Treasure Ch. 46-50

While Chase took the dishes back down to the kitchen, Rori had a few moments to just reflect on everything that had changed in her life in the past few days. She felt free; free from fear of her inner voice, free from fear of being kidnapped, and free from the fear of being unlovable. She had a handsome and caring mate, and she and her wolf finally belonged. "We have a Pack, and they will love us," her wolf said to her.

"I'm nervous, I've never been in charge of anyone."

"We are together in this, and our mate will help us. He grew up with Alphas, Luna was right to pair him with us." She heard him coming and wiped the tear from her eye before the door opened. "Chase?"

"Yes love?"

"I want to know about our Pack, and my parents," she said.

"I can help some, but for real answers you'll have to talk to your grandfather and your uncle," he said as he picked up his laptop and brought it over to the bed. She was lying on her stomach, so he moved the sheet back and slipped in next to her. He put the laptop in front of her and pulled up the directory he had set up for her case. "Some of this isn't going to be easy to watch," he said. "It sickened me to think of what happened to your Pack."

"Just hold me," she said. He intertwined his left hand with her right as the file came up. "Your actual birthdate was September twenty-fourth of 1999, not far from the date your adoptive parents chose for you." He pulled up the copy of the birth certificate. "This video was taken at the Pack celebration for your birth."

The video was less than a minute long. It started in a large dining room with thick log walls and a high ceiling. Dozens of people were waiting by the door, which opened to reveal her parents and their first child. "I am pleased to introduce our daughter and Alpha heiress, Charlotte Emily King!" The wolves roared their approval, causing the baby to start crying. He held up his hands and they immediately quieted, well, all but Charlotte. "Luna Joanna has truly blessed me." Her father was a handsome man with light blonde hair and a look like an Alpine skier; tall, strong and broad-shouldered. His mate was at his side, she was much shorter, with curly red hair and lots of freckles on her cheeks.

"Mom?" She reached towards the screen, tracing the image as I froze it for her. "Dad?" She used her fingers on the screen to blow the image up so she could see their faces better.

"You have her hair and nose, and his eyes," Chase told her. "They were true mates, and good Alphas. They had no enemies, their Pack was prosperous and happy, and you can see how thrilled they were to have you."

"I grew up with the worst thoughts of them," she said through the tears. "Who leaves their daughter on the side of the road? Who hates her so much that they don't even come forward to claim her?" She stared at her parents as he continued the video. They were obviously happy and in love, and they loved her.

They LOVED her.

"Why? Why would someone attack my Pack?"

"Greed, of course. I told you how you were special, the first-born female descendent of King Lycanos." She nodded. "King Lycanos was King of Arcadia, and had fifty sons. One day Zeus came to dine with him, and he decided to test his omniscience. He killed a prisoner and mixed his roasted flesh in with the meal that was being served, thinking he would not know. Zeus was outraged and overturned the tables. As punishment, he turned the King into the first werewolf along with his sons, daughters and wife."

"That's horrible!"

"They were soon hunted and most of them killed by the villagers, but the King and Queen escaped into the hills. The curse was hereditary; Zeus made sure they could only love and reproduce with their own kind. The werewolves were strong, and to limit their numbers he made it very difficult for them to get pregnant. The only exception was the King and Queen themselves; their firstborn daughter was granted fertility like wild wolves. This allowed them to reproduce and expand, first across Europe and then to America. All werewolves are descendants of the original family."

"So, he wanted my mother?"

"No, it's more complicated than that. Your mother was mated, and that is forever. Even if your father died, she could not mate and pick up with another wolf with the same blessing. At best, she would be as fertile as any other female not mated to her true mate, less than a one percent chance a year. No, it was you they were after. The fertility blessing passed to you, and it would not matter whether you were a fated mate or not."

"I still don't understand why it was so important. OK, I'm a baby factory, but so what?"

He turned on his side and looked at her. "My father's Pack has thirty mated couples. We are lucky if we have five children under eighteen at any time. Look at my family, my brothers are so much older than Coral and I that they may as well be grandparents. Packs grow only by transfers and births, and lose people to other packs, old age, accidents and war. Most of us are struggling just to maintain numbers. You singlehandedly could grow a smaller Pack, like the Arrowhead, into a major Pack within a century. Children mean warriors, power, political influence and alliances. When your mother came of age, every unmated Alpha and male Alpha heir was praying she would be hers. Your grandfather received offers of money, land, alliances and Luna knows what else if he would arrange a mating with them. He spurned them all, declaring that Joanna would wait for her Fate Mate."

"And she did," she said as she looked at the happy couple again.

"Not everyone was happy with that. The Alpha of the Bitterroot Pack was furious his generous offer for Joanna was rejected. Your mother met and mated your father, and years later they had you. This time, he wasn't going to ask for your hand. He sent his men to take you when you were only a year old." He closed the video and opened another. "This testimony was taken at the trial of the Pack Beta."

She squeezed his hand tightly several times as she watched him describe how they planned and executed the attack. "We had the women and children trapped in the safe house, the Alpha had been killed in the initial attack, and the Luna was trapped in her home. She was pregnant and couldn't shift. Alpha Todd couldn't get her to give up Charlotte's location, so he had her arms and legs broken and set the home on fire. I was sent after one of the Pack females who had escaped, she had a head start but we caught up to her about twenty miles east of the compound. We returned, only to find the women and children dead when we breached the safe room door. We never did find the girl."

"How? How did I survive?" Rori was shocked at his callousness, at the evil nature of the men who killed dozens to get to her.

"The road you were found on was only another mile or two farther from where the girl was killed. She left you to be found, then went back to stop them from finding you. It was that evening you were found, and the fire blamed for all the deaths was not started until the next morning, the next county over."

"I want to see it myself," she said.

"We will go as soon as you are healed," he said. "The Council found out about it after the fire, and what a mess. Dozens and dozens of bodies, mostly human but some in wolf form, many burned beyond recognition. The Council quickly realized there was no one left and focused solely on trying to limit the damage. They spent weeks dealing with coroner's reports, law enforcement and families, all to make sure the existence of werewolves was never revealed. Who did it, that didn't matter right away. No one fessed up, and no clues were left behind. The fire pushed you out of the news, and your parents had fallen in love with you. We, the Council I mean, didn't even know you were alive. It was assumed you were mixed in with the others lost."

"How did he find me? I mean, I had human parents, we moved to Rochester!"

"The Alpha knew he hadn't found you, and he put two and two together. You were in the human system, and with the Council everywhere, they had no choice but to withdraw back to Montana and wait. They tracked you for years, waiting for your wolf, thinking the draw of our kind would get you to go with them. When you didn't come willingly, they tried to take you in the woods. When that failed, they tried the hospital. The Council recognized the two men who were killed, and that led them to the Bitterroot Pack, and what they found there shocked us all."

"Abuse, slavery?"

"Yes, systemic sexual abuse and more. You fled to Florida, and your grandfather was watching over you. You and your Mom were spooked, so they took the long road with Ashley. If your grandfather had left Ashley in the bedroom with you, none of this would have happened, but you ran again."

"No more running," she told him as she leaned in for a kiss.

"Never." Her stomach growled; they had been talking and looking at videos for hours, and it was dinnertime. "I'll get you some food," he told her as he got out of bed.

An hour later, she cleaned up and used the toilet carefully with his help. It was painful and awkward, but better than the bedpan! He covered her wounds with plastic and helped her take a shower and wash her hair. By the time she was dressed for bed again and brushing her teeth, she was exhausted.

His phone rang, and he didn't recognize the number. "Hello?"

"Doctor Nygaard? This is Connie Jackson, I'm an Omega at Bitterroot?"

"Oh yes, Connie, how are you doing?" She had been to therapy with him weekly when he was at the Pack.

"Um... Beta Coral gave me your number. She said you and Rori King are Alphas, and you might consider taking some of us into your new Pack."

"We are, but we aren't really set up yet. Rori has to heal, and we have to get to the territory and figure out housing, but we do plan to accept transfers. Hang on a second." He walked into the bathroom and put the phone on speaker. "Connie, Alpha King is here with me now."

"Hello Connie," Rori said. "Are you at the Bitterroot Pack?"

"Not voluntarily," she said. "I was born here, and the Pack males abused me. The Alpha said I could join another Pack, but none accepted me."

"Oh my God, why?"

"Omegas don't make a Pack strong. I wasn't a mate and I'm not a fighter, I work in the kitchens. You can't imagine what it feels like when men who abused me are still here, and I have to serve them. I need out of here, and Sally does too."

Chase sent to her. "She's a good wolf in a bad situation. Coral and I vouch for her, Sally as well. In fact, I'd take any of her friends who want out too. They deserve a fresh start and the Packs won't give it to them."

"What will we do with them?"

"Sally and Connie can stay at my apartment in Seattle for now. We have money to house them, and we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to rebuild the Arrowhead Pack compound."

She was convinced. "Connie, right now we can only take you and Sally into the Pack because we don't have anything set up yet. Can you leave tonight if you get permission?"

"I think so. Sally has a car." Chase gave her the information on his apartment and told her he would contact his landlord so they could get in. "If you can get there, Coral can sleep overnight and you two can receive our property in the morning when the Cascade omegas deliver it."

"I can do that for you, Alphas. Thank you so much!" She was very emotional.

"Welcome to the Arrowhead Pack, Connie. We'll see you soon." Chase hung up and brought her into a gentle hug, careful of her injuries. "Thank you."

"My wolf is happy to be getting members, and angry at how they have been treated," she said.

"Well, our Pack can be different." He changed the bed before coming back to pick her up, setting her gently on her side. He had just gotten into bed when his phone rang again, from another number in the same area code. "Hello?"

"Chase, this is Beta Carlson. Coral's been arrested and is being taken to the cells."

Ch. 47

Coral glared at the Council members as the Enforcers held her in place by the conference table. Tensions were high, both in the room and on the video conference. The threat of mass exposure was like bringing a nuclear weapon to a gunfight. Men who had been in power for centuries did not appreciate being threatened. "This is MADNESS!" Alpha Forrest slammed his hand on the table, causing the fancy veneered table to split down the center.

"We will not be blackmailed!" Chairman Gruber said. "I have to agree, this is madness." He looked at the other Council members on the call. "I also will not negotiate with a Beta. Take her to the cells. Gentlemen, our meeting needs to go private again."

Coral was led away, the two letters still sitting on the table in front of her spot. As she was led out the doors, she heard gasps of shock. "Coral, what is going on?" Beta Carlson was at her side instantly.

"I'm under arrest, obviously. They are just as pigheaded as my father." He walked alongside her as the Enforcers marched her through the outer part of the Alpha's office suite. "Can you contact my brother and let him know I'm being detained here?"

"Of course," he said. He stopped as she was taken out the double doors and into the hallway with the offices of the other Pack leadership.

Coral walked with her head tall; she didn't think there was any way they would follow up on their threats after they rationally discussed Rori's bombshell. Werewolves were not ready to come out openly in human society, they were too low in numbers. She knew the Council was just stubbornly holding onto the same laws and traditions that had worked in the sixteen hundreds, but times were rapidly changing. They needed to as well.

It was only when they reached the large staircases heading down to the main floor that anyone said anything, and the scream was VERY familiar. "CORAL! OH NO WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"

She saw her mother rushing up the stairs towards her, her mate staying on the floor below as he also looked up at her. Her father's face was full of anger. Her mother's was too, but that legendary anger was not directed at her. "Stay back, Luna Nygaard," one of the Enforcers said as she reached the top of the stairs.

"I will NOT," she said, rushing forward and embracing her daughter as she stood between the two large men. One attempted to pull her away, but she snapped her head over to him, her wolf forward and protective. She stared at him, and the Enforcer's wolf wisely backed off. Few things in nature were as deadly than a she-wolf protecting her cub. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom."

"You are NOT fine, they've got you in silver handcuffs! I can smell your skin burning from here!"

"Mom, I can handle it. I'm a Pack Beta, I'm not going to be intimidated by a night in the dungeons," she said. "Walk with me, these men have a job to do and I don't want anyone else getting in trouble." They started moving again as she fell in alongside them as they started down the stairway. "Chase and Rori are in trouble too, they aren't letting go of the charges. Your Mate filed them; defying Alpha orders, harboring a known Council fugitive, and intentionally revealing our nature to humans."

"I'm going to tear his fucking balls off with my fingernails," she muttered as she glared at him. The anger was palpable as they walk by. Coral didn't even look at her father, she looked at her former friends, students and Pack Mates. Her father had betrayed her, and now he was dead to her. Her mother was a different matter, and she wished she could make things right. "I can't believe he brought you to the Council. We could have handled this within the family."

"We're not his family anymore, Mom." She stopped walking, tears flowing down her face as she watched her fall apart. "If he knew what family meant, he never would have told Chase to take that walk. How could he expect him to do that to her before he even claimed her? Dad was going to kill Rori's mother and stepfather. Losing them to our kind would break her, and she would never forgive him." She heard a crash, one of the Omegas had dropped her tray of coffee, the china shattering on the granite floor. "He didn't even think of his son's future. Mom, he was disappointed that Chase hadn't killed them himself." They had reached the front door, and a different Omega was holding it open for them, tears streaming down her face. "I love you, Mom."

"This isn't over, Coral."

"You're right. Tell Chase I love him, and not to do anything stupid to get me out of here. It's important that they stay out of the clutches of these men." She walked out between her guards, people stopping and staring at her as she was taken across to the detention facility.

The building was square and windowless, a concrete bunker with one entry and exit. She was processed in quickly, her phone and jewelry removed and placed in a bag, then she was stripped searched by Tina, a young female Enforcer from the Katahdin pack in Maine. "I'm sorry," she said as she gave her a plain orange jumpsuit to dress in.

"It's your job, Tina, and it was my choice. I won't give you trouble." They went back out to the office and a silver collar with a black box on it was placed around her neck. The detention collar was lined with leather to keep from burning her neck, but it would still function to prevent her from shifting and kept her from linking anyone. The box contained a GPS tracker and a shock device; if she misbehaved or tried to leave the preset area, it would deliver an electrical shock that would leave her in a lot of pain. She was led back to a cell, a concrete box six feet wide and eight feet deep with a mattress on a concrete slab and a stainless-steel sink and toilet.

She laid down on the thin mattress and fell asleep almost instantly.

-

Luna Colletta Nygaard had never been so angry in her life.

Her mate was standing by the stairway, unrepentant. "She's a grown woman, love, she made her choices and she has to live with the consequences." He crossed his arms over his broad chest and waited for her to come to him.

Collette stood by the door, glaring at him. "You made my children rogues," she said icily.

"They left on their own. Chase and Coral both renounced us and the Pack, I didn't force them."

She just shook her head. "Our son finds his mate, and you turn what should be joy into pain. You did force him out, no real man would hurt his mate to please his father. Now they have none." She walked up to him, and he started to think he had her. She had always submitted to him in the end, but this time was different. "Go up to the Alpha's office, withdraw your charges and get my daughter released."

He stared her down. "No." Tears started flowing down her face, he knew she was about to give in, so he doubled down. "I will go up there, to volunteer enforcers to work with the Council to find and arrest Chase and this crazy mate of his. They will all be held to account."

Something snapped inside Colletta. Her shoulders slumped as she talked with her wolf, then she made her own decision. She straightened up, looking directly into his eyes. "Then I, Colletta Elise Nygaard, hereby renounce my position and membership in the Cascade Pack." She fell to her knees with the pain of the Pack bonds being snapped, bonds that had been in place for a century and a half.

Will felt the bond rip from him like he was having a heart attack. "No, I won't allow it."

"Not everything is in your control, Alpha Nygaard." She shifted, ripping her dress in the process as a white wolf with a black left ear and black socks was left in her place. She ran out the door, past the shocked Pack members and towards the woods.