Abandoned Treasure

Nathan Storm’s POV

December 21, 2006

I focused on driving away as fast as possible, but that didn’t mean I forgot about my mate. “Here,” I said as I tossed the padlock key behind me. “Take the chains off. I have clothes in the bag for you.”

I braked for a curve, then accelerated hard after it. I heard Carol bounce against the side of the van with my sudden change in direction. She grunted and said nothing, though I knew it had to hurt. The chains rattled as she came off. “We’re free?”

“Unless they catch us.” It was winter in Montana, and the van wasn’t warm yet. “There are some clothes in the bag behind me.”

She crawled to the bag, removing the items I’d brought for her. The plain underwear and grey sweats were nothing fancy, but they covered her scars. She slipped her dirty feet into the knockoff Ugg boots, moaning in pleasure as she felt the warmth. She sat behind me on her knees, looking out at the winding road ahead. When I hit a straightaway, she climbed over the console into the passenger seat.

When I looked over the next time, I saw Carol had my pistol aimed at my chest. “Pull over and get out,” she told me.

“That’s not a good idea,” I replied evenly. I didn’t look over as I was doing a hundred miles an hour down the valley. “The whole fucking Pack will be after us now. The smart play is to put distance between us and them.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“You won’t make it far without me,” I replied. “You don’t even know the roads. Stop and think, my beautiful mate.”

She backed against the door as she looked at me. “Don’t call me that.”

“The tingles say otherwise,” I replied. The mark on her neck had faded long ago, but the draw was still there. “I’ve been planning this for a year, Carol. It’s another five miles to the stash car and four hours more to the house I’ve prepared for us. You’re free, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you do stupid shit and get us caught.”

“I could kill you now and take my chances.”

I let out a breath. “You’re an escaped slave from a pack that shouldn’t have them. They have a use for you, so they’ll probably keep you alive and put you back in that basement.”

“I’ll die before I go back there.”

“Then you’ll die with me because I won’t let them take you. Do you know how screwed we are right now?” I waited until I navigated the next tight turn before I continued. “You’re an escaped slave. The Council laws expressly forbid slavery. Alpha Todd faces removal, even imprisonment if it gets out.”

“Then why didn’t you report him?”

“It’s not that simple,” I said as I slowed down and took the exit for the Lost Trail Hot Spring. Carol didn’t react as I pulled into the parking lot next to a green Ford Explorer. I turned the van off but left the keys in the ignition. I ignored the gun as I turned and grabbed the bag. “Come on. We’re losing valuable seconds.”

She didn’t kill me, so I got out and opened the doors with the remote. I had the backseats down and a sleeping bag set up with a pillow. “If you want to sleep, you can. It might be better if you weren’t in view.”

She opened the passenger door while I tossed the go bag behind my seat. “I don’t trust you enough to sleep just yet,” she replied.

I grabbed the magnetic signs I’d made and put them on the van’s sides. It might buy us more time before someone figured out we’d switched vehicles here. I didn’t lock the van; if someone stole it, that would only help in our escape. I ran back to the SUV. “Trust my plan, then,” I said as I buckled up.

I pulled out of the lot, heading another few miles south on 93. Right at the Idaho border, I turned east on Highway 43. “They’ll find the van and think I’m heading south into Idaho or Utah, even Colorado,” I told her. “We’re going east around the bottom of the Anaconda range, then northeast. The nearest Pack they can call for help is down in Casper. We should beat anyone they send to watch Interstate 15.”

“What if they fly ahead?”

“It’s a big search area and getting bigger by the minute. I’m banking on it taking too long to position someone ahead of us. They won’t know what road to set up on if we aren’t spotted.”

She thought about that for a moment. “Unless they already have someone living in the area, or they involve humans.”

I shook my head. “Too much to hide. They won’t go to the police until their search fails.”

I was driving just over the speed limit now, not wanting to slide off the winding road or get pulled over by the police. It was pitch dark still, with sunrise not until after eight in the morning. In a hint of progress, she had the pistol next to her right hand on the seat instead of pointing it at me. I didn’t need any Pulp Fiction-style accidents. She was watching the road and thinking. “You never told me why you couldn’t report your Alpha to the Council.”

“I couldn’t break Alpha command while I was in the Pack, and I couldn’t rescue you without being part of the Pack,” I replied.

“You could have gone rogue and then reported it.”

If only things were that easy. “Two problems. First, as soon as a Pack wolf goes rogue, it’s a death sentence. No other Pack will take someone who breaks command. No trial, no probation, just a bullet to the head or a throat torn out. The other problem is you and the others.”

“What do you mean?”

“If anyone warns Bitterroot that the Council is coming for his slaves? Todd would have you all killed and buried deep before he arrives on Pack lands. The Council wolves come from the Packs so they have dual loyalties. How many senior wolves from other Packs have used you?”

She shuddered as the memories went through her. “A dozen or so.”

“I’d still be dead, and you and the others would be too. I’ve tried to think of everything, Carol. I need you to trust me. If you can’t do that yet? At least trust my plan to keep us both alive.”

She shook her head slowly. “You and your buddies killed my family. Your damn Pack abused me for YEARS. You claimed me without permission, and now you want TRUST?”

“I’m your MATE, Carol. The Goddess herself entwined our fates. I dreamed of the fairy tale mating, but our reality wasn’t the same. I did what I had to do to save our lives, and I’d do it again.”

“Why?”

I reached over and touched the back of her hand with the tip of my finger. Tingles ran up my hand, and I could sense she was fighting between her fear of me and the draw of her mate. “For this,” I said. “For the chance to have a happily ever after with you.”

Carol snorted, then started to laugh. “Happily ever after? REALLY? What is this, some trashy werewolf romance novel?”

She laughed loudly, and I loved hearing it. She was right about that; it was a bit much to hope for after all this. Eventually, I joined in. “Could we settle for mated bliss?”

“Bliss? How about we aim for something realistic, like comfortable with occasional amusement?”

I laughed again. “I’d like to think we could reach joy, maybe elation? I’ve heard mated wolves are at a different level because they can sense each other’s feelings during sex.”

“You don’t want to know what I feel during sex, Nathan. You don’t want to know what I feel the rest of the time, either.”

Buzzkill. She turned to look out the window while I tried to think of what to say next. We drove in silence until we hit Interstate 90 eastbound. “Can you give me a month?”

“For what?”

“To prove you can trust me,” I replied. “One month is too long to maintain the search effort. The Packs Todd asks for assistance will bring their people home. Bitterroot will have to get back to normal. If you’re going to run, you’ll have a better chance of doing it then. If you can learn to trust me, we have a chance for that occasional amusement. Or maybe better?”

“Maybe,” she replied. “Let me see your hideout first.”

“Deal.” I held out my hand, and we shook on it. I held her hand for a little longer than necessary, enjoying the tingles before she pulled hers back.

She crawled into the back, got in the sleeping bag, and went to sleep. I didn't wake her until we parked in the garage of our home in Great Falls.