Treasure

The three men gathered in a motel room near the edge of town. “It was her,” the youngest man said, “but something was off with her wolf. It was barely there, it should have been strong by now and going into heat soon.”

The leader sat in the chair, nodding his head slowly. “Leaving her with humans may have had more of an impact than we thought it would. It is time she takes her place among the Pack and at my side.”

“She is with humans, we have to be careful,” the third man said. “Being discovered would end us with the Council. They would not understand our need to shift outside the private property of our own Pack lands.”

“She didn’t even react to us or our calls as we would have expected,” the young man said. “She ran from us instead of coming to us. How is that even possible? You are an Alpha, no wolf can ignore that.”

“You forget that she is an Alpha too,” he said. “You are right, something is wrong with her wolf. She smelled off.” He stood up and went to the door. “I want eyes on her, we need to find a way to take her without arousing suspicions.”

“I’ll take the first shift,” the young man said. “You get some sleep and relieve me about two.”

“Stay human,” the Alpha said. “They spotted us last night, we can’t risk being seen as wolves. We have to be discreet, too. I don’t want someone to remember a face or a car after she’s gone.”

“I’ll stay well clear,” he said. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”

“No screw ups on this, the future of our Pack is at stake here,” the Alpha said with a glare before he left. Walking next door to his own room, he tossed his jacket on the chair and started removing his clothes. Heading for the shower, her turned it on hot and got in. Putting his head under the spray, he closed his eyes and remembered how she looked. She was young but would be a strong Luna and bear him many strong children.

He imagined her mouth wrapped around him as she knelt before him, and his body responded. He gripped his stiffening manhood, stroking himself to hardness as he imagined finally having her. He was no virgin, he’d had more than his share of human and werewolf females alike, but none had caught his imagination like the red-haired vixen who ran from him last night.

Running from a wolf only made the wolf want to catch you more.

He imagined catching her last night, his paws forcing her body to the ground as he stripped her naked and took her from behind. She would fight, they always did, but when she finally submitted to him and his wolf it would be glorious. He fisted himself quickly, the orgasm coming in a rush as he spattered his seed on the cheap plastic shower wall. Finally opening his eyes, he grabbed a cheap washcloth and cleaned himself.

The fiery redhead was not his true mate. She had been dead for two decades, killed by his own Father before she came of age. His father didn’t want to step down, and his son had grown strong enough in his eighteen years to take him. He knew that his days as Alpha would be numbered when his son took a mate, and he arranged for rogues to kill her in an attack.

He never expected his son would discover his treachery and kill him for it. Todd ripped his throat out, becoming Alpha at age nineteen. He had taken the Bitterroot Pack and built it into the force it was today. One of only eleven Werewolf Packs in North America, his territory encompassed western Montana and northern Idaho. All he needed was a strong Luna to cement his place as the strongest Alpha alive.

So, when Joanna, the daughter of the Adirondack Pack Alphas and the direct descendent of King Lycanos came of age, he sought to have her as his choice mate. He thought her parents would agree; after all, he was the strongest unmated Alpha in the world. He offered land, money and an alliance in return for her. Their daughter would step right into a spot as a powerful Luna.

Instead, they had held a mating ball and invited eligible Alphas and Betas from every Pack in North America and Europe. She found her true mate in the Alpha Heir of the Arrowhead Pack in northern Minnesota. They had mated immediately, and mates were forever in their world.

He waited patiently for her to have a daughter they named Charlotte. The Council believed he had accepted her fate mating, and everything had returned to normal by the next year.

Then he attacked.

He had meant to find the baby girl and place her with foster parents in his Pack until she was of age. Instead, she was spirited away during the attack while he dealt with her mother.

When they finally tracked her scent, it ended at the road. He had been furious, executing the men who had failed to find the child. He wished the young woman with the courage to attack his men had lived, she would have made his Pack stronger. She had a warrior’s spirit, unlike the men who had raped her.

He missed his chance. They heard the news on the radio; she was in the human system, and she was untouchable. In the hardest decision he had ever made, he left her alone, retreating to his home Pack as if nothing ever happened. It was days before anyone knew the Arrowhead Pack was no more, and by then fire and rain had wiped out any trace of their involvement. No one ever claimed the attack, and his own warriors were ordered never to speak of it.

Now it was time to claim her, and his own destiny.

Luna didn’t bless the unions of choice mates the way she did her Fated. Luna had created mates to gain harmony among the species, but she didn’t make it easy to find them. Some never found mates, others waited centuries, and many gave up and settled for a choice mate. The reward of fated mating was a higher fertility rate, with an average of one pregnancy every twenty yearly heats.

Choice mates were lucky to get one in fifty. His father had taken a choice mate, and he was a hundred and thirty-two years old when Todd had killed him, still in his prime for their species. In over a century together, he was their only child. Fertility was the reason their numbers remained so low despite their lifespans; his Pack numbered two hundred and eighty-seven, while most were under a hundred.

Charlotte, with the blessings of her first-born female status, could bear him a child with almost every heat. Their pairing would result in dozens of strong Alpha and Beta lines, and cement his place as dominant Alpha of the continent.

He toweled himself off and went to bed. The deer they had taken down last night still filled his stomach, and he smiled as he thought about hunting with her by his side.

All they had to do was wait.

Rea knelt on the cold concrete, unable to open her eyes as her world crashed around her. The Lieutenant was trying to get Mom to wake up, finally they gave up and he picked her up and carried her inside. She heard the priest walk towards her, felt his hand on her shoulder as she fought to hold herself together. “Come, Treasure, we should talk inside.”

She allowed him to pull her to her feet, and he led her slowly back to the open door. She couldn’t function, and it was her Grandma who came to her and hugged her tight enough she couldn’t run away. “Oh, Treasure, it’s going to be all right,” she said into her ear. “Come on.” She allowed them to take off her gloves and hat and jacket, then they pulled her Sorels off one foot at a time. When she saw her Mom breaking down on the couch, something in her shifted and she almost ran to her.

“Mom,” she said as she sat on the other side of the Trooper who was holding her hand as she cried. Mom pulled her into a tight hug as they lost it together.

It was a few minutes before Grandma came in, two mugs of hot cocoa in her hands. “Dawn, Treasure, I need you to take a sip of the cocoa and focus on breathing for a moment. I want to know what happened.”

Grandma was right, and the cocoa helped Treasure get a little control back. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Jenny, the only person who she could talk to now. “DADDY IS DEAD HELP ME” she texted in between sips. A few minutes later, Grandma was sitting on her other side while the trooper started to explain.

“Captain Olson was assisting a Sheriff’s Deputy with a multi-vehicle accident this morning just after four AM,” he said. “As he returned to his cruiser, a drunk driver drifted onto the shoulder and struck him. He was killed instantly,” he said. “On behalf of the State Patrol and the State of Minnesota, we extend our condolences. The Captain was a good man, and he will be missed.”

“The driver? What happened to him?” Mom was barely holding on.

“He’s been arrested, but he wasn’t hurt. He will be processed and charged tomorrow.” Treasure listened to the rest of the conversation as she pressed herself to her Mom’s side, her arms holding her tight. The house soon filled as word of the accident spread. All of the State Troopers who had gotten off duty had shown up to pay their respects, along with police, neighbors and friends.

Rea escaped to her room to be alone.

A few miles away, Jenny was woken from her sleep by a scream from her mother. She heard her running up the steps, and she looked at her phone. “Oh GOD,” she said as she read the text that had come in while she was sleeping.

Her Mom opened the door as she was running to the bathroom. “Jenny, there’s been accident,” she said.

“I know, Mom. Rea needs me.” She ran out of the bathroom to her closet, quickly pulling on an outfit. “I’m going to her.”

“You know you’re not allowed to see her, Jenny. You know why.”

Jenny pulled the sweatshirt over her head, then stared her mother down. “Rea’s been my best friend since we were in traveling soccer together. If you think I’ll abandon her when she needs me the most, you’re wrong.” She walked past her Mom to the door. “Ground me later, I’m going to my friend.”

“COME BACK HERE, JENNY!”

“Sorry, Mom.” She grabbed her keys and jacket and went out to the garage.

When she arrived at Rea’s house, she had to park half a block away. There must have been a dozen cop cars there; State Patrol, Sheriff and Rochester Police all represented. She walked up the driveway, passing the people gathered outside, and walked into the house she hadn’t been in for two and a half years. Taking off her jacket, she saw the crowd around Mrs. Olson in the living room and kept looking for Rea. Her Grandma noticed her and gave her a hug. “She’s in her room,” she said. “Thank you for coming.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, meaning more than just about her son-in-law. She got another hug, then ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

“Go away,” the soft voice said.

“I’m not staying away any more, Rea.” She heard movement and then the door flew open. Rea looked horrible, but Jenny didn’t care. She moved in, hugging her friend tightly, then closed the door so they could grieve in private.