Claiming Treasure Ch. 26-30

Alpha Rori King's POV

Arrowhead Pack House

I put down my phone as Chase was working on setting up the videoconference equipment in our office. "She agreed to sell us the property," I told my mate.

"Good. We're going to need the room, and Spider won't be around to rebuild the home."

"There's a partial bag of cash in the safe room. I said we would retrieve it and ship it to Carson for her," I continued.

"Carson can't openly support her." He thought about it for a minute. "Maybe it could fall off a truck?"

"Or something," I said. "Have you heard anything about Heather?"

Chase shook his head no. "She was still alive, and when I spoke to their Pack Doctor, he had four units in and one out. He was going to do five units of werewolf blood, the same amount we used on Frank."

"Frank's much bigger, is that too much?"

"Frank lost a lot of blood, while for Heather, it's more of a bleed and feed. She was hypothermic, bruised, both bones in her right forearm broken, a severe bite in the same area, and a concussion. She didn't lose as much blood. The good news is that the blood has stabilized her for now." He had the software set up to connect us to the Council teleconference. The Alphas were live in the video link, while the Packs would be watching the live stream on another feed.

"How bad is this going to be," I asked him as we were on screen now, waiting for it to start.

"Anywhere between bad and thermonuclear war," he replied.

After the last videoconference regarding the hacking of the Council website, we held our own with our allies. If it got that bad, we'd be ready. "Ron, how is the mood of the Pack?"

"Confused and pissed off," he said. "They liked Spider Monkey, and Vic was a good Beta. Some are wondering why you were so quick to cut ties with them."

"They'll see soon, I bet. When this meeting ends, have them stay for a Pack meeting. We'll get it all on the table," I said. I looked at the spot for the Cascade Alpha; Carson was there, his face and neck covered in wounds that were still healing up. It was easy to tell that he was pissed, and he had demanded this meeting.

While I was talking, the last of the world Alphas appeared, and the Council members walked into their places. They were at the Banff Pack, where internet service was back after over a week. They didn't look happy, either. "This meeting is called to order," Chairman Coffey said. "Under Council law, section fourteen, Cascade Pack is presenting a formal declaration of war. War is the final and most dangerous option for us to resolve inter-Pack conflicts."

He gave it a few seconds to sink in before he continued. "As such, our Laws have a process set up to ensure wars do not spill over into the human world. Alpha Carson will have ten minutes to speak, the responding party will have ten minutes, and then the remaining Alphas will have twenty minutes for questions. After that, there are five options. The simplest is that the Cascade Pack withdraws the declaration. Second, both sides can accept binding mediation by the Council for their dispute. Third, both sides agree to have the dispute decided by the remaining Alphas on a majority vote, with the losing Alpha removed from his position and replaced by an Alpha selected by the Council. Fourth, the Alphas can battle in single combat, with the winner taking possession of the losing Pack. The last option is to recognize a state of war exists. If this is the case, other Packs must declare their allegiance to a side, or their neutrality to the dispute. Those that are neutral will not provide assistance or personnel to either side; the penalty for violation is expulsion from the Werewolf Council and removal of the Alphas. Those Packs that join the conflict will no longer be part of the Werewolf Council until the war is over. Any questions?"

"Yes, who is he declaring war on," Alpha Blackledge said.

"I expect we'll find out soon," Chairman Coffey said. "Alpha Carson Nygaard, the floor is yours."

Instead of Carson, it was Alpha Sawyer Nygaard who spoke for him. "As you can see, my younger brother is recovering from injuries sustained in an attack earlier today and requested I speak on his behalf. Nine men attacked Alpha Carson, his Beta, and Heather Rhodes. Alpha Carson and Beta Angelina will recover, but one got through and bit Heather Rhodes."

I saw looks of shock and outrage among some of the Alphas at the news, while for others, it was a look of relief. None of those Alphas were a shock to me. It wasn't long ago that the Council formally recognized Heather Rhodes' sanctuary in the Cascade Pack, and it wasn't a popular decision. Many Alphas refused to accept that a human could be the mate of a werewolf. Now she was as good as dead.

"Who were the men," Chairman Coffey asked.

"We have recovered the bodies of seven of the nine men involved in the attack," Sawyer said. "Six men in the attack; one each by Alpha Carson and Beta Angelina, the other four by Luna Heather. The seventh died when we stopped their vehicle."

"She's no LUNA," Alpha Martin Nemmers said.

Chairman Coffey banged his gavel. "Save your questions for your time, Alpha. Alpha Sawyer?"

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Here are the names and photographs of the people involved." The slide show was split-screen, with the names and ranks across the bottom. The left side was their photo, while the right showed their body before going on the pyre. "One Beta, five Warriors, and three Omegas, all sent from the Blue River Pack to attack and kill Alpha Carson and Luna Heather."

The news that the attackers were from the Pack of his little sister was like a bomb going off in the proceedings. Alpha Coral sat expressionless as the Alphas and Council members shouted at each other until Chairman Coffey was able to restore order. "You are declaring war on Alpha Coral," he asked in disbelief.

"No, he is not. The people involved were no longer members of the Blue River Pack at the time of the attack, and Alpha Coral did not order the attack." He paused and switched the feed to a video. "The attack succeeded because they had a mole inside the Pack, who told attackers where and when the Alpha and Luna would be away from the Pack House. Beta Carl found the mole and arrested her. Pack warriors found the remaining people and took them all into custody. Well, all but the one who resisted arrest. She had an interesting story to tell."

The video played, and I gasped when I saw who it was. I'd talked to McKenna, the Alpha's secretary, many times. She had been crying and was shaking. "You admit that you notified Beta Todd when Alpha Carson and Heather left for their picnic at Triple Falls?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"Why would you do this?"

"Why would he choose that human BITCH instead of ME," she said. "She can't be a real Luna, and she bears another man's children! He was supposed to be mine, and he promised me he would be mine!"

Wow. I didn't have words.

"How did you get involved in this?"

"I asked my parents for advice when Carson claimed her. I love Carson; I have for more than a year, but he was so distant. My Mom told me to be patient. The next day, I got a phone call from my mother's old Alpha. He promised that if I called when they were away from the Pack House and unprotected, he'd make sure the bitch died. In exchange, the Council would force Carson to take a choice mate to stabilize the Pack. He said the Council would push him to accept me as his Luna." I was shocked; mating was something the Council stayed away from, as we believed it was the province of the Goddess.

"So, you called him back the morning of the attack?"

"No, he gave me a number to call, and I did."

Sawyer paused the video. "Beta Carl checked all incoming and outgoing messages from the time Alpha Carson announced he was taking Heather out at breakfast until the attack. We flagged a call to a burner cellphone and located it at a motel. Our men recovered the remaining attackers there."

He went back to the video. "Who answered?"

"A man I didn't know. I told him where Carson was taking her, and he hung up." She wiped a tear away. "They said they wouldn't hurt him, and he almost DIED! Now Carson hates me, and my Pack hates me because I've betrayed them all! I wish I'd never agreed to this."

"Well, who was your mother's old Alpha?"

"Councilman Oscar Millner." McKenna put her head in her hands. The meeting descended into anarchy again.

"SHE LIES," Oscar yelled as the Chairman tried to get things under control. It took almost a minute to restore order on the call.

"I have statements from the surviving attackers that they took their orders from their Pack's former Alpha and current Councilman, Oscar Millner," Sawyer said. "They were told to break the Pack bonds, but when a Millner was back in charge at Blue River, their new Alpha would welcome them back and reward their loyalty."

"Your time is up, Alpha Carson. Blue River Pack will have ten minutes to respond to your declaration of war."

"We are not declaring war on anyone, Mr. Chairman," Alpha Carson said.

"Then why the declaration? If you had evidence against the Councilman, you should have come to me and filed charges," Chairman Coffey said.

Carson leaned forward, his face showing his anger. "The declaration was necessary because it forced this call to occur, a call witnessed by the Packs of the world. I didn't come to you because I don't trust the Council to deal fairly with this. I am taking this straight to the World Alphas. I demand a vote on the removal of Oscar Millner from the Werewolf Council for crimes against the Packs."

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS," Oscar replied.

"He can, and he will get his vote," Ivan Baronsky of the Beloretsk Pack said. "Councilman Millner has a right to defend himself against these charges. I move for an immediate hearing on his removal; charges can wait until he is off the Council."

"I second the motion," Alpha Martin Smith said.

"This isn't the process for a trial, we have rules here," Chairman Coffey said.

"True," Sawyer responded. "Among those rules is the right of the Alphas to remove Council members for crimes against the Packs. Your input is no longer needed or requested for these proceedings, Mr. Chairman. The motion is now an Alpha matter." There were a few things that were solely the purview of Alphas, and Council elections and removals were among them.

"What other evidence do you have of this conspiracy," Alpha Klaus Hapsburg of Austria said.

"The statements of the three captured men," Sawyer said. He played them; the first two said Beta Todd promised them higher pack rank and money if they helped him. They were to kill Alpha Carson and the human, then return after Alpha Coral was gone.

The final interview was with the former Blue River Beta, Todd Maxwell. "Why would you do this," Beta Carl asked him.

"For the good of my Pack," he sneered. "That Coral bitch doesn't deserve to be Alpha, but the Millner boy just turned eighteen. He isn't mature enough to challenge Coral for his rightful place just yet, and the Pack wouldn't support the challenge if he did. Saint Coral has all the Omegas in her pocket."

"Wait, if you're trying to get rid of Coral, how does killing Carson help?"

"Oscar said they were taking care of Coral, but Carson had to die first."

"Who is 'they?'"

Todd shook his head. "He didn't say."

Sawyer ended the video. "The rest of this plan was revealed in the Blue River Pack. Alpha Coral, what happened after you heard the news of the attack?"

Coral's face came up on the teleconference. "I was shocked, of course. I immediately arranged for a private jet to take Keith and me to the Cascade Pack. I had a Pack census taken and discovered the missing members. I provided the list to Beta Carl, then headed to the airport."

"You never left, though."

"No. The airplane's engine had an oil leak, and during the repair delay, the pilot found this." She held up a photograph of a device hidden in the cargo compartment, the size of a brick, with an electronic device on the side attached with wraps of electrical tape. "The Canadian authorities deactivated the explosive, which they say was activated by an altimeter. If not for an oil leak, the plane would have exploded at twelve thousand feet over the Rocky Mountains, and I'd be dead now."

"To summarize," Alpha Sawyer began. "Oscar Millner's son Henry is killed in a sanctioned challenge by Coral Sexson. The younger Millner boy can't mount a challenge and win against her. Councilman Millner arranges for men to attack and kill Alpha Carson and Luna Heather. Knowing the family would rush back to the Cascade Pack, he has an explosive device placed on the plane she was taking. Boom! Two Alphas down, and if I return to take over the Cascade Pack, he puts his son in Blue River and an ally in Donner."

No one said anything as they considered what he said.

Finally, it was Oscar Millner who broke. "This is ridiculous! I've done NOTHING wrong!"

"Sit down, Mr. Millner," Chairman Coffey said.

"I DID NOTHING WRONG," Oscar yelled as he started to leave. Chairman Coffey and Councilman Kirk held him back. "I'M OSCAR FUCKING MILLNER, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" He broke free and headed for the door.

The Council enforcers moved through the screen after him, and that's when it went to shit. Multiple gunshots rang out, but we couldn't see what was happening since it was a fixed camera view. Finally, Chairman Coffey came back in. "Oscar Millner was killed resisting arrest. The proceedings are over." With that, the teleconference ended.

Ch. 27

Warrior Greg Bark's POV

Beloretsk Pack, Russia

"Are you ready? We need to be at the Pack House in ten minutes," I said. I was thankful today was an English day. As part of our language training, odd days were in Russian, even days in English in our home.

"Da, yes, I'm ready." She came out of our bathroom, dressed in a cable-knit sweater and jeans. Tatiana was a beautiful young woman, and I loved my mate with all my heart. I hated the looks, the secret comments that were made over the link as we passed by others. Both of us had screwed up, and it would be years before it would die off.

We put on our jackets and boots and walked out of our small home, joining the others heading for the four-story log lodge that was the Pack House. We climbed the stairs and took a right inside, heading for the Dining Hall. "Do you know what is going on?"

"Father said there was an attack on the Cascade Pack, and Alpha Carson is declaring war."

My heart sank. "That is where... my..."

"Where your ex-lover and baby mama are, yes."

I might never live down my actions with Heather Rhodes, and every day I cursed my failure to wrap that rascal the first time we made love. "It wasn't her fault; it was mine. She never deserved this."

"Yes, just as my attack on her was my fault. Come on; we can sit with my parents." The lights in the room were down, but wolves had no difficulty seeing in low light conditions. We found seats at the table next, Tatiana placing me between herself and Vasili. The projector illuminated a giant screen on the long wall; the global conference of the world's Alphas was beginning soon. Along the bottom of the screen were two rows of small boxes, most filled now with waiting Alphas. The Council seal was in the center. "любые новости каскада (Any news on Cascade)," she asked him. He shook his head no and pointed to the screen.

I was glad the proceedings were in English, although someone was running subtitles in Russian. I could see Alpha Carson; his face showed bruises, and stitches went down his left cheek and back towards his ear. I was nervous as the last of them joined, and then the conference started.

The Chairman talked about progress, but all I wanted to hear was whether Heather was all right. Finally, it was time for Carson, but Sawyer Nygaard spoke instead. "As you can see, my younger brother is recovering from injuries sustained in an attack earlier today and requested I speak on his behalf. Nine men attacked Alpha Carson, his Beta, and Heather Rhodes." My stomach flipped. "Alpha Carson and Beta Angelina will recover, but one got through and bit Heather Rhodes."

"NO!" I jumped to my feet, my wolf surging forward at the news. Vasili was on me in a flash, holding me back with those big arms of his.

Tatiana was in front of me, her touch and voice calming me. "Control yourself, love. You cannot do anything from here."

"My babies..."

"I'm sorry, my love." I relaxed enough for her father to release me, and Tatiana pulled me down to the chair before sitting on my lap. "I know you gave custody over, but they would have been your firstborn." I watched the rest of the proceedings as I bottled up my anger. When the conference ended, I felt cheated, like Carson must have felt when his revenge got taken away from him.

Heather escaped the Arrowhead Pack after Tatiana's attack, and I never had a chance to speak to her. I never got to apologize for being the asshole I was, leading her on and then abandoning her by letter, and now I wouldn't have the chance. That hit me as hard as the loss of my children; I mentioned it to Tatiana over the link, and she leaned into my side. "I won't get to apologize for attacking her, either," she said. "You loved her."

"I did. I figured I'd come back after my penance and find a way we could be together. My wolf didn't like it, but I would have done it anyway." I kissed her head. "Your parents tell you about how wonderful the mate bond is, but there's no way to truly describe how I felt when I found you, Tatiana. I love you, and my wolf loves you, more than life itself."

"I love you too, my mate." The room got quiet as Alpha Ivan and Luna Svetlana Boronsky walked into the room and onto the raised area at the front. I bowed my head in submission, as did the rest, while he stood at the front to talk.

"I'll translate for you," one of the warriors said over the link.

"Thanks, Ivan," I told him. My Russian was rudimentary, and I'd be unable to keep up with the Alpha's rapid-fire talk. I focused on his link as I held Tatiana's hand.

"Well, that was not boring," Alpha Ivan said to nervous laughter. "First off, we have confirmed that Councilman Millner is dead. He took three silver bullets to the chest, and there's no coming back from that. Since Alpha Carson withdrew his proposed declaration of war, which was only a means to force the Council to hold the teleconference, the matter is now local."

"It's over, Alpha?"

"As a matter for the Alphas, yes. Alpha Carson and Alpha Coral will deal with the prisoners, and they will work out any reparations between them. I doubt if the siblings will hold a grudge. It is unfortunate the human will not survive; our sympathies are with Warrior Barks for the loss of his unborn children, and the Arrowhead and Cascade Packs for the loss of their friend." Tatiana squeezed my hand as some of the others around me put their hands on my shoulders in support. Babies were treasured, and even though I had given their care into Alpha Carson's hands, they were still mine.

"There are many lessons to be learned from this tragedy," Luna Svetlana said, "but none more important than honoring the mate that the Goddess made for you. Warrior Barks will be the first to tell you he made a mistake, falling in love with a human when his true mate was still out there. The Cascade Pack woman will die a traitor's death. Why? Because she thought she could press her Alpha into taking her as Luna, instead of waiting for her mate. Even Alpha Carson suffered for decades because his true mate rejected him for another male. The Goddess Luna's pairings are never wrong, and the price for taking on her role is high. Wait for the one who is yours."