Treasure Ch. 61-65

The next morning, they were on the road again at eight. There were about twenty-five in the group on this leg, and they rolled into St. Paul at six, this time being able to spend more time at the party. Her parents had flown in and were waiting for them, able to spend a few hours before their flight to Orlando. They had a great time, going to bed well after midnight.

Finally, at nine the next morning, they started the five-hour run up to the North Shore. The President of the St. Paul chapter was happy to help but didn't like leaving her outside Club protection up there. "It's all right, I have family that will protect me once we get close," she said. The weather in the late fall was perfect for riding, as long as you dressed for the cold wind off the lake, and the scenery was beautiful.

The handover was planned for a North Shore landmark and favorite touring stop, Betty's Pies. Chase called his Mom after they passed through Duluth and set it all up. The bikers swarmed into the parking lot, taking over a large section of the lot before heading in. Chase and Rori parked on the edge next to some other motorcycles, then walked inside. Two minutes later, they joined the large group that was leaving the restaurant and pouring into the lot. Getting back on their motorcycles, they followed the SUV's and were trailed by two other motorcycles as they left again.

An hour later, Rori was being embraced by her Aunt and Uncle for the first time as they all cried happy tears.

Ch. 64

Thomas Manchin called his Alpha back in Bitterroot with the bad news. "Sir, Rori King and Chase Nygaard are here but we couldn't get her," he said.

"FUCK!" He had been in a bad mood since the Casper Pack had lost them three days ago. The idiots who found them in the rest area truck parking had foolishly tried to apprehend them instead of waiting for help. They hadn't been seen since. "What happened?"

His men had spotted the two inside the line of motorcycles and followed them to the restaurant, not knowing that a dozen members of the Oxbow Lake Pack were already inside. When they all left, they could do nothing except follow them to the Pack Border. "They were never accompanied by fewer than a dozen humans or Pack members, sir. There was nothing we could do, no chance to grab her. There's more, sir."

"Now what?"

"They've completed the mating, sir. I could see the mark on her neck, and her scent has changed."

"This gets worse and worse," he said. Now that she had mated, giving her to his son wouldn't work. They would have to hold the pair until they delivered a daughter to continue the line, then wait for the daughter to grow up. Everything would have to push back another twenty years, but the basic plan could still work if they did it right. There was still a chance for the money if they acted soon. "Where is the lawyer?"

"He was at his office, sir. I pulled everyone off him when we got a positive identification of Rori, I needed all the vehicles for the surveillance and tracking."

Alpha Forrest thought for a moment about their next move. The Oxbow Lake Pack was harboring her; he could bring this up, even have Chairman Gruber call them and threaten them with sanctions, but she had blood ties to them. He was sure they would withdraw from the Council before handing her over. That gave him an idea, one he could use to shut down the momentum Rori was having among the Packs. He set that aside for now. "We cannot allow her to sign those papers, Thomas. Visit the lawyer and find out where the original probate papers are being kept and bring them to me. Make sure you get all the account information, passwords, everything we need to execute the final disposition of the estate after the time runs out."

"He won't just give them to me, they are legal documents kept in locked safes!"

"Well, you'll just need to convince him to open them for you. Do I have to teach you how to wipe your ass too?"

"No sir." He thought for a moment. "What about the lawyer? What do I do with him when I have everything?"

"Take him somewhere deep in the woods and bury him, preferably on Arrowhead Pack property. Make sure no one ever finds him," he said. "Don't screw this up, Thomas. We're running out of time here."

"I understand, sir. I won't let you down."

Alpha Forrest hung up the phone and tossed it back in his desk. He was disappointed that they had missed their chance, and Chase and Rori were spooked enough now to surround themselves with people. He went to his laptop and set up a group video conference with the other members of his conspiracy. "It's bad news, gentlemen," he started as the other two came online. "Rori King has has once again involved humans in this mess."

"There's more since what she did with the Casper Pack?" Chairman Gruber was nervous, that had been too close for comfort. Several men had been injured and they almost got in a fight with two humans on the freeway. They were lucky nothing had been reported to law enforcement.

"Yes. She is back in cahoots with the Steel Brotherhood, and the motorcycle gang escorted her all the way to the Oxbow Lake pack. She arrived there this afternoon, confirmed by our men in the field," Forrest said.

"Has she made contact with the lawyer yet? We're screwed if she does," Waterman said.

"Not that we know of, and my men will make sure she doesn't," Forrest replied. "They have him under surveillance, and she can't execute the estate without being there in person."

"How are you going to prevent that from happening," Gruber asked.

"They are going to find the papers for me, then kill the lawyer and hide him where he'll never be found," he said.

"That's risky. If they get caught it goes straight back to us." Gruber felt like a gambler with a run of bad hands, betting more each time convinced his luck had to change soon. "Miss King is becoming more trouble than she is worth."

"She is mated with Chase now. My men confirmed it."

"SHIT!" Gruber pounded the desk, causing his camera to shake. "They have ruined EVERYTHING."

"They have messed with our timing, but long term we can still get what we want. We have to do something quickly to stop her," Waterman said. "If she has time to rally a couple more Packs to her side, she will have enough votes to dissolve us and then we're dead men."

"I have a plan," Forrest said. "We need to strike now and hard. Rori has given us an opportunity; not only is she slam-dunk guilty of exposing us to humans, she now has the Oxbow Lake Alphas giving her aid and shelter. Such aid to a wanted Council fugitive is against our laws and gives us reason to depose the Alphas."

"They might fight that," Gruber said.

"If we catch them with the fugitives in their Pack, what can they say in their defense? None of the other Alphas will be able to argue against them being punished. We remove the Alphas, maybe a prison sentence, and put our own man in charge of their Pack. They'll never get to a two-thirds majority if we control four of the eleven Packs."

There was silence as the other two men thought it over, but he was right. It was the only way. "How do we do this," Waterman said.

"Send all loyal Warriors from all the Packs and the Council Enforcers to Duluth immediately," Forrest said. "We surround the Pack and take over as soon as they are in place. We hold the trials immediately afterwards, before any allied Packs can respond."

"Do it," Gruber said. "I'll be there as soon as I can, as soon as we have them in place, we attack."

-

Rori was deliriously happy, and that feeling was shared among many that afternoon.

She was hugged and kissed and welcomed by everyone in both Packs. Once they were settled, the first order of business was to form her Pack. When she arrived, she only had Chase and Coral in the Arrowhead Pack; ten minutes after the ceremony started, she had them all. Colletta was the first, she would be an Elder in their Pack and promised to help Rori learn how to do her new job. She no longer needed to return to help Sawyer; now that he had found Ashley for his Luna, her old pack would be in good shape after the challenge.

Ron Carlson had just watched the ceremony, intending to rejoin his Banff Pack at the earliest opportunity. Patty and the three other Omegas who had found their mates among the Oxbow Lake Pack were cheering on their friends as they made their declarations of allegiance. One by one, the Omegas walked up one by one to accept Rori and Chase as their Alphas. Rori was bursting with pride and love as her Pack grew and grew with each addition.

When it was over, and her Pack link throbbed in her head, she turned to Chase in wonder. "Is this what it is like to be in a Pack?"

He nodded, realizing again just how new everything was to his young mate. "Just wait until they need something," he said with a laugh. "There are no days off in this job."

"Congratulations, Alphas," Michael said as the two Packs went off to start the party that would stretch well into the night.

"We will eat, dance and then tonight at sundown we will hunt," Margaret said. "I'm so excited, we used to have combined hunts with your Pack in the old days, and I miss them."

They sat at the head table, eating and drinking in celebration. Rori learned a bunch about her parents and the people of her Pack as the meal went on. Margaret even had her Pack email her any photos they had of Rori or the Pack, and they had put it into a slide show that was projected on the screen in the back of the dining hall. Rori had a tough time eating as she was so engrossed in the pictures and the stories.

"These are amazing," she said with tears rolling down her face as a photo of her with her father, in wolf form, as she was crawling up on him. "Thank you."

Michael reached to the table behind them and pulled out a wrapped box. She opened it up, inside was a photo album with a picture on the cover, her as a newborn with her parents. "Oh God," she said as she opened it up.

"The ones people couldn't let go we scanned and printed," Margaret said. "Everything was burned in the fires, so this is all we can give you to link to the past."

Rori jumped up and hugged her aunt, then her uncle joined in. "Thank you," she said as she hugged them. She sat back, looking through the book as the plates were being taken. As dessert was served, Rori realized who had been missing the whole afternoon. "Where is Coral?"

"She is on assignment," Colletta said. "The Council is bound to find out that you are here, you weren't exactly subtle in how you tore through towns on the way." She laughed a little, dozens of bikers in formation were hard to miss. "There were three things we needed you to do, and you've completed two- you've mated, and you've reformed the Arrowhead Pack. The last thing is to receive your inheritance. It's the next obvious thing for the Council to go after, especially since they are so desperate to get the money that is rightfully yours. We've been picking up wolf scents, both near our borders and in town. We've got our warriors on alert because of it. The Council has people waiting for you to show up."

"I hadn't thought of that," Chase said. "We should see him tomorrow, first thing," he said.

"We can't wait that long to get this done," Ron Carlson said as he approached with a man. "Rori King, aka Charlotte, may I present Ralph Emerson, Family Law Attorney." The man was formal and dignified, wearing a three-piece suit, his greying temples against black hair.

Rori and Chase stood up and shook hand with the man. "Thank you for coming to see us," Chase said.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment," he said as he smiled broadly. "The last time I saw you, your Mom was burping you in your father's office. They were good friends of mine, and good people. Your Pack is missed, more than you can imagine." He lifted his briefcase. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

-

Theta Thomas moved his men into position, approaching the target from three directions with the lakeshore in the background. His men had been watching it for a day, learning his habits and figuring out the best time to grab him. After his talk with Alpha Forrest this afternoon, they had stepped things up. Luckily, the lawyer was hard working and his light was still on well after the rest of the offices cleared out for the day.

The twelve men were divided up into four groups. Two had one of their SUVs and were watching the entrance to the Oxbow Lake Pack, making sure Rori and Chase didn't slip out unnoticed. Two were covering the back entrance in case they ran, two were staying with the two big SUV's out front, and the other four were going through the front door with him. One of his men had fixed the door so it wouldn't latch, letting them get into the small office building after hours without a key. He left one man in the lobby, then led the way quietly up the stairs. His men were ready with cuffs and a hood, while he was carrying an autoinjector with a sedative powerful enough to knock him out for a few hours. All of them were armed, just in case. They needed to interrogate him and get the paperwork, and for that he must be awake, so he was planning to scare him into compliance.

They could hear the seventies rock playing through the closed door of Ralph Emerson, Attorney at Law as they reached the end of the upstairs hallway. They would be going in single file, he would be point. His job was to go straight for the target and get him away from any phones and alarms. The other two would make sure no one else was around, while the last guy would make sure the door stayed closed. It was a simple, foolproof plan, he thought as they lined up on the door. They pulled their pistols out and got ready. "Three, two, one, GO!"

He pushed the door open, the door alarm beeping its warning. Running through the waiting area and past the empty receptionist desk, he burst into the office, not even bothering to grab the handle. The other two were right behind him, all with their guns up.

He wasn't there.

He heard a pop and felt something like a pinch in his neck. He spun towards where the sound was, but it was like he was moving through quicksand. He lost control of his body, falling to the floor. He tried to link, but nothing worked. The last thing he saw was a pair of motorcycle boots covered by black jeans.

Ch. 65

Coral supervised the loading of the prisoners, thrilled the plan had gone off as she had hoped. When Michael's men had scented the strange wolves in the area around Mr. Emerson's office, it set off alarm bells.

Over breakfast that morning, they had discussed what it all meant. "They are probably waiting for her to show so they can take her," Sawyer said, Ashley on his lap. "They have people on the Pack entrances for the same reason."

"She's being escorted by two dozen bikers, they can't take her around all those humans," Coral replied. "What if she goes there first? Now that they are mated, that's the last thing the Council can take from her, the Arrowhead inheritance."

Sawyer paused. "They don't have to take it, they just have to prevent her from claiming it," he said. "Shit, they can just take him out."

Michael looked over at them. "Killing him won't stop it, the papers are still in his safe, another lawyer would just take over."

"Unless they get the papers too." Coral instantly recognized the danger, but this was no snatch-and-grab, they would have to spend time in the office and 'convince' the lawyer to produce everything.

"I think we need to secure him," Michael said. "He's a close friend to the Pack, has been for a long time. Your father went to school with him, and he knows of us."

Now it was Coral's turn to have wide eyes. "How?"

"He fell through the ice while fishing with your father back when they were in high school. It was bad, he would have died except your father and some of his friends shifted and pulled him out. They surrounded him and warmed him with their fur until a fire could be started. He owed your father his life, and he would never reveal the secret. I found out later, after he had completed law school and started working in town. He's a good man." He got up from the table. "I'll call him."

"Wait," Coral said. "If the wolves around him scent us, they might just kill him and sort it out later. Give him my name, tell him to trust me and do what I say, and I'll protect him."

"How?"

"The Brotherhood. Nobody is going to be watching them after we transfer Rori and Chase to our control, and those boys are itching for payback."

She was right; she had joined the group for lunch at Betty's, but when Rori left with the Oxbow Pack contingent, she joined the big group of bikers for their lunch. Rori had told them to trust her, and they were itching for action. When they regrouped in the city, she pulled out the supplies she had brought; dart pistols and injectors filled with werewolf-strength sedatives, silver-coated handcuffs and in-ear communicators they used when working with members of other Packs.

She couldn't get close as it would tip the enemy wolves off, but the Brotherhood had no such issues. They left their cuts in the Prospect's van, put on sweatshirts or jackets, and walked into the busy office building one at a time. They didn't raise any suspicions as bikers were common when the weather was good.

After talking with Ralph Emerson, one of the guys who was similar in size swapped clothes with him and he walked out, his hair hidden by a ski cap. They packed him into the Prospect's van and drove him along a back road at the edge of the Oxbow Territory, turning him over to the Pack. He had changed back in the van, and with his briefcase in hand he got on the ATV for the ride back to the Pack House.

Eight bikers armed with dart pistols or syringes stayed in the building while Coral stayed in the van, monitoring the outside with six others. They waited for hours as the building emptied out, and when the wolves showed up, they were ready. Coral coordinated things so as soon as they broke into his office, the waiting others would take out their targets. It had worked perfectly, and thirteen men were stacked like cordwood in the back of the big van.

"Where are we going now," Trike asked as he sat riding shotgun. His bike and all the others had been left behind in town, they would remove all evidence of the men. They were even returning their rental cars to the place in Duluth.

"Deep in the woods," she said as they drove down a driveway that had seen little use, it was cracked and full of potholes. "Once they are dropped off, take the van back to town and go for a drive. Rori will call you when you are needed again." She reached into her pocket; they had taken all the wallets of the men, and there were a bunch of prepaid debit cards in there along with cash. "Split this up amongst the guys, you can call the number on the back and get the balances. If it isn't enough for all your help, we will get you more."

He took the stack but shook his head. "We aren't here for the money, Coral. They fucked with one of us."

"Use it for gas or food, I don't care. Throw a party." He nodded and put it in his pocket. "The guys you really want, the one who hurt Aces and the man who ordered it, we'll get for you in exchange for your help. We'll drop him off at your door." She was certain that when everything came out and the Council was deposed, the Alphas and Betas involved would face punishment. They had no problems with that final justice coming at the hands of bikers, they would be just as dead.

Coral pulled to a halt as they came to an overgrown clearing in the otherwise tall pines. They could see a lake through the trees, but this area used to be homes. "Where are we?"

"This is where Rori was born, and her parents died," she said. "Come on, we have to unload them." She found the ruins of the Pack House, burned out and overgrown with weeds. In the corner of the basement was a concrete box with a thick steel door hanging open. The place gave Tripod the creeps, and he couldn't wait to get out.