Treasure
Backlash

Alpha Martin surveyed the room in barely-controlled fury. The bed stripped, a sheet tied to a chair lying on top of a pile of pillows and blankets. The sheet hung out the open window. Everything Rori had brought with her was gone, except her phone and a necklace. He picked up the necklace and looked at it. His sharp eyes picked up the edge of a cover. Playing with it for a moment, he found the latch and popped it open, exposing the button. He read the writing, then put the cover back on. “All she left was her phone and this GPS tracker, which her Mom probably got for her.” He had to hand it to his niece; she was a clever girl. She slipped out without anyone knowing until the Harley started.

He turned to the guard, who was looking at his feet and shaking slightly. “How does a girl wake up, get dressed, strip the bed, open the window and jump down, while the guard RIGHT OUTSIDE HER DOOR doesn’t hear her?”

The man risked a glance up, then quickly looked back down. “I fell asleep, Alpha. It’s my fault.”

“It is. Report to the Gamma for the search.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

He turned to leave, but the Alpha caught his arm. “You better hope we find her unhurt, Roberts.” He nodded and ran off. He looked over at his Beta. “Is the border guard ready?”

“They will be, sir. The patrol pair is responding to the access road now.” His eyes glazed over as men reported. “We have a dozen men in vehicles and motorcycles in pursuit, but she had a four-minute jump on the closest guy. She’s pretty fast on that motorcycle; they won’t get to here in time to keep her off the main road.”

“Make sure they are cautious with her. The last thing we need is for her to crash her motorcycle while trying to get away from us.” The Beta walked off, and he sent for his father to meet him in his office. As he walked out of the guest room, he searched for her family link and tried to call her back, but the connection shut down after a few words. Her mind was figuring out how to block him. Since he wasn’t her Alpha yet, he couldn’t force his way past her mental barrier.

He got to his office, pouring himself a drink before sitting behind the desk. Rebecca came in; she was worried and sat on his lap to calm him as he tried to figure out what to do next. “We’ll get her back, love,” she said.

His Beta came in, and he didn’t look happy. “Bad news, boss. The border patrol got there before she did, but they couldn’t stop her. She blew right past them.”

“Dammit!”

“It’s worse than that. The two wolves stood on the road and got her to stop. They shifted in front of her to talk. She screamed and accelerated past them. It’s my fault, sir. I didn’t warn them not to shift in front of her human side.”

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, pulling his mate to him and sniffing her hair to calm himself. “The pursuit?”

“Too late to see which direction she went. We are sending men in all possible directions, but they won’t catch her on that Harley of hers.”

“What about the tracker Nathan put on her motorcycle?”

“It’s working fine. Rori moved it to Cooper’s motorcycle. That cost us valuable minutes before we figured it out.” He laughed a little. “I gotta hand it to her; she’s smart.”

“She’s alone, scared, and knows about us being werewolves. What if she talks about it? She could expose us all. It’s a freaking mess.”

They waited in the office for an hour, but she had disappeared into thin air. Martin called Ashley into the office. “Ashley, where do you think Rori would go if she wanted to hide?”

Ashley composed herself as she thought. She felt terrible that her friend was in danger now. Sure, befriending Rori had been an assignment, but they had become close friends. “I’d hope she would call me, but I’m not so sure anymore. It was my idea to come here. She’ll call her Mom or Grandma. I don’t know anyone else she would trust outside the Steel Brotherhood.”

“We’ve still got surveillance on her family, and Nathan’s still down there in Florida. Beta, send some men down to her motorcycle club in Orlando and keep an eye out for her. If they fly down, they should arrive well before she does. Have them capture her as soon as they can, then bring her back home.”

“On it, boss.” He left the room.

“Wait, you’re going to take her against her will?” Ashley was shocked at her Alpha.

“We have no choice, Ashley. She could expose us, and her wolf NEEDS us. Rori’s getting stronger. One public change and the secret is out. She needs our help. It’s the only way.”

“We have to get out ahead of this in case she tries to claim we held her captive,” Charles said. “We have to tell her mother she had an episode, and when she woke up, she ran.”

“Ashley’s father should do that,” Martin said. “He was in charge of their trip. I’ll call the police.” He picked up the phone and dialed 911. “Yes, I’m reporting a missing person,” he said. “Her name is Rori King, sixteen years old, red hair to her shoulder blades, five-foot-five and a hundred and twenty pounds or so. She was visiting from Orlando, Florida. She disappeared last night, she climbed out of the guest bedroom window and left on her motorcycle.” He gave her the license plate number and description of her Harley.

The person on the other side talked for a bit, and Martin clenched his teeth. “I understand you don’t take missing person reports until they are missing 24 hours, but this isn’t a normal girl,” he said. “She has a history of mental illness, including violent outbursts and blackouts. She’s off her medication. We’re concerned about her well-being.” He listened a while longer. “Thank you.” He gave his address and told her someone would meet the officers by their mailbox.

Charles looked at his son. “You sure that’s the right play, son? Bringing the human authorities in?”

“Dad, we need their help. They are the only ones who can find her now. Besides, what are they going to know? She came up here on vacation with us, had a psychotic blackout, then disappeared from her room by climbing out the window. We haven’t done anything wrong. We’re just concerned for her safety. Plus, if they know she’s mentally ill, they won’t believe any talk about werewolves,” he said. “Once they find her, we have a chance to get her back.”

--

It was just after sundown when Coral’s motorcycle turned onto the long drive leading into the grounds of the Bitterroot Academy. Chase followed her as they wound their way up the hills until they parked in front of the sprawling Pack House. He got out as his twin sister was stretching, no doubt sore from the long ride. A man greeted them at the door. “The Omegas will take your luggage to your room. Please follow me. The Councilman would like to see you immediately.”

They followed him to the top floor, down a hallway to the double doors. “This the Alpha’s old office?”

“Yes. Councilman Forrest is the Alpha here. You are aware that all staff will temporarily join his Pack while serving here?”

“We are.” It wasn’t something they wanted to do, but it was a requirement of the job. Only with a Pack bond could they communicate and work effectively as a unit. They reached the doorway, and the door opened for them. The pair walked in front of the desk, standing at attention. “Chase and Coral Nygaard, reporting for duty, Alpha.”

“As ease,” the older man said. He smiled at the twins from the Cascade Pack. The change of Packs took only a few minutes to perform. “Chase, you are to report to Doctor Phillips at the clinic at 0600. Coral, you will report to the Head Combat Instructor, Beta Carlson, after breakfast.”

“If you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to check the barracks tonight. Undercover.”

A smile came over the old wolf’s face. “I think that is a hell of an idea. I’ll let Beta Carlson know you’ll be late. Get settled in and get some sleep. I’ll see you at breakfast, 0700 in the main dining room.” He went back to his work, and the two walked back out with their guide.

They parked their vehicles in the garage and headed up to their rooms; they had adjoining rooms on the second floor. “See you in the morning, Coral,” he said as he hugged her goodnight.

“Be ready. You’ll have your first patients by six-thirty,” she said as she went into her room.

The next morning, Coral got dressed in an omega’s cleaning uniform and went into the student barracks. She was placing fresh towels outside the shower room and pushing a cart with soiled clothes ahead of her. She had gotten up at four, meeting the Omegas in their quarters before breakfast. Their lack of dominance might make them easy to bully and reluctant to report things to the leaders, but they knew exactly where the problems were. Coral had her dominance tightly bound and knew what to expect.

Most of the younger men greeted her warmly, and some even thanked her. When three young men herded her into a corner after the others were gone, she knew it was on. “Hey, you’re new,” the first one said.

“Damn good looking too. You know how you’d look even better,” the second asked.

“No, sir,” she replied nervously. The men moved closer, invading her personal space.

“With my dick in your mouth,” he said with a smile as he unzipped his fly.

“No, please, don’t do this,” she begged.

“I got dibs on her ass,” the third male said.

“Come with us,” the first one said as he reached for her left forearm.

Coral’s time playing the victim was over. Grabbing his right arm, she pulled him off-balance towards her. Her right fist slammed into his throat, and her knee followed up with a wicked shot to the groin.

The other two suddenly realized they had made a severe error in victim selection. Coral let her natural dominance out, the dominance of an Alpha blood wolf. The aura slammed into them just before her feet did; she spun and back kicked the third man in the chest, sending him flying into the opposite wall. The second man tried to punch her, but she avoided the blow and spun low. Her right foot slammed into the side of his left knee, caving it in and causing him to scream out in pain. He dropped his hand to his injured knee, leaving his face open. Coral jumped and spun, her foot smashing into his face and knocking him into next week.

The third mad got up and tried to scramble away, but a well-placed kick to his ribs knocked him down. He screamed as the bones broke, then laid back, trying to catch his breath. “That all you got,” Coral said to them as the other students gathered in the hallway. The three men cowered from her, fear in their eyes. “You disgust me.” Their moans were the only things heard in the hallway, until a slow clap started. Coral looked up to see Chase standing there, cellphone in hand, with the Councilman and a furious instructor beside them. “You get that on video,” she asked her brother.

“Damn right. Wait until Dad sees this,” he said.

Councilman Forrest walked to the three downed men. His dominance was well beyond what Coral had let out. The watching students all backed up and exposed their necks, while the injured students could only roll over and expose their bellies to him as they held their injured body parts. “Clearly, not everyone is learning how to respect our females,” he said as he stared them down. “No she-wolf, regardless of dominance, is to be touched without her consent. What you just did was attempted rape! I could have you flogged, even executed for that!” He stared at the three men, looking disgusted as the first man peed himself. “Give me one reason not to make an example out of you!” One man was from the dissolved Bitterroot Pack, but the other two had been sent there from other Packs.

“Alpha, if I may,” Coral said as she turned and bowed her head to him. “I have a better idea, one that will be more effective than a flogging,” she said.

“And what might that be?”

“I think this one here said it best,” she said with a cruel smile. “Their asses are mine. They will regret what happened this morning with every mile, every bruise, and every beating I put on them in training. We always need punching dummies for demonstrations.”

He just smiled as he turned around. “Students, may I introduce Coral Nygaard, daughter of the Cascade Pack Alphas, and your new combat instructor. If you don’t want to join these three as her training targets, I suggest you fix your attitude and do what she says.” The look of horror on the men’s faces was priceless, and Chase smiled as he stopped the recording.

“They’re all yours, Chase. I even got them to you early,” she said.

“Thanks, sis. You three, get them up and take them to the clinic. We wouldn’t want them to be out of action for today’s fun, would we?” They rushed to get the men, and he threw his arm around his sister as they walked out.

It was going to be a busy summer.

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