Abandoned Treasure Ch. 01-19

It took a few minutes more to get this done.

There were only two Werelynx territories. One is in northern Idaho near the Canadian border, the other three hundred miles north of Banff Pack in the Canadian Rockies. Werelynx are reclusive, rarely venturing outside their territories. In human form, they are the size of gymnasts, rarely more than five feet tall and a hundred pounds. Lynx have never caused the Council trouble, so we leave them alone.

The Werecougars were in the American Southwest, mainly in California and Colorado. Powerful jaws and sharp claws make them dangerous opponents. We train using four or more wolves working together to take one down. The truce with them over the past thirty years was holding. Werejaguars were easy to find; they ran the Sons of Tezcatlipoca motorcycle gang, which ranged from California to Texas. They were the only Werecat species to settle in the big cities.

That left the Werebears. Bears live in individual family units that control a large property and its surroundings. Werebears are fucking HUGE in either form and extremely dangerous. Our training is to send every warrior you can find at them and hope you can get him down before he kills you all. In human form, they look like football linemen with an attitude. Thankfully, they rarely leave their territories and don't go looking for trouble. Every Pack knows where bears live and stays away.

Mark put a bunch more circles on the map.

With that, we all sat back and studied the display. "Think about what you would do if you had to get away and hide somewhere."

"I'd run like hell," Erin said. "Time works against you, and distance is your friend. Looking at the map, I'd calculate how long it would take to reach each Pack. Then I'd allow an hour for Bitterroot to raise the alarm with the Council and the other Packs to send patrols out. I can draw an exclusion circle based on how far the Pack wolves can travel before I'm gone. I'll make it if I drive past them before their trackers and warriors set up a roadblock."

We had to go on Google Maps to calculate drive times before calculating the coverage circles, but more of the map changed to the grey color we were using for exclusion zones. Erin pointed to the interstates. "Casper is well-position to block Wyoming and Interstate 90, but they are too far south to prevent Nathan from making Interstate 94 to North Dakota."

"And that's where the female rogue lived," Mark nodded.

"Her house and family are gone, and it's too obvious a destination," Erin countered. "Interstate 15 is wide open to them, north to Canada, and south as far as Las Vegas. They won't go west on 80 because of Donner Pack, but they could go east to Chicago."

"Would that be your play? A big city?"

She nodded. "Easier to blend in, find a place to stay, and find work. Hell, if I could, I'd keep driving to the Southeast. There aren't any Packs south of West Virginia. There are plenty of woods, swamps, and towns to hide in."

"Not to mention snakes, gators, and mosquitos," Mark said. "There's a reason wolves don't like the South."

"It's a good place to hide, sir."

He nodded. "David?"

"The safest location would be to leave North America. Did we have anyone check with Customs and the FAA?"

Mark nodded. "Nothing."

"Same idea as Erin, but a different endpoint. I'd go south to Salt Lake, then east to Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, or Missouri. No wolves or cats on the plains, and plenty of small towns with cheap real estate."

"You two have any other ideas?"

Steve didn't, but something didn't add up for me. "I'm not so sure that a long road trip is the right call," I said. "Any friends or contacts he is using are in the area. Drive too far, and you're on your own."

We all looked at the map. We'd spent all this time ruling out areas, and the map was almost all open space still. "Get some food and come back in two hours. By then, I should have areas searched on this map as well. I want everyone to have a go-bag ready for three days if we get a lead. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed." We filed out of the room and headed back to the dormitory. We talked about it over dinner and well into the night. The question remained the same.

Where the hell did they go?

Chapter 13

Nora Parker (Carol Sampson's) POV

Hideout House, Great Falls, Montana

Tuesday, January 23 ^rd, 2007

I opened my eyes, not moving until my brain started working. It was early morning, based on the dim light coming through the drapes in the bedroom. I was in bed, my head on a pillow that smelled like Nick, and I was naked. He was warm behind me, with an arm over my stomach that held my back against his bare chest. I felt a hot bar between my butt cheeks and realized his erect cock was separated from me only by a bit of cotton underwear.

My fucking wolf did it again. "Happy now?"

"Fish that big cock out and slip it in, and I will be," the shameless hussy replied.

"Not ready for that yet," I told her. I moved Nick's arm off me, then carefully rolled off the side of the bed. I heard him groan before rolling onto his back. Thank Luna he didn't wake up! I made the mistake of looking at him a little too long.

My mate was a handsome male, which made holding back even harder. His close-cropped hair and scraggly beard made him look like a soldier. He'd pulled the sheet to his waist, exposing the triangular muscled form that made my lady parts tingle. He has the muscles of an athlete, not a bodybuilder. His deltoids, pecs, and lats led the eye to the narrow waist with a line of hair leading down to the tent in the sheets.

I thought about running my tongue around his nipples as my fingers ran down to my sex. He was MINE forever if I would accept the bond. My fingertip slid through my slickening folds as I looked at him. One tug of the sheet, one hand through the flap of his boxers, and it would be mine. So big, so hard. It would feel so damn good! I closed my eyes and pushed a finger inside.

"Nora?"

"Eeek!" I opened my eyes to see him looking at me. We both looked at each other with wide eyes. When his cock twitched under the sheet, I spun and ran into the bathroom. I locked the door behind me, not trusting the momentary lust against what I knew I needed. I leaned back against the door as I tried to figure out my next move.

This morning was the first time I'd woken up in bed with him in my human form. I'd been sleeping in wolf form since we arrived, as I felt safer that way. At first, I'd sleep by the fire, and Nick's wolf would curl up with me. After a few days, I'd wake to find him human and me still a wolf. My wolf didn't like the separation when I tried sleeping in my room with the door locked. She would whine and scratch at the door until he let her into his bedroom. My wolf slept on the rug by the door for a while, then at the foot of the bed on top of the covers. For the last few days, she'd nosed herself under the covers where his scent was the strongest.

It was inevitable. The mating bond kept bringing us together. The more time I spent with him, the stronger the pull to mate became, and I wasn't so sure about resisting any longer.

I heard him on the other side of the door. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Can I get in? I need to go, and you don't like me in your room."

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me before opening the door. "Go on," I said.

"You can make the walk of shame back to your bathroom."

My jaw dropped. "NOTHING HAPPENED," I yelled as I reached out to slap Nick for implying it did. The towel picked that time to fall, leaving me naked and flushed before him. His eyes widened as I ducked out of the bathroom and around the corner. "Don't look at me like that!" Werewolves don't have a hangup with nudity, but THAT look was dangerous. He and his wolf were ready to pin me to the bed and take me hard.

He moved to the doorway. "Baby, you have NOTHING to be ashamed of. Proper nutrition and rest have done wonders for you."

I managed to look from his rampant cock back to his face. "Put that thing away. I'll be out in fifteen minutes."

"I'll put the coffee on and get breakfast started."

I ducked into my bedroom to get clothes, then went across the hall to the other bathroom. "Thanks a lot for stinking up the place and waking him up," I scolded my wolf as I got in the shower. I couldn't walk out there smelling of arousal.

"You should have gone with the flow," she responded. "Nicholas is our mate. He won't hurt us, he's going to protect us no matter what, and did you SEE what he's packing?"

"Hard to miss," I snapped.

"And it's even bigger in wolf form. He's going to fill me up and plant a puppy deep inside! I can't wait until I go in heat!"

Oh, shit. Mom mentioned that years ago, but I never thought I'd meet my fated mate and didn't pay attention. "When?"

"It's already starting. Why do you think you're so horny all the time now?"

Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I tried to remember my Wolf Sex Ed discussions but drew a blank. The heat was the Moon Goddess's evil plan to get babies out of reluctant mated werewolves. It started as an urge for sex that built towards the time of increasing fertility. Since wolves liked to fuck a lot, as long as you scratched the itch often, you barely noticed it. Most males will scent the heat coming and will take their mate somewhere private for a good bangfest.

Meeting my fated mate started my biological clock. Try and resist, and that's where you pay the price. The heat makes you feverish, clouding your mind and diminishing your resistance. Your sexual arousal grows all-consuming, and you emit pheromones advertising your availability like a damn dog. It draws every male in the area, and the urge to procreate can result in fights to the death. Only sex, fast and often, can sate your lusts and relieve the pain once it begins.

Without a male's attention, the female suffers painfully for days until it finally relents.

The Goddess wasn't giving me a choice here. If I resist mating with Nick, my scent will grow so strong that a wolf will follow it from the Interstate. "Is that so bad," my wolf asked. "He's our destiny."

I didn't know how to answer her. I finished my shower and dressed, then walked to the dining room. Nick was cooking breakfast at the stove. "We've got a problem," I said.

He handed me the spatula for the pancakes while he worked on the eggs and sausage. "Your heat is coming. I scented it this morning."

"It's only going to get worse. That doesn't help us hide."

"No, it doesn't. I'll follow your lead on this. What do you want to do, Nora? We've gone the thirty days you promised me to stay. If you want to leave and try to survive alone? I'll let you. I won't like it, but I love you too much to have you unhappy."

"That's just the thing," I said as I flipped the cakes. "I don't want to be alone. You are my mate. My wolf and I both accept that."

"Then all we have to do is complete the mating," he replied. "I'll help you through your heat and keep your scent from being too strong." Nick plated the eggs and sausage as I finished up. He carried them to the table while I grabbed the juice.

"That's the other problem. I don't think I can do this as a human. I want our wolves to establish the bond." I still had too much baggage from what his Pack had done to do it that way.

"Oh."

I wasn't sitting across from him anymore, so I could touch his hand as I sat down. The tingles centered and calmed me for what I had to say. "They'll be kind of loud."

"No shit," he replied. There was a reason these matings took place in the woods or the mountains.

"We need to run our wolves, Nick. She hasn't been able to run in YEARS. Shifting and trotting around this tiny house doesn't cut it."

He took a bite as he thought. "We'll need a place big enough to run yet far enough from wolves to avoid detection. We also have to drive back and forth without getting noticed."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Nick. I wish I could do this here, but I'm going stir-crazy in this house."

He chuckled. "Me, too. Any other requests?"

"I'd kill for a Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger. With everything."

He raised an eye. "There's one just down the street from Walmart on 87. If I called in a pickup grocery order, maybe we could call ahead and get takeout from Five Guys on the way? We could use some fresh fruits and such. It's better if we don't get out of the car."

"It's a deal. You were right, my mate; this is a good hideout, and a month isn't long enough to move around freely."

He smiled at that. "We'll never be free, but I leased this place for another five months. I've got enough money to live here another six after that. After that, I'll need a job. We can go south and try to set up a life far from any Packs."

"Where can we go?"

"Let's finish breakfast, and then we'll get out the maps."

We pored over the maps for an hour. There were two options; bad and worse. "Do you think the Packs are still searching for us?"

"Not as hard as before, but yes. Any place they think we might stay, they'll send wolves through periodically. If they pick us up, we're fucked. A few phone calls, and we'll have fifty of them searching for us."

"What about here?" I pointed to a small, mountainous region about thirty miles to our east. It wasn't big, maybe fifty square miles, but there was nothing around it but flat, open ranch land.

"That's Werebear territory," he said as he pointed at the shading on the map. "Strictly off limits."

"To Pack wolves, yes. Rogues have a different relationship with them. My father knew the leaders of several dens. He sometimes requested overnight stays or transits when the Packs were closing in."

"Seriously?"

I nodded. "We both know that a few wolves are no threat to them, while a Pack can bring dozens. It's not far. Can't we at least ask? If he says no, we leave and try these river canyons northwest of Livingston."

He looked at the map for a while, then sat back. "The Council will have sent an Enforcer to warn them we might be in the area. What if the bear reports us to the Pack?"

I snorted. "The bears want NOTHING to do with those assholes. Hell, they'll respect you more for defying them."

He stared at the map for a while, then nodded. "IF we get permission, it's our best play. The farther we travel, the greater the chance of being caught."

"Agreed."

"Sunset is at five-thirty, baby. We should get on the road about four."

"What do we do until then?"

He wiggled his eyebrows. "I suggest you get more sleep. You won't be getting much rest tonight, my mate."

His deep voice and lustful look sent tingles to my sex, and any cleansing from the shower was irrelevant as I started leaking again. I backed out of the room, knowing not to run from him when his wolf was this aroused. I closed the door and laid on the bed.

I'd be a mated wolf tonight.

Chapter 14

Nicholas Parker (Nathan Storm's) POV

Northwest of North Moccasin Mountains, Montana

Tuesday, January 23 ^rd, 2007

"This is out of the way," Nora said.

"Gotta go towards town to hunt," I agreed as I drove along Plum Creek Road. Ice and packed snow covered the dirt road, making our progress slow. "Bears are solitary, but they have to make a living. A big ranch makes sense."

"It's ten below. What do bears do in the winter? Hibernate?"

I chuckled. "The same thing all ranchers do. Make repairs, take care of the livestock, and prepare for spring. A lot of them do long-haul trucking. It's common up here to have other businesses in the offseason. Here's the turnoff."

I turned right into the driveway. The sign by the turn said, "PLUM CREEK RANCH NO TRESPASSING." Nora rolled down the window and took a sniff. "This is it."

"And even in their houses, they'll smell us before we exit the car." I looked over at my nervous mate. "When we stop, I want you to slide into the driver's seat. If it goes bad, you drive away as fast as you can. Don't stop for anyone or anything."

"No," she replied. "A male warrior getting out spells trouble. You might not make the door before they shoot your ass. I need to be the one making the first contact."

I shook my head. "Too risky."

"Packs don't send women on raiding parties. Seeing me first will tell them we aren't there to harm them. You keep your furry ass in the driver's seat, and YOU take off without me if it goes bad. They will be more comfortable with my scent."

"Why?"

She smiled. "I've been a rogue all my life. You're still losing that Pack Wolf scent."

I thought about it as we drove past a small home on the right. I saw a curtain move as we drove by. They knew we were here now. I kept going towards the main compound. "I don't like it."

"You know I'm right," she told me.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. Be careful, baby. I can't lose you."

She smiled. "Getting killed would ruin my plans for tonight."

"Mine too."

The main compound had a big home on one side with multiple barns and sheds across from it. Semi-trucks and trailers lined the wide circular driveway. I drove around to the main house. "A man with a rifle just came out of that barn," Nora warned.

I stopped in front of the home. "You sure about this?"

She nodded. "Yeah. If I don't get a chance to say it later? You're a good wolf, and I am happy you are my mate." She leaned over, head tilted, and kissed me. It was our first, maybe our last, so we both made it memorable.

She ended the kiss, opened the door, and got out. I rolled down her window and watched her walk up the stairs onto the front deck. Her jeans and Uggs emphasized her toned legs, and I caught glimpses of her tight butt under her parka.

The door opened before she could knock.

"Oh! Hello. My name is Carol Sampson, and I'm looking for the Den Leader." We'd agreed to use our previous names, not our new ones, just in case they reported us to the Council. I'd also covered our license plate when we left the highway so no one could trace it to our new identities.

"You found him," the big man said. He took a good sniff of her, then looked directly at me. "Tell Nathan to get his ass in here. It's too fucking cold to talk with the door open."

Decision time. I shut the car off and got out. The big man let me inside, where three other werebears in the living room, all sitting with my mate on the couch and loveseat. "Thank you for seeing us," I said as I held my hand out to the Den Leader. His hand felt like it was twice the size of mine as we shook. He was almost six-foot-eight and probably weighed 350 pounds, and that wasn't all fat. "Nathan Storm. My mate, Carol Sampson."

"You're wanted, Storm."

"I reckon I'm right popular," I replied. "I'm not a threat to you, sir."

"If I thought you were, you'd be dead already. I'm Stanley Biggs. My younger brother Jerry is there on the left, then my son Bobby, and wife Julie." The other two males were nearly as big and intimidating as him. His wife was what we used to refer to as a 'beefy, starch-fed woman.' She was tall and looked like she weighed twice as much as my girl. If we got in a fight? I didn't like my chances with any of them. "Have a seat."

He went for the big easy chair while I joined Carol on the loveseat. She reached for my hand, letting the mate bond calm us both.

Stanley spoke first. "Carol, what brings the two of you to my den?"

I stepped in. "We want to..."

"Shut up, Nathan. You may have left them, but you still stink of Bitterroot. That means I don't believe you. Let your female speak."

I squeezed her hand and listened as she told her story. I focused on watching their faces as she told them about the attack on her family, her slavery, and our escape. Julie was crying halfway through. When Carol finished, Julie jumped up, came over, and pulled her up into a tight hug. "You poor girl," she said as she held her close.