Treasure

Dr. Chase Nygaard walked out of the hospital into the parking lot, moving past the smokers to the far side where he could have some privacy. He pulled out his phone, returning the call he’d missed earlier while working with a patient. “Doctor Phillips, it’s Chase,” he said to his mentor from his time at the Bitterroot Pack.

“Chase, thank you for calling me back. Just a minute.” He listened as he closed a door and sat down in his chair again. “How is your residency going?”

“Hour 15 of 25, I’m running on caffeine now,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“The Council knows that Rori King is under a 72-hour hold at your hospital, yet you haven’t reported it.”

“I cannot break patient confidentiality, even for the Council,” he replied defensively. “I am in the human world here in my residency. I have to play by human rules.”

“I’m sure the Councilman sees that differently, and I’m sure he’s taking that up with your father already.” Chase tensed; he didn’t like where this was going one bit. She was his MATE! They had no right to interfere with the one who was HIS. His wolf agreed. “The Council needs questions answered by you. I am to report back on her mental state, on whether she presents a danger to our kind.”

“The Council should just leave her alone,” Chase replied. “Four times now, our kind has traumatized her with kidnapping attempts. This time she could have DIED. I spoke to my sister, and she told me what happened. It was sheer luck she isn’t being scraped off the pavement right now after what she did to escape. She isn’t suicidal; she’s frightened, and you all are making it worse.” He let a breath out, he was still mad about her leap onto the truck, even though he hadn’t spoken to her about it. “As to her mental state, it’s better than I expected. She’s lucid, calculating, and protective of her Club and her mother. She’s not a threat to us at all.”

“What about her drug therapy? Do you see evidence of the long-term effects of them on her wolf?”

“Yes, and that is why I told her to stop taking them. Her wolf is present. She can hear and communicate with her, but she’s heard for years that her wolf was a mental illness, and not what she is. She has to build up trust, not just with me, but with herself. That’s the real challenge for her, and I pray she comes back to me for help on that. She needs to unify with her wolf sooner rather than later.”

There was a pause on the line. “What did you mean by ‘comes back to me’ just now?”

“She’s gone, I released her this morning.”

He heard the phone drop, then get picked back up. “What the fuck, Chase? She’s on a 72-hour hold! The Council was to know first!”

“And my diagnosis was that the hold was not needed, and she didn’t agree to inpatient treatment. Leaving her in this hospital when she doesn’t need it is harmful to her, and I don’t work for the Council.”

“I see,” he said. “Enjoy the rest of your shift, Dr. Nygaard. I’m sure your father will be in touch with you soon.”

The phone went dead, and he scrolled to a new contact and called it. “Chase? What did you screw up this time?”

“My future with the Council. Rori was released this morning, and I never told the Council she was there. I’m sure the Chairman will be on the phone with him soon.” He closed his eyes, thankful he could at least talk to his twin sister about things like he always had. “Is Dad getting an earful already?”

“He’s been in his office most of the morning, and he’s in a foul mood,” she replied. “How are you doing?”

“I’m struggling, sis. I let her go this morning, and I don’t know if she’ll be back.”

Coral knew how hard that must have been for him, watching his mate leave him. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m scared, nervous, worried… I’m a mess. I won’t be able to relax until I have my mate back with me, but I can’t force her to stay with me either.”

“You’re stronger than I could be,” Coral said. “When are you coming home?”

“I need to get some sleep before I drive. I’ll get up early tomorrow morning, and be there before lunch,” Chase said. “Can you let Mom and Dad know? He’s going to chew my scruff something fierce after what I just told Dr. Phillips, but I can’t think of that now.”

“I will. Your mate is a special wolf, Chase, and she’s lucky to have you as her mate. She will come back to you because the bond is strong enough for you both. I love you, Chase.”

“I love you too, Coral. Rest up and heal.” He closed the phone and went inside. He got text messages over the remainder of his shift, but none were from Rori so he ignored them. His father and the Council could wait. He had other priorities in his life.

He showered and went to bed as soon as he got to his apartment, sleeping from eight at night until five in the morning. Packing quickly, he attached his bag to the back of his Harley and was on the road before the morning rush could start. He loved the drive; their Pack lands were beautiful, tucked up against the mountains, far from human towns and hiking trails. They were about twenty miles east of Mount Rainier in the Cascade Range, between the Park and Bumping Lake. He smiled as he left the human world behind and entered his own. He might be in trouble, but he could see happiness in his future. It would be hard going, but she was worth it.

--

Rori woke up with the rising sun, her east-facing window letting the light hit her face in her small bed. She yawned, thankful that she had gotten any sleep the last night. She doubted if her Mom did, given the noises downstairs.

She got dressed and went downstairs, finding a bottle of orange juice in the fridge and taking it outside with a blanket. Curling into the hanging chair, she closed her eyes and let her senses out. The pit in her stomach hadn’t gone away, and the juice didn’t help. “What is wrong with me,” she thought.

“We left our mate,” the voice said. “I need his wolf, as do you. Being away from him hurts us.”

She thought about it for a while; she’d watched werewolf movies, even read some stories, but it all seemed so fake. “You told me I’m a werewolf. Prove it.”

“Relax and don’t fight me, I’m going to show you what happened,” she said. Rori closed her eyes, and her mind filled with the memories of the attempted abduction a few days earlier. She remembered taking down the man and running, but then the new memories began. The vision shifted lower to the ground, the night clearer but in black and white. She watched as if it was a Go-Pro movie as she ran through the neighborhoods, jumping fences and darting around trees and houses. She could hear and see the wolves chasing her as she went down the hill, then the sudden attack by the silver-grey female. She could smell her in the memory, taste the blood in her mouth, and yet she could only watch things go on. She saw herself run, gauging the traffic, and the desperate leap onto the truck and near-death experience of barely staying on top. ”This is what happened, and this is what you are,” the voice said. Her memory shifted, skipping to a vision of her looking at a window in Seattle. In her reflection was the rust-colored wolf of her dreams.

“That… that’s me?” She focused on the image. “That’s the wolf in my paintings, the one on my back!”

“Yes, that is us.” Rori opens her eyes, wiping the tears away from her face. “Our mate is right. We are not monsters. I am not your enemy. We are supposed to be one,” she heard. Rori watched the forest brighten as the sun rose over the mountains, getting up only when her ears tell her that others are up. Moving back inside, she left the blanket on the back of the couch and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Rori found pancake mix in the cupboard and a pack of sausages in the freezer. Working quickly, she had breakfast plated by the time her mom and new stepfather come out of their room.

“That smells wonderful, thank you for cooking,” her Mom said. They eat quietly, and to Rori’s relief, nobody mentioned the activities of the previous night. “What do you want to do today?”

“I want to get out and explore,” she said. “I’ve been stuck in hospitals and clubhouses for a year. We’re surrounded by miles and miles of forests and mountains, with amazing views. I’m getting outside.”

“That sounds fun,” her stepfather says. “I’m not sure how much walking I’m up for, but I’ll do some exploring.” They found a map and picked a trail that led to a small river and a waterfall. “We should pack lunch, make a picnic out of it. That place is a good five miles away, and it isn’t level ground.”

“There’s plenty of stuff for sandwiches, so I’ll put together a backpack.” Possum got up and started to dig through the refrigerator, setting a block of cheese and some summer sausage on the counter.

“I’m bringing my sketchbook,” Rori said. “And my phone. I can at least take pictures so I can paint things later.” They meet on the front porch ten minutes later, wearing layered clothes they could remove as the day got hotter. They walked down the trail, following the curve of the land until they reached a small river, then turned downstream. They reached the waterfall about eleven and stopped to admire its beauty.

The water crashed down about ten feet, and a deep pool surrounded by ferns and shrubs was under it. Big boulders lined the water. Some were flat on top and looked perfect to catch the sun. They decided to swim before eating, so they left the backpack and their clothes on a rock, and waded into the cold water in their underwear. “COOOOLD!” Rori decided to go for the shock treatment, and just dived forward into the deeper water. Her parents took their time, but soon they were all swimming in the pool.

Rori was swimming up under the spray when her parents decided to get out and warm themselves in the sun. She watched as he held her hand, helping her up onto the flat black rock, when she saw something move in the bushes.

It was a bear, attracted by the food, and it was headed right for them.

The roar of the grizzly caused her Mom to scream, and she hid behind Roadkill as he faced off it. The bear was on its rear legs and had to stand eight feet tall. Rori quickly swam to the edge of the pool, pulling herself out. ”Help them,” she told herself. She felt the pressure in her head, but this time was different.

She didn’t fight it this time, she welcomed it. There was no blackout, so she maintained consciousness throughout the shift. It was painless and over in a moment.

Her rust-colored wolf stood in her place. She howled a warning as she ran forward.

To Rori’s human side, this was weird. She was watching everything, she could feel and smell it all, but her wolf had taken over control of her body. The bear dropped to all fours and charged towards her parents, but her wolf was faster. She ducked a swinging paw that was tipped with long claws and tore a chunk from the bear’s back leg. The bear spun around and roared in pain, but Rori was already gone. She spun to face the bear again.

“Jump,” Roadkill said as he saw the opening. He pushed his wife into the pool, diving in after her. They swam towards the other side.

“RORI!” Donna yelled but didn’t see her daughter. The bear that scared her was fighting a wolf. She looked around frantically.

They heard growls and roars as the animals fought. Both swam through the deeper water to the other side and pulled themselves up onto the rocks. Donna started looking again.

The bear roared as the wolf darted in, taking a bite of her side. This time, the bear was fast enough.

A plate-sized paw caught the wolf on her back leg. The curved claws ripped deep into the wolf’s flesh, opening the fur from the tail to the knee. The wolf slid off the rock with a yelp and splashed into the cold river. The wolf went under a few times as the bear watched her go. With one final roar, the bear grabbed the backpack and went back into the bushes.

Roadkill hid Possum behind him as they watched from the other side of the pool. They watched from behind the boulders until the bear lumbered away, back into the bushes. They waited a few minutes after it disappeared before they got out again. “Rori, where’s Rori?”

Roadkill dove back in, swimming across to the last place they had seen her. He didn’t see her anywhere, and the panic was building with every minute. He spotted some white, and in the rocks, he found her underwear and clothes. They were ripped and destroyed. “What the hell,” he said as he held it up.

Possum was frantically looking for her daughter when a whine caused her to look at the woods behind her. The rust-colored wolf was limping towards her, her fur soaked with water and blood, and unable to use her right hind leg. “Honey….” He swam back across, standing in front of her as the wolf limped towards them.

“We should leave,” he said warily.

“No… look at her eyes.” Her eyes were looking at them, almost pleading for help. She moved to them, finally dropping at her feet with another soft whine. “She’s badly hurt.”

“She saved us,” he said. “Go get my shirt, we have to stop the bleeding, or she’s not going to make it. I don’t see a collar, but it must be someone’s pet.” The wolf licked his hand, and he inspected the deep cuts she didn’t protest. Donna returned with his shirt, and he tore it into strips, holding pressure on the bleeding wounds.

Donna was petting the wolf’s shoulder, trying to keep her calm when she noticed something under the matted fur. Moving it aside, she saw the wolf’s skin was colored. The more she looked, the more she saw. When she saw the head of the wolf in the tattoo, it all hit her.

The wolf was Rori.