Claiming Treasure

Alpha Rori King’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House, Alpha Offices

“Alpha, I think you should take this,” my secretary said as she poked her head in the door. “He said it’s an emergency.”

“Thank you, Ophelia,” I said. I picked up the phone, confident now that the offices had been swept clean of surveillance. Beta Ron had moved the device we found to his office, where he kept up the illusion in fake phone calls that I was still out of town.

Chase, Vic, Spider Monkey, and I had arrived late last night. We’d assigned every extra Pack member to help listen to and categorize the saved phone recordings Spider had gotten from the Council and Pack servers. It was taking a while, but they were making fast progress. If they heard anything interested, it was bumped up to the Betas. Two dozen listeners were a lot faster than a distracted Monkey.

“Alpha Rori,” I said.

“Alpha, this is James Bremerton, I am, I mean I was, a warrior in the Banff pack.”

“Are you requesting admittance to my Pack,” I asked. We’d been getting phone calls, emails, and people just showing up at the gates constantly since the email was sent out.

“Yes, Alpha, but I bring a warning for the Cascade Pack. The Council has issued an arrest warrant for Alpha Carson, and we’re here to get him.”

“I know about the warrant. Hang on.” I opened a link with my mate and my Betas. “A Banff warrior is on the phone; he told me his Alpha is moving to arrest Carson. Listen in.” I picked up the phone again. “Go ahead, James.”

“Last night, Alpha John had all of his Warriors and all but one Beta fly to Seattle, that’s thirty of us. We met this morning with Alpha Robertson, who flew in with twenty-six Denali Betas and Warriors. We’re just outside Cascade Pack territory now, moving into position to attack at noon. They wanted Alpha Carson, Alpha Coral, you and Alpha Chase, Heather Rhodes, Doctor Olson, and Doctor Myers. Deadly force is authorized to execute the warrant after one warning, and if you refuse to go, they are to kill you. This could be a bloodbath.” He paused. “I can’t do it, Alpha. I didn’t want to leave my Pack, but I can’t go against the Goddess either.”

“You don’t have to.” I took down his cellphone number and gave him a website and a passcode. “Stay out of sight and log into this in twenty minutes. Thank you, James.”

“I’ve already sent a warning to our allies,” Chase said. “Carson already replied, as did Michael.”

I opened the link to the entire Pack. “CONDITION YELLOW,” I broadcast. “We have information that the Council is using Packs to attempt to arrest your Alphas and Doctor Olson. There is no immediate threat, but prepare all defensive measures and observe.” The Pack leaped into action; the actions practiced over and over until they were habitual. In minutes, the entrances would be closed off and reinforced, non-combatants would be in the Pack safe room, and everyone else would be at their defensive positions. Beta Ron had assigned the eight new Warriors we’d taken in to shadow our own, so they would end up reinforcing existing defensive positions.

“I didn’t think they would move that quickly,” I said.

Previous Night

During our flight home, I’d gotten a call from Councilman Yakov Baronsky. “What can I do for you, Councilman,” I had said.

“You can tell me what human experimentation you are involved in,” he said. “The Council just met in an emergency session. They presented evidence you are using werewolf blood on humans.”

I froze, but then I should have expected this. At least our goodwill with the Beloretsk Pack led to Yakov calling us to ask, instead of just rushing to judgment. “We weren’t experimenting, sir. It just happened. When Frank Grimes got attacked, he needed blood. All we had was werewolf blood, so that’s what he got.”

“Doctor Andromeyev insists that werewolf blood doesn’t work.”

“It doesn’t, not on its own. We figured out how to pull the victims through the change. We’ve only used it when necessary; the knowledge is too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.”

Yakov started to laugh. “The Council said the same thing, right after they listened to a recording of you talking about how you needed to get Vic a bag of something, and Chase said to give him some blood. I don’t suppose Carson knew his office was bugged.”

“Not at the time, but we found it shortly after. Millner had a mole in the Pack, too. Well, I don’t trust the Council after all I’ve been through lately. No offense, of course.”

“The Council voted to arrest you. They said they want to bring you back to Banff to stop you, but I don’t trust them either. Once they know how you’re doing it, they will kill you like they killed Millner.” He was right. “You should think about going public, Alpha. The Council isn’t all-powerful.”

“We’ll talk about it, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the call.”

“Protect yourself, Alpha. You’ve made lots of enemies.”

He hung up, and I turned to Chase. “What should we do?”

“We need to have Frank and Colletta in on this decision, and they’re in Chicago.” He sent them a text. “We have some time, so let’s get Sawyer working on strategy. The Council cannot remove an Alpha from his land unless convicted, and we’re not going to let them take us anywhere. With the time to prepare a defense and gather the Alphas for the jury, we have weeks.”

Present time

The Pack leadership had assembled in my office ten minutes after making sure our defenses were ready, and no immediate threats existed. “What do we do next,” Chase asked.

“Councilman Baronsky recommended we go public. We need to do something before we have a couple of dozen barbarians at the gate,” Chase said.

“I’ll call for the removal of the Council,” I said. “This has to end.”

Beta Ron shook his head. “Coffey’s a slippery bastard; he’ll blame Millner for everything. We need more than just bugging the offices to get rid of them.”

“They want to be able to change humans,” Teri said. “What if we gave that to everyone?”

I shook my head. “You want to give these power-mad Alphas the ability to raise armies?”

“How would that work then,” she said. “You need a mate to complete the change, and there are only so many widows out there. You can’t force a mating on someone; their wolf would never do it.”

“There will be wolves like Greg, who decide to take a human as a mate before finding their fated mate,” I argued.

“We don’t know if Luna would allow that since we haven’t tried it. I have to think the blessing of Luna is required for this to happen,” Teri replied.

“We can warn them,” Chase said. “They may not believe us, but if we do nothing, how many innocent humans will die as they try and figure it out?”

Hundreds, potentially. “Fine.” I looked at my clock, it was one-thirty in the afternoon, and we were two hours ahead of Carson. “Ron, set up a global teleconference in thirty minutes. We need Frank and Colletta on the call, too.”

“Who do you want on the call,” Ron asked.

“Invite them all, we’ll see who shows up,” I replied.

Twenty-five minutes later, Chase and I were sitting in my office in front of the videoconference, displayed on the large screen on the wall for my staff. Beta Ron was mind-linking the proceedings to those staffing the defensive positions, while the others watched in the safe room. At precisely 1:30, I opened the meeting. Everyone was present except Chairman Coffey, and Alphas Coffey, Robertson, Blackledge, and Kirk. It was clear the Monongahela and Katahdin Packs were the ones coming to Arrowhead. “Welcome, Alphas, to this emergency teleconference,” I said. “I apologize for the short notice.”

“What is the purpose of this meeting,” Councilman Nemmers said.

“To present evidence as to why the existing Council save Councilman Baronsky be removed for cause. The Councilman was not in agreement with the others.” That little bomb set things off, and it took almost a minute with everyone yelling before I could speak again. “As you know, the Council members are subject to recall with a two-thirds vote of the respective continents Alphas.”

“This is a serious matter,” Alpha Long of Bitterroot said. “I suspect you have evidence, and I’d like to see it.”

“As would I,” Councilman Nemmers replied.

“First off, a warning. This voice-activated surveillance device,” I showed the deactivated bug to the camera, “was placed by the Council within my office. We found a similar device was in Alpha Coral’s office; the Council has been in both Packs recently and had access to the offices during that time. A third device was in Alpha Carson’s office. In each case, there was a receiver nearby and a program on the Pack server that transmitted the information to the Council server.”

“That wasn’t us! It had to be that bastard Millner!” Jurgen Nemmers was standing now.

“I suppose that is why the devices were still in use yesterday, long after Millner turned into ashes,” I replied icily. “Isn’t that right, Councilman Baronsky?”

“Alpha King is correct; the Chairman played a recording from Alpha Carson’s office yesterday. It was the basis for the arrest warrant they authorized under emergency Council rules. Here, let me read.” He read the warrant to the shocked Alphas.

“As you all know, the arrest and trial of an Alpha can only occur under strict rules. The Council must authorize the warrant and present it to the Alpha. Enforcers monitor the Alpha to verify they remain on their Pack lands. The Council sets a date for the trial, giving time for the Alpha to prepare a defense and the Alphas to make travel plans,” I said. “I should know, I’ve just been through it all.” There was some laughter at this. “I’d like to link in a witness at this time.”

I brought up a new participant. “This is James Bremerton; until a short time ago, he was a warrior in the Banff Pack. James, please tell the group where you are and why.”

The warrior briefly summarized the events from last night to now, when warriors of two Packs surrounded Cascade Pack lands. “What were your orders, James?”

“Here, I’ll play them for you.” The next voice was that of Alpha John Coffey. “Once the gate guard has the warrant, kill any who resist, including the Alpha. Under no circumstances is the Pack Clinic to be attacked. I need Doctor Myers alive.”

I had to let the noise die down before I could continue. “The attack will begin in twelve minutes, so we have to move on to questions now.”

“Alpha Rori, the warrant stated you were experimenting on humans. What exactly did you do?”

“Alpha Carson, perhaps you should go first,” I said.

The screen widened until everyone could see the big female wolf at Carson’s side. “This is Heather Rhodes. She survived the bite, turning into an Alpha-level wolf, and as you can see, my mate.” He pulled his collar down, showing the fresh mating bite.

“Luna Colletta?”

“Hi everyone. Do you remember Frank Grimes? He’s now my mate.”

“Impossible,” Alpha Hapsburg said.

“It’s true,” Frank said. They were in a hotel room, and he dropped his bathrobe and shifted into his huge wolf, licking Colletta’s face, before changing back and pulling his robe back on. “We have found a way for humans to become werewolves. It is that knowledge the Council is after; the rest is excuses. They think they will be able to raise armies loyal to them.”

“Why shouldn’t we worry about YOU doing the same,” Alpha Fergus Shaw asked.

“It’s not an easy thing. The only way the human can pull through the change is if there is a wolf with them, willing to mate with the emerging wolf immediately. Matings are sacred; both Colletta and Carson lost theirs and chose humans as a second chance mate.” He pulled Colletta into his side. “Without her love, I’d be as dead as every other bitten human.”

“As would Heather,” Carson added. “She even kept her pups.”

I looked up at the clock. “Ladies and gentlemen, we must cut this meeting short. In just a few minutes, the Cascade Pack will be attacked by more than forty warriors from two Packs.” There was a warning siren in the background. “The Arrowhead Pack as well. May Luna accept the fallen today.”

I left the videoconference going, shifting the views as Carson and I had talked. The surveillance footage from our two Packs was displayed side-by-side as the remaining Alphas argued. “Enemies at the gates, Alphas,” Beta Ron sent from our security center.

“Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war,” I sent to all of Arrowhead. My Pack answered with volleys of gunfire.