Between the Were Wars

"You got the kind of body

that makes me feel crazy

you make me wanna jump on it

I'm like a race horse

climb into my saddle

you know I'm jumpin' over this

I gotta bite down hard

I gotta bite down hard

I gotta bite down hard

Ooo yeah"

Ted Nugent, "Bite Down Hard"

Gila Pack Hospital

New Mexico

"DEREK!!" Renee smiled and held her arms out as her older brother came through the door. She had been up for a while now, having been notified when his group landed at the airport. She had taken time to eat, get a sponge bath and change while she was waiting for him to arrive. He rushed across the room into her arms, hugging her tightly while avoiding her swollen stomach completely.

"How are you doing, Renee?" He looked deep into her eyes, he could see the emotions warring inside her even though she put on a good face. She was under a lot of strain, and was not getting enough rest, and her face showed it.

"I'm doing the best I can. There is too much going on and I'm not fully recovered from the last adventure, and then this all starts." She pulled her loose blouse up and guided his hand to her belly. He smiled when he felt one of the babies moving under her hand. "Doc says the babies are doing fine, it healed itself up and it won't cause premature labor. He's just driving me nuts because he won't let me out of bed. I'm the Alpha, for crying out loud, and I'm needed out there."

Derek moved his hand to the other side while he looked at her. "He's doing what is best for his patient and her babies, so quit your whining and follow orders." He smirked at her as she frowned at him. "It's only a few more weeks until they are out of the danger zone. That's part of why I am here, to help you out with running your pack and defending your territory until you're on your feet and you have Robert back here with you."

She held his hand over her belly as she laid back, tears starting to fall. "I'm sorry I took you away, but after the FBI raid... we are vulnerable. Some of my top Betas are gone, my armory was emptied, and I'm stuck in a bed."

"Well, we got your message loud and clear. I brought forty men with me, all heavily armed and trained, plus we brought a few extra cases of weapons to replace what was taken. We got the news reports too." As they talked, his men were being settled into visitor's rooms. "My Betas are already linking up with yours. Between us, we'll be able to put up a good force."

Renee looked away as a border sentry linked her with more news. A smile came to her face. "We have more help here. Alpha Merino of the El Paso pack just arrived with a caravan of warriors, he got the message too. He said that because they knew our communications would be monitored, he just came without talking to us first. He should be here in about twenty minutes."

Derek pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down, keeping hold of her hand. "That's excellent news, he's a strong ally."

"I'm going to need him. Tomorrow we have the hearing with the Alpha Council about the challenge." She filled him in on where they were and what their plans were. "With my husband gone, I'd like you to act as my Second. There won't be any challenges on neutral ground, at least I don't think he'd be stupid enough to try and hurt me, but I need you between me and him. With my big brother here, my wolf will stay calmer and I won't be so tempted to leap out of bed and rip his head off."

Derek laughed, and nodded his head. "It would be my honor to stand by you. Do you have a minute for some Pack business?" When she nodded, he used the link and soon three men came into the room. They knelt down next to her bed, their necks exposed to her in submission. "These three men were the security detail that allowed you to be captured while under our Pack's protection. As the individual harmed, their punishment is being left to you. They know what happened after you were kidnapped."

She looked at the three big men, she could sense their fear and disappointment. Allowing a pregnant female to be harmed was a big deal to a society that valued children so much, and to have it be the younger sister of their Alpha and former Pack member... It was the kind of thing that was normally punishable by death or banishment. Reaching out, she put her hand under the nearest man's chin. "Look at me, all of you." They raised their heads up, unsure of what would happen next. "You failed me." Their faces fell and they were having trouble keeping eye contact, so she looked at each in turn and made sure she had their attention. "But, I failed you, as did your Alphas. I was foolish to assume that distance made me less of a target, or somehow diminished the threat. I should have known that a shopping trip was an unneeded diversion, or I should have treated it seriously enough to have a larger detail and to stay with it. I paid a heavy price for my lack of judgment. Stand for me."

Derek stared down the men as they stood, necks exposed, waiting to hear their fate. "Renee, what is their punishment?"

Renee looked down at her hands, then looked at the three men in turn. "For the duration of your visit, these men are my personal security detail. Two will be inside or outside my room at all times." The men looked up in shock. "I trust they have learned their lesson and will fulfill their duties no matter the personal cost?"

All three men nodded, thanking her for her mercy and vowing to protect her with their lives. Two left, leaving one in the corner of the room. It wasn't long before one poked his head back in. "Alpha Renee, a young girl is here to say goodnight." He stepped aside as Michelle ran in.

"Uncle Derek!" She jumped into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she gave him a hug. "Mom didn't say you were coming!"

"I didn't know for sure they were coming or when, dear, so I didn't want to say anything." Renee's face glowed when her adopted daughter was around, they had made things official as soon as she had returned from being kidnapped. Michelle had clung to Renee when she first became Alpha of their old Pack, and the family bond had grown quickly. "Now it's late, give me a kiss goodnight and maybe Uncle Derek can go tuck you in."

Michelle carefully climbed onto the bed then kissed Renee's forehead. Moving down to her belly, she kissed her soon to be siblings goodnight as well before jumping back into Derek's waiting arms. "Derek, can you come back here when you're done? We still have some things to talk about." He nodded and carried a giggling girl back out the door.

It was only a few minutes before her guards let her know that Alpha Merino and his Beta were here. She smiled widely as they walked into her room, but only the Alpha smiled back. "Jesus, good to see you again. How is Maria?"

"She's fine, of course I left her at home because the threat to your pack is greater than you may realize. When we got your message, we knew from the way it was worded that you were in trouble, but then we found out from who. Marcus Diggs is planning to attack your pack." Renee's face dropped with the name. "A few days ago, my beta Joe here," he pointed to the man in the corner, "was out on our territory with his mate, a human he was waiting to turn. She was killed without warning by a team moving drugs, and we found out that Alpha Diggs was behind it."

Renee looked at the man in the corner, his eyes were focused somewhere far away, and he looked like he was just going through the motions. "Joe?" He looked up at her. "Joe, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. You know my story, if you'd like someone to talk to about it I'm here for you any time."

Joe nodded, then his eyes went hard. "I vowed to avenge my Daria before I give myself over to my grief. When I found out Diggs was coming here, I had to pull myself together to be brought along. I will go through anyone or anything to catch that bastard and watch the life drain out of his eyes."

"We have a problem then." Renee closed her eyes and pinched her nose. "Diggs will be here in the morning. He is appealing to the Alpha Council, saying that his brother was interfered with and I should have to forfeit the challenge, and thus my old Pack and its assets. The Council will be bringing him here for a noon hearing since I can't leave my hospital bed."

She could see Joe tensing up, his fists were clenched and his eyes were becoming dark. Alpha Merino had to walk him out of her room, and it was a few minutes before he returned with Derek behind him. "Alpha, I don't know if I can control him if he sees him here."

"And I have promised him safe passage and a neutral site. I can't have him attacked with the Council here." She thought for a minute. "I have a Pack member who is in hiding on my territory since the FBI is still here. Would you object if I had Joe provide him protection tomorrow? It'd keep him busy and out of the way."

"I'll send one of my men as well," Derek said. "That way we can be sure one of us can Alpha link the group if anything goes bad tomorrow." They agreed on the plan, and set it up so the two Betas would leave in the morning. "So what else do you know about Diggs and his plans?"

Alpha Merino sat down in the chair, the events of the day catching up to him as his energy drained. "I know he's been working with a drug cartel to make money. He runs teams of men for them like a contractor; he gets paid, and he only uses his Pack men. Robbery, kidnapping, running drugs, anything they need. He's got a surplus of fighters and a poor geographic location. He wants your territory because between the Gila and Santa Fe pack territories, he would have control over drug smuggling into a large portion of the border. The cartels would pay very well for his services then."

"Does he have other packs aligned with him?"

"We think so, we just don't know how many." Jesus sat forward and looked between the two Alphas. "What you did at Wolfstock rocked the core of our society, and like all change, there were those who resisted. Marcus was one of the vocal opponents of the changes your brother pushed through. So, in addition to being able to promise land and riches, he can appeal to those neanderthals who want to go back to the old ways. Now, how many packs and how many men he is bringing, I don't know. I just know it will be significant. He doesn't do anything halfway."

Renee reached for her water, trying to calm her thoughts before she continued. "There is one more thing you may not know about. During our fight with the Soccorro cartel, we hit his vault and took his cash. A little payback for what he had done to one of our Pack members. The Feds know the money is gone, and suspect we have it, but they didn't find it in their search. Diggs wants this, why work for money when you can just take it from me?"

Derek looked over at her. "Just how much money are we talking here?"

"Cash, a couple pallets, we estimate eight hundred million. Plus gold, bonds, jewelry... we haven't had time to even count it." Their expressions were priceless, she could have put her whole hand in their mouths and not touch anything. "Don't worry, we're not keeping it all. We've already set aside fat stacks of cash for each of you. I was going to give them to you when we had our celebration, but recent events have postponed that."

Jesus shook his head. "Fuck. That kind of information is even suspected, and half the Packs in the country will try and take it." He put his hands on his head as he sat up straight. "I'm glad you got it, Renee."

"Yeah, well, according to my lawyer it's difficult to launder so I'm not sure how much of a blessing it is right now. All it has done is paint a huge target on my huuuuge pregnant ass."

"I think it is time we call in our Betas and see what they've come up with for war plans." A few minutes later, the room filled up as the senior men came in. Derek looked at them and asked, "What have you come up with?"

Hector stepped forward. "We've briefed what we learned of the threat to the Gila and Johnson pack Betas. We are all in agreement with what we think their strategy will be; confident in numbers and assuming the Gila pack is weakened, they will attack in force, probably from several sides. Their objective will be to take out the Gila Alpha and submit her pack once she is gone." He looked at Alpha Renee, she didn't look surprised at this.

Renee met his look, then looked at the room. "Can we use the strategy that worked against the Cartel team?"

Her Beta, Rick, shook his head no. "Then we had Enrique warning us which direction they were coming from, so we could move our teams to our planned ambush point. He's gone, and without that warning we won't be able to respond from here to the locations fast enough. Plus, last time we knew they were taking vehicles, these guys might use them or they might run cross country in wolf form. We all agreed that we don't have enough resources to try and intercept them."

Derek looked up. "So we fall back to the Pack compound and hold them off here."

"Exactly. It's just like a game of Capture the Flag, except we only have to be able to protect our own. Marcus only wins if he is able to kill you, and through the loss of the mate bond kill Robert. He HAS to become Alpha here, because the Alpha Council and the other Packs will take away his pack if he fails."

"So what did you come up with?"

Rick smiled. "We fortify the compound, but we do it quietly and out of sight. I've already instructed our friends to stay inside and out of sight, we don't want to advertise that we've gotten reinforcements. We have groups working on placing sandbags and steel in places we can use as defensive positions. We want them to come close, and surround the clinic. Did you ever see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?" Renee shook her head no, but Alpha Merino nodded. "I keep forgetting how young you are, Alpha. Anyway, at the end the soldiers are waiting for them to come out and they cut them down in a hail of bullets. We're going to do the same thing. Anyone willing to fight will be by a window or on the roof, those who can't will be in the safe room of the Pack house."

Alpha Merino smiled. "Fuckers will never know what hit them."

CIA Black Site Detention Facility

New Mexico

Kim Corrigan walked out to her car, pretending to smoke as she retrieved the burner phone from her purse. Dialing quickly, she spoke just as fast. "We know where it is, but we have to be led to it. I'm taking the two prisoners back to the Gila pack lands."

The voice on the other side end paused for only a moment. "We have heavy equipment rented and a team to meet you. Find it and show the leader of that team. Call this number when you are 30 minutes out." She closed the phone, wondering how they knew she would need a front end loader, but dismissed it as she had work to do.

The hooded men led Caleb through the morning light out to the unmarked panel van, quickly loading him in and locking his shackles to loops welded to the frame. Negotiations had taken most of the night, but in the end Caleb agreed to lead them to the money if charges were dropped against Maria and she was given immunity from prosecution. He didn't care about himself, he just wanted to make sure she didn't spend another night locked up.

The deal didn't go into effect until they had control of the cash, though.

Maria was led in next and secured next to him; she was still unconscious, having been sedated by the CIA doctor earlier in the morning. Caleb leaned back so she could rest against him. When his part was done, she would be released on her Pack land. He wouldn't be, and it wasn't his Pack any more. He felt the loss of his Alphas deeply, and he knew he was betraying his friends, but he had to save his mate.

Four Seasons Hotel

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Marcus Diggs and his Beta, Don Gillette, were finishing breakfast with the other three allied Alphas and their Betas in his room suite. He looked around at his new allies, three smaller packs with older Alphas. They hadn't brought as many fighters as he would have liked, but each of them had a common problem- their people were leaving them. Around this problem they were united, and once they had knocked off Renee and a few others they would reverse the rule changes and get their people back. Even if they had to force them.

Much of the previous night had been negotiation, determining how much money, land or people would be required in return for their fighting with the Tahoe Pack. Most wanted money, and that was fine with Marcus. Soon he'd have far more than he needed to pay them off. In all, they had ninety three warriors and four Alphas. They had also agreed on a strategy- Marcus and his men would attack from the north while the other three would come from the south and cut off any escape. They would form a perimeter while Marcus went in and killed Renee, then they would force the pack to submit or die.

The omelets were excellent, fluffy and light, Marcus thought as he finished up. He could get used to this luxury hotel stuff. He had to get going, it was almost time to meet Elder Grey.

Gila Pack Territory

Undisclosed location

Enrique booted up his laptop, the solar panels now in place would keep it powered and the satellite internet setup would connect him to the outside world. The cave was cool and damp, but it was hidden and well away from civilization and the rest of the Pack. It was a good hideout, the rocky canyon walls provided plenty of cover and were impossible to traverse with anything but horses or wolves. Joe and Ricky, one of Derek's warriors, were on their second trip back to the Jeep to get the rest of the supplies. Enrique hadn't planned on being out here this long, and it made sense to make a real camp where he could continue to work.

Enrique was a Beta and a warrior, but not like the men who were joining him. He had no combat training in human form and relied on his wolf's instincts in that form, but that didn't matter. His area of combat was fought using mouse clicks and keystrokes, and he had proven his value to his new pack already. His mate was gone, taken in the FBI raid, so he lost himself in his work to keep his mind off her situation. He hacked into the government satellite surveillance system and used it to check the Pack boundaries for activity. So far nothing, which was good.

When Joe and Ricky returned and everything was stowed, it was time for him to learn how to fire a gun. Ricky had brought an extra AR-15 rifle for him, with a four power scope. He took to the training quickly, and an hour later would be functional in a fight.

Outside East Gila Pack Territory, Hwy 40

New Mexico

The men gathered nervously around their vehicles, sweating already under the body armor and weapon loads. Soon their leaders exited the office where, if rumors were true, Hector Beltron and his leaders were working from. The security would tend to support that, there were some hard men guarding that room.

There were four teams of ten men in the strike team that had been assembled. Each of them was a veteran of war, mostly with Special Forces. Their banter reflected the boredom that comes before sudden violence, from men used to it. They were being well paid for this, but they were all nervous. They had heard about what happened to the last mercenary team to try and attack the Gila pack. The satellite photos told the story, and the precision of the ambush had their attention. This wasn't a group to fuck with.

"We're on standby, be ready to roll in five minutes from the order. Plan is simple, we make a thunder run to the compound, keep spacing at 100 yards in case of IED's. Gear can come off but stay close. Food will be here in an hour." Snake turned around and went back into the room, and the men caught a glimpse of Hector.

Hurry up and wait, something all these men were used to.