Abandoned Treasure Ch. 01-19

With this last run, I was as prepared as I could be. Tonight was a blowout party to celebrate Alpha Todd's birthday. Patrols would be minimal, everyone would be drunk, and the party would go well into the night.

I selected one of the older Pack vans and stashed my go-bag behind the driver's seat. I made sure the van had a full tank of gas. GPS transmitters on our vehicles are permanently disabled, so they can't track them. I also had a pair of magnetic signs for an electrical contractor in Billings that I'd put on once I was on the road.

I arrived with the others at dinner but snuck away to sleep after the cake. I woke at three and headed to the basement, where the party was winding down. The senior wolves had already gone to bed, leaving the drunk and horny lower ranks behind.

I followed Carol's scent to one of the back bedrooms. I held back my wolf as I listened to someone rutting away on her, the smack of his hips on her ass the only noise. One of the Omegas came up to me while I waited. "You got next?"

I shook my head. "She's wanted upstairs. As soon as Don finishes, I have to get her cleaned up and take her."

"Shit. I'll wait for someone else." He walked off.

A few minutes later, I heard Don grunt and tell Carol to "take it all, bitch!" I knocked on the door. "What?"

"She's needed upstairs," I replied.

Don opened the door, looked at me, and sighed. "Guess there's no round two." He pulled Carol to her feet by the collar and tossed her my way. He reached for the bottle of whiskey and took a long pull. "Thanks for waiting. She's got a sweet little ass."

"Next time." I grabbed Carol by the arm, ignoring the tingles and fighting the urge to pound Don's face in. I walked her to the end of the hall and into the slave quarters. "Shower quickly," I told her. "We don't have much time."

She didn't say anything as she walked into the open shower bay. There was a lot to clean off. I handed her scent-blocking soap; she smelled it and looked at me for the first time. "It's happening now?"

I nodded. "We have to hurry."

She scrubbed herself clean and dried off. I attached a leash to her collar and shackles to her ankles. "I have to make it look like a normal slave transport," I explained before leading her up the back stairs. I ensured no one was around before we exited the Pack House for the garage. It was empty, and the van I'd prepared was ready to go. I opened the back door and padlocked her chains to an eye-bolt on the floor. "Don't say a word, and don't let on anything is different," I said after I finished. "In a few hours, we'll be free or dead."

"Together?"

"From now on, my mate." I closed the door, got behind the wheel, and opened the closest garage door. Pulling out, I waved at one of the wolves sitting on the front deck as I drove for the exit. There was a guard shack and vehicle barrier left between us and freedom, and we were there ten minutes later. I stopped and rolled down my window, my Glock in my right hand and hidden by my right side. "Evening, Bob."

Bob was an old wolf whose injuries dropped him out of the warrior ranks long ago. There was nothing wrong with his eyes and nose, though. He looked a little shocked as he took in the scents. "What is SHE doing out here?"

"Alpha wanted a slave sent to the Mill for the guys stationed there," I replied. "I was sober, so I got picked for the delivery."

He poked his head in, peering at Carol in her chains. "I have to check with..."

BANG.

He dropped like a rock as the forty-caliber hollow-point entered above his left eye and blew the back of his head out. I couldn't let him live, as one link to a Beta would expose my escape attempt.

I hopped out and hit the button inside the guard house to raise the bar. I pulled the van through and waited until the bar automatically lowered. A few shots into the hydraulic controls would keep it from opening when the pursuit arrived.

I put the van in gear and drove off as fast as possible. "FUCK!" I'd killed an innocent Pack member and taken their property.

There was no coming back from this.

I broke the Pack link and became a rogue. By sunrise, I'd be number one on the Werewolf Council Most Wanted list. I'd have a price on my head, and every Pack Wolf in North America would be looking for us.

Chapter 9

Nathan Storm's POV

December 21, 2006

I focused on driving away as fast as possible, but that didn't mean I forgot about my mate. "Here," I said as I tossed the padlock key behind me. "Take the chains off. I have clothes in the bag for you."

I braked for a curve, then accelerated hard after it. I heard Carol bounce against the side of the van with my sudden change in direction. She grunted and said nothing, though I knew it had to hurt. The chains rattled as she came off. "We're free?"

"Unless they catch us." It was winter in Montana, and the van wasn't warm yet. "There are some clothes in the bag behind me."

She crawled to the bag, removing the items I'd brought for her. The plain underwear and grey sweats were nothing fancy, but they covered her scars. She slipped her dirty feet into the knockoff Ugg boots, moaning in pleasure as she felt the warmth. She sat behind me on her knees, looking out at the winding road ahead. When I hit a straightaway, she climbed over the console into the passenger seat.

When I looked over the next time, I saw Carol had my pistol aimed at my chest. "Pull over and get out," she told me.

"That's not a good idea," I replied evenly. I didn't look over as I was doing a hundred miles an hour down the valley. "The whole fucking Pack will be after us now. The smart play is to put distance between us and them."

"I can take care of myself."

"You won't make it far without me," I replied. "You don't even know the roads. Stop and think, my beautiful mate."

She backed against the door as she looked at me. "Don't call me that."

"The tingles say otherwise," I replied. The mark on her neck had faded long ago, but the draw was still there. "I've been planning this for a year, Carol. It's another five miles to the stash car and four hours more to the house I've prepared for us. You're free, but that doesn't mean I'll let you do stupid shit and get us caught."

"I could kill you now and take my chances."

I let out a breath. "You're an escaped slave from a pack that shouldn't have them. They have a use for you, so they'll probably keep you alive and put you back in that basement."

"I'll die before I go back there."

"Then you'll die with me because I won't let them take you. Do you know how screwed we are right now?" I waited until I navigated the next tight turn before I continued. "You're an escaped slave. The Council laws expressly forbid slavery. Alpha Todd faces removal, even imprisonment if it gets out."

"Then why didn't you report him?"

"It's not that simple," I said as I slowed down and took the exit for the Lost Trail Hot Spring. Carol didn't react as I pulled into the parking lot next to a green Ford Explorer. I turned the van off but left the keys in the ignition. I ignored the gun as I turned and grabbed the bag. "Come on. We're losing valuable seconds."

She didn't kill me, so I got out and opened the doors with the remote. I had the backseats down and a sleeping bag set up with a pillow. "If you want to sleep, you can. It might be better if you weren't in view."

She opened the passenger door while I tossed the go bag behind my seat. "I don't trust you enough to sleep just yet," she replied.

I grabbed the magnetic signs I'd made and put them on the van's sides. It might buy us more time before someone figured out we'd switched vehicles here. I didn't lock the van; if someone stole it, that would only help in our escape. I ran back to the SUV. "Trust my plan, then," I said as I buckled up.

I pulled out of the lot, heading another few miles south on 93. Right at the Idaho border, I turned east on Highway 43. "They'll find the van and think I'm heading south into Idaho or Utah, even Colorado," I told her. "We're going east around the bottom of the Anaconda range, then northeast. The nearest Pack they can call for help is down in Casper. We should beat anyone they send to watch Interstate 15."

"What if they fly ahead?"

"It's a big search area and getting bigger by the minute. I'm banking on it taking too long to position someone ahead of us. They won't know what road to set up on if we aren't spotted."

She thought about that for a moment. "Unless they already have someone living in the area, or they involve humans."

I shook my head. "Too much to hide. They won't go to the police until their search fails."

I was driving just over the speed limit now, not wanting to slide off the winding road or get pulled over by the police. It was pitch dark still, with sunrise not until after eight in the morning. In a hint of progress, she had the pistol next to her right hand on the seat instead of pointing it at me. I didn't need any Pulp Fiction-style accidents. She was watching the road and thinking. "You never told me why you couldn't report your Alpha to the Council."

"I couldn't break Alpha command while I was in the Pack, and I couldn't rescue you without being part of the Pack," I replied.

"You could have gone rogue and then reported it."

If only things were that easy. "Two problems. First, as soon as a Pack wolf goes rogue, it's a death sentence. No other Pack will take someone who breaks command. No trial, no probation, just a bullet to the head or a throat torn out. The other problem is you and the others."

"What do you mean?"

"If anyone warns Bitterroot that the Council is coming for his slaves? Todd would have you all killed and buried deep before he arrives on Pack lands. The Council wolves come from the Packs, so they have dual loyalties. How many senior wolves from other Packs have used you?"

She shuddered as the memories went through her. "A dozen or so."

"I'd still be dead, and you and the others would be too. I've tried to think of everything, Carol. I need you to trust me. If you can't do that yet? At least trust my plan to keep us both alive."

She shook her head slowly. "You and your buddies killed my family. Your damn Pack abused me for YEARS. You claimed me without permission, and now you want TRUST?"

"I'm your MATE, Carol. The Goddess herself entwined our fates. I dreamed of the fairy tale mating, but our reality wasn't the same. I did what I had to do to save our lives, and I'd do it again."

"Why?"

I reached over and touched the back of her hand with the tip of my finger. Tingles ran up my hand, and I could sense she was fighting between her fear of me and the draw of her mate. "For this," I said. "For the chance to have a happily ever after with you."

Carol snorted, then started to laugh. "Happily ever after? REALLY? What is this, some trashy werewolf romance novel?"

She laughed loudly, and I loved hearing it. She was right about that; it was a bit much to hope for after all this. Eventually, I joined in. "Could we settle for mated bliss?"

"Bliss? How about we aim for something realistic, like comfortable with occasional amusement?"

I laughed again. "I'd like to think we could reach joy, maybe elation? I've heard mated wolves are at a different level because they can sense each other's feelings during sex."

"You don't want to know what I feel during sex, Nathan. You don't want to know what I feel the rest of the time, either."

Buzzkill. She turned to look out the window while I tried to think of what to say next. We drove in silence until we hit Interstate 90 eastbound. "Can you give me a month?"

"For what?"

"To prove you can trust me," I replied. "One month is too long to maintain the search effort. The Packs Todd asks for assistance will bring their people home. Bitterroot will have to get back to normal. If you're going to run, you'll have a better chance of doing it then. If you can learn to trust me, we have a chance for that occasional amusement. Or maybe better?"

"Maybe," she replied. "Let me see your hideout first."

"Deal." I held out my hand, and we shook on it. I held her hand for a little longer than necessary, enjoying the tingles before she pulled hers back.

She crawled into the back, got in the sleeping bag, and went to sleep. I didn't wake her until we parked in the garage of our home in Great Falls.

Chapter 10

Carol Sampson's POV

December 21, 2006

"Carol, we're home."

My eyes opened to find Nathan standing by the rear driver's side door with his hand held out to me. I sat up with a start; I shouldn't have been sleeping so deeply! I didn't hear the engine stop or the garage door close. After years of waking before anyone could open the door to my tiny room, my lack of awareness was concerning.

I kept my right hand around the pistol as I looked around. The one-car garage was uninsulated, and the shelves were full of boxes of emergency dehydrated foods in cans. A light hung above the door inside, and the garage door was already closed. "Home was in GRAND FORKS," I bit back. "You fuckers burned it to the ground."

"Our hideout, then," he said calmly, not reacting to my outburst. "Come on."

"Take your shit. I'll get out on my own." He grabbed his go-bag and stepped back. I unzipped the bag and swung my legs around. I pulled my boots on before stepping out. Nathan was smart enough to give me space as he opened the door to a small kitchen.

It was cool inside. Nathan turned the thermostat up. "I'll build a fire, but first, we need to get that collar off of you," he said. "Take a seat at the table."

I sat down and looked around. The house was modest, maybe fifteen hundred square feet. An L-shaped kitchen sat next to a dining room. They opened to the living room with the front door, a big-screen television, and a fireplace. A short hall led to the bedrooms. "One floor?"

He nodded. "It's on a slab foundation. The main bedroom and bath are on the left, extra bedroom, bath, and laundry room on the right." He reached into a closet and came back with a boltcutter.

"You mean YOUR bedroom and MY bedroom, and the doors better have locks. You're not sleeping with me."

He just smiled. "Soon enough, my mate. Can I take that collar off now?"

I nodded and pulled my curly black hair out of the way. It hung to mid-back now, and I'd never been able to get it cut because some of the males liked to pull on it. Nathan carefully placed the jaws of the cutter on the collar. "Push it towards me a little? I don't want to catch your skin." As soon as he was satisfied, he squeezed the handles together until the collar snapped. "Hold still," he said as he spun it around. "Careful of the exposed silver." One more snap, and the pieces fell free.

For the first time in years, a silver collar wasn't holding my wolf back. I felt her in the back of my mind, still weak but happy now. "MATE! Mate is with us!"

"Mate isn't a good man," I replied. "We'll get away when it is safe."

"We can stay. Mate will protect and care for us," she replied.

"Your eyes flashed," Nathan said. "I can't reach your wolf because the mark I gave you faded. We'll have to do it again to establish a mind link."

"Don't hold your breath," I replied.

"I'll start a fire and get some food going. Look around a bit, and let me know if you need anything. It's your hideout, too."

I stood up and started poking around the kitchen. The cabinets and counters had dry and canned goods stacked everywhere. A big chest freezer sat in front of the sliding door to the backyard. It was stuffed with frozen meat and fruit. "You weren't kidding about preparing this place," I said as I checked the fridge. "There's nothing perishable in here."

"I bought a six-month supply of staples, so all we need to cook is water. It may not taste the best, but it's safer for us. We don't have to risk leaving the house to go to the grocery store. I have a book with recipes on using the food on the counter there."

He wasn't kidding about thinking ahead. "Mate prepared this den for us well," my wolf said proudly. "We can trust him." My human side wasn't close to being there yet. "I'm not looking forward to six months of powdered eggs and pancakes for breakfast."

"It beats being found and killed," he said as the fire started.

I walked past him and looked into the main bedroom, then the smaller one. I locked the door behind me and looked around. The small closet and drawers were full of women's clothes in my sizes. I smiled a little as I saw another example of his planning for me.

I went back into the hall and checked out the bathroom. Like the other rooms, it had months of supplies laid in. I hadn't had a hot shower in years, so tossing the sweats aside and getting in didn't take long. I moaned in pleasure as the spray hit my back. I took my time, shampooing and conditioning my hair with the unscented natural products on the shelf. Drying off with a thick towel, I took stock of myself in the mirror.

My body was a patchwork of bruises and scars now. The silver in the collar kept my wolf healing in check, and I couldn't shift to accelerate it. Add in the loss of weight and muscle? I looked old and broken.

"Let me out," my wolf told me.

I hadn't brought new clothes since the shower was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I let my wolf come forward, but it wasn't the pain-free and instant shift of old. I let out a scream as my body broke and reformed. My scream became a yip before the change finished a few seconds later. I was lying on my side and waiting for the pain to recede when I heard Nathan at the door.

"Carol? Are you all right?" I could only whine and whap my tail at the sound of my mate. He rattled the knob, but I'd failed to unlock it before the shift. I didn't want to shift back, fearing it would hurt just as much. "Growl if this is an emergency, or bark if you need help."

I let out a yip. "I'll be back in a minute. I'd rather not destroy the door on our first night together." I heard him move away, then come back a minute later. There was a pop as the door unlocked before he poked his head in, holding the bent paperclip he'd used to pop the lock. My head and shoulders kept him from opening the door wide enough to come in. "I'm going to close the door so you can move out of the way."

I curled around the toilet, growling with the pain of moving, then yipped. This time, he had enough room to get in. He leaned down and caressed my ears and neck, making my wolf happy as the tingles eased the pain. "You should have waited for me," he said. "Can you get up?"

I tried but collapsed into his arms a few seconds later. "I've got you, baby." He wrapped his arms under my chest and back legs and picked me up. I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror as he turned. My wolf was thin, and her coat didn't look thick and healthy like before. I was still a black wolf, with white on my belly, left front leg, and right ear.

I couldn't cry in wolf form, but the sight made me want to.

Nathan carried me back to the living room and set me on the bearskin rug by the fireplace. He had a decent fire going, and the flames warmed my fur and skin. The thick fur felt wonderful under me. "Nice, huh? I put a foam pad under it to make it comfortable for sleeping." He scratched my ears and stood up. "I'll keep working on some food for us. Don't try and get up until you've eaten something. That change looked like it took a lot out of you."

I laid my head back down as he walked away. I fell asleep listening to him in the kitchen as he cooked beef for me.

When he woke me up, the fire was down to coals, and the house was warm again. He sat by my head with a bowl of steak chunks. "Sorry it isn't raw, but I didn't have time to let it thaw out. I had to cook it a little and let it cool off."