Treasure

Beta Carlson was glad that Alpha Nygaard left shortly after their discussion because holding back his disgust at the man was becoming difficult. With Coral gone and a challenge coming, Alpha Forrest told Alpha Will to return to his Pack and prepare for the challenge. Enforcers, along with Counselor Long, would be sent in two days to conduct the voting for the Pack. If a third of the Pack didn’t accept Sawyer as a potential Alpha, his exile would become permanent.

He stood at the bottom of the main stairs as the former Alpha of the Adirondack Pack, Charles Smith, arrived in a car driven by one of their Omegas. He stepped out, not smiling, and was joined moments later by a striking young woman. “Mr. Smith, welcome to the Bitterroot Pack.”

“Thank you, Ron. It’s been too long.” Ron had visited the Adirondack Pack two years earlier on a ‘training exchange,’ an excuse for unmated males and females to spend time with other Packs. “This is my assistant, Ashley.” He took the young woman’s hand, disappointed she was not his, and welcomed her.

“Let’s get you to your rooms, and then I’ll take you to greet the Council. They know of your arrival.” Two Omegas grabbed their bags and led them into the house and up to the guest floor. Charles got a VIP room as a retired Alpha, while Ashley got a small room closer to the stairway. The Omegas left to get sandwiches and drinks for them, while Ron walked the two down the hall to the conference room to meet the Council.

“Arriving with Charles Smith and his assistant,” he sent to Alpha Forrest.

“Bring them in.” He opened the door and held it as the two entered the room. Charles walked over to where the men had stood up from the large table, starting with the Council Chair. “Chairman Gruber,” he said as he shook hands with him. “May I introduce my assistant, Ashley Madden.”

The Chairman smiled as he shook hands with the young she-wolf. She was wearing a dress that exposed her unmarked neck, and her dark brown hair was pulled back in a braid that went down to her shoulder blades. “A pleasure,” he said. “Are you seeking?”

“Assisting,” she said. ‘Seeking’ was visiting other Packs for the express purpose of finding a mate. She wouldn’t object to finding hers, but Charles was not exactly computer literate, and he didn’t know Rori as she did. Charles brought her in case they got close to a skittish Rori. “Anything else is a bonus.”

“Well, you never know when you’ll find the one,” he said. They greeted Councilmen Forrest and Waterman before being passed back to Beta Carlson. “The Beta will see to your needs. It must have been a long trip for you, and we’ve had a busy day. We will see you at ten AM here.”

Beta Carlson pulled out his phone while standing at the far end of the table, cursing under his breath as he dropped it. He knelt next to the chair and reached under the table for it, coming back up a few seconds later. “I’m sorry, sir. I had to make sure the appointment is on my calendar. I will make sure they are here on time.”

“Thank you for your hospitality, gentlemen,” Charles said. “You are right, it’s been a long trip, and we have much to do tomorrow.” With another round of handshakes, Beta Carlson followed them out and closed the door.

They didn’t say anything, but when Ashley turned to go to her room, they followed. “Bring the food along, we need to talk,” he said. They all moved into Charles’ guest room. “Go ahead and eat,” he said as he walked over to the desk. They looked at him as he pulled out a pad and pencil, writing something, then showing it to them. “Don’t say anything other than small talk as you eat. The room is bugged.”

Charles nodded, and they started to eat, commenting on how good the bread was, and their thoughts on the Pack House. “The Council is desperate to get Rori King under their control. I need you to come with me. When you finish eating, say good night and run the shower, then come out with me.”

They both nodded and finished their food. “That was good, but I’m heading to bed,” Charles said. “What time is breakfast in the morning?”

“Anytime between six and eight. Ashley, if you put the plates outside the door, and the Omegas will pick them up. May I escort you back to your room?”

“Of course, Beta. Thank you.” They walked out, waiting down by her door until Charles quietly closed his. He led them to a back stairway to the basement tunnel that took them to the garage. Ron opened his extended-cab F-150, and they all jumped in. He pulled out, not saying a word, and drove a gravel road for a few miles until it was at the top of a hill. Parking the truck, he got out. The two followed him over to a large boulder where he set his laptop down and booted it up.

“What’s going on, Ron?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He pulled the memory card out of the voice recorder and inserted it into the reader. He attached the file to an email, sending it to three people as they watched; Alpha John Coffey, Charles, and Chase Nygaard. “You watched the hearing?”

“Yes, we left immediately after. Martin and I couldn’t believe what a flimsy case they had on her. If Chase is her mate and Coral her Beta, we will do whatever we can to help them.”

He filled them in on what had happened with Coral that afternoon, plus his suspicions about Alpha Forrest wanting to do anything to keep her under his control as bait. “When I was in the witness chair, I put a recorder under the table. That’s what this file is. Alpha John wanted it sent out, over a cell network, before we listened to it.”

“You think it’s that bad?”

“You can’t be too careful with people who destroyed an entire Pack to get Rori.”

“You think the Council is dirty?”

“I think there’s far more to this story than we know.” The file had finished downloading, and it took a few minutes to find the part where the Council had kicked out everyone else. He turned up the volume as they listened in.

Gruber: “This is a complete fuck-up, Craig. We looked like idiots.”

Forrest: “You wanted her kept here, and we had to make up something. If our lawyers got involved, Coral never would have been charged.”

Waterman: “It would have worked if we didn’t have Sawyer show up. The kid is sharp; I’ll give him that. I can’t believe Will’s falling apart like he is. He’s a bigger security risk than Rori is right now.”

Gruber: “Expedite the challenge. He’s old, his mate leaving him has already weakened him, and Sawyer will be a good Alpha. We’re better off with Will dead. The fewer people who know about that night, the better. If anyone finds out about him covering for Todd, it’s going to open up way too many questions.”

Forrest: “Agreed. He’s losing it, and his Pack is falling apart. It wouldn’t shock me if the vote for Sawyer is unanimous.”

Waterman: “So we get rid of Will, but what about Rori? She’s still out there, she’s found her mate, and she’s heir to the Arrowhead Pack. We have to kill off Chase before her usefulness plummets. Once mated, we’ll have to wait another two decades for her daughter and her to come of age. I can’t wait that long for the chance. Rori will only have the fertility blessing with her first mate. Giving her over after killing her mate would be no different than giving your boy any other female.”

Forrest: “I’m not giving up now. My son will have her, and he will restore my Pack to greatness with her at his side. You all stand to be rich men if we don’t fuck this up now. We keep her from claiming Arrowhead, and her inheritance comes to us. We close this place down next year and liquidate its assets, and we get even more. Daniel is going to transfer a fortune to you two when Rori mates him, so you better help me find her.”

Gruber: “The testimony today helps in one way. It was obvious that Rori exposed herself to humans, and Chase prevented his Alpha from containing the situation. He thought he could make a video and intimidate us, but he did us a favor. Tomorrow, we will call a video conference of all North American Alphas. We lay out the danger we face from their reckless actions. An arrest warrant will be issued, one with proper legal vetting this time. Every werewolf in the country will be sent out to find them. Rori, we need her alive. Chase? Not so much. We will make that clear in the broadcast.”

Waterman: “The Adirondack Pack won’t like that. She’s the Alpha’s niece.”

Gruber: “Then we don’t tell them. Tell the Packs around them, as that’s one of the places they might seek refuge.”

Forrest: “Charles is coming here tonight, I’m sure to talk about Rori. Act concerned, promise to help her, and blow smoke up his ass until he leaves. We don’t want him or anyone else poking around here or asking about how the Arrowhead Pack got wiped out.”

Gruber: “The true story of that night never gets told, gentlemen. Craig, you need to keep Coral here somehow; we need leverage on Chase and Rori more than ever. Get it done.” They heard chairs moving, followed by the door closing and silence.

“Holy fuck,” Ron said.

“I’m going to kill them, slowly, as I peel their skin off,” Charles said.

Ashley held him back from the truck. “Going off half-cocked will get you killed, and it won’t help Rori,” she said.

“We need to leave. Now.” Beta Carlson closed up his laptop and led them back to the truck. “I can’t do this a moment longer. I can’t serve under an Alpha like this.” He fired up his engine after they were all loaded up, then turned back down the trail.

“Where will we go?”

“We have to find Rori before they do,” he said. “Is there anything in your rooms you care about?”

“I have my phone and wallet. The rest is just clothes,” Charles said.

“Nothing I can’t replace,” Ashley said.

“Good.” He linked one of the Omegas, asking her to go into Charles’ room and turn off the shower and the lights. She would grab their possessions and bring them out of Pack lands. “Do any of you have a phone number for Sally or Connie?” She was hesitant to tell him but relented when he explained he needed to get a message to Alpha Rori, and he didn’t have her number. Ron got Connie’s number, which he repeated while Charles punched it into his phone.

He waited as it rang, finally being picked up by a tired-sounding Connie. “Hello?”

“Connie, my name is Charles Smith. I’m Rori King’s grandfather and the former Alpha of the Adirondack Pack. I was hoping you could help me.”

“With what, sir? I’m not in the Bitterroot Pack anymore.”

“I know; you and Sally joined Rori’s Pack. I need to talk to her or Chase as soon as possible. The Council is going to issue arrest warrants for them in the morning.”

She didn’t say anything, but he could hear noises in the background. “How do I know I can trust you? I don’t know you. You could be anyone.”

Ron snapped his fingers, asking for the phone as they bounced along the rutted trail. “Connie, this is Ron Carlson. Charles is who he said he is, and he’s a friend to Chase and Coral.”

“Beta?” She said something to Sally before putting it on speakerphone. “All I can do is pass along the message; it’s up to them to call you,” she said. “I’ve been told not to give the numbers to anyone in case cellphones are tracked.”

“You can give them mine too.” Ron gave her his phone number. “Connie, things are getting bad fast. I’m leaving the Pack, but I haven’t broken the bond yet because I don’t warn them I know anything about their plans. I know there are others you know who are thinking about leaving. I beg you, get anyone you care about out of there now. Alpha Forrest can no longer be trusted.”

“I’ll pass that along to my Alpha as well.” She was smart, he thought, not willing to commit to anything without their concurrence.

“That’s all I can ask. Be well, Connie.” He hung up, hoping it wouldn’t take long.

“What is the plan, Beta?” Ashley had been following along from the back seat. From the files on Rori, he knew how close he was to Coral.

“They are afraid of two things; Rori and Chase completing their mating, and Rori claiming her birthright. We need her to do both and quickly. Once that is done, it’s time to clean house.”

“I mean right now,” she said.

“There’s a back way off the territory. It’s a logging road, so it doesn’t have a checkpoint. We’ll take that and get the hell out of here before I go back and kill Forrest myself.”

“I call dibs,” Charles said. The truck bounced along the trail into the night as they desperately sought to get the hell off this Pack land.