Abandoned Treasure
Tackling Dummy

Apprentice Warrior Vic Knightly’s POV

Denali Pack Training Grounds

Friday, December 21, 2007

I stood at the left end of the line of Apprentice Warriors, my place determined by having the least seniority in the program. I kept my posture straight and my eyes ahead as Carl Broderick addressed our shortcomings as men and wolves. The Head Warrior was pissed because four of us had kept sleeping when the door to our barracks opened this morning. “You NEVER let your guard down, even while sleeping! A rogue can appear out of nowhere at any time. They can’t be talked down or reasoned with. They will kill you in a heartbeat! You will have FAILED as warriors and protectors! And when you fail, the Pack suffers!” I knew what was coming next. “When you fail in training, what happens?”

“WE SUFFER, HEAD WARRIOR!”

“That’s right! Today’s training will not be in the heated comfort of the fieldhouse. It will be on the training field outside. You fuckers have twenty minutes to shovel it clear of snow. If you don’t complete your assignment in time, you’ll be training naked! Understood?”

“YES, HEAD WARRIOR!”

“Get to work!”

I followed the group out the door, grabbing a shovel from the stack out front. We were wearing running shoes, shorts, T-shirts, and sweats. It was perfect for training indoors, but this was Alaska in December. It was five degrees out, a light snow was falling, and it was pitch dark. On the shortest day of the year, we only got four hours and thirty-three minutes of daylight.

Clearing the field sucked. The snow was a foot deep. We practically had to run with the shovels due to the time restrictions. All too quickly, the Head Warrior and the instructors called time. We only had two-thirds of the field cleared.

We got back in line, hot and sweaty, the wind cutting through our soaked clothing. I couldn’t feel my hands or toes, and I was shivering. “Having fun yet?”

“YES, HEAD WARRIOR!”

“That part of the field isn’t done. Snow Angels! Go!”

The seven of us ran to the far end of the field. I stepped a foot into the deep powder, turned, and let myself drop onto my back. Any part of me that wasn’t freezing quickly caught up as I moved my arms and feet. “Another, this time on your bellies! Go!” I got up carefully, moved farther away, and did another one. Naturally, the instructors weren’t satisfied with our first efforts. Before we lined up again, the field had dozens of angels.

Everyone was shivering hard as we got chewed out. “Practice time! There’s nothing like tossing each other around to get the blood pumping. Knightly!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Come at me fast and try to take me down like a crazed rogue.”

I knew this would hurt, but I followed the order. I took three steps, bending at the waist to take him down with a shoulder tackle. Carl stepped aside at the last moment, his arm grabbing one of mine before he pivoted into a hip toss. I landed heavily on the frozen ground, unable to prevent the punch to my chest that stole the rest of my air. He left me in the fetal position while he addressed the others. “Get off the line! Use movement to avoid the attack, then use their momentum against them.”

“What if they come high, Head Warrior?” Bob always had questions. “Don’t rogues always go for the throat?”

“If they are far enough gone, yes. The kill instinct gets stronger as they devolve into madness. Knightly, get up.” I pushed myself to my feet, still trying to breathe. “Come at my face this time.” I charged again, this time standing straighter with my arms out. He grabbed my shirt as he let himself fall back, his right foot planted in my stomach. I went flying over his head, landing heavily on my back. I slid for a bit before stopping ten feet behind him.

Everything that wasn’t frozen ached now. I forced myself to stand and got back in line. “Pair up and practice,” Carl said. “Since there are an odd number of you, Knightly will be the tackling dummy for you two.” Of course, they were the two biggest guys in the class.

They kept us out there for almost an hour. I got tossed around the frozen grass like a beanbag in a cornhole tournament. When they let us hit the showers, I could barely walk back inside.

The shower felt like a knife as my frozen flesh warmed up again. I wanted to soak in a hot tub for an hour, but we had to get to breakfast.

It was going to be a long day.

I had just finished my pancakes when Carl stopped at our table. “Knightly, the Alpha wants to see you.Join us on the perimeter trail in your fur when he’s finished with you.We’re going to the east first.”

“Yes, Head Warrior.”

“The rest of you form up outside the barracks in five minutes.”

I had no idea why the Alpha wanted to see me, but if the meeting was for good news? He would have mind-linked me directly. I hurried across the compound to the Alpha’s office and checked in with his secretary. “Any idea what this is about?”

“No idea, but he’s been pissed off since he got off the call with the Council Chairman,” Debbie replied.

“Great.” That was another person with a low opinion of me despite what I’d done for him. The Alpha kept me waiting for twenty minutes before she waved me in; the Alpha still wasn’t linking me. “Warrior Knightly, reporting as ordered, Alpha.”

“Stand easy.” I went to a parade rest position from attention. “The Council wants to borrow you for a few days.”

“Sir?”

Alpha Robertson tossed the paper on his desk. “The Enforcers are running shorthanded, and Chief Trestman requested you specifically. There’s a rogue outside Valdez that the Council needs Enforcers to check on. You’ll be backing up Trestman on the investigation.”

“I’m no longer an Enforcer, Alpha.”

He wadded up the paper and tossed it at my face as he stood up. “You think I don’t fucking KNOW that? It’s embarrassing enough to have you come back here with your tail between your legs. Now I’ve got the Council up my ass about help, and they won’t take a Beta or Head Warrior over your worthless ass. Pack your fucking bags, get in your truck, and get out of my sight. Pick up Trestman in Anchorage.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“And Knightly?”

“Sir?”

“Trainees aren’t eligible for Council Duty pay. That will go to me.”

It was one final insult. I picked up the piece of paper and got out of there.

Returning to the barracks, I grabbed my go-bag, adding some extra clothes and money. I headed to the motor pool to draw a Pack vehicle since I’d sold my truck when I went to work for the Council. The Head Warrior linked me, wishing me luck and promising to make up ‘the pain I was missing out on’ when I returned.

It was a four-hour drive to Anchorage. Mark called when he landed since we didn’t share a Pack link. I picked him up at baggage claim, and he greeted me warmly. “How are you holding up, Vic?”

“Losing my rank sucked, but my conscience is clean,” I replied. “Why did you ask for me?”

“I wanted to check on you. I didn’t have an official reason to go to Denali, so I used this excuse.”

I shook my head as we exited the airport. “Did you even need me?”

“We ARE busy,” he told me. “There’s a lot of pressure on us to keep track of the rogues, and they aren’t making it easy.”

“This rogue near Valdez,” I asked. “What did he do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is he becoming unstable? Was he seen in wolf form? Did he trespass on Pack lands?”

“He was scented in town by a Pack wolf,” Mark replied.

“And that is enough to send the Head Enforcer and a former Enforcer after him? In Valdez, he’s probably working the docks or one of the ships. Why not have the local Pack check him out first?”

He didn’t say anything at first. “Times have changed, Vic. The Alphas got spooked by your capture of Nathan and Carol. It was too close to an exposure event, plus it got the Bears involved. We’re taking a more proactive stance now.”

“Proactive?”

“We don’t wait for there to be a problem. If there is any doubt or resistance? We are to take them out.”

I gripped the steering wheel tighter. “That’s a dangerous play, boss.”

He shrugged. “I warned them,” he replied. “We’ve got contacts among the rogues who warn us of those starting to decline mentally. We’ll lose the contacts we’ve built up over the years. It will spread to the other species as well.”

“It’s a death spiral that started two years ago,” I said. “When Carol Sampson’s family got wiped out without cause, it sent shock waves through the rogues. They started wondering if the rules still applied. The Sampson family were nowhere near a Pack, hadn’t threatened anyone, and had a stable family. They hadn’t crossed a border, attacked a Pack wolf, gone crazy, or risked exposure. If we redefine what is punishable by death to mere existence, where does it end?”

“It ends in a lot of death.”

I nodded. “Exactly. We go to check in on a rogue and walk into an ambush. They’ll start to retaliate, and the bodies will pile up.”

“I know. That’s why I requested you for this job. You won’t be hair-trigger or go in looking for an excuse to kill.”

I felt better about the job after this. “Two things still bother me about the whole situation,” I said. I had to be careful; some of what I knew came from the Bears. I couldn’t reveal what happened to Carol at Bitterroot without risking them. “Both of them revolve around Bitterroot.”

“You want to know the real reason Bitterroot attacked the Sampsons.”

“Yes. I also want to know what happened to Carol Sampson while in custody for two years. Both of them were of age, and you can’t hide your scent from your mate on Pack lands. Once she was known to be his mate, why weren’t they allowed to be together? If the Alpha didn't want her, they should have been allowed to seek a place elsewhere. There’s something rotten in that Pack, Mark.”

“What do you know?”

“Nothing. I left before I could replace anything out.”

He didn’t speak for a few minutes. “I think you’re right, but Alpha Blackstone has a lot of pull with the Council. It won’t be easy to get anyone to talk.”

“Do what you can. When things calm down back home, I’ll start asking some of the females that used to live there.”

“Be careful, Vic. The Council and your Alpha will not like you poking into their business.”

“The same goes for you, Mark. Keep this low-key.”

The rogue check turned out to be nothing. Jerry Wrenly was thirty, unmated, and worked as a deckhand on a fishing boat. It took a few minutes for him to calm down after we cornered him, but otherwise, it was a simple check.

I dropped Mark at the airport and returned to Denali three days after leaving.

It took me a week to catch up on the promised pain.