Claiming Treasure
Bug

Alpha Chase Nygaard’s POV

Cascade Pack House

Something about the phone call from Chairman Coffey bothered me. I finally figured out what it could be after Frank and Colletta walked out. I brought my mate, my brothers, and sister into the link. I had to form the link because my family couldn’t link directly to Rori. “Coffey’s call almost seemed like he knew what was going on here. Less than two minutes after we hear that Vic is here, and he’s warning us not to help him? Spider Monkey’s information said we have a mole; do we have more than one?”

“No one else was in the office,” Coral said. “You think someone overheard us?”

“We should look for a bug,” I replied. “Start looking around. When Carson gets back, we’ll have him check his phone system.” We spread out around the room, and it wasn’t long until I found it. Underneath the phone was a thin metal disk with a wire antenna, and it wasn’t original. “Found it. Stay on the link and keep looking,” I said as I set the phone back down.

Coral looked at me as I set the phone down. “Are you going to disable it?”

“No, then they’ll know we found it. Better to let Carson’s people figure out who set it and where. If there’s one, there might be more.” Ten minutes later, we hadn’t found anything else. Carson was done with Vic and was driving back with Heather. “Let’s meet him outside, where we can all talk,” I said. “Carson, call the Chairman like we said earlier. He’ll be expecting your bullshit call, so we have to do it, so he doesn’t suspect we’re on to him. We’ll meet you at the fire ring, bring your Betas with.”

Twenty minutes later, we were all out in the woods, sitting around a fire as we talked. “This is a fucking disaster,” I said. “Who knows how long the Council has been listening to us, or what they know already.”

“If it was just today, they know a lot,” Coral said with a nod. “Let’s see; Heather is alive as are her babies, despite the werewolf bite. We helped with taking down the Sons of Texcatlipoca’s drug money. We’re helping out Vic and Spider Monkey despite their status as declared fugitives. Oh yeah, and we used blood to allow Heather to change into a wolf, and we’re going to do the same to Spider Monkey. Does that cover all the damage we’ve done?”

Sawyer just shook his head. “Add in that we’re sending Frank and Colletta to Washington, DC to look into Charles’ death, and that those two are married. It won’t take much of a leap to figure out he’s become a werewolf too.”

That made me think of another problem. “The Council overheard that we used werewolf blood to change humans, but they don’t know that it doesn’t work without a mate willing to take them. It’s like having half a recipe, but in this case, doing it wrong will kill people.”

“It won’t take long before some of them try,” Sawyer said with a shake of his head. “It’s too tempting. Why wait twenty years for the birth rate to increase when you can have adult warriors overnight? They’re going to kill a bunch before they figure it out.”

“We’re all in danger,” Coral said. “They’ve already tried to kill me, which means they see all of us as targets. We should return to our Packs and defend them.”

“I agree,” Rori said, “But I think I should bring Vic and Spider Monkey back home. We shunned them and sent them into hiding because we didn’t want the Council to know we were still helping them. That’s water under the bridge now.”

“And the Council knows they are using humans for protection. It won’t take long to figure out it’s the Portland chapter behind them,” I said. “I think it’s time Rori and I put on our cuts and pay that chapter a visit. The last thing we need is the Council attacking a Clubhouse.”

“And back home, Spider Monkey will have Teri and Brian Steele to help go through the contents. Brian was the IT guy for the Council; I bet he’d be a big help in replaceing proof,” Rori said. “The recording we had of Millner setting up the attack here doesn’t help us because he’s dead now. Coffey will just blame him. What we need is proof that Coffey is behind the attack on Charles and Coral.”

“How are we doing politically,” Sawyer asked. “Do we have enough votes to change out the Council?”

“We have nothing on Councilman Nathan Kirk,” Carson said. “He benefited by Charles dying, but until we can tie him to it, how do we swing votes to remove him?”

“And taking Coffey down would require two-thirds of the world’s Alphas, not just North American,” I said. “I don’t think we have that.”

“I’d like to take him into a dark alley and settle it the old way,” Carson said. “I know it’s him.”

“It’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove,” Sawyer replied. “So, let’s replace the proof.”

“I’ll talk to Mom later, away from here and using a burner phone,” I said. “I wouldn’t doubt if the Council is listening in on cellphones since there isn’t much other than your Pack out here. I’ll let her know about the bugging. Check your offices, vehicles, and computers when you get home.” I shook my head. “Shit, the Council could have placed bugs damn near anywhere when they were all there for the trial.”

“I think we should put some pressure on the Council too,” Rori said. “We can’t just sit back and wait for them to file charges, or worse convince some Packs to attack one of us. I think we should go recruiting again.”

I had to smile at that. “We’ve lost our Beta with Vic gone, and for a Pack, we’re still light on warriors. We’ve got plenty of money and room, though. I think we put out a reminder that we’re open to Pack transfers.”

“Our allies have already loaned us some of their people,” Rori said.

“Permanent transfers, but not from Allied packs. Take Brian Steele as an example. He’s a good Beta stuck in a corrupt Pack. Alpha John Coffey would kill him before he let him leave. Instead, he broke the Pack link and went rogue. He was thrilled to be accepted into our Pack when Ron and Teri returned. Not only did we weaken the Banff Pack, but we also have a guy who’s spilling secrets about it. It’s kind of like picking up a player on waivers from a team you’re about to play.”

“Send targeted emails,” Carson said. “Direct to all the Betas and Warriors of the Packs that aren’t allied to us. I bet a few take you up on it, especially if you say you’ll take entire families.”

Coral laughed a little. “Everyone knows about the Blessing with your Pack; I bet you get a lot of volunteers desperate for children. I lost most of my Betas and half my warriors between the takeover and the attack here, so add my Pack on the list of ones to which they can request membership. Banff won’t know what hit them.” Blue River was the closest Canadian Pack to Banff. “It will be the biggest Exodus since Moses.”

“Hard to top all the Omegas walking out of Bitterroot,” I said. “Waking up and replaceing out because no one was making breakfast? Classic.”

“Make sure they understand this isn’t a transfer, or we’ll run into problems from Pack laws,” Sawyer said. “They need to break the links to their Packs first, then make their way to one of our Packs and request membership. If they don’t, the Alphas can demand their return or reparations. I’ll call Adirondack and Oxbow Lake and let them in on the plan. We can make things easier for them; if they make it to any of our Packs, we’ll arrange transport to Blue River or Arrowhead. Heck, let us know, and we’ll buy them plane tickets to Duluth or Calgary.”

“I’ll send out the email when I get home,” Coral said. “Rori and Chase have enough to do. We’ll target Banff, Denali, Katahdin, and Monongahela. I want to leave Bitterroot and Casper off the list since Alphas Long and March voted for no punishment at your trial. I’m holding out hope we pull them into a full alliance, and poaching members wouldn’t help that.”

“Let your Packs know what you are doing,” I said. “There will be relatives in those Packs, and they can follow up with recruiting phone calls. There’s no better way than a personal invitation.”

Carson stood up. “We’re lucky that most of those Packs don’t allow much in terms of personal possessions; all homes belong to the Pack along with much of what is in them. It gives the Alphas more control of their people, but it makes it easier to leave too.”

“We should get going then,” I said. “If you could assign someone to sneak us out, Rori and I will head to Portland and catch a flight from there.”

“Let’s get going,” Carson said as he kicked snow over the fire to put it out.

Four hours later, we were dropped off in front of the Portland clubhouse with our overnight bags. “Let’s get our Betas back,” I said as we walked to the gate. We gave our names to the Prospect at the vehicle gate, who called ahead to make sure it was all right. “Security is up,” I said as I looked at the armed guard patrolling on top of the clubhouse.

“Threats. You’ll have to ask Thor about it,” he responded.

“CANVAS!” I looked up to see Switch running towards us. He picked up Rori and swung her around before shaking my hand. “Good to see you again, Frame.”

“Good to see you. At least my old lady is in better shape this time.” The last time we’d been here, Rori had been torn up by a bear. “What’s going on? Spider Monkey turned white and ran for her room when she heard you were here.”

“Time to take her home,” I said. “I need her help there, and we’re pretty sure the bad guys know she’s here now.”

“Shit. I’ll go get her,” Switch said as he held the door open for us. We dropped our bags by the door and went in.

Thor and Sif waved from a table in the back, and we greeted a few people before we made our way to them. “Welcome to Portland,” he said as he gave me a Brotherhood greeting.

“Thanks. We can’t stay, though. We have a plane waiting at the Hillsboro airport, and we’ll need a ride for the four of us.”

“Shit. Is it bad,” Sif asked.

“What’s going on, Canvas,” Spider Monkey said as she came over to us. Vic had come out of the back room to join her.

“Time to go home,” Rori said. “Nice cut, Vic,” she said as she looked at his Prospect vest. The two embraced, and I felt the Pack bond come back before they let each other go.

“I’ll get our stuff packed while you explain it to Spider,” he said. “Keep me in the link.”

I told them what I knew; Coffey had planted bugs, he knew we were working with Spider Monkey, and after the exchange earlier, he probably knew she was here. “We figure the best plan is to get you some help with going through the data you hacked, and we can’t do that if you’re on the run. We’ll sneak you back into Arrowhead.”

“Let’s go then,” she said as she saw Vic coming back down the stairs.

“The car’s waiting in the garage,” he said.

We loaded up the Ford Explorer, hiding under a blanket in the folded-down back seat. Switch and Rattler drove, both armed and watching for tails, replaceing none. We said our goodbyes and entered the executive jet. Four hours later, at $2000 an hour, we’d be in Duluth.

Beta Teri’s POV

Arrowhead Pack Computer Room

“Looks like the server isn’t compromised,” I said as I sat back in the chair. I’d run a complete set of diagnostics to verify it.

“That’s good,” Brian Steele said from the other chair. Rori had immediately accepted him into the Arrowhead Pack when we arrived back home. He knew that the Banff Alpha, John Coffey, had to be talked out of killing him when the Pack and Council servers got hacked. From what he told me on the flight, he’d be dead already if Councilman Nathan Kirk hadn’t grabbed John’s clawed hand and stopped him. The Council was pragmatic and had brought in additional resources, including me, to deal with the hack. Brian’s worry was for what would happen after the crisis ended. All his Alpha had to do was replace another wolf with Information Technology skills, and he’d be expendable.

Instead, he left with me when I figured out it was Spider Monkey who had hacked the Council server. My mate Ron was thrilled to be leaving Banff. He didn’t trust the Council as far as he could throw them, especially with his pregnant mate.

I was reviewing the external transmissions when a file caught my eye; it was being sent to a server number I recognized. I pulled the file up just before the program tried to delete it. “Look into this program,” I said as I saw the activity. “I’m going to see what this is.”

It was an audio file, about two minutes long. A woman was singing “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel, and not singing it well. “Did anyone just sing The Boxer,” I sent to the Pack.

“I did,” Charlize said. She was one of the Omegas.

“What are you doing?”

“I was cleaning the Alpha’s offices,” she told me. “I didn’t know anyone was listening.”

“Stay there,” I told her. “Come on, we’ve got a problem.” I led him up the stairs as I told Ron and Brian my suspicions. It didn’t take long before Brian found the bug on the underside of the desk. “Leave it for now,” I said. “We’ll tell the Alphas when they return.”

“Where is the transmission being sent,” Ron asked.

“The Werewolf Council server.”