Abandoned Treasure Ch. 01-19

"Carol's already dead, Vic. Her body hasn't caught up. You can't worry about her anymore. The only thing that matters is saving that baby."

He was right; this was a better death for her than Alpha Todd would have if she survived. "What do I need to do?"

"Get her on her back and cut away her clothing. You need to have clear access to her abdomen. Make sure you have good light."

I sliced away her clothing. "What else do I need but light?" I returned to the driver's door, where I had a good flashlight with a magnetic base. My go-bag in the backseat had a headlamp in it. I put it on and turned it on bright.

"We're not going to worry about bleeding, but you'll need something to tie off the umbilical cord. A leather shoestring, string, anything."

I had a pair of mocassins in my suitcase. I pulled one out and pulled out the leather shoestring. "Got it."

"Get the lights situated. Let me know when you are ready."

I attached one light to the roof of the SUV and pointed it at Carol's stomach. "Ready."

"Make a vertical incision from her belly button to the top of her vagina," he said.

This was going to suck. I took a deep breath and began. Thank Luna that my knife was razor-sharp. It didn't bleed as much as I thought, perhaps because her heart was so weak. "Done."

"You'll need to cut through the stomach muscle and lining to expose the uterus. Use one hand to cut and the other to hold the tissue apart."

"Just like carving a pig," I said to myself. With how rounded Carol's baby bump was, it was more like releasing the springs. It was easy to identify the uterus, as the baby stretched inside it. "I'm there."

"Reach in with both hands and lift the uterus out of the incision," he told me.

This part was like wrestling a greased pig, but I got most of the uterus out. "Done."

"Make an incision through the uterus, but carefully. If the amniotic sac ruptures, it's not a problem."

It did, and it made a mess. "I can see hair."

"Remove the baby, supporting the head, and set it on the mother's stomach."

I had to wiggle the baby out, but in thirty seconds, a blue baby girl was on her belly. "She's blue, and she's not moving."

"Tie off the umbilical cord about an inch from the baby. Make it as tight as possible, then cut the cord an inch to two above the knot."

I wrapped the leather lace around the grey cord and tightened it before tying it off. Cutting the cord was tough, even for a sharp knife. "It's done. She's still not moving."

"Suck what you can out of her mouth and nose with your mouth, then hang her by her legs. Give her a whack to kick-start her breathing."

I don't want to know what I swallowed doing it, but it tasted nasty. I held the baby up and smacked her with my fingers. There was a cough, a breath, and then the screaming began. "I did it!"

"Congratulations, Enforcer Knightly. Clean the baby off the best you can, wrap her to keep her warm, and get back on the road. How is the mother?"

I checked her pulse. "She's gone."

"You did the best you could, Vic," Mark told me. "Cover her up and drive towards Great Falls. Pick up Interstate 15, and Alpha Todd's people will take care of the rest."

"All in a truck filled with blood, a newborn baby, and a dead body."

"Drive casual, Vic. Don't get pulled over."

"Yes, sir. I'll call back when I'm on the interstate." I hung up and went to work. I cleaned off the baby, then wrapped her in a T-shirt like a little burrito. I set her in the passenger seat while I cleaned up the back. I managed to roll Carol into the blanket and clean up the visible blood. I had to strip to my underwear to clean the blood off me before closing the back. I put on fresh clothes as I pondered my next move. I decided my go-bag would make a decent baby seat. I lined it with rolled-up clothes, placed a soft sweatshirt over the padding, then put the crying baby in the center.

It would have to work for a few hours. I buckled the case in place on the passenger seat, then buckled myself up and got back on the road.

Thankfully, the baby fell asleep after ten minutes. She didn't wake when I met Alpha Todd's men outside Helena. They wrapped Carol and the bloody evidence in a tarp and taped it up before putting her in the back of a van. A young Omega female took custody of the baby, and they were gone again.

I found a 24-hour car wash in town. I pulled into a bay, closed the doors, and fed a stack of coins into the pressure washer controls. I spent the next two hours cleaning my SUV until I couldn't scent blood. I had to power-wash the back with soap and water, then drive back to Great Falls with the windows down so it could dry out.

I called my boss again on the way north. "I think I got rid of everything," I told him. "What a fucking day."

"You did all right, Vic. You found the two most wanted wolves in the world and saved a baby. It's not going to get better than that."

It didn't feel that good. I killed one wolf that I had to. I was beating myself up about putting a pregnant woman in danger when we had other options. "What about the mess I left behind?"

"The Chairman got the Bear Den to clean that up for us. It cost him a few favors, but the Den will make the car and the body disappear. You were right; the Bears were the ones coming your way. If they'd caught you at the scene? You'd all be dead."

He wasn't kidding. The Den Leader wouldn't appreciate a Council wolf leaving bodies on his doorstep. They are at risk from human exposure like we are. "What do I do next?"

"Get a hotel room and get some sleep. There's no point going to Bitterroot now. Come Monday, see if you can figure out where they stayed. Clean up any evidence they ever existed if you can."

I could use about twelve hours of sleep. "Thanks, Mark."

"Good job, Vic. This job was a tough one." He clicked off, and I went back to driving.

Beer and pizza would have to wait for the late afternoon football game.

Chapter 19

Alpha Todd Blackstone's POV

Bitterroot Pack Alpha's Office

Saturday, September 8 ^th, 2007

The rogue and the rebel had been found!

Unfortunately, not by ME. A Council Enforcer found them near Great Falls. "You're sure this is them," I asked as I joined the call with the Enforcer and the Council.

"There is no doubt, Alpha. You should know that Carol is pregnant. She looks like she could have the baby at any moment."

"That complicates things a bit," Mark said.

Not for me. Nathan knew too much. "It doesn't change a thing. Those two are fugitives responsible for the deaths of TWO of my Pack members. Kill them if you must, but don't let them escape!"

There was a pause, so I sent a mental query to my leaders. "Who knows this Enforcer Knightly? Will he do what we need him to do?"

"He's a boy scout, sir. If Vic captures them alive, he'll talk to them, and he'll report it," my Beta responded. I sent a text to the Chairman, requesting my men be the ones to capture the rogues. "Get a team going NOW. Bring a medic in case someone gets hurt, but I want you on the road in five minutes or less."

"Yes, Alpha."

Vic finally answered. "Sir, what are my orders?"

"Follow and report, Enforcer Knightly. They must be hiding out somewhere in or around Great Falls. Figure out where, and don't let them catch you."

"Understood, Chief Enforcer. We are on the east side of town now, passing the Walmart on 87. Once we leave town, following without detection will get a lot tougher. There's nothing out here but empty fields once we get past the Malmstrom Air Force Base runway."

"Alpha Todd, how long will it take to get warriors to support my Enforcer?"

"I'm getting them together now. It's a four-hour drive, so figure one in the morning. Maybe longer if they keep heading east."

"We better hope they go to ground," Mark said. "The nearest pack on the east side is Casper. The Wyoming Pack is seven and a half hours from Great Falls."

"Send them to Billings," I said. "There isn't much out that way, but if they keep heading southeast, they can make the interstate. Once that happens, we'll never catch up."

I was busy messaging allies and sending orders to Pack members until Vic spoke up again.

"Guys? The subjects just turned left on 331."

"Oh, FUCK," I said as I looked at the map.

"Yeah. The rogues are headed straight for bear territory."

"DAMMIT! Weren't you just there?"

"Yes, sir, about four hours ago. I got the usual reception. I didn't smell any wolf scent, though."

My blood pressure was spiking. "These fuckers are hiding out with the Bears?" We should have wiped them out decades ago, but the truce between our species held. Maybe this would end it.

"The Werebears don't mix with Werewolves, rogue or not," the Chief Enforcer replied. "On the other hand, they have a defined territory and don't give a shit in the woods about who is on the other side. It's a damn smart tactic for a rogue, and we should have thought of this before. As long as they don't cross the territory line, they can hide in plain sight where we'd never look."

Vic needed direction. "What do I do, sir? Three werewolves fast approaching their territory won't go over well."

I sent a text to the Chairman. "We can't let the rogues find sanctuary with bears. Kill them first!"

Mark spoke up. "Vic?"

"Yes, sir?"

"We can't risk them making it to Werebear territory. Run them off the road and attempt capture. Kill them if they don't surrender."

"Sir, the female is pregnant!"

"This is a direct order from the Chairman. Kill them if they don't surrender, Vic."

The question was if he had the discipline to follow orders. It took a few minutes to find out. He'd killed Nathan, which was good, but he left the werewolf carcass behind while taking Carol away before humans arrived. He was making a bad situation worse. "Doc, get in here and help out," I sent. "Maybe we can save a male infant to replace one of the men that bitch killed."

Doc guided Vic through a C-section and delivered a female.

Fuck. Females were a drag on a pack. Resources you put into raising them got wasted if their mate was not in the Pack. Why give males in rival Packs the ability to reproduce and get stronger?

The team returned before breakfast. I ordered a detail to burn Carol's body with the garbage. No one would miss her, and nobody said a prayer for her rogue spirit. May she burn in hell for the two males whose blood was on her hands. Doc reported the female child was weak but would survive.

I briefed the Pack after our morning meal ended. "We have our justice at last, though it was not the end I preferred," I began. "Slave Carol and Turncoat Nathan are dead. A Council Enforcer caught up with them outside Great Falls and took them out." There was a roar from the assembled Pack to the news. For almost a year, we had been searching for them. "That is not all," I continued. "The pair had a child. A female wolf was born last night before Carol died of her injuries. She has been returned to our Pack and is under the care of our medical staff. If any pair wishes to adopt her, come forward now." I knew there were a half-dozen couples who longed for a pup.

I saw a female look at her mate, only for him to shake his head no. "She's the product of a rogue and a backstabber. I'll not have such a wolf claiming my name," he said out loud.

"Nor will I," another male said. "You should have let her die with her mother. It would have been better for everyone."

I looked around as couples communicated wordlessly before remaining seated. I still had one way to make something of nothing. "Very well," I said. "Without adoption, she cannot join the Pack. Should we kill her? Leave her to the elements?"

Many agreed, but not all. "It's just a baby," a female objected. "That would be cruel."

"I agree. The baby will live, but not as a member of the Bitterroot Pack. We will raise the orphan to take her mother's place in service to our Pack. When she is of age, if not a mate to a Pack member, the female can serve the rest of her mother's sentence." There was a general agreement with this solution, but it was not without a challenge.

"Alpha," Warrior Brad stood with his head bowed. "It would be cleaner if the child died of its injuries during the accident. The Council would never question us, while they might ask about the fate of the child they KNOW we took home. If we refuse to adopt her into our Pack, another Pack might take her from us."

I thought about his point. If a couple adopted the rogue, we'd report the birth in our Pack Census to the Council. Someone might become curious if the child's fate went unrecorded, and I couldn't tell the Council I'd enslaved a newborn. I shifted to my Alpha tone for the order. "The child of Nathan and Carol died after our team took custody of her. The baby placed with the Omegas was abandoned by rogues and left at the edge of our territory. That is the answer to any inquiry. Understood?"

"YES, ALPHA!"

"Good. Now that the rogues are dead, we can let things return to normal." I was looking forward to that. The search for Nathan had consumed far too much time, money, and effort.

It wouldn't happen again. After Nathan escaped, I had Darryl tortured to find out what he knew. His death was slow and painful. It sent a strong message to the Pack about deceit and disloyalty under my rule. Any suspicious activity was to be reported immediately. Those who questioned my orders would face certain punishment.

And no one would speak of things outside the Pack. It didn't matter if a female left for elsewhere; we had her family here to pay for her lack of loyalty to me.

No one would tell me how to run my Pack. Not even the Council.