Abandoned Treasure

Alpha Todd Blackstone’s POV

Bitterroot Pack Alpha’s Office

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

The rogue and the rebel had been found!

Unfortunately, not by ME.A Council Enforcer found them near Great Falls. “You’re sure this is them,” I asked as I joined the call with the Enforcer and the Council.

“There is no doubt, Alpha. You should know that Carol is pregnant. She looks like she could have the baby at any moment.”

“That complicates things a bit,” Mark said.

Not for me. Nathan knew too much. “It doesn’t change a thing. Those two are fugitives responsible for the deaths of TWO of my Pack members. Kill them if you must, but don’t let them escape!”

There was a pause, so I sent a mental query to my leaders. “Who knows this Enforcer Knightly? Will he do what we need him to do?”

“He’s a boy scout, sir. If Vic captures them alive, he’ll talk to them, and he’ll report it,” my Beta responded. I sent a text to the Chairman, requesting my men be the ones to capture the rogues. “Get a team going NOW. Bring a medic in case someone gets hurt, but I want you on the road in five minutes or less.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Vic finally answered. “Sir, what are my orders?”

“Follow and report, Enforcer Knightly. They must be hiding out somewhere in or around Great Falls. Figure out where, and don’t let them catch you.”

“Understood, Chief Enforcer. We are on the east side of town now, passing the Walmart on 87. Once we leave town, following without detection will get a lot tougher. There’s nothing out here but empty fields once we get past the Malmstrom Air Force Base runway.”

“Alpha Todd, how long will it take to get warriors to support my Enforcer?”

“I’m getting them together now. It’s a four-hour drive, so figure one in the morning. Maybe longer if they keep heading east.”

“We better hope they go to ground,” Mark said. “The nearest pack on the east side is Casper. The Wyoming Pack is seven and a half hours from Great Falls.”

“Send them to Billings,” I said. “There isn’t much out that way, but if they keep heading southeast, they can make the interstate. Once that happens, we’ll never catch up.”

I was busy messaging allies and sending orders to Pack members until Vic spoke up again.

“Guys? The subjects just turned left on 331.”

“Oh, FUCK,” I said as I looked at the map.

“Yeah. The rogues are headed straight for bear territory.”

“DAMMIT! Weren’t you just there?”

“Yes, sir, about four hours ago. I got the usual reception. I didn’t smell any wolf scent, though.”

My blood pressure was spiking. “These fuckers are hiding out with the Bears?” We should have wiped them out decades ago, but the truce between our species held. Maybe this would end it.

“The Werebears don’t mix with Werewolves, rogue or not,” the Chief Enforcer replied. “On the other hand, they have a defined territory and don’t give a shit in the woods about who is on the other side. It’s a damn smart tactic for a rogue, and we should have thought of this before. As long as they don’t cross the territory line, they can hide in plain sight where we’d never look.”

Vic needed direction. “What do I do, sir? Three werewolves fast approaching their territory won’t go over well.”

I sent a text to the Chairman. “We can’t let the rogues find sanctuary with bears. Kill them first!”

Mark spoke up. “Vic?”

“Yes, sir?”

“We can’t risk them making it to Werebear territory. Run them off the road and attempt capture. Kill them if they don’t surrender.”

“Sir, the female is pregnant!”

“This is a direct order from the Chairman. Kill them if they don’t surrender, Vic.”

The question was if he had the discipline to follow orders. It took a few minutes to find out. He’d killed Nathan, which was good, but he left the werewolf carcass behind while taking Carol away before humans arrived. He was making a bad situation worse. “Doc, get in here and help out,” I sent. “Maybe we can save a male infant to replace one of the men that bitch killed.”

Doc guided Vic through a C-section and delivered a female.

Fuck. Females were a drag on a pack. Resources you put into raising them got wasted if their mate was not in the Pack. Why give males in rival Packs the ability to reproduce and get stronger?

The team returned before breakfast. I ordered a detail to burn Carol’s body with the garbage. No one would miss her, and nobody said a prayer for her rogue spirit. May she burn in hell for the two males whose blood was on her hands. Doc reported the female child was weak but would survive.

I briefed the Pack after our morning meal ended. “We have our justice at last, though it was not the end I preferred,” I began. “Slave Carol and Turncoat Nathan are dead. A Council Enforcer caught up with them outside Great Falls and took them out.” There was a roar from the assembled Pack to the news. For almost a year, we had been searching for them. “That is not all,” I continued. “The pair had a child. A female wolf was born last night before Carol died of her injuries. She has been returned to our Pack and is under the care of our medical staff. If any pair wishes to adopt her, come forward now.” I knew there were a half-dozen couples who longed for a pup.

I saw a female look at her mate, only for him to shake his head no. “She’s the product of a rogue and a backstabber. I’ll not have such a wolf claiming my name,” he said out loud.

“Nor will I,” another male said. “You should have let her die with her mother. It would have been better for everyone.”

I looked around as couples communicated wordlessly before remaining seated. I still had one way to make something of nothing. “Very well,” I said. “Without adoption, she cannot join the Pack. Should we kill her? Leave her to the elements?”

Many agreed, but not all. “It’s just a baby,” a female objected. “That would be cruel.”

“I agree. The baby will live, but not as a member of the Bitterroot Pack. We will raise the orphan to take her mother’s place in service to our Pack. When she is of age, if not a mate to a Pack member, the female can serve the rest of her mother’s sentence.” There was a general agreement with this solution, but it was not without a challenge.

“Alpha,” Warrior Brad stood with his head bowed. “It would be cleaner if the child died of its injuries during the accident. The Council would never question us, while they might ask about the fate of the child they KNOW we took home. If we refuse to adopt her into our Pack, another Pack might take her from us.”

I thought about his point. If a couple adopted the rogue, we’d report the birth in our Pack Census to the Council. Someone might become curious if the child’s fate went unrecorded, and I couldn’t tell the Council I’d enslaved a newborn. I shifted to my Alpha tone for the order. “The child of Nathan and Carol died after our team took custody of her. The baby placed with the Omegas was abandoned by rogues and left at the edge of our territory. That is the answer to any inquiry. Understood?”

“YES, ALPHA!”

“Good. Now that the rogues are dead, we can let things return to normal.” I was looking forward to that. The search for Nathan had consumed far too much time, money, and effort.

It wouldn’t happen again. After Nathan escaped, I had Darryl tortured to find out what he knew. His death was slow and painful. It sent a strong message to the Pack about deceit and disloyalty under my rule. Any suspicious activity was to be reported immediately. Those who questioned my orders would face certain punishment.

And no one would speak of things outside the Pack. It didn’t matter if a female left for elsewhere; we had her family here to pay for her lack of loyalty to me.

No one would tell me how to run my Pack. Not even the Council.