Beyond the Were War Ch. 06

The vehicle stopped in front of the clinic where a wheelchair and gurney were waiting. The four Gila pack wolves along with a nurse were waiting. Caleb opened the door and removed Anna's seatbelt before lifting her out and over to the wheelchair that Maria was holding. Anna was still asleep. "Sedative, she was starting to lose it in the car and we couldn't calm her down." They wheeled her into the clinic.

The nurse then rolled the gurney up near the side door and handed Julia a body bag. She unfolded it on the floor then she and Brett lifted Enrique off the seat and into it, zipping it nearly closed. Brett looked out at Linda and Andy. "Take his feet, we'll pass him out to you." Nodding, both took hold of the end of the body bag and they worked him feet first onto the gurney. Both exited the vehicle, their clothes soaked in blood and their faces somber.

Julia turned to her Alpha, who was standing next to the gurney, his hand on the railing. "Alpha, I need to do an autopsy and fill out the paperwork, then I will release his body. Andy, do you want him burned here or are you going to return to Gila?"

"We'll take him home. Our business here is done, and with everything going on our Alpha will want everyone back." They had heard the news about Renee as well, it had passed like lightning through the El Paso pack bonds when it came over the radio.

"I understand. I will alert your Alpha."

Andy shook his head no. "Please don't do that, the Cartel must have been able to intercept communications in order to figure out Enrique was a threat to them. I can't trust anything but face to face or a Pack bond. We just need to leave, quickly and quietly."

As the gurney started to move, the Alpha stripped and shifted, those in his Pack in human form following. He let out a powerful, mournful howl. The second time, his Luna joined in followed by the Betas. The third and final howl was joined in by the entire Pack.

Cartel Operations Center

Las Cruces, NM

"Get some men to bury them out in the desert." Carlos nodded, wiping the blood splatter from his face as they exited the room. In the end, no one knew anything so Juan killed them all. "At least we have some good news. Renee Hastings is secure in the El Paso safe house."

"Good. Arrange transport for us, I want to talk to her in person. She's the key, Robert will do anything to keep her alive, including giving all the money back."

"Will you be satisfied with just getting the money, boss?"

"No. They will pay with their lives." He turned back to his most trusted adviser. Carlos nodded, trying to figure out where he was going. "Now let's get out of here, I don't want to spend another moment in the presence of a traitor."

El Paso Pack Clinic

Texas

"Anna, it's best if you just continue playing as if you are sleeping, fewer questions and problems that way." She nodded. "In this bag I've put the supplies you will need for the trip. I need you to change his dressing if it soaks through, and in four hours I need you to give him this shot. I've written up the real record of what happened, you need to give that to your Pack doctor when you arrive." She then turned to Linda and Andy. "Drive straight back to your Pack, don't stop for anything. Keep him flat in the back and covered with a blanket, make sure no one can see him from the outside. And keep your speed under control, you can't afford to get pulled over."

"Yes ma'am, we'll take good care of him." Andy helped her move him onto the gurney, then they zipped up the body bag leaving a few inches open at the top for air. "Thank you again for the help with this, he's an important guy to Anna and our Pack."

"It's my pleasure, just make sure you keep him hidden. If his true identity comes out, I'll lose my medical license for falsifying the death certificate. Get him a new identity soon and make it a good one."

"I wouldn't worry about that, he's a computer genius. Next week you won't find anything about him except the obituary."

Linda walked in, having just come from the Alpha's office. "We should get going if you guys are ready."

Julia handed her a manila envelope. "OK, here are copies of his autopsy and death certificate. I've already made the phone call to the county, since the autopsy is done I told them I've released him for burial. By the time people figure it out you'll be back home. Good luck, everyone." She hugged them goodbye and watched as they wheeled the gurney out to the SUV, Anna asleep and held in Andy's arms. They laid Enrique in the back cargo area and buckled Anna in the seat row just in front of it. Caleb and Maria were already in the middle seats, and Linda entered the passenger side. Andy paused before getting in, turning to face the Alpha and his Betas lined up behind him. "Alpha Marino, I and my Pack appreciate your assistance in this time of trouble. I will be sure to convey that to my Alpha on my return."

"Thank you as well, Beta Andy, and may you find your Luna soon and safe." Nodding, Andy got in and they pulled away from the house.

"Anna, don't wake up until I tell you we are outside Pack lands, all right? Let's settle in, we will stop for lunch in a couple hours."

Cartel Safe House

Outskirts of El Paso

Doctor Hector Martinez nervously stood at the door of the basement. His family practice normally did not involve house calls, but when you are basically owned by the Cartel, you do what they tell you. Hippocratic oath be damned. He was regretting every decision that led to this point, starting with accepting money under the table to patch up a man with a gunshot wound. His greed kept him going deeper, to pay off his loans, his house, to buy stuff for his family. When he wanted out, they laughed at him. "Shut up and take the money, Hector, your family lives as long as you do as you are told."

The call an hour earlier had been cryptic, just to have his Were kit and to be outside his house in ten minutes. Men had come in a cargo van, loading him in the back he was blindfolded until he was in the garage of a house. "Here's the deal, Hector. We have a werewolf down there. She was injected eight hours ago with 2.5 mg of midazolam and again with 2.5 mg four hours ago. The first shot also included 5 mg of wolfsbane to keep her wolf inactive. Your job is to check her over and make sure that she remains stable and sedated for the next six hours. When that time is up, she needs to be conscious but minimally functional until we're done. Keep her wolf down the whole time, understand?"

"Yes, I do. Did she have any adverse reaction to the injections?"

"Not yet. Keep it that way. Oh, and she's several months pregnant with twins." Hector's anger was building, he couldn't believe they had given that sedative to a pregnant woman with no medical supervision. Screw it up and she could lose her babies, even her life. He gripped his bag tighter. "She is an important hostage to us, if she dies so do you. Understand, Hector?" He nodded. The door was opened for him. "Come on, let's get this over with." The guard brought him down the stairs and unlocked the door to the cell. "I need to take a dump, I'll be back to check on you in a few minutes. Don't worry, those chains are silver, she won't be able to escape or hurt you, and she has enough wolfsbane in her to keep a shift away." The man left him alone in the cell with a woman. Looking over, he recognized her as Renee Johnson-Hastings.

FUCK. How could they do this to her after all she had been through? And why was the Cartel holding a Werewolf Alpha hostage? He didn't have time to figure out all the reasons, but he knew he had to help her. He couldn't live with himself if he was a part of her death. Moving over to the bed, he moved her hair out of her face and lifted her eyelids to check her pupils. She should be starting to wake up soon, he thought, as he checked their response. Turning to his bag, he prepared an injection and administered it into her arm. The stimulant would counter the effect of the sedative while the second chemical would block the Wolfsbane. It didn't take long for her eyes to open, but before she could do anything he had to warn her.

"Renee, I am Dr. Martinez. I am going to help you. They are watching us, so it is very important that you not respond to anything I say or do. Don't open your eyes, don't move, don't change your breathing or they will figure out that I'm not on their side. If you understand, move your thumb slightly." He waited until he saw it happen, then continued to whisper, low enough so any microphones wouldn't pick it up but loud enough for her sensitive werewolf hearing. "I was told to keep you sedated for another six hours. You need to pretend you are still unconscious during that time, but the drug I just gave you will allow your wolf to come forward again soon. Whatever you do, don't shift or give any indications your wolf is present. Right now you are locked in a cell, you will have to choose your time carefully. I will be back in five hours to check on you again. Good luck, Mrs. Hastings, you're going to need it." During their conversation he had completed taking her vitals and checked the heartbeats of her twins. He stood up when the guard came back and unlocked the cell. "She's doing well, the babies are fine and she should remain unconscious for another five to six hours."

"OK, come back upstairs with me and we wait."

Gila Pack SUV

I-10 near Crestland, TX

Andy relaxed as the city of El Paso faded in the rear view mirror. The El Paso pack escort had left them twenty minutes earlier, now they just had to make it home without any Border Patrol searches or other stops. He set the cruise control at 61 and tried to settle further into the seat for the long trip. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME THIS IS RENEE HASTINGS." The voice thundered through the Pack link, Andy hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road as Linda responded.

"Renee this is Linda can you hear me?" Nothing. "Renee this is Linda Remington can you hear me?"

Andy tried next, but was not successful.

"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME THIS IS RENEE HASTINGS." They tried again, she was too far away to link with. It was only her Alpha power that allowed her to broadcast farther than a normal Pack wolf.

Linda looked across at Andy. "Pull over and park, I need to make a phone call." She frantically dialed a number on her cellphone while she looked through the glove compartment for a map. "Alpha Marino? This is Linda. Say, you remember that thing we lost? I just got an idea of where it might be, but our car is having trouble. Do you think you could send a couple of strong young men out to meet me? I might need help loading it up."

There was silence on the line while he thought about it, but she heard him agree. Soon it was time to say goodbye after making arrangements to meet at the parking lot of the student center of University of Texas-El Paso. She was confident her message got across, however coded it was so it wouldn't be obvious to monitoring. Two carloads of Betas and Warriors were going to meet her soon.

Andy had turned around and they were heading back by the time she was off the phone. "So what's your plan?"

Linda turned around and looked at Anna, Caleb and Maria. "You three are going to drop us off and travel back to the Pack without us. We'll hook up with the El Paso pack Betas and search for Renee."

Maria looked back at her. "How will you find her?"

Linda pointed at the map. "We know an Alpha can broadcast about twenty miles while a Pack wolf can communicate about ten. We're going to drive around until we can link to her, then draw a ten mile circle around that spot. We go until we can't link any more, then draw another circle. You get enough data points and you can narrow down where she is."

Maria looked doubtful. "That still could be a huge area in a city like this."

"Then we'll drive through the area hoping to catch her scent, or that she can give us some details on where she is so we can get to her. That's why I need the help of the El Paso pack, we need some muscle and we need cars. Andy, you'll drive in a vehicle with one group and I'll go to the other. When you make or lose contact, give me a call or link to me and tell me the location, I'll keep up the map."

She made contact just before they reached UTEP. "Renee, this is Linda, can you hear me?"

"LINDA! I HEAR YOU! Where are you?"

"We are just west of El Paso near the university. Where are you and are you all right?"

"I'm OK, I'm chained up and locked in a cage but physically OK. I'm in a basement of a house, no idea where, I was out when they brought me here. Why are you here?"

"We came to El Paso to help Anna get to know Enrique, but that went south pretty quick. Cartel gunmen broke in and shot him, she had to bite him to save his life. He's still out, we are taking him back home and getting him a new identity. Now, what else can you tell us about your surroundings?"

"Not much. I can't hear much traffic or noise from outside. They have at least three men here plus a doctor. The doctor is helping me, I don't know why, but he gave me something to counteract their drugs so I could use my wolf again. He told me to play possum until the time is right."

Linda smiled, if the doctor was helping she would not be knocked out again. "OK, our plan is to use the mind link range to narrow down where you are. Andy and I will be joining with El Paso pack wolves to search for you. We will go in and out of range for a while, don't broadcast to us unless you need to, just answer when one of us calls, all right?"

"I'll do what I can. Doc said that in five hours or so there is something going on I need to be conscious for. Hurry up, I don't want to know what that is."

Gila Pack House, Alpha Office

New Mexico

"Alpha, we have two men at the east entrance who want to see you. Both are unarmed and say they represent the Gulf and Pacific cartels respectively."

Alpha Robert Hastings looked up from his desk in surprise, the fatigue evident on his face from his lack of sleep and the emotions of the past day. "Search them thoroughly, blindfold them and bring them to the house." He sent for his Betas to join him, this could prove interesting. Twenty minutes later, they were in the conference room when two men in expensive suits arrived. "I'm Alpha Hastings, what is your business with me?" His voice dripped with disdain, he didn't differentiate between Cartels when all were involved with drugs, human trafficking and kidnapping.

"Alpha, thank you for seeing us. I am Robert Johnson, I am a lawyer for the leader of the Gulf Cartel. My colleague is Victor Alvarez, he is a negotiator for the Pacific cartel. We have come here under the authority of our bosses to keep your battle with the Socorro cartel from becoming an all out war."

"Why would you be concerned with that?"

Victor looked around the room. "Look, we understand how this started and why you are going after them so hard. We respect that. It does have the potential to affect our business, though. The killing of a senior DEA agent, explosions in the streets of a major city, kidnapping of celebrities... all of it could result in problems for us. We also don't want to see Packs in our territories pulled into a war against us, we have nothing against them. We would rather work with you to eliminate your problem and reach an understanding that allows us to live without conflict."

Robert sat back in his chair. He didn't like who these men represented, but he was also realistic. He couldn't let his Pack go to war in the civilian world either. "So what are you offering?"

"Our assistance in taking out the Socorro cartel and its leadership without the involvement of werewolves. It is much easier for the public to accept a war between cartels than between cartels and civilians, or cartels and Packs."

"We can provide you intelligence and some support in that effort. As you probably know, we are totally defensive right now and my mate is being held by the Cartel. Any assistance you could provide in returning her would go a long way with us and our allies."

"We understand that and we are already working our sources for leads," Robert said. "Juan wants something, do you know what it is?"

"Well, he wanted his fuck toy back but she's Pack and he can't have her. Oh, and he probably wants all his money back."

Victor laughed. "We figured that was you. That must have really pissed him off, and it weakens him significantly." He pulled two cards out of his jacket. "This is contact information for our intelligence centers, there are multiple means of contacting them. If you have anything that can help, you can pass it along to those numbers and we will get it to the right people."

Robert sighed loudly. "Yeah, we don't trust electronic communication that much these days. We had a contact within the NSA who was giving us intel, but they must have tracked him down because he was shot and killed last night." He turned to one of his Betas. "Make two copies of the intel he provided us and give these men a copy. You should know that he had access to pretty much anything, and now Juan's contacts must have the same. He also told us that the deputy at the Albuquerque DEA was a Cartel plant, since the car bombing that means the whole office is tainted."

"What do you want from us?"

"I want you to take these bastards out. I don't care about low level guys, and I don't want their families hurt, but the leadership needs to go and I don't want anyone taking their place. The cartel just needs to end. After that, I don't want an alliance, just an understanding. We can never be friends, too much of what you do offends what we are. We can stay out of each other's way. I want Pack borders recognized by the Cartels so you stay off our lands, and we will leave you alone as long as you leave our Packs alone. If you come on our lands, we will impose our justice on you, and Pack law is death to those who rape, kidnap, or harm children; no trial, just death."

Victor and Robert conversed quietly, the wolves could hear them but pretended not to. Finally, Victor spoke. "Our organizations would accept such an understanding. We would ask that you not actively aid the authorities against us if we are not on your lands, of course." He and Robert stood and offered their hands.

"So it shall be done. I will inform the Alphas of the arrangement. It would be best if a representative of your organization visited each Alpha in your territory to exchange contact information and affirm this in person." Robert then handed them each a flash drive. "On here is the information we have on the Socorro cartel. Detailed information on the leadership, their homes, habits, and anything else. Known safe houses, meeting places, smuggling routes. I suggest you act on it quickly before he changes things."

Victor smiled. "We each have teams standing by to do just that. We will take care of Juan and Carlos and all there men soon."

Robert's face hardened. "If you capture one of them alive, I would appreciate the chance to end their lives personally when you have what you need from them. I want them dead most of all, so don't wait for me. Kill those fuckers wherever you find them."

Cartel Safe House

Outskirts of El Paso

The five hours had passed slowly for Renee, she had focused on two things- helping Andy and Linda figure out what area she was located in, and trying to get clues as to where she was. Both efforts were slow. They had her narrowed down to an area about four miles square, and were now driving through the streets hoping to find her scent. She knew that would be a tough thing. The opening of the door interrupted her thoughts, she remained 'unconscious' and focused on not moving or reacting as the men came down the stairs and her cell was unlocked. She could smell the guard from before and Dr. Martinez.