Abandoned Treasure
Changes

Jade Storm’s POV

West of Bear Lake, Idaho

Monday, April 15, 2019

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Nathan’s yell echoed through the house.

“Language!” Isra yelled back at Nathan from the kitchen. “Go see what is happening.” She took the pancake flipper from me and shook her head. I washed my hands and walked to the office to see what it was about.

“Check this out,” Nathan said as I sat down. He turned his chair towards mine in the small storage room we used as an office.

Things were tight in our mountain hideout, the room barely big enough to support an L-shaped desk and the server towers. The cabin only had three bedrooms, so the kids shared one. Our daughter Khoi was eleven and had a regular bed, while our twins Bao and Chao and Dahla’s son Dawa used triple bunkbeds along the wall. Isra and Dahla shared the second bedroom, while Nathan and I had the master.

There was no point in staying in Alameda anymore; the Sons couldn’t provide protection, and I’d quit the Drug Enforcement Agency. We all loved playing in the mountains of the Mount Naomi Wilderness. Our children had the best of both worlds, able to run as wolves or climb like a cat. When they first shifted into Clouded Leopards as babies, I was happy they looked like normal kittens. We’d never heard of an interspecies mating like ours, and I worried Khoi would be some weird-looking hybrid of wolf and cat.

The first time they shifted into wolves? That shocked the hell out of Nathan! Werewolves don’t have their first shift until they reach their mid-teens, but you can’t argue with a wolf puppy. Their wolf coloring was unique. A mix of cream, brown, and black, the fur carried over the clouded leopard pattern on the sides. I thought they were cute as hell, but I might be biased.

They generally followed the first parent to shift, but as they got older, they could choose. Nathan liked to take Khoi with him, herding deer towards the trees where Isra, Dahla, and I could ambush from above.

I blew the email up to make it easier to read. It wasn’t a long email from the Werewolf Council, but it gave me chills. “Human Fukoyo Ashol, aka Spider Monkey, compromised the Werewolf Council computer system. Her husband, Vic Knightly, is no longer a member of the Arrowhead Pack. The Council has issued Warrants for their capture or death. Pack Alphas are to report any sightings and actively seek to bring these criminals to justice.”

“Holy shit.” Spider Monkey had been my friend for years. I knew she’d married Vic in January, and I suspected they’d help take millions in cash from the Sons. I’d helped them break into the systems that led to the downfall of that gang. You’d think she’d invite me to the party in Cabo, but it was family only. I could have used a beach vacation. “Do you think they found our hack?”

“How would you know?”

I shrugged. “If the Council could trace it, they’d be here by now.” I leaned back and thought about things. “How the fuck did Spider even find out about the Werewolf Council to hack it? And why would she do it in the first place?” I’d read the transcripts of the Arrowhead trials. She wasn’t a Trusted Agent, and the Council wasn’t allowing any more of them. She signed her death warrant as soon as she learned about our kind.

“The Council was going after her friends. That’s enough of a reason for her.”

I searched for her name on Google and found the story about her house fire. “Someone torched their house last night. It was just outside the back entrance to Arrowhead.”

“Destroying any evidence,” Nathan said. “What do we do about this? Vic is a rogue, and every Pack wolf in the country will be after them.”

“We help them, of course. Even if Spider Monkey wasn’t a friend, they’re rogues now. That’s what we do.”

“Yeah.” I put a note on a private message board, asking her to contact me and offering my help. “Is there any way back for them? Could Rori and her allies replace the Council and cancel the warrant?”

“Anything is possible, but you need a two-thirds vote to recall a sitting Council member. I don’t see them getting there with five Packs against them.”

“If they did, do you think Rori will find a way to let Vic and Spider Monkey into her Pack?”

“If the Council allowed more trusted affiliates? In a heartbeat,” he replied. “She’s married and pregnant. They have to do something before their first kid shifts.”

I snorted. “Could you imagine Spider Monkey in heat?”

Nathan’s hand went to his groin. “He’d bleed out after she grinds his dick to a bloody stump, then she’d die from sexual frustration.”

“She’s been in heat since hitting puberty!” We both laughed at that. “I’m glad we kept her away from the Cartel.” The Sinaloa leadership wanted her hacking skills but had no idea who she was. When pressed, Nathan said our hackers weren’t interested in working directly for them, but the Oracle could call on them when needed. They pay for the information, and we pay our people out of our end. It was the best we could do.

Vic and Spidey could always head to Mexico for sanctuary if they ran out of better choices. Sinaloa would protect them in exchange for the use of her talents. Even the Council wouldn’t fuck with the Cartels.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss had three priorities. One focused on limiting the damage from the downfall of the Sons of Tezcatlipoca, which existed now only in graves and prisons. The second was establishing new distribution pipelines in the West. They’d given up on the idea of partners and were moving people north of the border to take control. The last and most important priority was to defend their territory against other Cartels who smelled blood in the water.

I wasn’t a DEA employee now, but my backdoor system administrator access still worked. I’d also managed to penetrate the Justice Department with Spider Monkey’s help. The data we unearthed allowed them to close down some lines of investigation and protect others from the Mexican authorities. We’d done our best to disappear, though we still took orders through Oracle communication lines. Occasionally, the Cartel passed us intelligence they’d gained on Gulf or Pacific Cartel smuggling routes. We’d pass these to Spider Monkey, who gave them to Frank Grimes, who passed them on to his DEA contacts. Our cooperation kept us alive and gave us money to stay hidden from everyone else.

She hadn’t responded to me by the next day but was still at large. That wasn’t today’s excitement, though. Arrowhead was down a senior Beta and wanted a replacement fast. A Pack wolf got the email from Alpha Rori and forwarded it to his rogue brother in Missouri. He posted it on the Oracle’s bulletin board, where it caused a stir. “Packs Accepting Rogues,” the post said.

“To Those Interested In A Change

It’s been about a year and a half since the Arrowhead Pack rose from the ashes. When the Council recognized our small Pack, we began accepting transfers from other Packs in areas of need. Many wolves took advantage of this to become valued members. Others have left us to rebuild the Blue River Pack when Keith and Coral Sexson took over there.

We see now that the transfer process isn’t rigorous enough to allow those who want to leave a bad Pack to get out. A few Alphas have tried to frustrate the process. We’ve heard of bullying, intimidation, or threats of retaliation against families to keep people from applying. Others refuse to approve the transfers or put up other roadblocks.

The truth is that under Pack law, an Alpha cannot force you to stay. If you renounce your Alpha and leave the Pack? He cannot stop you.

All you need is a leap of faith.

Once you are Packless, any Alpha can accept you. They taught you that rogues are dangerous and unpredictable. They said no Alpha would bring in a wolf that betrayed or quit their previous Pack. That is not the law; it is a tradition enforced by old-line Alphas to keep you in line.

Alpha Coral and I are looking for wolves of quality and character who seek a better life. Provided you have not committed crimes or were involved in the abuse of women, there is a spot for you and your family in our Packs. Contact us directly if you don’t believe us, or speak to any of our members. Arrowhead and Blue River can be your new home if you arrive here and apply.

Leave any Pack-owned property behind so there is no claim against you once you arrive.

Change your life. Vote with your feet.

Sincerely,

Alphas Rori and Chase Nygaard, Arrowhead Pack

Alphas Coral and Keith Sexson, Blue River Pack”

The rest of the email was administrative. It had links to the Pack websites, contact details for the leadership, and the application paperwork. Like a mortgage, you could be ‘pre-approved’ if you sent it in early, though they warned not to do this through Pack computer systems. You can show up at the Pack gates or go to an allied Pack (Adirondack, Cascade, Donner, or Oxbow Lake) and receive transport to either Pack.

Wow.“Who did the Alphas send this to?”

I scrolled to the top. “Looks like it’s Betas down to Warriors in the Packs aligned against them. Bitterroot, Banff, Denali, Katahdin, and Monongahela. It’s addressed to each person individually, not by group.”

He whistled. “Those Alphas are going to be PISSED. Wars have started over less.”

“You think it will work?”

He nodded. “It may be slow at first. Most will wait until someone they know does it and reports back. The last thing you want to do is go rogue and find out it’s a trick. After that? It will be a flood. If Rori’s pack had existed when I was a member of Bitterroot? Over half of us would have left within a week.”

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What about us?

Once those Pack members gave up their old Alpha, they were rogues, too. If Rori or Coral would take them, what about those of us who lived this life? Should we put in an application? Show up at the gate and pray they don’t kill us on sight?

I’d seen the Arrowhead recruiting videos and could only imagine such facilities. “What do you think, Nathan? Would you rather be on a Northwoods lake or the Rocky Mountains?”

That made him laugh. “That depends on whether you’d like to die quickly in the snow or slowly in the woods,” he replied. “Coral would kill us for helping the Sons and the Cartel, while Rori would want revenge for how I killed her mother. If that isn’t enough, we’re a mixed-species couple, and they are still part of the Council. We stay clear of them all.”

“What should we tell our people?”

“Watch and wait is good advice. Those two are still new Alphas, and we don’t want our people to join in time for a Pack War.”

I replied to the thread and started another for those considering the offer.

I thought we’d had enough excitement this week, but no. Nathan linked me on Wednesday afternoon. “Remember what I said about Rori’s letter? How wars have started for less?”

“Yeah?”

“The war has started, and Rori won.” Four Packs Coral and Rori targeted for plunder sent dozens of heavily armed warriors to attack the Arrowhead and Cascade Packs.

It was a bloodbath, and both Packs emerged unscathed.

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