Claiming Treasure

Carson Nygaard’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House, Trial Room

“IMPOSSIBLE,” Alpha Matthew Kirk roared from the Prosecutor’s table. “Miss Rhodes is HUMAN. No wolf means NO MATE BOND.”

“I didn’t say I had a mate bond with her,” I replied as things calmed down. “Honestly, she isn’t ready for a man or a mate. She’s had her whole life ripped apart multiple times, and the wounds from her rejection are still fresh. Add in that she’s pregnant and alone now, and the reaction of my kind to her, and a relationship with me isn’t happening now.”

“Then there is no mating, and you have no defense.”

“You aren’t listening, Alpha Kirk. I said that MY wolf had recognized HER as my mate. As such, my actions to protect her fall into the Mate Protection exception in the law.”

There were more outbursts in the crowd and among the Alphas, and the Chairman had to gavel the proceedings to order again. “I will not warn you again. Alphas, order your audience members to remain seated and silent during the proceedings.” They did, and the crowd stilled under the command.

Councilman Millner nudged the Chair, getting the floor. “This is ridiculous, Alpha Nygaard. We all know you are unmated, you’ve visited my Pack with the other males looking for mates! Don’t presume to confuse your lust for an attractive young human with the blessing of the mating bond.”

“I am no Greg Barks, Councilman Millner. I have not seduced her and left her pregnant, and I am not acting on lust.”

“How can you know if you’ve never felt the mating pull,” Councilman Kirk said.

“You do not know me or what I have experienced,” I said as I stared into his eyes. “I have felt the mating pull. She rejected me out of hand, having already chosen a choice mating to another. I know what the pull is, gentlemen. I know it cannot be in place without her having a wolf. MY wolf, which has been sullen and withdrawn for about five decades, sat up and took notice when I met Heather. When she was in danger, I responded as if she was my mate. In my wolf’s mind, she IS my mate, and I will have no other.”

“You have not marked her, and she has not accepted you,” Alpha Kirk said. “She might reject you as well.”

My wolf growled at the thought, but I kept it down. “That may happen despite my best efforts to win her over. I cannot depend on an irresistible pull or instinct to win her heart. I have a tough test ahead of me, and you are not making it easier. The longer this goes on, the less time I have.”

“Time until what,” Sawyer asked me.

“The laws regarding humans are wrong, but they are clear. I have granted Heather Rhodes asylum in my Pack from those of you who seek to kill her. A foolish, reactionary desire that would take my Mate from me and bring unwanted attention from human authorities. Do you have any idea what would happen if you were to kill her?”

“You and your brothers would rebel,” Alpha Kirk said with a sneer. “You would bring us to war over a human?”

“We would not have to declare war for you to get one,” I responded evenly. “You people have no idea of the forces you are dealing with. You think you can slice her throat and bury her in the woods, and your problem is solved. Real life isn’t like that.”

“It IS that simple,” Councilman Baronsky said. “She knows, she dies. It is the way we have protected our kind for CENTURIES.”

“It is that kind of ignorance that will get us all killed,” I said as he glared at me. “Heather Rhodes is not some orphan streetwalker, with no family and no history. She is claimed as a Club Princess by the Steel Brotherhood, a biker club with chapters all over the country and thousands of members. Her guardian is a President, and keeping her safe was part of the bargain Alpha Chase made when we took down the Sons of Tezcatlipoca. The Brotherhood will take their vengeance on anyone who harms their member.”

“It’s a biker club, nothing to worry about,” Alpha Kirk said.

I just shook my head at their stubbornness. “If you think that, you deserve your fate. It’s more than the Brotherhood. She has influential friends in human law enforcement, ones who won’t let her disappearance go unsolved. They will descend on us like locusts, leaving nothing behind when they leave. The deal we made with the Government three months ago will go away. Every business deal, front company, bank account, and forged document will go under the microscope. We cannot withstand the scrutiny they would bring. Our secret would be lost, along with our land and our lives.”

“People die all the time, Alpha. Humans are fragile; we can make it look accidental,” Alpha Kirk replied.

“And you would kill her when she has done nothing more than love one of us,” I said. “She has the protection of my Pack. You will have to go through me to get her, and I am not fragile, and will not die easily.”

The Chairman looked into my eyes, and I stared back at him. I didn’t care if this was challenging him, this was my MATE they were talking about, and no man would take her from me. “I do not know if a mate bond exists, but I can see the passion in which he defends her. Counsel, do you have other evidence to present?”

“No, Mr. Chairman,” Sawyer said.

“The defendant may return to his seat.” I did, and the Chairman gave the jury instruction. “The decision to be rendered is not whether Alpha Carson refused to follow a valid order by a member of the Council. He has admitted to that. The question you must answer is whether the Mate Protection exception applies to his disobedience.”

The Council left, then the Alphas filed off into the conference room. When the doors closed, Alpha Rori excused the rest of us. I sat back in my chair, wondering if what I did was enough. “You’ll be fine,” Rori said as she put her hand on my shoulder. “A wise Alpha doesn’t interfere with matings.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said. “I have to call home.”

“Use my office,” Rori said. “Your Pack was watching, and they already know what you are going to say.”

She was right; when I called on Skype, my Betas congratulated me before leaving so my Mom could talk. “I’m so happy for you,” she said as she wiped a tear away. “You had us all in tears,” she said.

“Great.” Sworn testimony was not the way I wanted to confess my growing love for Heather. “How is she doing?”

“She’s talking with Doc right now; there’s a lot going on in her head after watching the trial.”

“Mom, was that a good idea?”

“She can’t be the only one here who doesn’t know what’s going on, Carson. You were wonderful, you stood up for her, and that can only help.”

I could imagine what she was thinking, hearing what I said, and what those backwards-ass Alphas were saying about her. She’s probably planning to run as far away from us as she can. “Did she freak out yet?”

“No. Heather is stronger than I imagined, Carson, and I can see her becoming a good Luna once she gets a wolf. She has courage, that one, and a selfless heart. I’d worry that she will agree to mate with you, not out of love, but because it is the only way to save her babies.”

“You need to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, Mom. Council Enforcers are on the borders. If I lose, they will come and take her.”

“They can try,” she said with a growl. “The moment you claimed her, she became my daughter, and those babies my grandchildren. The Pack knows her as their future Luna. They will not let the Enforcers take her away, and Frank and I cannot be commanded to give them up. They will be long gone before the first Enforcer makes it to the Pack House.”

“Thanks, Mom.” She wished me luck and let me go; leaving the office, I barely noticed the Council Enforcers following me as I went to lunch. The Pack’s mood was joyous; a mate claiming was a cause for celebration, and when it was an Alpha? Big news. It took me five minutes to make it to my seat with all the people congratulating me, and I didn’t even know if she would accept me!

Lunch was fantastic; Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, onion rings, and a Coke. I was cleaning up the mess on my plate when the Chairman announced a verdict was in, and we would convene again in twenty minutes. “Coral, what’s going on,” I sent.

“You know the jury is sworn to secrecy,” she responded. “If you want to help, have the kitchen send more onion rings and dill pickles. I can’t get enough of these things.” I laughed and let Mykayla know as she came by with a pitcher of water. The eleven-year-old orphan was helping out in the kitchen since this trial was an ‘all-hands’ evolution for the Pack.

The crowd made its way back in after lunch. A few minutes later, I was standing behind the defense table as the Alphas and Council walked in. The proceedings were gaveled back to order, and the video was running again. “Members of the jury, on the count of disobedience of a Council order, how do you find the defendant, Alpha Carson Nygaard?”

“Not guilty based on the Mate Exception,” Alpha Robertson replied.

I leaned back in my seat, relieved that the first part was over. The Council would now have to recognize my claim to her and my offer of asylum. “Very well,” Chairman Coffey said. “We now move to the question of asylum. Alpha Carson can make his case, and the Council and Alphas will be allowed questions. Since this is not a criminal matter, the Council itself will decide. Alpha Sawyer, you have the floor.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The matter is a simple application of Pack law. Heather Rhodes made it to Cascade Pack lands and requested asylum for her and her unborn children. She faces a real threat of death that meets the asylum criteria, and the Alpha granted the asylum. Under the law, she is part of and protected by the Cascade Pack, and any action to harm her is an act of war.”

“This is outrageous, Mr. Chairman,” Alpha Kirk replied. “You cannot apply Werewolf law to a HUMAN female. The asylum is void because humans are not eligible under the law to ask for it!”

“Asylum applies to both to Heather AND her pups,” Sawyer responded. “The Law allows for children and the unborn to be represented by a parent. A mother certainly qualifies.”

“Not if she’s human. Humans have no rights under Werewolf laws!”

Sawyer grabbed a piece of paper off our table. “If I may? Here is the relevant section. ‘Any person who reaches the territory of another Pack and whose plea for protection is accepted may be granted Asylum by that Alpha. Asylum status places the person under the authority and protection of the granting Alpha. Asylum status ends if the person joins the Pack as a member, or if the Asylum status is voided by the Werewolf Council after an evidentiary hearing.’ It says nothing about the person having to be a werewolf.”

“It is IMPLIED in the wording, Mr. Chairman. A human cannot ‘fully join the Pack’ because they have no wolf, and no Pack Bond is possible. Therefore, a human cannot reach the end of an asylum claim.”

“Are you so sure about that, Alpha Kirk?” He looked back to where Chase and Rori sat. “The Arrowhead Pack has TWO humans who are both Pack members and Trusted Agents; in fact, they are Pack Betas. Alpha Rori’s adoptive mother is the Pack Nurse, and her stepfather is in charge of Pack facilities. Both live on Pack land, in Pack housing, and have supported and protected the Pack like any other member. Both are loved and valued MEMBERS of the Arrowhead Pack. If other Packs do not recognize the value of humans to them, it does not matter to those Packs who embrace and trust humans as their own. If Heather Rhodes accepts Carson Nygaard as her mate, she will be the Luna of the Cascade Pack.”

“Some Luna! Unable to link, unable to shift, unable to protect the Pack,” Councilman Baronsky said.

Sawyer just laughed. “She took down a trained Werewolf female, TWICE. How is she different now than any other Werewolf female who is pregnant and unable to shift?”

The crowd was still under Alpha command to remain silent, but their faces showed the argument was getting through. Alpha Kirk knew he was losing, so he shifted gears. “And she IS pregnant, and the father of those pups has clear rights under Werewolf law.”

“He may ask to see the children when they are born,” Sawyer replied. “Alpha Carson would not deny a man visitation.”

“I’m speaking of the Bloodline Rights,” Alpha Kirk said. I was shocked; I’d heard about those in our history books, but no one in the modern age would use them! They were a relic of the laws from before the Council existed as a governing body. “When a male werewolf finds his True Mate, he OR his mate may eliminate any bastard children he has fathered with other women. This right ensures his hereditary bloodline is ONLY through his true mate. The law is why Tatiana was within her rights to end the babies Heather was carrying.”

“This is barbaric! Infanticide cannot be the answer,” Alpha Coral said. “The law was only used for Alpha bloodlines, not a Pack Warrior! It is a relic from when we all lived in caves, and for good reason! We have risen above killing innocent babies, have we not?”

“And yet the law remains,” Alpha Kirk said. “Females, children, and the unborn do not have the rights of a Male under the law. If the Father has this legal right, asylum cannot be used to evade it. ”

“We’ll be changing that soon,” Coral said under her breath as others nodded in agreement.

“To be clear, Alpha Kirk, you believe that Heather Rhodes’ asylum is void IF the father of the twins wants to kill his children.”

“I didn’t say that,” he replied, knowing how it sounded to the audience. “I said that his RIGHT to do so means that Heather’s asylum protections ARE void if he doesn’t want the babies for his own.”

What an asshole. Sawyer had played him perfectly; with every word, their disgusting beliefs were made clear to everyone. He’d walked right into the trap we devised. “And if the father does not want to exercise that right? Would it change anything?” Kirk said nothing as Sawyer opened a folder on the table, handing a copy of the paper to Alpha Kirk, before passing another copy to the Council Chairman. “This morning, Greg Barks signed papers terminating his rights to his children. He consented to them being claimed by adoption and raised by Alpha Carson Nygaard and his mate, Heather Rhodes.”

“WHAT,” Councilman Baronsky yelled.

“The papers are in order, and thus the parentage and future of the pups are no longer a Council matter. The mother and father are in Cascade Pack and will remain there.” With that, he sat down. “Look at Kirk,” he sent to the family. “He looks like his toys just got taken away.”

“It’s not over yet, the Council has to decide on Heather,” Coral said.

The quiet in the courtroom as the Council reviewed the papers was broken by yelling, then a loud crash as someone knocked over furniture. A plea for mercy was met with a FURIOUS growl. “I WILL KILL YOU,” a deep voice yelled with a Russian accent, followed by the sound of a fist hitting flesh over and over.

“Stay where you are,” Rori ordered as she and Chase got up to see what was happening behind the curtain that divided the courtroom from the rest of the Pack House. Her Warriors did not move to break up the fight as I expected. Instead, they stepped aside as a small black and tan colored wolf ran into the room. The frightened animal hid behind Rori’s legs as she shook uncontrollably.

Rori leaned down, and her face contorted with rage as she picked the little one up. “He hurt Mykayla,” she growled as she walked towards the curtain with the juvenile wolf in her arms. “DON’T KILL HIM, HIS ASS IS MINE,” she yelled as she exited the room.