Abandoned Treasure Ch. 01-19

Darrell had gathered up the bloody laundry and bagged it; I sat in the seat she'd been in and tried to let her fresh scent relax me. "Da fuck was that," he sent me privately.

"I don't think the Alpha is happy with the mating."

"She's a rogue who killed a Pack member. You're lucky no one killed her before you got upstairs."

That didn't make me feel any better. I'd calmed myself by the time the Alpha climbed aboard, the Beta now sitting behind him. "Listen up, Bitterroot warriors," he said as we drove off. "You did well in the raid. We all feel Chad's loss; he was a good wolf and a loyal Pack member. His death will not go unpunished."

My stomach dropped out at these words. What was going to happen to my mate? Why had we done so much to save her if he wanted to kill her anyway?

"Alpha?" I looked at him, my eyes pleading for mercy.

"She killed one of ours, Nathan. I cannot look past that because she happens to be your mate. She owes the Bitterroot Pack a life." He looked over the men, his next words an Alpha command. "Carol Sampson is not and will never be a member of the Bitterroot Pack. She will never be allowed a mate or to live free. Her punishment for Chad's murder is to live out her life as our slave."

My wolf howled inside me at the thought.

Chapter 6

Warrior Trainee Nathan Storm's POV

Bitterroot Mountains

August 8, 2003

Yesterday had been the second worst day of my life, paling only in comparison to the day my parents died. The Alpha's decision about Carol Sampson pulled the rug from under our relationship before it could begin.

Hell, I hadn't even looked into her eyes.

The Alpha commands laid on our group went beyond just Carol's punishment. The Alpha forbade us from recognizing Carol as my fated mate or letting anyone else know. In the Alpha's eyes, she may as well be dead to me. He said as much when he sat next to me shortly after we got back on the road. "It's a tough break for you, Nathan. We've had matings with rogue females before. As long as they were innocent in how they ended up packless, I can show mercy," he said softly. "I cannot forgive the death of a Pack member. For a rogue to kill a Pack member should be instant death. I'm doing you a favor by enslaving her."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "This isn't how I dreamed of finding her."

"You marked her, but that isn't permanent without completing the mating, and that won't happen. The mark will fade with time, as will your connection with her. When you no longer have a connection, you can reject her without causing each other pain. Once it is behind you, you can find a choice mate, and have a happy life together."

My wolf howled at the thought of rejecting his perfect mate. "What if I still want her?"

He snorted. "What are you going to do, become a slave yourself? It wouldn't help. We would kill a pair that mates without permission. If you complete the mating, it's even worse. Her lot won't change, and you'll feel pain through the bond as she fucks other wolves. EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT, Nathan. It will drive you mad, and we'll have to put you down like a rabid dog." He placed his hand on my shoulder and forced me to look into his eyes. "And don't even think about trying to leave together. A Pack Warrior who can break command, breaks his ties with a Pack, and steals Pack property? If we catch you, it's immediate death. If you're lucky enough to escape us, you're still dead. You'd be the most wanted wolf in North America, with a Council warrant and a price on your head."

Wolves born and raised outside the Pack system were looked at differently than ones who rebelled against Alpha command. The latter couldn't be trusted. The Council would order us to kill them on sight. "I understand, Alpha."

"You will get past this, Nathan. When we get home, you aren't allowed in Medical or the slave quarters without permission from a Beta or me. It's a precaution to keep your wolf from doing something stupid. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Focus on what must be done, not on what might have been." With that, he moved back to his seat up front.

Darrel and the other warriors did what they could to support me the rest of the way. Everyone recognized I'd gotten a raw deal, but the Alpha's decision was just and final. With one pull of the trigger, Carol had ruined any chance of a future together.

"Stay with me, and we'll get through this," Darrell said as we drove onto Pack lands just after midnight.

The Bitterroot Pack was waiting for us in wolf form. After a few words from the Alpha, we began the Pack run. Chad hadn't met his mate yet, hence the road trip with the rest of us. His parents, grandparents, older brother, and sister-in-law were up front with the Alpha and the Betas.

I stayed in the middle, behind the ranked wolves and ahead of the Omegas. I noticed that Doc wasn't with us, which was good news. It meant he was still treating Carol, and she was still alive.

We stopped above the treeline on West Como Peak with the moon high above us. The Alpha led the howl of mourning, joined by our leadership and Chad's family. The rest of us stayed quiet, not wanting any campers to think that a hundred wolves were on the mountain. I listened as a wild Pack answered our call from across the valley. Soon enough, we were on our way home.

Our path took us downwind of the Pack hospital. I heard growls as the scent of my mate carried our way. The Alpha had explained Chad's death at the hands of a rogue female teen. Carol's enslavement didn't satisfy those who felt blood was the only atonement for her crime. The Alpha squashed that quickly. "Her every waking moment will be a punishment for her sins. Many of you will have the chance to punish her further, but the slave rules apply. No one can cause permanent damage to my property. If you kill her, you take her place."

With the Alpha's gag in place, none would know the woman they would rape and torture was my mate. Pack members would fill Carol's life with pain and suffering, and I could do nothing about it.

I showered and headed to my bunk, falling into an exhausted sleep.

My Carol spent two weeks in the Pack infirmary before Doc released her to the Beta in charge of her training.

I was close to going rogue a few times when I smelled her blood or heard her cries of pain. Darrell dragged me into our room once after we returned from patrol. "You're going to get yourself killed," he warned me.

"You don't understand," I replied privately. "It's killing me. My wolf wants to rush in there and kill him for daring to touch what is MINE."

"You're being watched. The Alpha ordered me to tell him if you started to break command, and you're DAMN close right now. You don't have a short leash, Nathan. You've got his fucking hand wrapped around your neck, waiting for a reason to squeeze."

I sat on my bed and calmed myself. "What should I do? I can't live like this."

"You can't be both stupid and alive." He sat next to me. "I can't tell you what to do. I can speak in hypotheticals, though. Let's say I have a sixteen-year-old friend named Bob in the Donner Pack. His mate is the same age. She's beautiful, and the Beta wants her as his second-chance mate. He's already told her and her parents they will mate when she turns eighteen. Bob's an Omega, so he stands no chance if the Beta fights for him. What can he do?"

"Leave the Pack with her before then," I replied.

"Not as easy as you might think," Darrell replied. "He has to take her from her family's home and get her off the territory without being caught. That means a vehicle, escape route, diversion, and planning. He has to evade patrols, avoid detection, and get FAR away before the Alpha realizes he is gone. If he gets caught, he's dead. Now what?"

"Where to go," I replied.

"Bob needs a good hiding place, and nobody can know where it is. You can bet the Alpha will command his wolves to give up anything they know, and other Packs will do the same. The Council will quickly declare the two rogue and offer a reward. Traveling will be difficult, as the Donner Pack will contact allies to send people out to catch them running away. Bob needs a hideout far enough from Donner but not too close to the others. If Bob wants to live, he'll have the cabin prepared with food and supplies so they can stay there for months. That's enough time for the active search to end. It's still not over, though."

"What do you mean?"

"The mates can hide, but eventually, you'll run out of food and money. Bob needs new identification, transportation, and a job. He'll probably have to relocate to the south or somewhere far from other Packs to reduce the chance of encounters with Pack wolves. That was the mistake of Carol's parents. His job put him too close to a population center."

"Damn, Bob has a lot to think about."

"Well, Bob only gets one shot at this. If he isn't willing to give her up, he better have his shit together when he makes that run. Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course. It's good to understand the mind of a rogue if you're going to catch one. Thank you for the insight, Darrel."

"Get some sleep, buddy." He went to breakfast while I thought about our conversation.

I had a lot to prepare before I could take my mate away. As much as I hated the thought of her suffering, I needed time, money, and preparation for us to have a life together.

It might take years, but it would be worth it.

Chapter 7

I'd bitten my mate, but I'd never talked to her. The mate link snapped in place, but her wolf was too weak to respond on the drive home. Once she woke, the Alpha had a slave collar with a silver core welded around her neck that prevented the mind link from happening. My wolf was despondent because he couldn't reach her.

The Alpha wisely ordered his Betas to keep me away from the Pack House while they were breaking her will. Some Pack members gleefully shared stories of her resistance and the harsh punishments they earned. It took everything I had to control my emotions until I was alone.

The worst moment was when the Alpha called me to his office after lunch, forty-three days after Carol Sampson's capture. I knew her wounds had healed, and her initial training was complete. I was nervous because the rumors were flying that she'd be 'introduced' to the Pack tonight. That meant she'd be on the menu for 'entertainment' purposes along with the others.

My wolf started going nuts when he picked up her scent from the hallway.

I knocked on the door nervously, entering at the Alpha's command. Alpha Todd stood in the center of the room. Carol knelt next to him, wrists cuffed behind her, and a thick leather-lined steel and silver collar on her neck. The Pack Betas stood to each side of their leader. "Warrior Storm, reporting as ordered, sir."

I only had eyes for my mate. Her eyes widened as she caught my scent; they flashed for a second with hope as our wolves reached out for each other. The Alpha extinguished that with a hard yank on the chain. "We have a present for you, Nathan."

It wasn't my birthday, and this couldn't be good. "Sir?"

"We're having a private party with my senior wolves and our new fuck toy. Since you two are mates, I thought you should be here for it." An evil grin spread on his face. "She should have died in the raid where you killed her parents and brother. Saving her life was a mistake; you traded her honorable death in battle for a lifetime of sexual servitude. And the best part? You made that choice for her."

The hatred shining in her eyes bored into my very soul. "We had no hope for a future if I didn't save her," I answered.

"She killed your friend while you and your friends killed her family," Alpha Todd replied. "Reject her now, and let Luna find you another. There's no future here for you."

I dropped to a knee, reaching out with my hand as she shook angrily. Her fear of her handlers kept her still with her head down. I lifted her chin with my index finger, tingles traveling up my hand and arm. My wolf surged forward at the contact, reaching for his fated pair.

Carol looked away from me, but not before I saw the spark of defiance deep in her soul. The slave handlers only thought her broken. She was biding time.

I dropped my hand to my side, then looked to my Alpha. "I cannot reject the wolf that Luna made for me."

"She will never be yours," he promised.

"I will not be the one to profane the sacred bond," I said as I stood up. "I would rather spend my life mateless."

The Betas looked at me like I was crazy. Mating was fundamental to wolves and not subject to Alpha command. It was sacrilege to interfere with those the Goddess Luna paired together. He couldn't force me, and everyone knew it. That didn't make my actions a good idea in their eyes. "I see," Alpha Todd said. "Slave Carol, this male marked you without consent and participated in the death of your family. Now he refuses to release you. Do you have anything to say to Warrior Nathan Storm?" She nodded. "You may speak freely."

She raised her head and stared into my eyes. "I can never forgive you," she began. "I, Carol Ann Sampson, reject..."

"NO! I won't accept it!"

"She doesn't want you, boy. Accept it and move on."

"I cannot."

The Alpha stared at me, then looked down at my mate. "As you wish," he told me. "Sit on the chair and do not move. You will see in person what life you've provided for your so-called MATE."

My wolf howled in pain as the men, starting with the Alpha, used and abused her for the next two hours. The Alpha order kept me in place to witness it all.

When the last man spent his essence on her abused body, the Alpha leaned down and spoke something into her ear. "You are released, Nathan." I stood to my feet, my knees and back protesting after the extended stillness. "Let's give the lovebirds some time to figure things out," he said. "Take her to be cleaned up when they finish."

With that, the Alpha walked out, followed by his senior leadership. As soon as the door closed, I moved to her side. "Leave me alone to my shame," she whispered.

"I can't do that," I whispered into her ear. The walls had ears, after all. "You are my mate. We can't be together now. It may take years, but I will find a way for us to be free together." I didn't wait for an answer; instead, I went to the bathroom and wet a towel in the sink. Bringing it to where she lay on the floor, I offered it to her since she didn't want me touching her. "Stay alive, and don't lose hope," I urged her as she cleaned the mess off her face and hair.

"You should have let me die," she told me. "Whatever you plan to do, do it quickly. I don't know how long until I'm too broken to continue."

"Promise me you'll wait."

She handed me the towel, our hands brushing in the process. I saw her smile at the tingles. "I have to go."

I watched her open the door and follow the Beta to the servant's stairway.

I didn't know then that it would be years before I would be ready to make my move.

Chapter 8

Nathan Storm's POV

December 20, 2006

I didn't get a chance to speak to Carol for over a year, and it was another year before we spent any time alone. She had a rough few months until the wolves worked out their anger over Chad's death. She settled in with the others and did what she had to do to survive.

My disobedience put me on the Alpha's shit list, and my job assignments intentionally keep us apart. A long border patrol, a road trip, or a remote job like working the Pack sawmill? Send Nathan! He's perfect for the job!

It wasn't the worst thing. I kept my head down and nose clean, ignoring Carol and the other Pack slaves. I built back some of the lost trust and got better assignments. My favorite was interstate transport after Darrell and I got our Commercial Driver's Licenses. We started out driving the lumber trucks for a season. When I wasn't working, I was training and planning. It took another year before we got moved to a better job.

You see, running a Pack takes a lot of money. Property taxes, operating expenses for the home, food, repairs, and wages to keep Uncle Sam convinced you were running a business? It all added up. We had to bring in almost seven million a year, and the sawmill and other companies couldn't cut it. Alpha Todd had connections in the drug trade, and they paid us to ship their product to the interior of the United States.

You see, the territories of the Jaguars who ran the Sons of Tezcatlicopa only went as far north as San Francisco and Denver. They would bring drugs into Oakland in containers every six weeks or so, dividing it to send to their Chapters in the southwest for resale. The Denver chapter had a problem, though. Interstate 80 between the Bay Area and Denver goes straight through Donner Pack territory, and wolves and cats aren't on good terms. Add in the natural turf wars between the outlaw motorcycle clubs, and going north and east was out of the question.

We could show up at the Oakland docks and pick up the container. One of us would shift and mark the outside of the container with concentrated wolf urine. Any drug dog that checked us out would smell the wolf scent and lose interest in what was behind it. We'd haul the load through Donner territory without an issue, as Packs had agreements for free transit using freeways. We'd drop off Denver's portion with the Sons of Tezcatlicopa chapter there, with Todd owning the rest. Darrell and I would continue to Chicago and unload at a small warehouse we owned under a shell company. We'd spend the next two weeks in cargo vans making deliveries from Minneapolis to Cleveland, selling to local distributors, and collecting the cash. We'd leave the vans in the warehouse and return the empty container to Bitterroot with the truck.

Why would the two junior warriors in the Bitterroot Pack be trusted with such responsibility? The short answer was that we were expendable. If we got busted, they'd cut us loose. Our driver's licenses and other records showed us sharing an apartment in Darby. The Alpha command would keep us from turning on Todd, and we didn't have a family to support. If we spent the rest of our lives in prison, Todd didn't care. We split ten grand per run, with the rest of the profits going to Todd and the Pack.

Darrell and I had fun working together and made a few unsavory contacts in our new jobs. We could easily add guns or other drugs to our delivery routes, keeping the cash for ourselves. With the minimum sentences for drug trafficking, it wouldn't affect our fate if we added our stash.

And the cash and the contacts were critical to my plan.

I started by finding my hideout. I knew that as soon as the Pack discovered us missing, Alpha Todd would get surrounding Packs to help find us. Going west would run me into Cascade or Donner. Blue River would come down from Canada, while Casper would cover to the east and southeast. Denver was out; one call to the Sons saying I'd rolled on them and was heading their way, and that gang would kill us.

I picked northeast. I found a home online and put a deposit down on a six-month renewable lease. It was a two-bedroom, two-bath rambler in Great Falls, Montana, home of Malmstrom Air Force Base. The city of sixty thousand was big enough for us to disappear in. Like most Air Force towns, Great Falls was surrounded by flat, barren lands. Interstate 15 ran through the west side of town, but our place was on the east side near the runways. It wasn't the kind of place wolves would frequent.

With the address of my new home, a forger used photos I'd taken to create new identities for Nicholas and Nora (James) Parker. Birth certificates, marriage certificate, social security numbers, and passports. Now I could get my Montana driver's license and a bank account. Over the next six months, I stocked the home with supplies and saved my money.