Claiming Treasure
Free Agents

Spider Monkey’s POV

Interstate 5 in Oregon

I got a text from Rori as I was going through the audio files. “I know you can’t return to take care of your house. I’ve already reached an agreement with your neighbor Mrs. Winters; her home is a loss. That would leave only one property to buy to expand our Pack boundary around the edge of the lake. If you agree, I’ll transfer $1M to your account. You sign over the home, insurance settlement, and land to me.”

“Baby, do you see any way we’d ever be able to move back to our house on the lake?”

He shook his head. “I don’t see it anytime soon. What’s going on?”

I told him about the offer and Rori’s plan to expand her territory. “How is she going to send us a million dollars without getting in trouble with the Council for it?”

Good question, so I texted her back. I snorted at the answer. “She’s quick,” I said. “She said she told the Council we hacked the Arrowhead system, and wanted a million dollars to keep from exposing it.”

“There’s no going back, not with the Council. Rori burned us with them so she could stay out of trouble for now.” He snuck a quick look back at me. “What about the cash?”

“We’ll work that out.” I sent a text to Rori, accepting the offer. I would mail her a limited power of attorney so she would be able to act in my stead for the insurance claim and real estate transfer when we got to our next place. Finally, I told her about the fireproof safe down in the basement, including the combinations for the door to the room and the safe room. I offered to take a check, but she had a better idea. “I’ll get the bag to Carson, and he can get it to you.”

“I don’t want to endanger Heather or Carson by contacting them,” I said.

“Carson won’t care about that, not after the attack today.”

“WHAT? Are they all right?”

“For now. Carson and his Beta Angelina will recover, but Heather got bit and took a fall. I have to go. Bye.”

I looked at the screen in disbelief. “Vic? Rori said someone attacked Carson and Heather today.”

The SUV swerved a little from Vic’s reaction before he caught it. “Are they alive?”

“She said Carson and Angelina should recover, but Heather got bit and fell.”

Vic’s jaw clenched, and his knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. “SON OF A BITCH!” His hand slapped the dash.

“They are alive, honey. Maybe our warning stopped Heather from being killed? Rori said Carson wouldn’t mind if we contacted them.”

“We didn’t save her, baby. A werewolf bite is always fatal to a human. She’ll be dead by tomorrow.”

“NO!” Tears started to fall; we were too late. Vic got some control back as he drove, while I thought about what was next.

“They could change her,” he finally said. “She could live if they changed her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was going to tell you after you had our baby,” he said. “Colletta’s mate, Frank Grimes, he was human. Alpha Rori brought him into a Council meeting to talk about how technology was inevitably going to result in the exposure of our kind. It didn’t go well, and Councilman Millner’s son tore his throat open.”

“But Frank is alive,” I said.

“Yes. Chase was there in the room to pinch off the severed artery, and he and the Oxbow Lake Pack Doctor managed to save his life. He lost a lot of blood, and he needed a lot of blood. Since it was a Pack clinic, and all they had on hand was werewolf blood. Our curse, the thing that gives us the wolf and our dual nature, it is a blood curse. Enough of Frank’s blood got replaced with ours that it changed him. He almost died in the process; the blood helped him heal, but the first change is painful. For him, it was torture. His wolf kept trying to come out, but couldn’t take over, and his body was giving out.”

“How did he live then?”

“Colletta bit his neck, claiming him as her mate. The mating bond gave him enough strength to complete the change. Mates are like that; they can help the other heal, take some of their pain, and encourage each other. Somehow she helped him push through it all. He’s the only person in our recorded history to go from human to werewolf.”

“So, it’s possible.” My mind was whirring. “I can be like you. I can grow old WITH you instead of ON you since you live so long. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“You saw the trial. Frank’s exposure to us during the attack on Rori’s home was not planned, and it nearly resulted in her removal and imprisonment. We are working to change the laws, but until then, I was not allowed to tell you our secret.”

“But I found out your secret.”

“Yes, and the Council knows that you know. That’s another reason Rori had to disavow us. She wouldn’t survive a second trial, not with what you’ve done to the Council.”

Shit. “Were you going to change me?”

“I was going to give you the option,” he said. “Look, it’s only worked once, and Frank damn near died. For him, there was no other choice. You have one, and I didn’t know if you would want to take the risk. Hell, I didn’t know how you would react to me being a werewolf! In any case, we can’t do it now.”

“Why not?”

“No access to a doctor or a werewolf blood bank, for one. The second reason is that you’re pregnant. Pregnancies don’t survive a shift to our wolf form; one of the reasons we are so protective of our pregnant females is because they can’t shift to protect themselves. Rori, Teri, Coral, Margaret, Colletta, all of them are vulnerable during their pregnancies.”

“No wonder their mates don’t like them out of reach. It is a bit over the top at times, but it makes sense now,” I said. I thought back to how attentive and possessive Chase and Ron behaved with their wives, er, mates. Come to think of it, Vic was the same way. “Why don’t the babies survive?”

“Technically, babies are not part of the mother. They don’t share the same blood, as the placenta separates them from the mother’s bloodstream while still providing the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste products needed for them to grow. When the change takes the mother’s body, it changes her form in an instant, and her internal organs move and reshape. The placenta and baby don’t change forms because they can’t. Werewolf babies don’t shift until their mid-teens. As a result, the shift causes the placenta to detach. The mother should heal from blood loss, but the baby miscarries.” He looked back at me in the mirror. “There was no reason to tell you about anything until you had our child.”

“I need to talk to them.” I had Heather’s cellphone number, so I called that; it went to voice mail so I left a message. I found Carson’s phone number in the three-way chat we’d had with Chase, and it was the same thing. “They aren’t answering,” I said.

“Rori said they were hurt, so they are probably in the clinic.”

“I guess.”

“I’m not comfortable talking to anyone but then until we know who the mole is. Meanwhile, we need to figure out where we’re going to crash for the night. Going to the Cascade Pack is out, and I don’t have contacts this way,” he said. His whole life had been spent in Alaska until he switched to the Arrowhead Pack, so that wasn’t surprising. Any werewolf contacts were off-limits anyway.

I checked my phone and found Thor’s number; he was President of the Portland Steel Brotherhood chapter. Dialing it, he picked up on the second ring. “Thor.”

“It’s Spider Monkey. I’m in trouble and need your help, Thor. I’m hot, but not radioactive.” He needed to know people were after me, but it wasn’t going to get him or the Club in trouble.

“Where are you?”

“A few hours out. You’ll probably want to call everyone to church to hear about this.”

“Anyone on your ass I have to deal with?”

“No pursuit yet. I went a hack too far and got burned. I’ll see you soon, and I’m bringing my old man with me.”

“Our Club is here for you, Spider. See you soon.” He hung up, and I moved into the front seat so I could program the navigation system for the new address. “We’ll be able to crash there, and the Club will protect us.”

“We can’t stay long. The Council went after Rori when she was hiding out in the Clubs; they could send wolves to walk around nearby and check for my scent. We need a place off the grid, with no ties to either of us.”

“I’m sure they can help.” We were about ninety minutes out. “I need to get set up again, and I need your help going through the phone calls and data. Who knows what other surprises are still in there.”

“What will we do when we replace it?”

“We use it to fucking bury them,” I said. “Rori told us that she wished someone would do to the Council and the evil Alphas what we did to the Sons of Tezcatlipoca.”

“And we hacked them and exploited it, taking away their money, burning their operations and bringing in law enforcement to clean up,” he said. “We can’t bring law enforcement in. I won’t risk the innocent being hurt in this.”

“That leaves me a lot of room. Two people can do a lot of damage if we do it right.” I looked over at him. “How far are you willing to go, Vic?”

“As far as it takes. Our only chance of getting our lives back is to help Rori eliminate the people who are against her, and against humans. Rori wants this; I may have renounced her Pack to protect her, but I’m still loyal to her and Chase. We can do things she can’t.” He looked at me. “There will be a division of labor here. You point, I shoot. You and our baby need to survive.”

“You’re not dying on me, Vic. I won’t let you.” I took his hand as we drove north to Portland. “When we get to the Portland Chapter, I have to take the lead. As a Steel Lady, I have status in the Club, and I know them.”

“I met Thor and Vic when they came for the Arrowhead Rally last summer,” he said.

“Sure, but you aren’t a member of the Brotherhood, you’re not even a prospect or a hang-around. You’re my old man, and I’m not from their chapter. That means you stay quiet and respectful, even if they test you, which they will.”

“I’ll stay next to you.”

I just laughed at that. “Biker Church is strictly for Club business. You won’t be allowed. Hell, I wouldn’t be allowed except I have to tell them what’s going on. You’ll stay in the bar with the Prospects and keep out of trouble. Don’t lose your cool, even when they start with their dick-measuring contests.”

“What, we lay them out on the bar? Soft or hard? I’ll defend your honor, you know.”

I snorted and slapped his arm. “If that is the contest, you’d easily win,” I said. “Seriously, they will want to test you and see what kind of man you are. They want to know if you are Brotherhood material.”

“At least I ride,” he said.

“If we stick around long enough, you should prospect the Brotherhood,” I said. “They will protect us, and it will help smooth the way if we have to move around. You heard about what the Club did for Rori; we could use that.”

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “If the wolves are looking for us, we’ll have to keep out of sight. I’m not ruling it out. I like the Club, but it isn’t our priority. Getting a cut takes a back seat to our main job, baby.”

“Speaking of which, I better get back to that.” I popped the buckle and climbed into the back seat, opening up my laptop. “Let me know when we’re ten minutes away.”