Claiming Treasure

Chairman Coffey’s POV

Road to Airport

“Well, that didn’t go like we planned,” Councilman Oscar Millner said as he looked out the window at the passing pine trees.

“No shit,” Councilman Nathan Kirk said from the middle. “That bitch is turning the Alphas against us with this Luna shit. I can’t believe they are buying it.”

I just shook my head as I looked out the passenger side window of the big SUV, which was being driven by Alpha Matthew Kirk. “The legend of Rori King grows without end,” he said. “The Blessed One is now credited with spurring pregnancies in other women around her? Ridiculous. It’s never happened in our history, but you saw how many Alphas were pulled to her side by their woman’s claws on their balls.”

“Fucking Richard Long,” I said. “We hand him a Pack, and he stabs us in the back.”

“I’m still shocked the European Alphas would fall for Rori’s sob story,” Nathan said. “That was the genius of your plan to break the impasse in the jury. We all thought they would vote to remove her just because she’s a female Alpha.”

“It didn’t quite go that way,” I said.

Nathan spoke up. “You couldn’t know. The Russians were the biggest shock, with their patriarchal views and the people involved. A human shoots one of his Pack, and Alpha Ivan leads the charge to release the Alpha responsible for her being there. How could we know?”

“We couldn’t,” I said. “We can still get to where we need to be, but we can’t get there as quickly as we thought. Carson Nygaard gets his so-called ‘mate,’ but that’s it. A year from now, everyone will know that humans can’t be mates, and only a fool would claim it.”

“Cascade Pack still gets Heather’s children,” Nathan said.

Matthew shook his head. “That’s another thing I wish the Russians hadn’t caved on. What Pack would allow Carson to have them when he has no claim? Rori should have kept Heather in her cells as soon as she found out she was pregnant, and none of this mess would have happened.”

“Or if Tatiana had finished the job,” I said. Offspring of a werewolf male and human female were often weak, diluting the bloodline. All Rori could do is banish her from the territory, and then the Russians would not have fallen in line.

“The ruling we handed down on the asylum will work in the end. Carson is fucked,” Oscar said. “If he turns her over to us, it proves she was never his mate. No wolf could hand his mate like that. If she runs, he gets the death sentence for not controlling her. If he runs away with her, he gets the death sentence, as does anyone who helps him. We have some patience, and it all comes back to us.”

Nathan looked up. “We don’t have to wait, and we can’t wait,” he said. “I’m sure Sawyer and his allies are preparing amendments to our Laws to introduce at the Summer Summit. We can head that off by changing the leadership again.”

“What do you mean?” He was right, but how?

“We kill the human AND the weak Alpha that is protecting her,” Nathan said.

“It would be WAR! The Nygaards and their allies would retaliate,” Matt said.

“Not if we do it in a way that couldn’t trace back to our Packs or the Council,” Nathan replied.

No one said anything for a few minutes as we thought it through. “I have a solution,” Oscar Millner said. “And it helps me with another problem.” We all looked at him. “Coral Nygaard killed my son and took my Pack. Right now, good wolves are in her prison while she has killed others. I will find men in her Pack that are still loyal to my bloodline and send them to Washington. They can kill Carson and his human slut. If the Pack wants revenge, they’d be taking it against his little sister.”

“That doesn’t help you get your Pack back, but it gives us a chance to put a better alpha in Donner. With Carson gone, Sawyer would have to return to his birth Pack to take over.” Nathan said. “I don’t see how that helps you with Blue River. The low ranks in that Pack LOVE Coral, and they will never vote your youngest son into the spot. Even if he got enough votes to challenge, we both know he’s not dominant enough to take her.”

“That is my quid pro quo. I take care of Carson, and you get rid of Coral and Keith,” Oscar said. “With them gone, my son will be the obvious choice for the new Alpha. All we need is another one of your ‘accidents’ while she’s flying to visit her family.”

Matthew looked back at us in the mirror. “That wasn’t cheap, but it was effective. The humans we used were professionals and did it in a way that couldn’t get back to us.”

“Get lucky again,” I said as he turned onto Highway 61. “If we can’t flip these two packs in the next few months, they’ll realize they have the votes to replace us.”

Carson Nygaard’s POV

Arrowhead Pack Alpha’s Office

I joined my sister Coral and Rori’s uncle Martin on the couch, as Rori sat in Chase’s lap at the desk chair. Sawyer had Ashley in his lap in one chair, while Michael had Margaret in his laps with his arms around her stomach. I laughed as I looked at them, all the males touching their pregnant female’s bellies the same overprotective way.

“Like you won’t be touching Heather’s belly like that soon,” Chase sent to me as he caught me staring.

My wolf just curled up in the back of my mind, wanting his mate in his den.

“Chase is linking Mom in on the discussion. That car that just left was the last of the other Packs departing,” Rori said as she called the meeting to order. “Thank you all for your help with security and logistics. I hate having to deal with all this stuff.”

“You’re welcome,” Michael said. “I still can’t believe they make you host as you’re on trial. Hosting should be punishment enough.”

“I’m just glad it all worked out,” Sawyer said.

“Heather’s not in the clear yet,” I said. “Where do we sit with the Packs?”

Coral got up and went to the dry erase board on the side, putting a scale on the top that went from “strong opposed” to “strong ally,” we started to fill things in. The six Packs represented in the room were all on the right side, as were the six Packs that strongly opposed us. “The ones who moved to our side for the final jury vote; how reliable do you think those votes are?”

“Beloretsk is strongly allied, Alpha Ivan and I worked that out,” Rori said. “I agreed not to punish Tatiana for the attack on my land. We also agreed to exchange Greg for Timur until Mykayla is of age, or rejects him. Ivan needs my support if they try Tatiana for exposing herself to a human.”

“Do you think they will do that? I don’t think it will help,” I said.

“Who knows what the Council will do. It only takes one Pack to bring the charges, and she’s guilty,” Rori said.

We spent some time going over the board, talking about what we could do to move people to our side. “The pregnancies were a major reason we got to two-thirds. Several of the Alphas told me that their Lunas would have their nuts if they went against you on this,” Coral said with a smile. “We need to push that narrative as much as we can.”

“How,” Sawyer asked.

“Be upfront about the pregnancies, not just the Alphas, but all of them. Send pictures of you and your Pack members with your baby bumps. Don’t let a conversation go by without thanking Luna for her blessings,” Coral continued.

“Go further, invite some of the Alphas to bring their Lunas for a visit now that the snow is melting,” I said. “Let them rub bellies, hang out in the pool, talk to our Pack, maybe bring some unmated along. No big gatherings, but times where you can connect with them on a one-to-one or small group basis.”

“Maybe even a women’s gathering, if their mates will allow it,” Ashley said.

“I could take the men out on motorcycles or fishing and leave them with you,” Chase said.

“All good ideas. The more obvious the contrast between the fertility of our Packs and the ones on the left side of the board, the better,” Rori said. “My real question is how safe we are now. Is anyone going to react badly to the verdicts?”

I thought about it for a while. “We’re safer than we were before today. We don’t have to worry about you being removed or imprisoned, and you only have your allies left here,” I said.

“The jury vote showed them we have full or some support from two-thirds of the Packs,” Sawyer said. “That should discourage them from coming after us.”

“Mutual-defense treaties would be better,” Michael said.

“I don’t want to get pulled into Pack conflicts,” Rori said.

“It doesn’t have to go that far. Agreements to provide sanctuary, safe passage, technical assistance, training or school exchanges, and defense of Pack lands,” Michael said. “It would be particularly helpful with the European Packs.”

“We will need all the votes we can get if we are to change our laws,” Chase agreed.

“Fine. We have a resort, and we may as well use it before I get too big,” Rori said as she moved her hand over her belly. “Is it safe to bring the babies home?”

We kicked that around for a while before Chase talked. “Mom said to wait until we all get home in case anyone moves against us while we are away from our Packs. That will give you a few days to make sure it’s safe here.”

I nodded. “It’s probably going to take a few days from when you tell them to return until they arrive. Heather was in Las Vegas when she ran, and it was two full days of driving for her. If they are down south and traveling with babies, figure three days.” The others nodded, figuring the babies would be nowhere near other Packs. That meant coming from the south. “The fewer people who know they are coming, the better.”

“Even a couple days seems like forever, I miss them so much,” Rori said. “I’ll make the call.”

“And with that, Coral and I are out of here,” I said. “We’ll pick up Mom and Frank on the way out.” We said our goodbyes and loaded into Vic’s truck. We headed out the back way, pulling into Spider Monkey’s garage.

The newly mated couple came out after the garage door closed, with Spider Monkey following and wearing her jacket. “Can I go with you, baby? I’ve barely seen Carson and Coral,” his wife asked.

“Sure, if you sit in the front by me,” Vic replied.

It was a little tight, but it wasn’t a long ride. “What are you working on now, Spider?”

“I’m still cleaning up the mess from the Sons of Tezcatlipoca,” she said. “Overseas accounts, tracing money transfers and liberating what monies I can before the Feds do. It’s slow but worth it. I’ve re-appropriated almost eight hundred thousand this year.”

“Damn,” I said. “How do you get there before the Feds do?”

“I’m better than the Feds,” she replied with a grin. “Hey, I have to keep busy in my retirement with Vic being so busy all the time.”

“How’s your baby doing,” Coral asked.

“Hitting all the marks so far,” she said. “We’re so excited; I never thought I’d have a baby at my age, and Vic’s daughter old enough she has a family of her own.” I snickered, wondering what she would think of how old her man is if she knew the truth.

I liked Spider Monkey; she was a real spitfire. After her baby is born, Vic plans to tell her the truth and give her a chance to become a werewolf. Rori’s pack was lucky to have her.

Spider Monkey’s POV

I didn’t let on anything I learned, but I listened with a new viewpoint on their interactions. We dropped them off at their jet, then drove up to Betty’s Pies for dinner and dessert. “Is your work slowing down now? I miss having my man around,” I said.

“It will in a few more days,” he said. “I have a lot to catch up on after the conference.”

“I’d like to go riding before I get all fat and uncomfortable,” I said. “Maybe we could head down south?” The biggest thing I hated about this area was the short motorcycle season, but I’d come to love snowmobiles. The lake ice was thinning, and that season was over.

“I’m sure the chapter in Orlando or Fort Lauderdale would be happy to see you. I’ll check with Rori and see if I can get some time off.”

In the meantime, I had a lot of work to do. I’d penetrated the Council website, but it would take a while to break through the firewalls to get to the good stuff. After watching the trials, I didn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. I’d find out their secrets.

Then I’d protect my friends.