Claiming Treasure Ch. 11-15

I moved underneath it; the painting was beautiful, a pack of wolves running through the snow after a bull elk. It took a second to pick out the tracks along each side of the wall and the thickness of the painting. "That's a plate," I said as I saw how the wood frame melded into steel painted to match.

"Yes. Four inches of plate steel with steel guides and explosive bolts, controlled from the security center. The door also has motorized closure and electronic deadbolts. We can seal the entry in under two seconds, and after ten, you're not getting through at all. We use the same construction on a smaller scale for the three emergency exits from the ground floor."

"Impressive," Mongo said.

"We adopted compartments like a ship in the design of the building," he said as we moved into a corridor. "All controlled remotely," he said as we looked at the door he indicated. It looked like a pocket door. "Stand clear while I demonstrate." Pressing the panic button on the wall caused a red light came on along with a warning horn. The door pushed across in the next five seconds, completely sealing the hallway from the main entryway. He reopened it after we tested it. "The door is inset into the foundation concrete, and there are no handles or other ways to open it unless you do it from the Security Center. Once a section is isolated, we can flood it with carbon dioxide, putting out the fire or any attackers not wearing SCUBA tanks."

I was feeling better already. Nathan continued the tour, showing us how their security system and the design made it difficult for attackers to get around. We went into the basement, where he showed us the expansive Safe Room. "The whole building is built around this, with two feet of reinforced concrete and steel. It's insulated, fireproof, and has independent power, heating, cooling, and plumbing systems. The entire Pack could survive in here for two weeks, and it will remain habitable even if the whole House and the forest burns around us."

I walked around, looking at the triple-high bunks along the walls and the storage. It even had a medical facility.

Near the entrance on one side was the Security Center. He opened the door, and the woman at the desk waved to us. "This is the nerve center. Pack defense is controlled from this room, along with the alarms and surveillance." I could see five screens showing inside and outside. "No one gets close without us knowing about it."

"This place is a fortress," I said.

"A castle is only good if you are within its walls," he said. "Come on." We continued to another part of the basement, where doors opened into a gym. It was big, with boxing rings, wrestling mats, weight training gear, and exercise machines. "I saw the video of the fight at Arrowhead, and I know you have some training. If you feel up to it, I'd like to evaluate your skills."

"To what end?"

"Everyone here trains to fight. I need to know what you can and can't do, so I know what training I need to give you," Patricia said.

"I don't have any clothes, and I have two broken ribs," I objected.

"This is an assessment, not a fight, and we won't be doing things at speed. As for clothing, we normally don't work out with clothes on. Werewolves don't have human hangups on nudity, and we may shift between forms." My eyes got wide, and I started to say something. "But, I had some brought down for us. They are in the women's locker room." Letting my breath out, I followed her into the room. In addition to lockers, bathrooms, and shower, it had a sauna and a cold tub. She helped me put on my sports bra and biker shorts, then wrapped some extra padding over my injured ribs.

I moved around; it wouldn't affect my movement. "Let's go," I said.

When we got out to the padded floor of the sparring area, Nathan was waiting with a video camera. "I'm going to record the session so I can break it down later."

"We'll start with what you know about breaking holds and go from there, at half speed," Patricia said. We spent about fifteen minutes as she tested me on how to break her holds from the front side, rear, and ground. Patricia even did some with me sitting in a chair, and more going against a person with a knife or pistol. I appreciated my Krav Maga, but it didn't always work against her. When that was over, she tested me on kicks. I could use my lower body, even though punching and grappling is out of the question with my ribs.

Patricia was a beast in more ways than one. Every kick or move I tried on her, she avoided or blocked, and I was getting frustrated. I overextended on a spinning kick and stumbled; she caught me before I hit the ground. She set me on my butt and stood over me. "You did better than I expected," Patricia said with a smile. "You're fast and balanced."

"Until this thing gets too big," I said as I pointed to my belly. Mongo helped me up, and I downed a water bottle as we all walked to the far side and through a door. "What's this," I said as I walked into a room covered in cork, with foam torsos on stands at the far side.

"Knife range," Patricia said. She opened a cabinet in the back, showing me dozens and dozens of sharp weapons to choose from. Walking up, I tested the throwing knives available until I found a set that felt right. Nathan filmed as Patricia had me throw at targets at different ranges, including sitting and on the ground, against stationary and moving targets. "You're good with these," she said when I finished. "We'll get you a few sets of silver-coated blades, and some extra sheathes you can wear; I don't want you going anywhere without at least two on your body from now on." Opening a drawer, she picked out a calf rig with three knives and handed it to me. I put it on, withdrawing one partway; I could see it was silver. "You'll be fine with that, but a wolf will burn if they touch it," she warned me.

"Knives are fun. I practiced a lot with them because I could still use them when pregnant; I wasn't allowed to shoot firearms other than pellet guns."

"You'll love this," she said as she walked me into the next room. "Welcome to our FATS room."

It didn't look like much; it was about twenty feet square with floor-to-ceiling projection screens on one side. The one in the middle was flat to the wall, while the two on either side were at a forty-five-degree angle towards me. "FATS?"

"Firearms Training System," she said as she handed me a Glock.

The weight and grip felt right, but the pistol was bright blue instead of black. When I dropped the magazine to check the chamber clear, I saw it was also blue and had a CO2 cartridge inside. Looking closer, I could see the action was not a full slide; just the back could cycle. At the muzzle of the pistol, there was no barrel there, just a glass dot. "What is this?"

"Laser firearms trainer. The CO2 cycles the action and simulates the cycling of a pistol for the trigger mechanism. It feels and shoots just like a real pistol, without any lead or loud noises that would not be good for the baby. You can shoot thousands of rounds down here, far cheaper than we could fire a real pistol."

"Can I try?"

"Of course," Nathan said with a smile. "We'll see how you do with plates. Knock them over as fast as you can; scoring is for time with penalties for missed shots."

"Oh hell, I want to try too," Mongo said.

"And me," added Three Tequila.

"Fine, we'll all get a chance. Werewolves are very competitive," Patricia said. Nathan set up the computer with our names, then Patricia went first to demonstrate. The three screens lit up with an outdoor scene and a dozen plates at different distances, spaced out on the three screens that covered the room from side to side. At the end of the count, I watched as she rapid-fired twelve times, breaking each plate. Three-point-seven-eight seconds. Jesus Christ, she was a badass.

"How the hell can I compete with that," I said when she handed me the pistol.

"Focus on being smooth and hitting your targets, speed will come later," she said. "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."

"You teach that to the SEALs?" I moved to the center and took the spot, pistol at low ready. When it buzzed in, I went from left to right, firing and moving to the next target without waiting to see if I hit. I hit eleven of the twelve, losing a second plus penalty as I had to go back. Six-point-five-two seconds.

"Nice," Mongo said.

"Give it a shot, old man," I said as I handed it to him. He didn't shoot as fast, but he had a clean run, seven-point-zero-four.

"Ooh, I have GOT to get me one of THESE," he said. "This setup would be great for the clubhouse. How much did this system cost?"

"About a hundred grand," Nathan said. "The pistol alone is five."

"Damn," he said. "Maybe not yet."

Three Tequila shot last and did a respectable job with two misses in eight-point-two-two seconds. Disappointed, she handed it back. "I need to practice more," she said.

"Let's try some other drills," Nathan said. He had me try different shooting drills, testing speed, accuracy, and reaction time. I was having a blast and felt like my toys had been taken away when the system turned off, and the lights came up. "Your skill level is adequate for self-defense, but we'll work to make it better," he said. "We will provide you with a pistol with silver-core ammunition and a holster. I expect you to be armed anytime you are outside the Pack House," he said.

"I have to worry?"

"I worry," Patricia said. "You being armed means you have a chance to hold out until I can summon more help. As you saw at Arrowhead, a Glock evens the odds against a werewolf. If you had silver ammunition, you would have killed her."

I shook my head. "I was scared, but I didn't want her dead," I said.

"This is a different world. Yes, you have asylum, but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there who want you dead. You have a lot of natural ability and some training, and we'll work with that to make you a real force."

Mongo sat back, nodding his head. "I feel a lot better than I did a few hours ago, Heather."

"I do too."

"You have some time to rest and clean up before the party starts," Nathan said. "We'll show you the Pack lands another time." With that, we returned to our rooms.

Carson was going to be back in a few hours, and I needed to talk to him about what he said at his trial.

Ch. 13

Chairman Coffey's POV
Road to Airport

"Well, that didn't go like we planned," Councilman Oscar Millner said as he looked out the window at the passing pine trees.

"No shit," Councilman Nathan Kirk said from the middle. "That bitch is turning the Alphas against us with this Luna shit. I can't believe they are buying it."

I just shook my head as I looked out the passenger side window of the big SUV, which was being driven by Alpha Matthew Kirk. "The legend of Rori King grows without end," he said. "The Blessed One is now credited with spurring pregnancies in other women around her? Ridiculous. It's never happened in our history, but you saw how many Alphas were pulled to her side by their woman's claws on their balls."

"Fucking Richard Long," I said. "We hand him a Pack, and he stabs us in the back."

"I'm still shocked the European Alphas would fall for Rori's sob story," Nathan said. "That was the genius of your plan to break the impasse in the jury. We all thought they would vote to remove her just because she's a female Alpha."

"It didn't quite go that way," I said.

Nathan spoke up. "You couldn't know. The Russians were the biggest shock, with their patriarchal views and the people involved. A human shoots one of his Pack, and Alpha Ivan leads the charge to release the Alpha responsible for her being there. How could we know?"

"We couldn't," I said. "We can still get to where we need to be, but we can't get there as quickly as we thought. Carson Nygaard gets his so-called 'mate,' but that's it. A year from now, everyone will know that humans can't be mates, and only a fool would claim it."

"Cascade Pack still gets Heather's children," Nathan said.

Matthew shook his head. "That's another thing I wish the Russians hadn't caved on. What Pack would allow Carson to have them when he has no claim? Rori should have kept Heather in her cells as soon as she found out she was pregnant, and none of this mess would have happened."

"Or if Tatiana had finished the job," I said. Offspring of a werewolf male and human female were often weak, diluting the bloodline. All Rori could do is banish her from the territory, and then the Russians would not have fallen in line.

"The ruling we handed down on the asylum will work in the end. Carson is fucked," Oscar said. "If he turns her over to us, it proves she was never his mate. No wolf could hand his mate like that. If she runs, he gets the death sentence for not controlling her. If he runs away with her, he gets the death sentence, as does anyone who helps him. We have some patience, and it all comes back to us."

Nathan looked up. "We don't have to wait, and we can't wait," he said. "I'm sure Sawyer and his allies are preparing amendments to our Laws to introduce at the Summer Summit. We can head that off by changing the leadership again."

"What do you mean?" He was right, but how?

"We kill the human AND the weak Alpha that is protecting her," Nathan said.

"It would be WAR! The Nygaards and their allies would retaliate," Matt said.

"Not if we do it in a way that couldn't trace back to our Packs or the Council," Nathan replied.

No one said anything for a few minutes as we thought it through. "I have a solution," Oscar Millner said. "And it helps me with another problem." We all looked at him. "Coral Nygaard killed my son and took my Pack. Right now, good wolves are in her prison while she has killed others. I will find men in her Pack that are still loyal to my bloodline and send them to Washington. They can kill Carson and his human slut. If the Pack wants revenge, they'd be taking it against his little sister."

"That doesn't help you get your Pack back, but it gives us a chance to put a better alpha in Donner. With Carson gone, Sawyer would have to return to his birth Pack to take over." Nathan said. "I don't see how that helps you with Blue River. The low ranks in that Pack LOVE Coral, and they will never vote your youngest son into the spot. Even if he got enough votes to challenge, we both know he's not dominant enough to take her."

"That is my quid pro quo. I take care of Carson, and you get rid of Coral and Keith," Oscar said. "With them gone, my son will be the obvious choice for the new Alpha. All we need is another one of your 'accidents' while she's flying to visit her family."

Matthew looked back at us in the mirror. "That wasn't cheap, but it was effective. The humans we used were professionals and did it in a way that couldn't get back to us."

"Get lucky again," I said as he turned onto Highway 61. "If we can't flip these two packs in the next few months, they'll realize they have the votes to replace us."

Carson Nygaard's POV
Arrowhead Pack Alpha's Office

I joined my sister Coral and Rori's uncle Martin on the couch, as Rori sat in Chase's lap at the desk chair. Sawyer had Ashley in his lap in one chair, while Michael had Margaret in his laps with his arms around her stomach. I laughed as I looked at them, all the males touching their pregnant female's bellies the same overprotective way.

"Like you won't be touching Heather's belly like that soon," Chase sent to me as he caught me staring.

My wolf just curled up in the back of my mind, wanting his mate in his den.

"Chase is linking Mom in on the discussion. That car that just left was the last of the other Packs departing," Rori said as she called the meeting to order. "Thank you all for your help with security and logistics. I hate having to deal with all this stuff."

"You're welcome," Michael said. "I still can't believe they make you host as you're on trial. Hosting should be punishment enough."

"I'm just glad it all worked out," Sawyer said.

"Heather's not in the clear yet," I said. "Where do we sit with the Packs?"

Coral got up and went to the dry erase board on the side, putting a scale on the top that went from "strong opposed" to "strong ally," we started to fill things in. The six Packs represented in the room were all on the right side, as were the six Packs that strongly opposed us. "The ones who moved to our side for the final jury vote; how reliable do you think those votes are?"

"Beloretsk is strongly allied, Alpha Ivan and I worked that out," Rori said. "I agreed not to punish Tatiana for the attack on my land. We also agreed to exchange Greg for Timur until Mykayla is of age, or rejects him. Ivan needs my support if they try Tatiana for exposing herself to a human."

"Do you think they will do that? I don't think it will help," I said.

"Who knows what the Council will do. It only takes one Pack to bring the charges, and she's guilty," Rori said.

We spent some time going over the board, talking about what we could do to move people to our side. "The pregnancies were a major reason we got to two-thirds. Several of the Alphas told me that their Lunas would have their nuts if they went against you on this," Coral said with a smile. "We need to push that narrative as much as we can."

"How," Sawyer asked.

"Be upfront about the pregnancies, not just the Alphas, but all of them. Send pictures of you and your Pack members with your baby bumps. Don't let a conversation go by without thanking Luna for her blessings," Coral continued.

"Go further, invite some of the Alphas to bring their Lunas for a visit now that the snow is melting," I said. "Let them rub bellies, hang out in the pool, talk to our Pack, maybe bring some unmated along. No big gatherings, but times where you can connect with them on a one-to-one or small group basis."

"Maybe even a women's gathering, if their mates will allow it," Ashley said.

"I could take the men out on motorcycles or fishing and leave them with you," Chase said.

"All good ideas. The more obvious the contrast between the fertility of our Packs and the ones on the left side of the board, the better," Rori said. "My real question is how safe we are now. Is anyone going to react badly to the verdicts?"

I thought about it for a while. "We're safer than we were before today. We don't have to worry about you being removed or imprisoned, and you only have your allies left here," I said.

"The jury vote showed them we have full or some support from two-thirds of the Packs," Sawyer said. "That should discourage them from coming after us."

"Mutual-defense treaties would be better," Michael said.

"I don't want to get pulled into Pack conflicts," Rori said.

"It doesn't have to go that far. Agreements to provide sanctuary, safe passage, technical assistance, training or school exchanges, and defense of Pack lands," Michael said. "It would be particularly helpful with the European Packs."

"We will need all the votes we can get if we are to change our laws," Chase agreed.

"Fine. We have a resort, and we may as well use it before I get too big," Rori said as she moved her hand over her belly. "Is it safe to bring the babies home?"

We kicked that around for a while before Chase talked. "Mom said to wait until we all get home in case anyone moves against us while we are away from our Packs. That will give you a few days to make sure it's safe here."

I nodded. "It's probably going to take a few days from when you tell them to return until they arrive. Heather was in Las Vegas when she ran, and it was two full days of driving for her. If they are down south and traveling with babies, figure three days." The others nodded, figuring the babies would be nowhere near other Packs. That meant coming from the south. "The fewer people who know they are coming, the better."