Chapter 51

Agnes, Miney and Amber were sitting together in the sitting room. They were a bit more wary of sitting outside since their friend and son's mate had been shot. Even though the man had been caught, the person who hired them had not. Graeham, Hunter and Caleb were working on that, while the women had spent the morning being measured for their three dresses. The women were still adamant that the men not see their dresses. They were given a picture of a non-descript portion of their ceremony dresses in case they wanted to get their loincloths to match for Rio and Jaxson, ties and maybe vests, for Graeham and Anders.

"Has anyone heard from Charlotte or Jaxson?" Amber asked, showing concern for her friend,

Miney smiled and answered her "Yes, I got a text from Jaxson a bit earlier. He said that Madam Colette already came yesterday and got Charlotte's measurements and would have all of her dresses ready in two days time. I don't know how that woman does it."

"Well at least that's something. Oh, I have something that I want to wear under my wedding dress." Pulling out her phone, she showed the women what she wanted to purchase.

"Dannggggg, Amber. You trying to kill that man? He's gonna lose his mind. I may not know him, not well anyway. But, any man would absolutely freak out if they knew their bride was wearing that under her dress." Agnes said.

"I definitely approve, my dear. I agree. My son will most likely lose his mind when he gets you out of that wedding dress and sees that corset. It's a good thing that the Alpha and Beta are the next day." Miney said smirking.

"Oh yeah? Do you think that Anders would react the same way?" Agnes asked her.

"Oh without a doubt." she replied.

"Then why don't you order your own corset?" Amber asked her.

"What makes you so sure that I don't have one already?" There was that smirk.

Miney!" Both women said at the same time.

Laughing, she responded to them by saying, "I have several. So many different colors, too. Black, white, red, green, yellow, pink, purple, all of those colors." Looking at the women, she said, "I recommend you get several, all in different colors." Then she really shocked them, "With stockings, garters and thongs to match."

"I'm thinking some seriously high stilettos to go with them, as well. In silver and then a pair of black patent leather." Amber said, getting into the swing of things.

Agnes blushed, but she could see how it would be considered so sexy.

Miney piped up and said, "You know, we're only a little bit away from Kodak. They have the type of store that we would need in order to get this right away. Do you ladies, want to go? If we leave now, we can be back in time for a late dinner. What do you say?"

"Yes let's." Amber said.

Even Agnes was excited. Miney called Anders to get some security to go with them. Amber called Rio and Agnes called Graeham to let the men know that they were doing some more shopping for the wedding and ceremonies. They did some good natured grumbling, but none of them cared what the women spent. Their bank accounts were healthy enough to global shopping sprees.

Anders, Graeham and Rio sent a six man security team. Half would go with them in a huge blacked out Suburban and the other three would follow behind in an identical vehicle.

Somewhere in South America.

"He missed and she lived, sir, and her and that big man she has been seen with, disappeared."

"Do we know where our shooter is?"

"No, sir, no sign of the man."

"Any ideas?"

"Well sir, if I had to say, given the skill set of the two brothers and the resource of Graeham Frazier, I would say that we aren't likely to ever see that man again. They took care of him, I'm almost positive."

"Indeed, I would think so, as well."

"So, what now? Any ideas, sir?"

"My spy tells me that something big is in the works. Something that will be taking place in roughly five days. It's actually a series of events. Two events on Friday followed by some type of banquet. Then the following night there is supposed to be another larger event with another banquet. I'm told that even the media will be in attendance. After all, that little b**ch is Frazier's granddaughter." Looking up at the man who he had been speaking to. "How did that not get noticed, anyway? How could we have missed that? Graeham Dylan Frazier's only granddaughter. A granddaughter that was hidden from the world. Can you imagine how valuable she could have been to us?"

"It surprised us all. After we discovered who she really was, I did some diffing. She took her mother's maiden name."

"How did we not know that? Wouldn't her social security number have red flagged it?"

"No sir. Most likely, when she changed her last name, she went through the proper channels and had the new last name applied to it, as well."

"Okay. Well, we have to figure out how we can blend in for these events. That bastard Rio! I owe him as well. When I think of the ways he betrayed me; he helped her escape, he killed Marco and Tony. He was working for the government. I want his death to be very painful and very slow. While Charlotte watches."

Pounding his fist on the desk for emphasis.

"I'm looking into it, sir. It's going to be the event of the 'year,' according to the town leaders. Only problem is that there are no 4 or 5 star hotels within walking distance. The nearest one will be in Knoxville and that's almost an hour's drive away. However, that can work in our favor. It's a larger city with a larger population. Easier to blend in. Besides, who going to be looking for you with a city full of celebrities, dignitaries and politicians. The news coverage of this will be thick. So we will need to be careful, sir. But, it is definitely manageable."

"I agree. Make our reservations and use one of the little used aliases."

"Will do, Boss. How many rooms or sets of rooms do you want?"

"My suite and a security team of four. You will come as my assistant. My PA if you will."

"I'll make the arrangements, sir. Will that be all, sir?"

The man waved him away and picked up his encrypted phone and called someone he knew in the Middle East. They were the only ones left that he trusted after the last week or so of arrests and assassinations.

At the mountain farm, Jaxson and Charlotte were walking through the orchard, with him is his bear form. He had directed Charlotte to climb on his back. He had kneeled down so that she could move easier. He didn't want her to tear her stitches, so he had been very careful with his movement, so he wouldn't jerk her or cause her to fall off. Bear had let him know that he enjoyed having their mate riding on his back. He had grunted and growled in happiness.

Charlotte felt so privileged to be sitting on the back of a 600 plus pound grizzly bear. When Jaxson had changed, Bear had come up to her and licked her and then his nose had made its way down to where she had been shot and had tried to delicately push up her shirt with his nose. When Charlotte had realized that he had wanted to inspect her wound, she had raised her shirt and let him smell it and then he had reached out and licked it ever so softly.

She had felt tears prick her eyes at his gentleness. Cupping his massive head in her hands, she leaned down slowly and carefully and kissed her mate on his warm and wet nose and then whispered to him as she looked him in the eyes, "I love you, too, Bear."

If he could have smiled in this form, he would have. A beatific smile of pure happiness.

"Bear, are there any berry patches close by? I'm craving some blackberries."

Bear tossed his head to indicate an affirmative answer. Turning, he went in the direction of a small hill. As they got closer, she saw the blackberries and got excited. When Bear came to a stop and sat down, letting her slide off. Standing next to her, to let her steady herself, she took a minute to do that. Then she walked over to the briars and began to pick the berries. Bear kind of made a whining sound when Charlotte didn't offer him any.

Laughing at him, she held out her hand and let him eat the handful of blackberries she was holding. The simple joy of being with him, in this form and experiencing his personality was wonderful.

"Bear, it's getting late, and we still have to fix dinner, Can we go home now?'

Bear tossed his head in a yes and kneeled down for Charlotte to be able to climb on his back. He didn't want her to overdo it. His mate was human and fragile. It was his duty as her mate to care for her, protect her and provide for her. He would do everything in his power to do all of that.

When they got to the house, Bear sat down again, so his mate could slide off. Before she could even fully stand up, Jaxson was standing beside her. Naked as the day he was born.

Reaching down, he picked up Charlotte and slid his hands down to her thighs and lifted her so that she could wrap her legs around his waist and carried her inside. They had put a roast in the crockpot and it should be ready to eat. Sitting her down, in the kitchen, he went to their bedroom and put on some shorts and came back into the kitchen to help his woman, mate and soon to be wife, finish putting dinner together.

Sitting down at the table, they ate and talked.

"I think Bear liked having me riding his back and feeding him." She told him, smiling.

Lifting a hand, he pushed a few strands of hair away from her face, and returned her smile. Then he said, "Only family will ever ride on our animals. Mostly our mates or children. But, yes, he let me know how much pleasure it gave him to have you sitting on his back. All of those little grunts and growls while we were on our outing, that was him letting you know how pleased he really was."

Charlotte leaned over and laid her head on her mate's shoulder, and said, "It's crazy to me, but I love you both. My main concern is mating."

When Jaxson realized what he was talking about, he set her mind at ease. "No, you will not hat to mate Bear. Nor does he expect you to. Now, if you were a female bear, then yes. You two would in your bear form. But, since you are human. No. I'm sorry that I didn't think to cover that in all of our other conversations." He could kick himself for causing her anxiety.

"You know, Jaxson, I think I'm okay, Can we go back to the Alpha house tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we can go back. I just wanted you to be able to relax. Maybe once everything is over and done, we can come up here for a few days a month to get away from the stress of being clan leaders. Also, if you don't care we can let Rio and Amber do the same. Mom and Dad have their own place and I'm sure that your grandfather has a place for her and Agnes to disappear to." Jaxson just wanted her to be happy and feel safe and if bringing her here every so often is what it takes, then so be it. He was her mate and it was his job to provide her with what was necessary for her to be happy and healthy, and he gladly did it. He didn't foresee a time when she wasn't his priority.