Claiming Treasure

Rori King’s POV

Arrowhead Pack Alpha Office

Sally promised to take care of Mabel, the twins were down for their naps, and Chase was almost home and would go right to surgery, so I went to eat. The Pack House was busier than usual as we’d taken in dozens of new Pack members recently. The Pack greeted me warmly as I walked in, and I stopped at a few tables to see how everyone was doing.

I could almost see some of the transfers pinching themselves to be sure it was real, as wide the gulf was between their old and new Packs. Our facilities were top-notch, and we had plenty of room. Warriors who had shared bunk rooms now had hotel-room size bedrooms to themselves. The pool was a big hit, as was the lake. I eventually sat at the head table, where Vic and Spider Monkey sat with Betas Rick and Teri, who transferred from Banff. Timur and Mykayla were at the end of the table. “Timur, how is she doing?”

“She’s sleeping better, and she tolerates me sitting by her,” he said.

“It’s going to be a long recovery. What does Mykayla’s wolf say?” Mykayla had grown up in slavery and was the victim of a sexual assault a few weeks ago. Timur killed her attacker; he was her mate and had years to wait before he could claim her.

“She doesn’t trust her wolf enough to trust me as her beast does.”

The meal went quickly, and I enjoyed the Philly cheesesteak and fries. I was almost done eating when I felt my phone vibrate. It was Brian Steele, my new IT Beta, who was back in Banff to pick up the pieces there. “We got proof on Chair. Sent info to Frank. Call secure ASAP.”

Holy shit. I got up, apologizing as I wiped the grease off my fingers and went back to my office. We’d purchased satellite phones with voice scramblers as a way of defeating surveillance, with the Alphas in our alliance each having one. I took it off the shelf, powered it up, then called Alpha Carl in Banff. He answered on the second ring. “Carl and Angelina,” he said.

“Hi, it’s Rori. I got a message from Brian about proof?”

He laughed. “Oh, you’re going to love this. Our people were removing Chairman Coffey’s furniture from his office this morning since we’ll have a new Chairman soon. We found a false back in one drawer, and inside was a piece of paper with all of his accounts and passwords.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah. We have access to all of his private accounts, and they’ve been cleared out, but we have the account history. One looks like a Council slush fund, and in there we found three wire transfers to a bank in the Cayman Islands. There were $100,000 payments in American dollars; one last week, another a week before Charles died. The day after his plane went down, another payment of $150,000.”

Damn. “You gave the account info to the Feds?”

“Yes, along with the passwords we found and an explanation. They know they belong to Jack Coffey. And there’s more.”

“What?”

“Burner phones and handwritten notes with the guy’s name and number. Frank said the phone number belongs to an independent assassin who works out of Detroit. He was already on the suspect list for the bombs. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI are on this like a duck on a June bug.”

I just shook my head; Jack’s arrogance lost him four Packs and his position, now he would lose his freedom. “What are they doing with the information?”

“Arrest warrants are being issued in both countries. If Jack pops his head up in Pack lands, we’ll get him. If not, human law enforcement will.”

“That’s great news, Alpha Carl.” It was a load off my shoulders. “It’s not over until it’s over. How much money is he running around with?”

“Millions that we know of, more we don’t. Coffey had centuries to accumulate wealth. If he is smart, he’ll lay low and enjoy a quiet life of luxury.”

I snorted. “Coffey is too proud for that. He’ll be pissed off, and he’ll want to strike back. Pass the word; he’s hired humans to do his dirty work before, and he could do it again.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Coffey won’t sneak back in here.” We said goodbye, and I updated Chase and my Betas of the events.

Jack Coffey’s POV

Cabin near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I grabbed my coffee and went to sit on the deck, watching the shadows move through the thick trees around my cabin. I’d been preparing my new identity for years; this was one of four properties under the new name. The others were near Calgary and Vancouver in Canada, and Spokane, Washington in the United States. Much of my private wealth had been transferred to my new identity or was in numbered offshore accounts. I was a rich man; I needed nothing from anyone.

I could not STAND that I had my reputation and power taken from me by those upstart bitches and their brothers. The Nygaards had gone from one Pack to control of North America in less than two years, mostly because of Rori King.

I needed to put that bitch in her place. Then I’d do the same for Colletta and her boy toy.

I sipped from the mug as I worked through the possibilities. After the attack, I’d lost any chance of turning the majority of North American Packs in my favor. With my allies dead and their Packs run by Nygaard appointees, my side would never win a vote and never have power on the Council.

I’d called a friend who had filled me in on what was going on. I had a Council arrest warrant out on me, and I couldn’t risk going near any established Packs. I had to sit and watch my life’s work destroyed, with the Nygaard’s picks for Chair and Council were sure to get through.

I thought about starting over with a Pack of my own, calling those still alive who were like-minded to me, but dismissed it. I’d never get recognition, and it would attract too much attention. What I needed was an ARMY that answered to me. Given enough warriors, I could take over Packs, defy the Council, and restore our kind to their destiny.

It would take decades to do build up enough warriors, but Frank Grimes and Heather Rhodes had shown me another way. Why depend on low birthrates and weak wolves to build your Pack when you can MAKE one? I could search the humans and find hard men, strong and skilled, who would make good warriors. Change them into wolves, bind them to me as their Alpha, and I could have an army in a month.

All I needed was the knowledge of how to do it.

I didn’t need Rori, Chase, or Carson for that. They weren’t the experts. The DOCTORS were.

The Cascade Pack would be a difficult target; they were still on edge, and the Clinic was well inside their territory. Oxbow Lake was a different matter. Doctor Olson often traveled between Oxbow and Arrowhead, and that was a vulnerability I could exploit. Oxbow sent some of their people to help defend Arrowhead, and their borders were safe.

It would be relatively simple to kidnap the Doctor and force him to make my army for me.

I tossed the remains of the coffee over the rail as I got up to go inside. It was time to pack for a trip to Minnesota.