Claiming Treasure
Line 'em Up

President Laura Kettering’s POV

White House Situation Room

Most of the National Security Council was back to get the additional briefing after the explosive revelations today. I wanted to know more immediately, and I wanted options.

As the presentation of the history of Colletta’s family was laid out, I could see just how pervasive the werewolves were in our society. The Attorney General had dealt with them the most, and the early discussion centered around Chase Nygaard and the Sons of Tezcatlipoca. “Chase made the deal with me, and it was a good one for law enforcement,” Marisol Guittierez said. “The Sons were violent drug runners, and the information they gave us allowed us to shut them down completely. We crippled drug imports on the West Coast and through into Texas for months,” she said proudly.

“Where did they get the information? Are they rival drug smugglers with the Steel Brotherhood,” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs asked.

“We’ve seen no evidence of that,” FBI Chief Hugh Patterson said. “We do know they have very talented hacking resources at their disposal. They also have very effective small-unit tactics, as evidenced by their takedown of the Cartel cash and their taking of Harleigh Ryder from the hospital.”

“You’d be good too if you could train for decades and still be physically in your twenties,” the Chairman said. “Imagine them as a Special Forces team.”

“A team that could change to wolves then run like the wind,” the President said. “The key is whether they are a threat to our National Security.”

“I do not believe they are,” Hugh said. “That doesn’t mean they could not be. They would be a better ally than an enemy. That’s why I agreed to the deal before, and why I kept their secret.”

The room got quiet. “You knew,” I said coldly.

He nodded. “After the last meeting, I knew there was something more to them. My teams were replaceing connections, it was like a Mafia family, and if we kept digging, I didn’t know what we would replace. Colletta wanted the investigations stopped. In a private office, she shifted and showed me why. At the time, I thought it best to keep her secret because I believed there was no threat from them. I still feel that way. Every group has bad people.”

“What did your investigation replace out?”

“Exactly what she told us earlier. There are thousands of them around the country. I had my people put this together today, adding to our earlier investigation.” He put up a map of North America, showing a dozen locations of suspected Pack houses. Hovering over Arrowhead, he brought up a satellite view. “We have the most on the Arrowhead Pack since the Alphas and Chase Nygaard and Rori King. They own the southern end of the lake and five hundred acres of connected woods. We estimate fifty people live on their land. They have defended it against attack several times, most recently by using snipers and explosives to repel an invasion of dozens of men without loss of a single man or woman.”

“Damn,” the Chairman said. “Tactically not the best location.”

Hugh moved the cursor to another Pack, this one in Washington. “The other Packs all locate similarly to each other; large holdings of private land, often next to expanses of Federal or State land. Well-defended compounds far from the nearest border, controlled access, and use of natural and man-made defensive positions. This is the satellite view of the Cascade Pack, run by Colletta’s son Carson. I’ve added elevation lines so you can appreciate how rough the terrain is.”

The Chairman evaluated it with an experienced eye. “A ground assault would be chewed up by well-trained defenders,” he said. “I’d bomb the hell out of first.”

“I’m hoping that won’t be necessary,” Hugh said. “The compounds are not visible, but they all maintain good relationships with the surrounding people and law enforcement. Hell, we think some of them are IN law enforcement, along with being doctors, business owners and investors. None of them came onto our radar until Arrowhead got involved with defending the Steel Brotherhood clubhouse in Orlando.”

“Are we sure they are clean on that?”

“Chase made a deal with Frank Grimes of the DEA, helping them take out the Sons without the Brotherhood getting involved. We’ve found no evidence the Brotherhood is dirty,” he said.

“I feel a little better, but we need our contingencies ready,” I said. “The Joint Chiefs have this information?”

“Yes, Mrs. President,” Hugh said. “We’re sending over more as we pull it together.”

“Where do we sit from a legal standpoint if we round them up,” I asked.

“It’s not clear-cut, especially after they were pardoned earlier,” Marisol said. “You would have to designate them a terrorist organization under the Patriot Act and issue a detain order. Then I would recommend moving them to Guantanemo Bay. Of course, that doesn’t work forever either.”

“So many questions,” I said. “What is the status of the search for Jack Coffey?”

“He’s still at large,” Hugh said. “There are some interesting developments. The store security man we suspect took the file off the Corporate server disappeared when he got home. I just got word the Deputy who was bitten by the dog is on Arrowhead Pack property. He was driven there less than an hour ago, apparently voluntarily.”

“If they are kidnapping people, we can raid the place,” the Homeland Security chief said.

“Why don’t we just ask them what’s going on? They haven’t refused to answer our questions yet.” Hugh looked at me. “Ask the Secret Service to bring Colletta and Nehemiah in. I had them brought here just in case.”

I turned to the senior Agent in the room and nodded; a few seconds later, six agents escorted the two in. “Thank you for seeing us again, Mrs. President,” Colletta said.

“We have questions,” I responded.

“You do. I can smell the fear in the room. You have seven armed agents in this room and at least a dozen more behind that door. I’m flattered you think an old doctor and a woman are such a threat, but we wish no harm to come to any of you. We only want to replace a peaceful way to coexist.”

Homeland Security started out. “Deputy Mark Brighton is at Arrowhead, and we’ve seen over a hundred people arriving there since this morning. What is going on?”

“We’re trying to save his life,” Colletta said. “The bite Jack gave him is fatal in about a day; the human develops a bad fever as his body tries to change to a wolf, but cannot survive the transformation.”

“It has always been this way, and that is one of the reasons we have harsh penalties for harming humans,” Doc Pensky said. “It was only when Frank Grimes and Heather Rhodes were bitten that we discovered a way to help them through the change.”

“Wait, Frank Grimes is a werewolf?” The Homeland chief looked shocked. “He was in this all along?”

“Frank didn’t become a werewolf until after he retired from the DEA,” Colletta said. “A Werewolf Council member tried to kill him; we saved his life, giving him four units of werewolf blood. My wolf had claimed him as her own, and when I gave him the mating bite, my wolf helped Frank's wolf emerge.”

“The only human in history to survive,” Doc said. “Heather was the second; Alpha Carson Nygaard’s wolf claimed her, and she became a wolf.”

“So it’s possible to make more of you,” the Chairman said.

“Possible, but difficult,” Doc said. “A mate is a miracle, especially since in both cases, it was a second chance. Werewolves are given a mate by the Moon Goddess herself, one person in the world who is created specifically for you. We might spend centuries looking for her, and it’s always another werewolf.”

“But Colletta, you claimed Frank,” I said.

“My fated mate died after a century and a half together, and the Goddess granted me my Frank.” She smiled at the thought of him. “We are praying that the Goddess grants Deputy Mark one as well. We have gathered eligible females from around the world to replace out if it is true. Each of them is widowed or their true mate rejected them for another.”

“So you line ’em up and see what happens? He picks the one he likes best?” My mind was spinning.

Colletta laughed. “No, we will allow each woman to meet the Deputy and see if their wolf bonds to him. It’s a long shot, but we have to try.”

“And if it works?”

“Mark Brighton gains a wife and a wolf,” Nehemiah said. “If she is not there, he will die, and we cannot stop it.”

“What about William Andrews,” Hugh asked.

“Our people picked him up and have him isolated; we recovered the files from his pocket, and our hacker deleted the files from the Corporate server.”

“You just confessed to multiple felonies,” the Attorney General said.

“We came here ready to sacrifice our lives if necessary to save our people,” Colletta replied. “Whether you helped or not, we needed to protect our secret. In the past, Billy would already be dead. We are keeping him alive because we are trying to make peace here.” She looked back at me. “Billy’s no innocent. He stole the file and planned to sell it to the media.”

“How can I trust you,” I asked her directly.

“I didn’t expect you would, although I thought we had made a good start,” Colletta replied. “Come see for yourself.”

“I’m the President, I can’t just run off,” I said.

“No, Ma’am, but you can send people. Director Patterson, you have FBI near Arrowhead?”

“Of course,” he said.

“We will open our Packs to observers you designate, so you can get a clear picture of who and what we are before a decision on our fate.”

I sat back and considered it. “I can pick who and where?” She nodded. “Fine. Hugh, I want two agents inside Arrowhead immediately. Colletta, we will get back to you shortly with a list of who we want to send where.” Embedding agents would work well; our people could get real-time intelligence on them.

“I would remind you that the more people involved, the tougher it is to keep the secret.” There was nervous laughter at that. “I would also request the two agents sent to Arrowhead be women.”

Hugh looked at her. “Why?”

“Because we have hundreds of women from around the world coming to see Deputy Mark, and werewolves have different social standards when it comes to clothing. In private, we may not wear it,” Colletta said with a smile. “The pool parties at Arrowhead are legendary, and I don’t want a guy staring at the women and making them uncomfortable.”

“I understand,” Director Patterson said. “I’ll send two female agents.”

“Leave and arrange it,” I said. “Meanwhile, Colletta, let’s talk about this map.” I had the North American Pack map put back up on the board. “You can fill in the blanks.”

“Of course, Madam President.”

Deputy Mark Bingham’s POV

Arrowhead Pack Clinic

“Are you sure this will work,” I asked Doc.

“I’m sure it’s the only thing that COULD work,” he said. “The fever is already beginning.” He’d already taken one unit of blood from my left arm and was starting on the second. I was feeling a little woozy, but that was the least of my worries. “I’m going to start infusing you with type-matched werewolf blood now. We’re not sure how much is required, so I’m going to give you three units.”

“Will I feel anything?”

“No, but it might help push off the worst of the fevers for a bit. Once the blood is in, we’re going to move you to a place we can keep your body as cool as possible when it spikes. If the fever gets too high, you’ll go into a coma.”

“Yeah, let’s avoid that,” I agreed. Doc poked the needle into my right arm and opened the blood drip. “How long will this take?”

“About ninety minutes,” he said. “Would you object to some company while we do this? You have a line of ladies waiting out front who would like to meet you.”

"Not at all. Let the speed-dating begin!"