Chapter 38 38

Chapter 38 38
Chapter 38 – Home

The pilots had started to taxi the LaRue jet down the runway, with our final destination to the Aktion airport in Greece. Haze was happy to be leaving Moscow and was practically purring as I held Odessa in my lap. He needed to run with his mate and could hardly wait to claim her again. She was curled under a blanket, still wearing the skimpy little costume, and I couldn’t wait to get her home and rip the thing off her.
“What happened to your prize money?” Alec asked. “I gave it to Anatoly and Sasha.”
His eyes grew wide with shock. “That was over fifty thousand euros!”
“It will go much further for Anatoly and Sasha, considering it's about three years of income for them.”
I wasn’t as concerned about accumulating the cash for our SiberianOil investments as I had been. We already owned a small percentage of the company, and it was enough to sustain us comfortably. Now that I had inherited my father's businesses and could support the pack with the pack businesses, everything else didn’t seem to matter.
The Moon Warriors pack was mine. It was my home and where we belonged, including Kazimir and Alina. A few weeks ago, none of us had a real home, and we moved from place to place. Now, we had a pack with mates, family, a pup, and a cat. This was everything I never knew I wanted. If I ever see the Vampire King again, I’d be sure to thank him for his words of wisdom because I had decided which Alpha I wanted to be like, and it wasn’t my father.
“I can’t believe you saved him,” Alina held Kronos in her arms with her head resting on Kazimir’s chest.
“Oh, Kazimir took good care of him, alright. He even bought the cat an assortment of fish, let him sleep on his chest, and defended him against his father. Kazimir is a natural,” Alec chuckled.
The pilot turned off the cabin lights when we were airborne. The flight was going to be just under four hours and Ninos would be meeting us at the airport with Orion. Thea was already fast asleep, her arms still wrapped around my sister's neck.
Sitting in the dark, I mulled over what had happened in Moscow, there was one thing that kept nagging me. “How did the journal get to the Skaya?” I asked Alina.
“Belsky’s men took us to the church when we arrived. There was no one there other than Yuri. They searched for records and destroyed everything. Thea and I were forced to sit on the stairs while they questioned my uncle. Anna, my wolf, could sense someone hiding under the stairs and I realized it was Lev. He was my counterpart and helped with the research folder we gathered on both of you.”
“You had a research folder on us?” I asked.
“Yes. Belsky hired Yuri for jobs, he wanted to track your money and believed you were stealing from other Russian diplomats. Our research showed that you always stay at the Skaya. I whispered your name and the hotel to Lev while he was under the stairs. I thought he would find you and tell you what had happened. I didn’t realize he actually had a journal.”
“And Kronos?” Kazimir asked.
“He hissed at one of the men and they took the tote from me,” she leaned down and kissed the top of Kronos’ head.
Belsky knew we’d return to Moscow once his men abducted Thea, but I wasn’t sure he expected us to come looking for Alina. Noncitizens were required to have an address on file of the place they would be staying at. He would have had access to government travel records and could have easily tracked our hotel for the bomb.
I had no regrets giving Alpha Volkov the journal. There had been so many dirty politicians, diplomats, and oligarchs in the journal, that it was almost satisfying to know they would continue to live in fear under the strain of blackmail.
The plane touched down and everyone stirred awake. I lifted a window shade, and It was still dark out, but the sun would be rising in about an hour. One of the pilots stepped out of the cockpit and opened the door for us. Odessa stood up and I held the blanket tight around her.
“The blanket doesn’t belong to us,” she tried to remove it.
“I’ll send Alpha LaRue some money for it,” I insisted. There was no way I was going to let anyone see her in that little costume.
I held Odessa’s hand as she stepped down the stairs, and we found Dimitri standing with Ninos and Orion.
“Dessa!” He took swift strides towards us and pulled my mate into a hug. His eyes traveled down to what was once her high-heeled shoes.
“What happened to your shoes?” He asked.
“It’s a long story,” Alec laughed and greeted his Alpha. A helicopter was parked in the distance, and I knew Dimitri had come to collect his Gamma.
“What the hell is on your face?” Dimitri roared with laughter at Alec who had yet to remove his fake facial hair.
“You don’t like it?” He laughed. “Katya used some kind of strong skin glue. I need some olive oil to help remove it.” He tugged at the beard and it didn’t move.
“I can rip it off,” Odessa offered and Alec stepped out of her reach.
I was relieved Odessa still had the blanket wrapped around her. Kazimir stepped off the jet, carrying Thea and Alina carried Kronos. Giota was the last to step off the plane and Ninos greeted her with a kiss. She was still
wrapped in my jacket that reached her lower thigh, so it wasn’t obvious that she was completely naked underneath after shifting at the arena.
Dimitri’s eyes trailed to Giota’s bare legs and stripper-looking shoes. “Do I want to know the story behind those?” He asked.
“Yes! Yes, you do!” Alec grinned mischievously like a gossip. “But you’re going to have to wait until Niko and Spiro join us, it’s good.”
“I’m sure it will be. The news has been reporting a Russian Finance Minister and several others who were mauled to death at some sporting event in Moscow by wild rabid dogs,” he gave me a questioning look.
“Maybe it’s best if Alec tells you after you’ve returned to your pack,” I grinned.
Ninos introduced Alina and Thea to Dimitri. He reached his fingers out, gently touching Thea’s cheek and she smiled at him. “I think you’re going to be a very brave warrior someday,” Dimitri told her and she nodded her little head fiercely.
“Rocky and Knox are planning their mating ceremony in Canada, at Crescent Moon pack. It’s in two weeks and you’ve been invited to attend. Alpha LaRue will send the jet for us,” Dimitri informed me.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see the castle at Crescent Moon,” Odessa chirped with glee.
We said goodbye to Alec and Dimitri, then made our way to the cars. I heard Alec ask Dimitri if he had ever visited a Russian banya and I expected Dimitri would soon be calling to chew my ass out over his sister’s Moscow experience. Regret filled me at not taking blackmail photos of Alec with his headscarf and purse.
The sun was breaking when we reached pack territory. Howls echoed across the lands, greeting me as I returned. Odessa had rolled the windows down, allowing the fresh breeze to blow her hair around, teasing me with
her sweet scent. She was enjoying the more hospitable weather here than in Russia.
I loved living in Greece, the Mediterranean climate was more to my liking than extreme weather. Greece’s mainland had over thirteen thousand kilometers of coastline, surrounded by the Ionian, Mediterranean, and Aegean Seas. This, of course, attracted tourists to Greece year-round, bringing double the amount of tourists to the country than the entire population. With the islands, beaches, sites, history, food, and culture in Greece, the pack businesses would continue to thrive.
“Home sweet home!” Odessa said as she stepped out of the car, leaving her blanket behind. She stretched out her arms above her head and the outline of her hardened nipples teased me, begging me to massage and suck them.
“Six!” I growled and reached in the car for the blanket.
“For what?” She pouted her lip knowing damn well what I meant.
“Seven.” I wrapped the blanket around her, not wanting anyone to see her like this. The sight of her body was an aphrodisiac that called to me. Desire tightened in my groin, and I wondered if she would protest skipping breakfast.
We entered through the kitchen and Kazimir was already seated with Alina on his lap, feeding her. This is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen Alina and it made me happy for Kazimir. Maria greeted us and placed a plate with fresh fruit and spanakopita in front of Thea, while Ninos poured her some juice.
“Where’s Giota?” My mate asked.
“She went to put some clothes on,” Ninos gave me a raised eyebrow and I knew she had told him about the prostitute thing.
“I should do the same,” Odessa said.
“No,” I insisted, wanting to strip that thing off her myself. “Let’s eat breakfast first. I don’t want the food to get cold.” I gave Odessa a look that promised so much more after breakfast and pulled her to my lap to eat. She intentionally wiggled her ass around on my groin and was rewarded when it swelled.
“Eight,” I whispered in her ear. Her face flushed and I kissed her neck before I lifted food to her mouth.
“What is that noise?” Kazimir asked.
“That would be the laser cutter. He’s been working on the safe all night,” Ninos replied.
Giota entered the kitchen, dressed in more appropriate clothing, and took the seat next to Ninos. His hand slid under the table and appeared to be resting on her thigh. Odessa twitched on my lap again, trying to hold the blanket in place and I resisted the urge to slip my hand under her blanket.
Haze started demanding his run with our mate and I was just getting ready to ask Odessa if she was feeling up for a run when Darius entered the kitchen.
“He’s done with the cutting. I asked him not to pull the panel out, in case there’s a body or something,” he told us.
“I bet it’s his collection of fine ladies' underwear,” Ninos snickered. “No way, it’s going to be his apocalypse chamber,” Giota laughed.
“Weapons, it’s going to be full of weapons,” Kazimir said as he set Alina on her feet.
“My bet is on family heirlooms, lots of them,” Alina smiled. “I’m still going with a play dungeon and toys,” I replied. “Toys?” Thea asked excitedly.
“No, no toys,” I quickly corrected. “Why don’t you go check on Kronos and maybe later Darius can take you shopping to get those toys for him… and one of those climbing things for cats.”
We made our way to the Alpha office where the boards had been lifted. A small wooden step ladder led to an underground tunnel. The Alpha office was at the east end of the pack house and the basement didn’t extend this far. It was a tight fit, but I made my way down into the tunnel. It was dark and damp. There wasn’t much room, or oxygen down here for everyone else.
“Do you need some help?” Kazimir asked.
“I don’t think we’ll both fit down here at the same time,” I called over my shoulder.
I moved to the area that had been cut, a crowbar was shoved into the slit of the fresh cut. I pried it back and forth, trying to slowly inch the thick metal and concrete panel out. I pulled the crowbar out and shoved it in the other side. Grunting and groaning as I applied all my strength to open the makeshift door.
“What if there’s a mummy or thirsty vampire down there?” Ninos asked with a nervous chuckle.
“You might be my brother-in-law now, but I’m not above feeding you to a thirsty vampire,” I laughed. Calling him my brother-in-law felt strange because he had always been a brother to me.
With one final groan, the thick ten-inch panel rocked back and crashed against the wall. Dust particles from the layers of cut concrete and metal plumed out. I closed my eyes and coughed, waiting for the dust to settle.
“Are you okay?” Darius asked. “Yes,” I coughed.
It took my eyes a moment to adjust. The panel was a tight squeeze for my large build, and I pushed my head through to have a look. The vault was the size of a small walk-in closet with shelves. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
“Well? Is it empty?” Ninos called down.
“There’s nothing thrilling down here,” I yelled, trying to hold down my excitement.
“So we’re not going to see your bronzed baby shoes or silver spoon?” Ninos laughed.
“I’m afraid not,” I replied. “But you might see a lot of bars.” “Bars? Is it a dungeon cell?” Ninos asked.
“No.” I chuckled and picked two bars up, they were different sizes, and I had no idea what the value was, but the vault was full of them.
“I’m talking about gold bars.” I held the two bars up to show them. “Are those real?” Kazimir asked, reaching down to lift them out.
“I doubt Eros would have gone to so much trouble to hide fake gold,” Odessa replied.
“How much is down there?” Ninos asked. “More than we’ll ever need,” I chuckled.
It has been two months since we discovered the gold, and we were still selling it to private jewelers, mints, and bullion dealers around the world. We had sold about half of the gold already which produced ninety-eight million euros. After the cost of remodeling the pack house and taking care of other pack needs, we had ninety-one million left. I knew just where to invest the first half of the money.
The plan was to continue selling the gold over the next few years and reinvest the second half of the money into the pack. After this morning’s transaction with Aleksei and SiberianOil, our investment company, AlphaStar, now owned twenty-five percent of the fastest growing oil company in the world. Aleksei also owned twenty-five percent, which was all one entity was allowed to own in Russia so they couldn’t monopolize the board. Together with Aleksei, we owned half, which means nothing could be decided without our approval.
“Are you done yet, Alpha?” Thea squeaked, entering my office with Kronos. It was the last day of the year and tonight was New Year's Eve. Now that business had been taken care of, I was ready to enjoy time with my family and pack.
“Yes, I am,” I smiled at the sweet little pup who had become the center of our family. “Shall we go see what the others are doing?” I scooped her up with Kronos still in her arms and carried her to the kitchen.
The pack was gathering for an evening celebration, complete with fireworks to celebrate the new year. Werewolves didn’t typically follow human religion, but we enjoyed some of the cultural festivities. In Greece, holiday gifts are traditionally given on New Year’s Day. After the fireworks, the pups would receive their presents.
We may have gone overboard with the presents for Thea, but next year she would have to share the holiday with the new pups. Kazimir and Alina were expecting their first pup already and just this morning, Haze had picked up the change in our mate’s scent. I suspected she wanted to surprise me tonight with the good news, so I pretended I didn’t know.
“Kalí hroniá!” Maria greeted us with a happy new year. She had a team of women with her and they had been preparing food all day for the pack's New Year celebration.
Ninos had helped in the kitchen and baked several vasilópita cakes for the special occasion. He told Thea about the lucky hidden coin inside each New Year’s cake and how the finder of the coin would have good luck for the entire year.
“That’s not the only luck tradition,” Odessa said as she stepped into the kitchen holding a big deep red pomegranate.
“Wait! Does this mean you’ve accepted the luscious fruit of the underworld from Hades?” Ninos laughed.
“It’s for the kalo podariko tradition,” she smiled.
“The smashing of the pomegranate on the door?” Ninos asked.
“Yes,” she looked at me. “It’s a sign of luck, prosperity, and fertility.” She held the pomegranate out to me, and I could feel her anxiety through the mate bond.
“I don’t need superstition to know how lucky I am.” I took the pomegranate from her and pulled her to me. “I’ve had nothing but luck and prosperity since the day I found you. Judging by the change in your scent, we’ve also been blessed with fertility.”