Treasure

While Chase took the dishes back down to the kitchen, Rori had a few moments to just reflect on everything that had changed in her life in the past few days. She felt free. Free from fear of her inner voice, free from fear of being kidnapped, and free from the fear of being unlovable. She had a handsome and caring mate, and she and her wolf finally belonged. “We have a Pack, and they love us,” her wolf said to her.

“I’m nervous. I’ve never been in charge of anyone.”

“We are together in this, and our mate will help us. He grew up the son of Pack Alphas. Chase is as strong as we are. Luna was right to pair him with us.” She heard him coming and wiped the tear from her eye before the door opened. “Chase?”

“Yes, love?”

“I want to know about my parents,” she said.

“I can help some, but for real answers, you’ll have to talk to your grandfather and your uncle,” he said as he picked up his laptop and brought it over to the bed. She was lying on her stomach, so he moved the sheet back and slipped in next to her. He put the laptop in front of her and pulled up the directory he had set up for her case. “Some of this isn’t going to be easy to watch,” he said. “It sickened me to think of what happened to your Pack.”

“I need you to watch with me,” she said. Chase intertwined his left hand with her right as the file came up. “Your actual birthdate was September twenty-fourth of 1999, not far from the date your adoptive parents chose for you.” He pulled up a copy of her original birth certificate. “This video was taken at the Pack celebration for your birth.”

The video was less than a minute long. It started in a large dining room with thick log walls and a high ceiling. Dozens of people were waiting by the door, which opened to reveal her parents and their first child. “I am pleased to introduce our daughter and Alpha heiress, Charlotte Emily King!” The group roared their approval, causing the baby to start crying. He held up his hands, and they immediately quieted. Well, all but Charlotte. “Luna Joanna has truly blessed me.” Her father was a handsome man with light blonde hair. He looked like an Alpine skier; tall, tan, and broad-shouldered. His mate was at his side. She was much shorter, with curly red hair and lots of freckles on her cheeks.

“Mom?” She reached towards the screen, tracing the image as I froze it for her. “Dad?” She used her fingers on the screen to blow the image up so she could see their faces better.

“You have her hair and nose, and his eyes,” Chase told her. “They were true mates like us and good Alphas. They had no enemies, their Pack was prosperous and happy, and you can see how thrilled they were to have you.”

“I grew up with the worst thoughts of them,” she said through the tears. “Who leaves their daughter on the side of the road? Who hates her so much that they don’t even come forward to claim her?” She stared at her parents as he continued the video. They were happy and in love, and they loved her.

They LOVED her.

“Why? Why would someone attack my Pack?” Nothing made sense.

“Greed, of course. I told you how you were special, the first-born female descendent of King Lycanos.” She nodded. “King Lycanos was King of Arcadia and had fifty sons. One day Zeus came to dine with him, and the King decided to test his omniscience. He killed a prisoner and mixed his roasted flesh in with the meal, thinking Zeus would not know. Zeus was outraged and overturned the tables. As punishment, he turned the King and his family into the first werewolves. He and his mate, and their sons and daughters, we all trace our lineage back to them. It is from them the werewolf curse continues.”

“That’s horrible!”

“Many were killed by the frightened villagers. The King and Queen escaped into the hills. The curse was hereditary, a blood curse passing to their children, whether with each other or humans. The werewolves were strong, and to limit their numbers, he made it very difficult for them to get pregnant if the pair were not mates. The only exception was the King and Queen themselves; their firstborn daughter inherited fertility like wild wolves. It allowed their kind them to reproduce and expand, first across Europe and then to America. All werewolves are descendants of the original family.”

“So, he wanted my mother?”

“No, it’s more complicated than that. Your mother was mated, and that is forever. Even if your father died, she could not mate and pick up with another wolf while keeping the same blessing. At best, she would be as fertile as any other female not mated to her true mate. Chosen mate fertility is on the order of one child every one to three centuries.” He could see her eyes widen. “No, it was you they were after. The fertility blessing passed to you, and it would not matter whether you were a fated mate or not.”

“I still don’t understand why it was so important. OK, I’m a baby factory, but so what?”

He turned on his side and looked at her. “My father’s Pack has thirty mated couples. We are lucky if we have five children under eighteen at any time. Look at my family; my brothers are so much older than Coral and I that they may as well be grandparents. Packs grow only by transfers and births. They lose people to other packs, old age, accidents, and war. Most Packs are struggling just to maintain numbers. Your blessing could singlehandedly could grow a smaller Pack, like Arrowhead, into a major Pack within a century. Children mean warriors, power, political influence, and alliances. When your mother came of age, every unmated Alpha and male Alpha heir was praying she would be hers. Your grandfather received offers of money, land, alliances, and Luna knows what else if he would arrange a mating with them. He rejected them all, declaring that Joanna would wait for her Fate Mate.”

“And she did,” she said as she looked at the happy couple again.

“Not everyone was happy with that. The Alpha of the Bitterroot Pack was furious your grandfather rejected his offer. Your mother met and mated your father, and they had you. This time, he wasn’t going to ask for your hand. He sent his men to take you when you were only a year old.” He closed the video and opened another. “This testimony was taken at the trial of the Pack Beta.”

She squeezed his hand tightly several times as she watched him describe how they planned and executed the attack. “The women and children were confined in the safe house. The Alpha was already dead, and we caught the Luna in her home. She was pregnant and couldn’t shift. Alpha Todd couldn’t get her to give up Charlotte’s location, so he had her arms and legs broken, and set the home on fire.” Rori was crying as she watched. “I was sent after one of the Pack females who had escaped. She had a head start, but we caught up to her about twenty miles east of the compound. We returned, only to find the women and children already dead when we breached the safe room door. We never did find the girl.”

“How? How did I survive?” Rori was shocked at his callousness. What kind of evil killed dozens to get to her?

“The road your nanny lefty you on was only another mile or two farther from her final stand. She left you to be found, then went back to stop them from finding you. The fires got blamed for all the deaths. Since they didn’t set it until the next morning, and it was the next county over, no one made the connection.”

“I want to see it myself,” she said.

“We will go as soon as you can ride,” he said. “The Council found out about it after the fire, and what a mess that was. Dozens and dozens of bodies, mostly human but some in wolf form, many burned beyond recognition. The Council quickly realized there was no one left. They focused solely on trying to limit the damage. They spent weeks dealing with coroner’s reports, law enforcement, and families, all to make sure werewolves were not revealed. Who did it? It wasn’t obvious, and that didn’t matter right away. No one fessed up, and no clues were left behind. The fire pushed you out of the news, and your parents had fallen in love with you. We, the Council I mean, didn’t even know you were alive. We assumed you died with the others.”

”How did he find me? I mean, I had human parents, and we moved to Rochester!”

“The Alpha knew he hadn’t found you, and he put two and two together. You were in the human system, and with the Council everywhere, they had no choice but to withdraw back to Montana and wait. They tracked you for years, waiting for your wolf to emerge, thinking the draw of our kind would get you to go with them. When you didn’t come willingly, they tried to take you in the woods. When that failed, they tried the hospital. The Council recognized the two men who died there, and that led them to the Bitterroot Pack. What they found there shocked us all.”

“Abuse?”

“Yes, systemic sexual abuse, slavery and more.”

“Those poor girls.”

Chase continued. “You fled to Florida, and your grandfather was watching over you. You and your Mom were spooked, so they took the long road, putting Ashley with you. They hoped being around another werewolf would draw yours out. If your grandfather had left Ashley in the bedroom with you, none of this would have happened. Instead, you got scared and ran again.”

“No more running,” she told him as she leaned in for a kiss.

“Never.” Her stomach growled; they had been talking and looking at videos for hours, and it was dinnertime. “I’ll get you some food,” he told her as he got out of bed.

An hour later, she cleaned up and used the toilet carefully with his help. It was painful and awkward, but better than the bedpan! He covered her wounds with plastic and helped her take a shower. She sat on a chair and let him wash her hair. When she was ready for bed, she was exhausted.

His phone rang, and he didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Doctor Nygaard? Connie Jackson from Bitterroot.”

“Oh yes, Connie, how are you doing?” She was an abused Omega he treated when he was at the Pack.

“Um… Beta Coral gave me your number. She said you and Rori King are Alphas, and you might consider taking some of us into your new Pack.”

“We are, but we don’t have a place to go yet. Rori has to heal, and we have to get to the territory and figure out housing. We do plan to accept transfers, but only those who will fit in. Hang on a second.” He walked into the bathroom and put the phone on speaker. “Connie, Alpha King is here with me now.”

“Hello, Connie,” Rori said. “Are you at the Bitterroot Pack?”

“Not voluntarily,” she said. “They kidnapped me years ago. My Alpha wouldn’t take me back now. He said it was my fault, and he didn’t need ‘another pack slut’ creating problems. I applied to other Packs, but none accepted me.”

“Oh my God, why?”

“Omegas don’t make a Pack strong. I wasn’t anyone’s mate, and I’m not a fighter. I work in the kitchens. You can’t imagine what it feels like when I have to serve the same men who abused me. I need out of here, and Sally does too.”

Chase filled in the blanks. “She’s a good wolf in a bad situation. Coral and I vouch for her, Sally as well. I’d take any of her friends who want out too. They deserve a fresh start, and the Packs won’t give it to them.”

“What will we do with them?”

“Sally and Connie can stay at my apartment in Seattle for now. We have money to house them, and we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to rebuild the Arrowhead Pack compound.”

She was convinced. “Connie, right now, we can only take you and Sally into the Pack because we don’t have anything set up yet. Can you leave tonight if you get permission?”

“I think so. Sally has a car.” Chase gave her the information on his apartment and told her he would contact his landlord so they could get in. “If you can get there, Coral can sleep overnight, and you two can receive our property in the morning when the Cascade omegas deliver it.”

“I can do that for you, Alphas. Thank you so much!” She was very emotional.

“Welcome to the Arrowhead Pack, Connie. We’ll see you soon.” Chase hung up and brought her into a gentle hug, careful of her injuries. “Thank you.”

“My wolf is happy to be getting members. She’s angry at their treatment,” she said.

“Well, our Pack can be different.” He changed the bed before coming back to pick her up, setting her gently on her side. He had just gotten into bed when his phone rang again, from another number in the same area code. “Hello?”

“Chase, this is Beta Carlson. Coral’s been arrested, and is in the cells.”