Claiming Treasure

Three Tequila’s POV

Cascade Pack House, Alpha Wing

My heart was aching as I brought Heather back to her room. Her situation was bad, but her confession was worse. She convinced herself that she would have to die, and she was making peace with it. I gave her a careful hug before returning to our room.

Mongo was pacing in front of the window, clenching and relaxing his fists as he tried to calm down. “It’s not going to happen, I won’t allow it,” he said as I walked to him.

“We need to know what happened at the trial,” I said. “Whatever went on, it scared the shit out of Heather. She was already hurt and vulnerable, and now she’s given up. We have to see why.”

He nodded and walked out into the hallway, returning a few minutes later with McKenna. She plugged a memory stick into the LCD television above our dresser and handed Mongo the remote. “Our Alpha’s trial is about three hours long, but there are some interruptions.”

“Like what?”

“An execution. The rest is a continuation of Alpha Rori and Chase’s trial. That won’t make much sense unless you watch their first trial. I can get it for you if you want.”

I looked at the clock; it was almost eleven, meaning it was two in the morning Florida time. “We’re going to need coffee as well,” I said.

“I’ll bring you a pot,” she said as she left.

“We could always nap first and get up early to watch it,” Mongo said as he pulled me into his lap on the bed.

“Could you sleep?” I looked at him; he was just as upset as I was.

“No.”

“Me either. It’s like my head is going a million miles an hour, and my emotions are out of control. I haven’t felt this way since… since….” Tears rolled down my face as I remembered.

“The miscarriage.”

“Yes.” It was less than a week after we’d announced our pregnancy when the cramping started, and two hours later, our baby was gone. My doctor told me it wasn’t my fault, that pregnancy at my age carried higher risks, but I was a mess. She said there was no way to tell why it had happened, or if it would happen again. It was likely my last chance for a child of my own. One day I was a Mom, the next I was not.

Heather was my niece, and we’d grown close after they moved to Florida six years ago. Now I was her only family, and I had to be there for her. She needed to know people were in her corner. “I’m going to freshen up, love. Get things ready?”

When I came out, he had poured a travel mug of coffee for me and had turned down the covers. I tucked in next to him on the pile of pillows as we watched the whole thing. There were a few places we had to back up and listen again before we caught what was happening. The execution? Brutal, but after hearing what he had done, I thought the werewolves had it right.

When it was over, and the Council gave their decision, I was watching Carson on the split-screen. You couldn’t fake the emotions he showed when they announced he was going to have to turn her over in a year. “He won’t do it,” I said. “He loves her.”

“She doesn’t love him, not yet anyway.” He turned off the television, then the light on the bedside table. Sliding down, I moved until I tucked into his side, my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead, then laid back on the pillow. “Goodnight, my love,” he whispered.

“Goodnight.” I closed my eyes, but my head was still spinning. Even in my exhaustion, sleep didn’t come easily.

I woke to a knocking on the door. “Ma’am? It’s Allison.”

I blinked, seeing the sun shining through the blinds, I wondered what time it was. “Come in.”

She poked her head in, smiling as she saw us bundled together under the blankets. “The final statements are next in the trial of the Arrowhead Alphas, and then it goes to the jury. It starts in fifty-two minutes; I thought you might want to have breakfast and watch it with the rest of our Pack. We’ve got the broadcast set up in the dining hall.”

“Is Heather awake?”

“I woke her up first.”

“Good.” I felt Mongo get out of the bed, and he walked naked to the bathroom. She didn’t bat an eye, not even glancing at his morning wood. I shook my head, not being used to the casual nudity that werewolves found normal. “Do you have a moment?”

“Certainly, ma’am.”

“Three Tequila, please. Ma’am makes me feel old,” I said. I walked over to the dresser and pulled out some underwear, then put on jeans and a long-sleeved Harley shirt. “What does the Pack think about Heather?”

“I can’t speak for them or the Alphas,” she said.

“What do YOU think?”

“I think she’s a badass,” she said like a fangirl.

“Really? Our Heather is good at judo, but she’s young.”

“You haven’t seen the video?”

“What video,” Mongo said from behind the partially-open bathroom door.

“I’ll be back,” she said. Mongo dressed by the time she returned, and she put the memory drive into the television. “This was at the mating party for Greg and Tatiana,” she said.

We watched as the happy couple accepted congratulations from the Alphas before Tatiana left the room with some of the other ladies. Heather couldn’t express how awkward the whole scene was, but I was proud of the way she handled him. She stood her ground, taking down an angry Tatiana, then shooting her wolf when she attacked in her fur. I watched the pandemonium erupt as Greg tackled Heather into the table before Carson took her from the room.

“I’m going to skin his ass slowly,” Mongo said with a growl.

“See? Total badass,” Allison said. “Slapped the shit out of that no-good baby daddy and his jealous mate.”

“She got her ribs broken,” Mongo said.

“She’s a human, she’s fragile, but she’s fierce. Greg is far stronger than her, and he could break her in half, but she wasn’t afraid of him. And Tatiana? Her father is a Head Warrior in Russia. She’s been learning how to fight since she learned how to walk, and Heather put her down TWICE in under ten seconds.”

“Second time was with a gun,” I said.

“So? It’s not like she could shift when Tatiana did. Going after a human in our fur, that’s a bitch move. I’m nothing for rank, an Omega who cleans the house. Most people wouldn’t notice me, but she talked to me and helped me with my duties. She’s a good person, and will be a good Luna for us.”

“You believe Carson’s wolf chose her as his mate?”

She nodded. “We don’t lie about that. Mates are sacred; if his wolf has claimed her, she’s his mate.”

“Huh.” Heather came in, and we all went down to the dining hall for breakfast. As guests, the Betas had us sit at the main table with them, with Heather in the Alpha’s chair in his absence. When it was time, the lights dimmed, and the projection screens around the room came to life.

“The trial of Alphas Rori King and Chase Nygaard is called to order,” Chairman Coffey said. “The guilty plea remains in effect. The Defense and Prosecution will be allowed to make final statements before the jury decision on their punishment. Alpha Nygaard,” he said as he gestured to the defense table.

“Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.’ And here we are. A human found out that we could turn into wolves, and for that, the Law demands that he die.” Sawyer stood and walked towards the Alphas. “The Alphas refused, and now the Law wants them punished instead. They have admitted they violated the law, but they had reasons for this, and in this gray area is where true leadership is required.”

I’d met Sawyer at Arrowhead before; he was a good man. I held Mongo’s hand as he continued. “The Law didn’t ask what he was doing when he discovered our secret. Frank Grimes was the one who saw the Jaguars come in off the frozen lake, and he was the one who spread the alarm. Frank Grimes armed himself and used his skills from decades in law enforcement to keep the attackers from reaching the Alphas and the Blessed Child. Frank Grimes fought to protect the Alphas and has the scars to show for it. Yet, what did Frank do next? Did he inform Law Enforcement of our secret? Did he demand to be let go?”

Everyone knew the answer. “No. Frank demonstrated true friendship and loyalty by providing sound advice on how to deal with the police investigation that COULD have exposed us. He came before the Council and the Alphas and helped us understand WHY we have to prepare for exposure in the coming years. Finally, he DID help us with his contacts in Government, ending the threat of an investigation that could have exposed us. He is trusted and loyal, yet the LAW would have him killed for it.”

There was a murmuring in the audience, quickly stopped by the gavel. “Continue,” the Chairman said.

“Frank is not the only example of loyalty among humans trusted by Alphas Chase and Rori. The oldest trusted agent, the Pack Lawyer, kept our secret for fifteen years when there wasn’t a Pack to be loyal to. Rori’s mother and stepfather kept the secret after Rori shifted, which was before she even knew about Pack laws regarding humans. They are Betas in the Pack now. The Steel Ladies who saw her shift while in hiding with them, before Rori even knew she was a wolf, they kept her secret. Over and over, the Arrowhead Alphas have chosen to honor those humans with the knowledge, and the Pack is better for it.”

He paused for effect, taking a drink of water. “Just because a law exists does not mean it is right or moral. Laws allowed slavery, abuse, and forced matings to occur in Packs. Laws allowed men to wipe out a Pack for money and power. We have flawed laws, written by men long dead, and now overtaken by the technology and population. Do you not understand Frank’s warning? It is no longer possible for us to react to potential discovery with execution. The bodies in the ground are the seeds of our destruction. So yes, they are guilty. They are guilty of returning the loyalty they have received. They are guilty of thinking long-term instead of reacting in haste. And finally, they are guilty of making hard decisions in the best interests of the Pack and of us all. The proper sentence is to do nothing, for they have done no wrong. The Defense rests.”

I was practically squeezing his hand off towards the end, and a cheer rose up among the Pack as he finished.

Alpha Kirk rose in response. “Guilt is not an issue here. The Alphas knew the law; the Alphas admitted breaking the law, and they pled guilty to it. This attempt at jury nullification is laughable. They received multiple warnings, one from the Chairman personally, yet they continued to defy the Law and the Council to do what THEY wanted to do.” He got up and walked in front of the Alphas. “If the Laws are unjust, we have the means to change it with a two-thirds majority of Alphas. Have the Arrowhead Alphas brought forth proposals to do so? Have they rallied support, pushed hearings, forced votes? Have they done the hard work of governing to modernize these laws? No. No, they’ve done none of this.”

He pointed at the defendants and sneered. “Instead, they set themselves up to be ABOVE the law, and in the process, they endanger us all. Do not be fooled by a silver-tongued lawyer or talk of blessings. They are like a pup with his hand in the cookie jar, trying to change the subject to avoid a punishment that is both just and due. Give them the sentence they deserve. Remove them from the Alpha position, and incarcerate them for fifty years. Let them be examples to the next person who thinks to ignore our laws. The Prosecution rests.”

“The Jury will remain sequestered until reaching a verdict. No mental communication is allowed during this time. The trial is in recess.” With a gavel bang, it was over.