Treasure

Sawyer left the Alpha’s office and returned to his room; he had precious little time to deal with all this before the hearing. He had a few things to do, first of which was updating his soon-to-be Alphas on what was going on. That conversation was quick, as they were eating before Rori had to rest again.

He spent the next hour going over the paperwork and working through the arguments in his head. The Council had brought the charges, and only the Council could dismiss them. The proceedings were viewable by any Alpha or Beta in the country on a secure video server, and he needed all the help he could get. He sent an email to the world’s Alphas, Next Alphas, and Betas, excluding his father and the Council members. He used the standard message encryption provided all Packs by the Council for their business.

The Council was the problem here. If they refused to be reasonable, he wanted as many people to see it as possible.

His email included a synopsis of what was going on with Rori King and the Arrowhead Pack. He knew much of it would be a shock to the other Packs. He hadn’t gotten any updates on the issue before he arrived here, and the Council wasn’t sharing. That also would become obvious as the hearing progressed.

He started getting emails almost immediately from all over North America and Europe but didn’t have time to respond. Instead, he was poring through the documentation on his table, and the Council laws. His phone beeped at fifteen minutes to three, giving him time to collect his notes into his briefcase.

Beta Carlson was waiting for him outside his room. “The hearing will be held in the conference room. Your sister is being brought from the cells now. You will have a few minutes to speak to her in private before the hearing.”

“Thank you, Ron. Can you ensure my father attends? Some of my questions about the charges will require him to answer questions.”

He nodded. “He is coming. Hopefully, he is sober.”

They walked upstairs to the Alpha wing, where Ron brought him to an empty office with no window and a single door. He nodded to the Enforcers standing next to his sister as she sat in the chair, her wrists and ankles in silver-coated shackles to ensure she couldn’t shift or run. “I’ll speak to my client alone, please,” he said.

They walked out, leaving them alone, and he was quick to hug her. “Thank you for helping me, Sawyer, but you didn’t have to challenge Dad.”

“That isn’t about you, Coral. Let’s worry about that later. First of all, I need you to tell me exactly what happened that afternoon at Rori’s cabin.” She went through everything, from the panicked phone call to her father being sent away by Chase, then his short return when the Club had already arrived. “I’m going to asking for dismissal of the charges, and then I’m taking you out of here. Nothing good can come from us being around the Council right now.”

“Get these off of me, and I’ll be out of here in a heartbeat,” she said. “I came to argue for Rori’s Alpha claim, and they aren’t talking about that.”

“Trust me; they ARE talking about it. They’re just doing it in secret. After this hearing, it all comes out. The Council won’t be able to hide anymore.” He helped her to her feet and opened the door. Enforcers removed the shackles and brought Coral along as they went into the large conference room. Councilman Forrest had been joined by Chairman Gruber, seated at the head of the table, and Councilman Waterman. The three provided the necessary quorum for the hearing.

Coral sat in the middle of his side of the table, with Enforcers standing behind her. He set his briefcase down next to her, as another enforcer took a seat between her and the Council. He saw his father sitting against the wall on the opposite side.

The Prosecutor had been with the Council for a long time. He was sitting on the opposite side of the table with his assistant. “Richard Long, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he stood and extended his hand.

“Sawyer Nygaard,” he replied. “Where’s the video feed?”

“There isn’t one,” Chairman Gruber said. “This hearing is a formality.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Chairman, legal proceedings of the Council are to be made available on the secure website with proper notice given to all Council Packs. I must insist these proceedings are available to the Packs. There are many in the Cascade Pack and elsewhere that are interested in watching.”

The Prosecutor looked surprised. “We don’t have the equipment set up, and we’ve given no notice,” he said. “We will be sure to have it for the trial.”

“No, you will have it now,” Sawyer said as he stared him down. “Get a cameraman in here and start the broadcast. I’ve already notified the Packs for you, and I have,” he looked at his phone, “about thirty text messages thus far wondering why it isn’t broadcasting already.”

“Get a camera in here,” Chairman Gruber ordered. Five minutes later, they were broadcasting, and Sawyer verified the Packs were watching. “This hearing will come to order. The purpose of this hearing is to read the charges against Coral Ann Nygaard, Alpha daughter of the Cascade Pack and Beta on loan to the Bitterroot Pack, and determine if sufficient evidence exists to hold her over for trial.” He introduced the Council and the lawyers for the Prosecution and Defense. “Gentlemen, are you ready to proceed?”

“We are, Mr. Chairman,” Mr. Long said.

“Defense is ready, Mr. Chairman. Since there are three charges, we would prefer to deal with each in order if that is acceptable to the Court.”

“No objections, sir.” The Chairman gave the prosecutor the go-ahead. “The first charge is defying Alpha orders.”

“Before we continue, Mr. Chairman, I have a question for Alpha Forrest,” Sawyer said. “Sir, the charges were brought by Alpha Nygaard. At what point did the defendant shift her Pack alliance from the Bitterroot Pack to the Cascade Pack?”

“She was sent home after being injured while attempting to capture Rori King in Seattle. She had a week’s leave, and I felt her Pack bond break the next day.”

“So, you were not her Alpha at the time of the incident at issue here.”

Alpha Forrest nodded. “That is correct. She was back under Alpha Nygaard.”

“Move to dismiss charges based on jurisdiction, Mr. Chairman,” he said. “Defying Alpha orders is a Pack crime, not a Council one. The only one with the authority to try her for that is her Alpha. Since she is no longer in Alpha Nygaard’s Pack, charges cannot be brought by him.”

“That’s why I filed the charges, so she would be punished after defying me!” Alpha Will Nygaard stood up, glaring at his daughter.

“She is no longer your problem. She is the responsibility of Alpha Rori King and the Arrowhead Pack. The Council has no standing to punish a wolf from another Pack after she has left the aggrieved Alpha. I can provide case references if you need them.”

Chairman Gruber looked pissed. “Mr. Prosecutor?”

“Defense counsel is correct, sir. The Council can only charge someone who is directly under the authority of the Council itself. The prosecution withdraws the charge.” It was embarrassing, Richard thought as he sat down. He’d been called in only an hour before this hearing. Now, the Alphas would associate him with such incompetence. “The next charge is Harboring a Known Council Fugitive.”

“Can we address the Intentional Reveal charge first,” Sawyer requested.

“Certainly,” the prosecutor said. “The next charge is intentional revealing of our nature to humans.” He called Alpha Nygaard to testify, setting him at the far end of the table from the Council. “When did you become aware of the location of Rori King?”

“My son, Chase, linked me. He received a phone call saying his mate got hurt in a fight with a bear. He and Coral left on their motorcycles for the address, while I followed with Enforcers and our Pack Doctor.”

“And when you arrived at the address?”

“Rori was badly hurt and still in wolf form. Our Doctor had to force a shift. He did that with her adoptive mother in the room and her stepfather in the house. The two had carried her out of the woods after she shifted to protect them from the bear. Knowing humans were involved, I had to take action. I told the Enforcers to make sure they didn’t call anyone while we waited to see if Rori would make it. Her stepfather told us the whole story, including how they knew it was her when they saw the tattoo under her fur.”

“Knowing humans knew of us, what actions did you take?”

“I pulled my son aside and told him what we had to do under Council laws. We would take the two humans back to our Pack, interrogate them to make sure no one else knew, then execute them. Their bodies would never be found. It was at this point my son refused to cooperate.”

“How did you handle that?”

“I told him to walk away. I understood he couldn’t do that to his mate; I would do it for him. Instead, he renounced his membership in the Pack and ordered me away, saying that the land belonged to Alpha Rori. He said if I attacked, he would be attacking another Alpha without a declaration of war.”

“That’s fine for your son, who is not the subject of this hearing. What did Coral do?”

“She tried to talk him out of it. When she saw I was leaving, she renounced the Pack as well.”

“Thank you. Your witness.”

Sawyer looked over at his father. “When Coral arrived at the home, were the two parents already aware that Rori was a werewolf?”

“Yes. Rori’s parents saw the tattoo on her skin and carried her back to the cabin.”

He pulled out a paper. “I’ve read your Pack Doctor’s statement; he says in it that when they arrived, Coral was sent downstairs with Rori’s stepfather, while her mother stayed in the room with him. Did you personally witness her revealing her nature to him?”

“No, but she…”

“Did her stepfather tell you that he learned of your nature from Coral?”

“No, but she…”

“Move to dismiss the charges as being unsupported by evidence, Mr. Chairman. The reveal happened in the woods where Rori was injured before my client arrived. It was not a result of any actions by my client.” He stared down the Council, then turned his gaze to the prosecutor.

“Mr. Long?”

He let out a deep sigh; this was embarrassing as hell. He was going to let them know just what a shit sandwich they had served him as soon as the cameras were off. “The charge is withdrawn. The witness is dismissed.” He shifted his papers around while a furious Alpha Nygaard got up and sat against the wall again.

The Chairman continued. “The final charge is harboring a known Council fugitive. According to multiple statements, Chase and Coral Nygaard not only kept Rori King away from Council authority but involved humans in her protection. Surely you wish to enter a plea on this charge,” he said.

Coral went to sit forward, but her brother stopped her. “Mr. Prosecutor, can you read the specific section of Council Law for my client.”

“Certainly.” He opened a folder. “Section 19. “Upon receipt of an order from the Council for the arrest of any person charged by the Council with a crime, or by a Pack affiliated with the Council, each Pack and individual SHALL cooperate in the apprehension and transfer of such individual to the appropriate legal authority. Intentional ignorance of a warrant, refusal to transfer the individual named or actions or inaction intended to prevent, hinder or delay apprehension of the person may be penalized by the Council as it directs up to life imprisonment, removal from position, or other punishments not to include death.”

“Mr. Chairman, I move for immediate dismissal of this charge based on it not applying to my client.”

“Sir, we have multiple statements from…” The Prosecutor was almost begging them to leave him with a shred of dignity, but it was not to be.

“Stop.” Chairman Gruber looked at Sawyer. “What is the basis of your motion?”

“Sir, the Defense would like to call Beta Ron Carlson to speak to the particulars of our motion.” They were surprised, but soon the Beta was sitting in the witness chair and sworn in. “Beta Carlson, you led a group assigned to capture Ms. Rori King and return her to the Council, is that correct?”

“Yes,” he said. “Ms. King was under the protection of a large and potentially violent motorcycle gang, and her location was kept hidden. It took months to locate her. Even then, she was never alone or unprotected.”

“I see. Not an easy assignment?”

“No, sir. When we finally got the chance, it was Rori herself who broke our containment and escaped again.”

He took a paper out of his briefcase. “Is this the order from Councilman Forrest directing you and your team to apprehend Ms. King and return her to this Pack?”

Beta Carlson reviewed the paper. “It is.”

“Can you read the second to last sentence, please.”

“Of course. ‘Use of drugs and bindings is authorized, but restraint with silver is not.’”

“No silver. Isn’t it a normal practice to use silver-plated handcuffs and chains for the capture and transport of dangerous werewolf criminals?”

“It is, of course.”

“So why was this specifically excluded?”

He smiled a little, knowing where Sawyer was going. “Because Miss King was not a fugitive,” he said as the courtroom exploded in sound. The Chairman called it back to order. “We were retrieving her because of her unique situation; she was a werewolf but didn’t know it, and there were multiple instances of her shifting that led to her ending up in mental institutions. The risk of her exposure was high; that is why Rori was to be captured and brought here. She needed medical treatment and therapy. Most of all, she needed to be around her kind.”

“The Council did not charge Rori with any crime,” Sawyer repeated.

“That’s correct.”

The prosecutor looked at Sawyer, then at the Council. “The charge is withdrawn.” Coral started to smile and hug her brother while Long continued. “I intend to file for sanctions against Alpha Nygaard, and anyone else involved in the drafting of these charges.”

“With that, I demand my client be released immediately,” Sawyer said as he faced the Council.

The Council members quickly conferred, then Enforcers stepped forward and unlocked the shackles. Coral didn’t even look at her father, who was burning holes through her with his gaze.

“She’s still a rogue,” her father said as the Council got up.

“No, she’s not. Coral is Beta of the Arrowhead Pack, and is due the respect given someone of that rank,” Sawyer responded. “I, however, have to find my new Alpha and join her Pack, so I’m technically the only rogue here. I would respectfully request an hour for us to gather our effects and leave the territory.”

“So ordered,” Chairman Gruber said. “The proceedings are closed. Turn the cameras off. Everyone except the defense, remain here.”

Coral walked over and hugged Beta Carlson goodbye. Sawyer shook his hand, and Richard Long’s as well, before walking out the door. An Enforcer followed them. “I’m just monitoring you for the Alpha,” he said. “I’ve notified Security to bring your property from the cells. The rest is still on your motorcycle.”

“Thank you.”

Twenty minutes later, Coral was waving at some of her friends as she pulled out of the driveway. Sawyer made a call, putting it on the hands-free, then pulled out to follow her out. “Holy shit, Sawyer, you were amazing,” Chase enthused as he picked up.

“Beta Carlson was right; the charges were bullshit. With the Packs watching, they had no choice.” He smiled as they entered the trees. “It was almost too OH, FUCK!!!”

He watched in horror as a wolf jumped out from behind some bushes. With a few powerful strides, it caught up to Coral’s motorcycle. The wolf jumped forward, its jaws latching onto Coral’s shoulder as he pulled her off her Harley. They rolled together on the blacktop road.