Claiming Treasure Ch. 21-25

"And you got caught."

"Yes. Four days ago, the updates stopped coming, and I got a notification the worm programs had activated. I had those set up to wipe out all traces of my hack, but it didn't work."

He didn't say anything as we drove north. "I'm not sorry I hacked the data. If I hadn't, we wouldn't have found out about the plot against Carson and Heather."

"We don't even know if the warning helped," he said. "I need to think."

His silence hurt more than anything else. When he refused to even look back at me, I went back to work. I had to see what else I could dig up from the archives.

Ch. 23

Heather Rhodes' POV

Cascade Pack Territory

My lips were tingling, and I wanted more, just as he pulled away.

"We're in danger," he said. He stood me up, quickly pulling off his clothes and shifting into his wolf. He moved in front of me, starting to growl at the surrounding woods as I looked to see what was going on. The rock we had our picnic on was about eight feet wide and fifteen feet long, and it extended out to a sheer cliff that dropped fifty feet to the pool under the waterfall at the back. To the sides, it was a sheer drop to the rocks below.

I unzipped my jacket and tossed it aside, not wanting it in the way if I had to shoot my way out of this. I drew my Glock 19 from the shoulder holster, moving it to a low carry with my two-hand grip. "Humans or wolves," I asked. He snapped his teeth together twice as his nose sought out the scent. "Help on the way?"

He nodded, then looked back at me. Gesturing with his head, he wanted me to stay put while he dealt with it. "No," I said. "If this mate thing is the truth, if I'm yours just as you are mine, we live or die together. Do you understand me, wolf boy?"

He looked at me, his eyes pleading, but I wasn't backing down on this. If one of us had to die today, it would be me. His Pack could go on without him, while I had little family or future. He gave up, letting out a low groan as he did so.

His eyes jerked to the treeline, where a tan and black wolf stepped out from behind the trees. Carson started to growl, his hackles up and tail high behind him. He took a few steps forward before tossing his head up and letting out a ferocious howl.

There were now eight wolves surrounding us, plus a naked man in his human form who walked out from behind a tree. He was tall and muscled, with claw scars on his arms and chest. I think Carson recognized him because he looked at him and growled loudly. "You're surrounded, Alpha. Give up the girl, and you can walk away."

I just snorted. "Really? You come on to OUR land and make demands of us?"

"Our? You are NOTHING to him and nothing to us. You're just a pathetic human girl, a slut who spread her legs for a weak wolf to rut. Toss your pistol over the cliff and come quietly, and your friend gets to live. Resist, and you both die."

"You want this pistol? Molon Labe'," I said.

"What?"

I moved until my knee was touching Carson's leg, hoping he would get the idea as I pushed his leg to the right. "Watch my right," I whispered.

There was a flash of fur from the left side, followed by a yelp and a tangled, rolling ball of fur as Beta Angelina arrived and took out the wolf on the far left. Everyone took this as the start, and I raised my pistol in the isosceles stance I'd learned and started my firing with the next wolf from the left. I touched off four shots as the wolf ran forward, hitting him twice. The last round hit him just above his right eye, and his body crumpled and rolled through the grass and gravel, finally coming to a stop twenty feet away from me.

I had already shifted my aim right, getting in three shots on the next charging wolf. I fired my last shot at point-blank range as it leaped for my throat. He yelps as the round hit his stomach, and then I wasn't there. I'd dropped and rolled to my right, escaping his jaws but not his claws. His back leg caught my shoulder and tore through the sweater and underlayer. I bit back a scream as the claws raked furrows in my skin.

I heard the wolf scramble for purchase on the water-slick rock before it fell over the edge. I didn't look because another wolf was on me before I could raise my gun on target. Sharp teeth ripped into flesh as his jaws clamped onto my right forearm just above the wrist, and I heard the cracking of bone as it bit down and shook.

My Glock fell from my hand, skittering across the rock and over the edge.

I screamed in pain as he abused my arm, and I fought to regain focus. I needed to keep him away from my throat, so I swung my left leg up and around and wrapped it around his neck. He let go of my arm when my thighs tightened, and his front paws pushed off my butt and back to get free. I drew a throwing knife from the sheath on my useless right arm with my left, then stabbed him through the eye with it.

His howl of pain gave me strength, and I left the knife in place as I scrambled out from under him. He was pawing at it, trying to get it out without success. As soon as my right let was free, I kicked him hard in the chest and sent him rolling for the edge of the rock. A second kick knocked his back legs over, and from there, gravity did the rest. He growled as he tried to pull himself back up, but his nails found no purchase, and he disappeared over the edge.

I looked up to see the big naked guy standing in front of me. To the right, Carson was fighting off three wolves while a fourth lay bleeding out onto the rocks. On the left side, Angelina's wolf was fighting a losing battle against a much larger male. "Who did this," I asked as I rolled over and onto my knees.

"Councilman Millner sends his regards. The Council will not tolerate your continued existence," he said. "It's nothing personal; it's just Pack business."

The confession told me they had no intention of letting any of us live. I moved my left hand under my torn shirt, where my stomach was bleeding profusely. Hunched over, my shirt hanging forward, I turned my body so he couldn't see what I was doing. "It's personal to ME," I said. My left hand gripped my backup Glock and pulled it down and free from the bang bra holster. His eyes got wide as he saw it, and he lunged forward as I brought the pistol up and started firing.

He rushed me and grabbed my left arm, and that was the opening I needed. Falling backward, I got my right foot under his stomach and pushed up against his overextended body. He flew forward towards the cliff, realizing too late what I had done to him.

It was the perfect plan, except when he refused to let go of my arm. His claws extended into my arm and held on, almost pulling my shoulder out of its socket as he went over the edge. I screamed as he pulled me off the rock, finally free but tumbling with him as I cartwheeled down towards the water. It seemed like I was in the air forever, and them my face hit the water. The impact took the breath out of me, and the cold temperature shocked me to where I couldn't move.

I gulped in the cold water as I sank.

Carson Nygaard's POV

Triple Falls, Cascade Pack Territory

I loved her, but she refused to let me protect her like I needed to. That drove my wolf nuts.

I looked out at the wolves who had invaded my lands and were threatening my mate. "Angelina, Cascade Pack, I've got eight hostiles, make that nine," I said as the man walked out. "Observation rock over triple falls."

"I'm thirty seconds out, Alpha," Angelina said.

"Anyone else in range?"

"Warrior Thomas, I'm fifteen minutes out."

No response. I growled as I recognized the man. He was a low-level Beta in the Blue River Pack, or at least he had been. "You're surrounded, Alpha. Give up the girl, and you can walk away."

"Hostiles are from Blue River Pack, maybe others. Thomas, relay the information." I looked for a way out. Tactically, this position sucked. We were trapped on three sides by the cliff, and backup was not coming anytime soon. Our patrols only went through this area once a day, and we were out of link range with the Pack. "Really? You come on to OUR land and make demands of us?" I didn't take my eyes off the threat, but my wolf and I loved this. She called it OURS.

"Our? You are NOTHING to him and nothing to us. You're just a pathetic human slut who spread her legs for a wolf. Toss your pistol over the cliff and come quietly, and your friend gets to live. Resist, and you both die." I would make him pay for the insult.

"You want this pistol? Molon Labe'," Heather said. Come And Get It. She was perfect, my fierce little mate. Here we were, trapped and outnumbered, just like the Battle of Thermopylae. I just hoped we weren't all killed like in that fight.

"What?" I couldn't believe the man didn't know his Greek.

Heather's knee pushed at my back left leg before she whispered, "Watch my right." I'd watch her shoot in the FATS simulator many times, and she always shot from left to right.

We weren't going down without a fight.

"Five... four...three..." I saw a flash of fur to the left as Angelina ran full speed and crashed into the nearest wolf. That set everything in motion, and I moved forward to engage the wolves on the right side. If I did it right, she'd be able to escape to the left as I held them off.

Four wolves went towards me, and I picked the biggest one to go after first. He was second from the right and nearly as large as I was. Our chests crashed together as I sought to grab his throat, and he tried for mine. I had leverage and knocked him over, exploiting a momentary opening to rip open his throat.

My victory was short-lived, as I was knocked from my feet while another wolf tore into my flanks. I rolled quickly to my feet, slashing the ear of the wolf who missed my throat by the smallest of margin. They circled me, keeping me away from my mate as she fired her pistol before she screamed in pain. I wanted to go to her, but the three worked together to keep me isolated. I couldn't protect myself on all sides, and they used this well. In thirty seconds, they had inflicted far more damage than I could. I was slowing down from fatigue, blood loss, and dozens of bites.

One of the wolves fighting Heather let out a pained howl, and I snuck a look. Heather had been hurt badly and was on her knees with her right arm held close as the Blue River Beta advanced on her. I attacked the wolf in between us, ignoring the attacks of the two others. I ripped into his shoulder, finally getting the opening I needed to break their circle. She had to live, and I had to protect her from this man.

I wouldn't reach her in time. One of the wolves behind me jumped on my back, sharp teeth digging into my shoulders as his dead weight drove me to the ground. I rolled him off, yelping in pain as his teeth tore free. When I looked up again, my heart dropped.

The Beta had rushed Heather as she shot at him before he knocked her arm away. I watched in horror as he pulled her over the cliff, her scream and his howl echoing off the canyon wall.

I shifted, screaming my rage as I rushed for the edge. The wolves I had been fighting with heard the howls of my Pack approaching and went the other way. I got to the cliff edge and looked down; I saw a wolf smashed on the rocks near the pool, but no sign of Heather. "Heather went into the water, I'm going after her," I said. Jumping forward, I pulled my arms in and crossed my legs, praying to Luna that the pool was deep enough to survive the fall.

Ch. 24

Alpha Carson Nygaard's POV

Triple Falls, Cascade Pack Territory

The combination of the fall and the cold water on my torn skin was a combination I never wanted to experience again.

The pool was deep and cold, just above freezing with the snowmelt from higher in the mountains. I pushed through the shock of the water entry, swimming with the current instead of fighting it. I popped my head up out of the water, and Luna was with me. I saw Heather floating face-down about ten feet away.

Swimming over, I grabbed her and rolled her face up. She wasn't breathing, but I had to get her out of the water first. Wrapping my right arm over her chest, I kept her face out of the water with my chest as I swam on my left side for the shallow water under the cliff.

"Alpha!" It was Angelica from the cliff above.

"Get help to me, and make sure Doc knows she's been bitten," I sent to the Pack.

"I'm ten minutes out, and I passed the message to Beta Carl," Thomas said. "They are sending vehicles to the forest service road."

"Make sure they have a stretcher and something to warm her up." I got close enough my feet could touch bottom, and I stood up and carried her out of the water in my arms. Her right arm was hanging at an angle, obviously broken, but it was the drowning I had to handle first. Setting her on the rocky shore, I checked her, and she wasn't breathing. I started my first round of CPR.

Angelina showed up during the second set; she was torn up from the fight, but she ignored the pain as she scrambled down the narrow trail. I finished the compressions and gave Heather two rescue breaths; after the second, she started to cough up water. I rolled her on her side as Heather drew in a breath, then coughed more of the cold water out. I sat back on my bleeding legs and sent a thank you to Luna as she started to breathe on her own. "Get those wet clothes off her," said Angelina as she set down the coat that Heather had tossed aside.

I pulled off her boots and pants, then shifted a claw and cut the top from her. "She needs a splint for her arm," I said.

Angelina went off to find something as I pulled the dry jacket onto the cold and unconscious body of my mate. She returned with two pieces of wood, and we used them and her shoelaces to keep her forearm straight. I carefully put her arm through the sleeve. "We have to get her out of here and get her warm," I said.

"Shift, and I'll hold her on top of you," my Beta said. I shifted, my wounds tearing back open, and the pain cutting through as I changed forms. I ignored it, crouching down while Angelina picked my mate up and set her on my back. She kept her in place as I stood, her arms and legs hanging down on either side of me, her head on top of my shoulders. "Take it slow going up the trail. We can't let her fall."

I started for the winding trail that led out of the narrow canyon as Angelina followed, keeping a hand on her Luna, so she didn't slide off. Warrior Thomas showed up just before we reached the top of the trail. "Help is on the way, Alpha. How is our Luna?"

"Cold," I said. "Find some grass to lay her down on." He waved me over to a place in the sun, and I got down on my belly in the center. Angelina pulled her to the ground and tucked in behind her to warm her up. Thomas laid over her bare legs, and we warmed her while we waited for help to arrive. I was linking with Doc, letting him know everything that happened and what our injuries were.

When help arrived, there was a lot of it. I sent warriors to track the wolves that had fled while the rest helped us. Doc was among them, running with Frank Grimes, who was carrying Doc's emergency bag around his neck as he ran up in wolf form. "Get her on the stretcher," he told the other men. The rescue stretcher was unique to werewolves; it started as an aluminum wire-mesh rescue litter, but added at each corner was a harness. It allowed the litter to be carried by straps that went around the shoulders of four wolves, or it could be carried by two or four in human form.

Thomas and Angelina got up, and Doc quickly examined her before three of them gently lifted her onto the litter, wrapped in warm blankets. Doc cut away the splint and fastened a better one as the men strapped her in place. "We've got to get her back; she's hypothermic and in shock. Probably a good thing, it will slow down her reaction to the bite," he said.

Four wolves each took a corner, holding her a few feet up between the group. They started off for the vehicles while Doc checked us over. "You look like hell," he told me. "Can you make it to the road, or do I need to send a team back for you?"

"I'm going with my mate," I said as I got up. I was covered in blood and felt weak from blood loss, but I'd make it.

"I can go slowly," Angelina said before she shifted. She whined in pain as she was torn up from her fight.

"Stay with her and take the Jeep home," he told some of the remaining wolves. I limped off, stretching out my muscles until I was in a painful run. The road was on the other side of the river, and the bridge we'd installed was a good five miles downriver. Doc ran ahead to catch up to his Luna, while four warriors stayed with me. No one was going to forget that we were under attack, with enemy wolves on our territory somewhere.

"Where is Beta Carl," I asked.

"Directing things from the Pack House and angry as hell," one of the warriors said. "All non-combatants are locked up in the Pack safe room, and there hasn't been an attack there yet. We've left wolves staggered along to relay messages."

"Good. Get a message to Alpha Coral that some of her men were involved in the attack. Then get Alpha Chase on the line, I need to talk to him about the bite."

"We've been talking to him," Frank said as we reached the bridge. "Doc is making preparations to change her."

I ran across the bridge to the cargo van that Doc used as a makeshift ambulance. Frank and I shifted and climbed in the back; as soon as the door closed, we were moving. Doc was hanging a bag of blood, and I could see four more units on the warmer. "What are you doing?"

"Saving her life," Doc said. "Heather was bitten multiple times by a werewolf, and the reaction is starting. She'll be dead by morning if I don't do this now."

"The blood will counteract the normal human reaction," Frank said. "It will also boost her healing." He pulled out a blanket and handed it to me. I quickly wrapped it around my body.

I knew what he'd been through, and a chill went through me as I realized what I would have to do. "Heather's going to have to change."

"Yes, she is," Doc said. "If she wouldn't want that, you need to tell me now. I can keep her comfortable and make her death as painless as possible."

My wolf pushed forward at the thought. "NO! She's MINE, and she has to live!"

"Then this is what we have to do." He inserted the needle and started the drip; he'd used a large-bore needle so it would go fast. "This is only the second time we've done this; we don't know how much blood is needed, but Frank got five pints, so that's what I'll do. Once her blood pressure recovers, I'll remove a pint for every pint I give her."

Frank had connected the monitors to her, and I could see the vitals were low. Blood pressure was eighty over forty, pulse 100, and oxygen 90%. Doc put an oxygen mask on her as we bounced down the forest road. "I have to give her a mating bite like Colletta gave you?"

"Yes. The blood was enough to heal me and start the change, but I got stuck. I would have died without it," Frank said.

"The change will kill her babies!" My hand went to her belly, where the twins were.

"Her babies might be dead already, from the fight or the fall. Yes, the babies will not survive the change to a wolf. They are too young to be viable. I'm sorry," Doc said. "We need to focus on saving our Luna."

"DAMMIT!" I was mad at the attackers, I was furious at the Council, but mostly I was angry at myself. I'd brought her to a remote part of the territory with only Angelina as protection. Our little picnic was going to cost her the twins.