the full results will take a few weeks to document, along with recommended training and mentoring to shore up areas you were found to be weak in,” he said. “However, you should know that all of us were pleasantly surprised at your strength and intellect. We all agreed that you have the potential to be a strong Alpha pair in the future, which is why I’m here now. With your permission, we would like to share the evaluation with the North American Council, in case an Alpha position becomes available there.” He looked at my parents and Alphas; my parents were proud and smiling, the Alphas as well, but all of them had a look of loss as well. I think they all knew now that I would not be taking over for my father. “I know that you have plans for Patrick to return home and continue his training. The Council members and I do not believe that is the best way to prepare him for his future.”
“What would you recommend,” I asked.
“As you know, I am taking over the Moscow Pack for the next six months. After today, Patrick and Mischa are strong candidates to take over as permanent Alphas. He needs practical experience in running a Pack, and I have a need for a strong Beta on a temporary basis. I am asking you to accept a temporary appointment to the position as Moscow Beta.”
My mind was spinning. “You’d only be a few hours away,” Mischa said as she squirmed excitedly on my lap.
“I don’t know the people, the language,” I started to say.
“We would start intensive language training along with the mentoring,” Javier said.
“Wait.” I looked panicked at Mischa. “You become of age in four months, this assignment would be for six. I don’t want to be away from you after we mate.” I put my hand under her chin. “You’re the most important thing in my life.”
“I still have to finish high school,” she said. “We can still see each other on weekends, I can take the train into Moscow or you can come here. We will be fine,” she said. “Wait, my father.”
Javier smiled. “Your father has agreed that this is the best course of action, and he wants you to work with Luna Abrianna on the weekends. Konstantin will accompany you to Moscow and work with me as well, since he is the Alpha heir of your own Pack, until you are fully mated.” He looked directly into my mate’s eyes. “Let me be frank here. I don’t like Alpha Yuri, and I want the Moscow Pack to have stable and honorable Alphas. I believe the two of you could give me that and bring peace to the Packs in this region. I’m doing this so you two can show the Council that you are capable of the job six months from now. It would be a smooth transition of power, and the Pack would already know you.”
“What do you think, Papa?”
“It’s an amazing opportunity, being mentored by an experienced Alpha like Javier is only going to help you,” he said to me.
“May I have a moment to talk with my mate and my parents?”
“Certainly. I’m going to get a drink, I’ll stop back in twenty minutes or so.” He got up and walked over to the bar, greeting a number of people along the way.
“What do you think,” I asked them all. We talked about the advantages and disadvantages, it was a great opportunity, but I would be leaving my family and Pack and joining one where I knew almost nobody. The new job had a big benefit, though; I could see Mischa every weekend instead of just after four months. I looked over at Mischa. “Do you want this? To be a Luna at eighteen? What about your dream of being a doctor?”
She held my hand. “Being a Luna is in my bloodline, it’s what I’m made for, I just didn’t see it happening anytime soon,” she said. “We don’t know if it will end up that way. Natalya and her mate might end up with the Pack, or some other couple. What I do know is that it is a great opportunity for you to show everyone the kind of man you are and the Alpha you could be.” She smiled and buried her face in my chest. “Having you closer just makes me want it to happen more.”
“I have responsibilities at home, a business,” I said.
“I’m sure he will understand if you need some time to put your affairs in order,” my father said.
In the end, Mischa and I put our heads together and gave our answer. “I need a month to put my affairs in order in the States, then I would be honored to join you in Moscow,” I told Councilman Javier.
“You won’t regret it,” he said as he shook my hand.Content © NôvelDrama.Org 2024.
*****
Jessie’s POV
I started to wake, wondering why I was being rocked.
It wasn’t much, I felt the bed I was on move a little to the left, then a little to the right. I opened my eyes, it was dark; blinking a few times, I started to wonder where I was. The air smelled of salt and diesel fumes; the sheets smelled freshly laundered. I moved my hands up to my face, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. My arms felt stiff; moving my legs, my left one was also stiff, my right still had the cast on it. I reached down to my chest, the bandages on my ribs were still there.
I hadn’t been out that long, but where was I?
I thought about what I last remembered. Hiding in Russia. Rushing to the jet to get away. Landing in London. Heading for the chunnel then… Oh God. Car. Glass shattering. Screaming… then nothing.
Oh God, oh shit… that sound was a gunshot. Had I been shot? I started moving my hands over my body, looking for where I’d been hit. I didn’t find anything on my head, shoulders or arms, and my chest didn’t feel different. Nothing on the stomach or hips. I sat up, moving my hand it smacked against a metal rail. “Shit!”
A light came on, bathing the small room in soft light. A woman was in the bed next to mine, the light on the table between our beds still had her hand in it. “You’re awake!” She was a tiny woman, older, with white hair.
“Who are you?” I looked around the room, it wasn’t familiar.
“My name is Miriam. I was brought here to help you, Jessie. I’m the High Priestess of the Old Aberdeen coven.”
Coven? “Witches?” What the hell?
“Yes, but we are called Wiccans. Witch sounds so evil,” she said with a laugh. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore. I have to pee.”
“Come on, I’ll help you to the head.” She lowered the rail on her bed, swinging out she put on some slippers. I sat there as she put the rail down on my bed, then pulled a new pair of slippers out of a bag on the floor. She picked up the crutches next to the bed, then helped me to my feet. The movement was even more pronounced as I stood up.
“Where am I?”
“You’re on a ship, the SS Marbacan, in the North Atlantic. You’ve been asleep for almost three days since the latest attempt on your life,” she said.
“Where’s Larry? Bruce? Charles? Are they all right?” I was starting to panic a little as I moved towards the door for the bathroom.
“Charles is fine, he’s home now. Larry and Bruce are in the stateroom next door.” I relaxed, she opened the door to the small bathroom. It was almost all stainless steel; a toilet, small sink and vanity, and a shower. “Take a few minutes and freshen up, I’ll let them know you are up.”
“I’m starving,” I said.
“I’ll take care of that too.” She smiled and closed the door, leaving me alone. I looked at myself in the mirror; I was a mess. I went to the bathroom, then washed my hands and face. My bathroom things were in a small bag on the counter, so I pulled out my hair brush and tamed my bed head. I would have to take a shower, I smelled. I put some deodorant on for now. I needed answers.
I went out into the room where several lights were on now. I saw the clock on the table, it was almost three; looking through the open porthole, I could see it was dark out. Miriam was sitting on her bed, while Larry was seated on a chair in the corner. I moved over until I was sitting on my bed again, then laid the crutches on the floor. “What happened to me, Larry?”
“Yuri Zubkov tried to kill you again.”
The noise, the shattered window, my scream. “That man shot at me. I screamed and pushed my hands out, but I don’t remember anything after that.”
“You flipped the car with those killers in it upside down and pushed it into a guardrail. The car exploded in flames and we drove away safe. You saved us, Jessie.”
“How?” None of it made sense. I could barely start a fire if you spotted me a box of matches, and I was flipping cars? “I can’t do that.”
“You couldn’t,” Miriam said, “But you were given magical powers, and your instinct was enough to protect you. The problem was it drained you, fed too deeply from your energy, and almost killed you. That is why you fainted, and why you have been sleeping these few days.” She came over and sat next to me, taking my hand. “You were given a great gift, great power was placed in you. Unfortunately, it was like giving a five-year-old the keys to a car. If you are to keep them, you need to learn to use them. That is why I was brought here, to teach you what your powers are and how to control them.”
My head was spinning. “Power? How did I get power?”
“What do you remember of the car bombing, Jessie?”
“Nothing. We were walking along, it had been a nice day, and then I woke up in the clinic in Kstovo.”
“All right. I wasn’t there, but I did hear directly from Patrick who was. Father Kempechny was more than a Russian Orthodox priest, he was a witch,” he said.
“A very powerful witch,” Miriam added.
“Before he died, he crawled over to you and placed his hands on you. Winds started to circle and the air around his hands glowed blue. Patrick watched as major injuries to you healed in seconds. It drained him, and he died before he could fully heal you. He transferred his powers into you, Jessie. It’s the only way you could have saved yourself and us on the motorway.”
“I don’t believe it,” I said. “You’re all certifiable.” Witches existed, but magical powers? Flipping cars? Healing severe wounds? No way.
“I can prove it to you,” Miriam said. “All you have to do is trust me and do what I say for a few minutes.”
“I didn’t see what the good Father did to you, Jessie, but I saw what you did to the men who were going to kill you. You saved my life.”