Claiming Treasure

Alpha Rori King’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House

Rage filled my body, and my wolf wanted blood as we stepped out of the trial area, into the common area where the three wings of the dining hall came together. My eyes took in the scene as Mykayla squirmed and shook in my arms.

Underneath a broken table, a man was lying unconscious and bleeding. Standing over him, Timur Petrovsky had his blood-covered fists shaking as he looked ready to kill. I moved forward as the other Alphas and Council filed out of the room behind me. “Тимур отойди (Timur, Stand Down),” Alpha Ivan commanded, causing the big warrior to freeze.

“What’s going on here,” Chairman Coffey demanded.

“My pack. My decisions,” I responded. These people were all guests here, and on MY land, they are subject to MY discipline. Only the Alphas could appeal to the Council; the rest, like this piece of shit cluttering up my floor, I could punish.

And I would.

I called Beta Teri forward and handed over the petrified little wolf to her. Mykayla immediately buried her head under her arm, refusing even to look at the scene. “Take her to the clinic and settle her in an exam room,” I said as I smelled her. The scent of a man was on her in places it should never be, confirming my worst fears. “She must have shifted to protect herself. Calm her down, and see if you can talk her through shifting back.”

“Of course, Alpha.” No one said anything as she walked away from the scene.

Walking over to the two men, I had my Warriors fan out around me. The Oxbow Lake warriors shadowed them, not knowing yet what was going on. I was a pregnant and enraged Alpha, not a combination any werewolf wanted to deal with. “Timur, step away,” I told him.

He moved back, exposing his throat to me. “My apologies, Alpha.”

With him out of the way, the tables and chairs were moved aside to uncover the young man he had been beating on. He had a shirt on, but his pants were around one ankle. His face was unrecognizable, and his shirt covered in his blood. He looked bad, but it was nothing compared to the bloody mess in his crotch. Mykayla must have bitten his cock and not let go as he pulled her off. The flesh of the last few inches of his partially-erect penis sliced into ribbons.

Werewolf healing couldn’t fix that without help.

The smells and his injuries told me what happened, even if Mykayla couldn’t.

Chase came up behind me, looking at the unconscious man. “I need to stop the bleeding, or he’ll die before we can execute him,” he said.

“Mykayla needs your help in the clinic, love. I’ll handle him. Beta Ron, bring me a hot iron from the fireplace.” He ran to comply. “Whose man is this,” I asked the Alphas behind me as Chase moved off.

“He is one of my newly qualified warriors,” Alpha Richard Long said. “He assaulted the woman?”

“Girl.She is ELEVEN, Alpha Long. That was her first shift, forced years early because she had to defend herself from THAT.” He looked down, knowing his warrior was as good as dead now.

Most of the Alphas around me recoiled at what happened. Some Packs had been able to hide unspeakable acts against females internally, but to do it at Arrowhead? Suicidal. “He will not be one of your warriors by sundown. Warriors, hold him down,” I said as Ron returned with a glowing-red piece of cast iron.

“My rehabilitation training must not have worked,” Coral said. “I recognize him from my time there. He was still a juvenile then.”

“I don’t believe in rehabilitation for sex offenders,” I replied. One man held down each limb, his legs spread wide. As the hot steel seared his damaged foreskin, he woke up and screamed. I ignored that as four strong men held him relatively still. Rolling the glowing bar around, I kept cauterizing until the bleeding had stopped. I might have burned more than I needed to, but I didn’t care. “Take him to the punishment pole, lash him up and guard him,” I told the guards. They pulled the groaning man to his feet and dragged him out the back.

The smell of burning flesh and blood filled the room, and my stomach didn’t like it. “Alpha Ivan, Warrior Timur, Alpha Long, my office.” I walked off without looking back, guards falling in at my side.

“The trial is in recess for lunch, reconvening at one PM,” Chairman Coffey said. “Stay out of the way while they clean this mess up.”

I reached my office and unlocked it, my guards taking up spots just inside as I went to my desk. I had a headache; I couldn’t believe I was dealing with this shit again. The two Alphas and the hulking young Warrior entered the room and took the chairs she indicated. I went to the bar, grabbing a towel and soaking it with cold water before tossing it to Timur. He cleaned his bloody hands with it as I grabbed bottled water for myself and the others. Sitting back in my chair, I looked at Timur. “Tell us what happened,” I said.

“I was exercising in the gym this morning. I came upstairs and passed a door back by the kitchen. I heard a man yell ‘bitch,’ then he yelled in pain, and I heard a wolf growl. My wolf was going nuts as I opened the door. The man was holding his bleeding cock, kicking the little wolf as she hid between the boxes.”

“Did you know either of them,” I asked.

“She is my mate!” Our jaws dropped. “As soon as I opened the door, her smell hit me, and I lost control. He was hurting her, and she was so frightened.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I pulled him off her. My wolf and I wanted blood. I threw him through the door, then chased him in here. I kill him if you do not stop me.”

“Mykayla. Your mate’s name is Mykayla, and she’s eleven.”

“I will wait for her. She must be afraid of me now.”

I mentally asked Chase about her. “She’s resting now, but my mate had to sedate her. She… she’s had a rough life, Timur. She doesn’t trust men, and I don’t know how much this attack will set her back.”

I could see the hurt and anger in his eyes. “I will help. Whatever Mykayla needs, I will give her,” he vowed.

“Even if she wants nothing to do with you?”

“I will not make that decision easy for her, but it will be her decision.”

Perhaps the family was not as bad as Tatiana’s lack of control indicated. “It looks like we will have more to discuss than just Greg and Tatiana, Alpha Ivan,” I said. “Mykayla would not react well to the punishment, and I see no reason to delay it any further.” I looked back to Timur. “As her mate, do you claim the right to execute him for sexual assault on a juvenile?”

“Her parents do not claim it for her?”

“She’s an orphan, and a former slave in another Pack,” I replied.

His eyes flashed with pain and sorrow again before he nodded. “Of course. I will ensure that he suffers for his actions.”

Thirty minutes later, the Chairman had every adult out at the punishment area to witness the execution. Timur shifted and paced in front of the frightened man, his imposing wolf demanding blood. I pronounced the crime and the sentence before he was unshackled and left within the circle of bodies.

The fight was one-sided and brutal; it was a mercy when Timur finally broke his neck, then tore his head from his body. “Let this be a lesson to us all,” I said as I looked into the camera that had broadcast the punishment to all Packs. “Females and children are to be protected; they are our future.”

Timur shifted back, still shaking with anger. His father gave him a pair of sweatpants, and he put them on before approaching me. “Thank you, Alpha King, for allowing me to take revenge for my mate,” he said.

“Shower and change clothes, Timur. Your mate will not want his scent on you when you meet again.”

He smiled and nodded before running back to the Pack House, where he was staying in the basement dorm room. His father, Vasili, joined me with Alpha Ivan for the walk back. “It’s rare for a wolf to shift so early,” Ivan said. “Are you sure of her age?”

“Yes, she was born September 8th, so it’s six months until she turns twelve,” I said. “She’s only celebrated twice. She was born into slavery when she was in the Bitterroot Pack. The things she went through, no one should have to endure. Mykayla won’t talk about what happened, no matter how much Chase tries to draw it out.”

“Fucking animals,” Vasili said. “Do you know who the parents were?”

“Mykayla was raised by the other Omegas. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father is listed as unknown,” I said. “She was starting to come out of her shell; we were even planning to send her to public school next year. She’s very bright, and caught up to her age group quickly.”

“Do you think a change in location would help her,” Vasili asked.

“She’s learned to tolerate the men in this Pack, and moving would not help,” I said. “Perhaps her mate will help her adapt.”

“We don’t need to do anything rash,” Alpha Ivan said. “We don’t even know if she will tolerate his presence.”

“And I don’t know if I’ll be Alpha soon,” I said.

Ivan stopped, motioning me closer. “Our Packs are tied together now. We are isolated, but maintain our faith in Luna’s will for us.Luna’s blessing is with you, Alpha Rori. You have our support.”

“Thank you.” All I needed now was about six more Alphas to have a ‘Come to Luna’ moment, and we’d be all right.

Lunch was a subdued affair, and at one, we entered the trial room again. Carson returned to the stand, answering questions from the Council for half an hour. Finally, Chairman Coffey gaveled the proceedings to a close. “The Council will retire to render a decision on the validity of Heather Rhodes’ asylum in the Cascade Pack.Trial adjourned.”

We stood as the Council left, then Carson stood and turned to us. I pulled him into a hug, joined by his brothers and his sister. “I guess we wait,” he said as we broke up. “Back to the house?”

“I need to check on Mykayla,” I said.

“I’m going too,” Coral said.

The boys headed back to relax while Coral and I walked across to the clinic building. The guards bowed their heads to us as we walked through to the room where she was staying. Looking in, I could see Mykayla in her wolf form, the dark colors of her wolf standing out on the white sheet. Next to the bed, a massive brown wolf stretched out on the floor, his face on his paws. “Timur?” His tail whapped on the tile.

“She sleeps better with him in the room,” Chase said. “I thought wolf form might be less threatening when she wakes.”

“Is she all right,” Coral asked.

“Physically, she’ll be fine. No broken bones, and now that she has shifted, her werewolf healing will help her recover in a few days.” He didn’t say the rest.

“Mentally?” I was afraid of the answer.

“I have no idea how she will respond when she awakes. She doesn’t know how to send, and I couldn’t get her to shift back.”

Coral and I moved to the other side of the bed, stroking her neck and stomach lightly. “Alpha? They’ve called the trial back in session,” Beta Ron said.

“We’ve got a decision,” I told the others. “Come on.”

“Link me in. I don’t want to disturb her rest,” Chase asked.

I kept the bond open as we sat back in our seats and waited for the Council to come in. “What’s after this,” I asked Sawyer.

“Back to your trial. The world Alphas have all seen the proceedings from January. Each side will summarize their position, and then we will have the opportunity to ask questions. When done, the Alphas will go back into the jury room.”

We didn’t have time to talk more because the door opened. Chairman Coffey and the Council sat, and he gaveled the proceedings to order. “The Council’s decision is as follows. The asylum request for the unborn children of Heather Rhodes and Greg Barks is valid.”

“Yes,” I sent to Chase.

“Wait for it,” he said.

“However, the Council will not approve any additional requests for Trusted Agent status. We will allow time for her to give birth and wean the babies, but that is it. One year from today, the asylum status will expire, and Carson Nygaard must turn her over to the Council.”

Carson started to stand, but Sawyer and the Enforcer behind him were ready. They held him down as Chairman Coffey continued. “If Alpha Nygaard fails to comply with the order, or if he allows Heather Rhodes to escape or reveal our existence, he shall be removed from office as Alpha of the Cascade Pack and executed. The trial of Alphas Rori King and Chase Nygaard will resume in thirty minutes.”

And with a bang of the gavel, my brother’s mate had been condemned to die.