20

Chairman Erik Gruber closed the videoconference and made a few calls. Twenty minutes later, he had the jet being spun up, a flight plan filed, and a squad of four Council enforcers meeting him at the plane. He sat back in his chair, thinking of what he would say before he opened the contacts list on his phone. He used to know the phone numbers of the twelve American and ten European Packs by heart, but now there were only eleven and numbers kept changing with cell phones. Finding the contact for the retired Alpha of the Adirondack Pack, he pressed the line for Charles Smith and put the phone to his ear.

"This is a surprise, Mr. Chairman."

"Just Erik, Charles. This isn't a formal call." He smiled as he thought about his friend, enjoying his retirement while he waited to be eligible for the Council. His son Martin had taken over as Alpha six years ago, after the tragic car accident that took his mate from him. "I need you to sit down, though."

"Wait, are you all right? Is Claire?"

"My mate is fine, as am I. We think we know who wiped out your daughters Pack. The Council is flying there to arrest the Alpha and hold a trial, and you need to be there."

"Oh my." There was silence on the line. "Who did it? Who killed my Joanna and my granddaughter?"

"I won't say right now, Charles. I can't have you or your son going after them. They will face justice, you have my word on that." Erik let him settle for a moment, knowing this news would stir up all the anger and hatred he'd held since that day. "I'm flying over, I'll be there at the Syracuse airport at midnight. A new flight crew will be there, and we'll leave again as soon as we have refueled. You may bring two people with you, and pack for a week."

"I'll be ready," he said. "Erik? Thank you."

"We'll talk on the flight," he said. By the time he hung up, his bags had been packed by his housekeeper and his driver was ready to take him to the executive airport where the Council Gulfstream G650ER sat. The long-range jet could fly nonstop to New York, and an hour later they were climbing to cruising altitude.

---

Craig Forrest thanked Luna that they had covered the tracks so well. He pulled up the copy of the guardianship papers they had forged and filed, three months after the fire in New York State. It was a good thing they had a Judge in the Adirondack Pack. He picked up the phone and called the number he had been given in the phone message. "Rochester Police, Detective Anderson."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm trying to reach Detective Jones," he said.

"Detective Jones is on nights, I'm his counterpart in daylight hours. Can I help you?"

"Sure, Detective. My name is Craig Forrest, and the Detective left a message on my machine asking about information on Charlotte King."

"OK, I'm checking his desk. Ah, here it is. He was doing background on a missing person, looks like he was searching for anyone with that name and around that age."

"Well, Detective, there's no missing person with Charlotte King. She was staying with her grandparents when the fire occurred, and they raised her. I found the papers declaring her grandparents her legal guardians. Last I heard, she was doing well in high school."

He heard scratching of a pen. "Well, we just needed to follow up. I'll leave a note for Detective Jones, and thank you for calling back."

"Sure thing." He hung up and smiled, they didn't even ask for proof.

Back at the Rochester Police, the case got pushed aside quickly since the two suspects were lying in the morgue. By the end of the week, all their notes and evidence were in a box.

Ten weeks later, Chief Briggs was back on full duty, the shoot was ruled justified, and the investigation was closed. The box ended up in storage, never to be opened again.

---

Treasure woke up, pushing through the fog of the anti-psychotic drugs they were using on her. She tried moving, but quickly determined her hands and legs were secured to the bed with leather straps. The room she was in was white, bare, and the window was covered with metal mesh. The bright midday sun reaching her face must have woken her. She had to go to the bathroom badly. She found and pressed the call button by her right hand.

The door opened a minute later, and an orderly and a nurse came in. "Miss Olson," the nurse said. "Good to see you awake."

"I need to use the bathroom, please," she said through her teeth as the orderly came around by the side of her bed.

The nurse was able to figure out what she was saying. "Can't do that, dear. I'll get the bedpan." She reached into a cabinet and pulled one out, then pulled the thin sheet covering her body back.

Lifting her hips, she slid it in place, and Rea tried to relax. "Can he turn around?"

"Sorry, he has to be here with any violent patient for my protection. Just ignore him, he can't see anything with me in the way." She relaxed and let the stream go. The nurse moved it out of the way and cleaned her before putting the sheet back.

"What time is it?"

"Two fifteen," she said.

"That's not too bad, I was out for what, fourteen hours?" She tried to remember what had kicked off her episode. Her brain went back to the room, the men... "OH GOD MOM," she said as she struggled. "Is my mom all right? Did I hurt her?" The worst of thoughts came through her head; it was her greatest fear that she would hurt her family or Jenny with one of her psychotic breaks.

"Your mother is fine, a little bruised from where that man hit her, but fine." Rea relaxed a little as the bedpan was emptied and rinsed, then put under the sink again. "She's been here each night hoping you would come back to yourself."

Each night? What the hell, she thought. "How long exactly was I out?"

"Almost forty hours," she said. Rea collapsed back into the pillow, never before had she been out that long. No wonder the drugs were so strong, she felt like her head was stuffed with cotton. "I'll bring you something to eat, you must be starving."

"I could eat a horse," she said. A thought came to her, if she was still restrained, she must have been out of control. "Did I... Did I hurt anyone?"

"Nothing serious," she said. "You were like a frightened wolverine, they said. It took six people to get you under control. Now just relax, I'll let the doctor know you're awake and come back with your food." She left, the orderly following behind her.

Rea looked at the window, wishing she were outside of the mental ward, but knowing in her heart she needed to be there. Nothing was working, everything was getting worse, and the next time might make what she did on the soccer field look like a minor disagreement. Her other personality was violent, feral and dangerous.

She resolved two things while waiting for lunch. One, she would do whatever the Doctors said to keep her bad side from escaping again. The other was that if it didn't work, if she couldn't find a treatment that would work, she would kill herself before she let her crazy part kill someone else. Her family would mourn her, but at least she wouldn't hurt anyone else.

---

The Chairman's plane arrived in Syracuse, New York just after midnight. It took an hour to clear Customs, but the relief flight crew was stuck in Virginia because of a winter storm. They wouldn't be able to leave until their pilots had adequate rest, so that put off departure until noon. Erik called off the Alphas and slept at a nearby hotel for a few hours instead.

At eleven thirty, Alpha Martin Smith, his personal guard Jackson and his father Charles had arrived at the plane with their luggage. "Talk to me, Mr. Chairman," Charles said as soon as they had handed off their luggage.

"Not until we're in the air," he said. "Come on, we've got to get on board for preflight." The Council men sat together in the front, except Erik sat around a conference table in the back with the Adirondack Pack leadership. One of his men collected their cellphones after they turned them off.

"Where are we going," Martin asked as the plane lifted off.

"Missoula, Montana. The Bitterroot Pack," Erik said.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH," Charles said. "He tried to get me to agree to him mating my Joanna, like she was some kind of prize cattle that I'd sell at auction," he said as his son and Beta calmed him down. Erik was glad he had waited until now to tell him. There was nowhere for him to run off to, no way to call anyone and his seatbelt was still on. "I would never take her true mate away from her. I thought he had gotten over that."

"Apparently not."

"Was he after my sister," Martin asked.

"No point in that," his father said. "She was already mated, and would have died rather than take him as a choice when her mate was killed. No, he was after Charlotte." His eyes widened. "Wait, does he have her? Is she alive?"

"She is alive, but he does not have her," Erik said. He handed him an envelope, inside was an 8x10 photograph of Charlotte as she stood next to the grave, the casket with the American flag covering it in the foreground.

"Oh Luna," Charles said as his eyes filled with tears.

"She looks just like Mom did," Martin said as he looked at the photo in his father's shaking hands.

"We'll take her back home," he said. "He will pay for everything he has done to her." He kept looking in the envelope of background material my men had put together; each article was read, then passed to his son and the Pack Beta. He watched them as they read her story of being found on the side of the road. Adoption papers with her human parents. The attack on the high school student, complete with photographs of the damage she had done. They couldn't access her medical records, but they did mine Facebook and the news and put together how she had been committed to a mental institution. There were a few articles about her father's death, and even more about her near-rape and finally the abduction attempt in the hospital that left the two of his Pack members dead. Martin's nails poked through his own palms as he looked at their photos, he recognized both of them from a visit they had made the previous year.

The emotions that played across their faces went from shock to anger to fury, and he left them alone to process them. Getting up, he moved back to the bathroom, then returned to the seats with a bottle of single malt and four glasses. He poured healthy portions and handed them out as he waited for the inevitable questions. Charles was the first. "How could this happen?"

"So much was going on. She was found the night before we thought the attack occurred, and the next county over. We were so focused on keeping our secret hidden we didn't even consider that she might have survived."

"She was a year old!" Charles took a gulp, letting the burn focus him again. "Oh Luna, how I've failed her," he said as he broke down crying.

"Where is she now," Martin asked.

"The Mayo Clinic psychological ward," Erik said softly. "We made some discreet inquiries; she's been having what they think are psychotic breaks, and they are getting worse. She's been committed indefinitely. There's nothing we can do about that now; I've sent a man to the area to monitor the situation. After the two abduction attempts, no one but staff and family is allowed near her."

Charles looked out the window while his son and Beta kept looking through the file. "Does she know what she is?"

"We don't think so."

"What about her mother? Could we talk to her? Surely she doesn't want her daughter suffering for nothing," the Beta said.

"You know the rules, Beta," Erik said. "Her late adoptive father and her adoptive mother are both human. She can't learn the truth, ever." He looked at the two of them, both had rage in their eyes. They wanted Todd's blood on their teeth. He set his drink down and looked in their eyes, his wolf forward to gain their submission. "Charlotte is not the current problem we need to deal with. She is safe and inaccessible, so nothing will happen soon with her. What I need you to focus on is what is ahead of us when we arrive at the Bitterroot Pack. You are only to be witnesses and observers at his trial, if you cannot restrain your wolves, we will restrain you in silver and throw you in the cells until it is over," he said evenly. "You have waited fifteen years for the truth to come out, don't ruin it now." He glanced down at his phone and showed them the text message. "ALPHA TODD IS IN CUSTODY ALONG WITH HIS LEADERSHIP," it said.

"You'll have our cooperation and we will keep our wolves under control for the trial, Mr. Chairman," Charles said evenly. "His punishment is ours by right. Her mate's family was wiped out in the attack."

"IF he is found guilty, then we will consider your request," Erik said. "Now relax and try to enjoy the flight." He got up and moved back to where the Council enforcers sat. One would stay with him as a bodyguard, and he detailed each of the other three to shadow one of the Adirondack Pack leaders.

The trial would be tonight, and the truth would finally come out.

Ch. 16

Chairman Erik walked into the Alpha's conference room at the Bitterroot Pack House and sat at the head of the table. To his left were the two North American Council members, Craig Forrest and Royce Waterman. Together, the three would be the judges and jury of tonight's trials. He left the Adirondack Pack members downstairs, they would be witnesses only. On his right, the Chief Enforcer for the Council, Mark Trestman, sat with two Alphas of adjoining territories, Colin Friendt and Randall Wright. "The Alpha and Pack leadership have been secured, sir. All have been placed in the Pack prison, with our men and men from the Cascade and Rockies Packs as guards."

"Good," Erik responded. The two Alphas would be important, as the penalty for what they suspected they had done could be significant. "Colin, Randall, thank you for coming and for providing security. As you have no doubt been told, no Pack member thirty years of age or older can be trusted until cleared."

"We understand, Mr. Chairman, and will do anything required," Alpha Colin said. "Justice will be done."

"This justice is going to be brutal and public," Erik said. "The extinction of the Arrowhead Pack is the largest criminal act in five centuries. I hope you brought a lot of men with you, because we will need them for crowd control."

"Our men are at your service," Randall said. "We have already placed them under the command of your Chief Enforcer, except the men who are our personal guards."

Erik looked at his watch. "We will eat dinner and begin the trials promptly at seven PM in the auditorium. The proceedings and sentences will be recorded, and copies sent to every Pack as mandatory viewing. This NEVER will happen again. Generations from now, this night will still be echoing through our people." He stood and looked over to his Chief Enforcer. "Mark, we start with the Alpha. Trials will be held in reverse rank order. All Pack members over the age of thirty will be interrogated, any found to have participated in the raid will be immediately bound and silvered. Clear?"

"It shall be as you have ordered, Mr. Chairman."

"Let's eat then."

At seven precisely, Chairman Erik gaveled the proceedings to order. The hall was packed, every adult member of the Pack and many other witnesses were present. The two cameras started recording as he motioned the crowd to sit. "The trial of members of the Bitterroot Pack for the attack on the Arrowhead Pack will now come to order. I am Werewolf Council Chair Erik Gruber. To my right is North American Council Member Craig Forrest, on my left is American Council Member Royce Waterman." He let his dominance out; the two Council members could fight it, but no wolf below the rank of Alpha could help but submit. An entire room full of werewolves would have rolled on their bellies and exposed their necks if in wolf form, instead they lowered their eyes and bowed their heads. "THERE WILL BE NO DISRUPTIONS TO THE PROCEEDINGS," his voice thundered. "No one is to speak unless addressed by the Court, and no one is to get out of their seats unless called or the proceedings are placed on break." He pulled his dominance back. "Bring in Alpha Todd Blackstone."

The doors in the back opened, and two rather large men started to drag a shackled and defiant Alpha Todd forward. The silver chains around his ankles kept him from walking, and his wrists were bound behind his back. The two didn't care, they pulled him down the aisle past the chairs filled with his Pack members and enemies.

He was glaring at both as he stood in front of the table.

Chairman Erik had a strategy for this, based on the Adirondack Pack's desires for justice. Instead of starting with the Arrowhead Pack, he charged him with Reckless Exposure to Human Authorities, a charge punishable by death. "Alpha Blackstone, how do you plead?"

"Fuck you." He grunted as one of his guards delivered a vicious kidney shot that dropped him to his knees.

"Guilty or not guilty," he repeated.

"Not Guilty," he said as he caught his breath.

"Very well. Mr. Pike, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." The prosecutor was a tall man, not thin but clearly not a warrior. "Law enforcement in Minnesota has an All Points Bulletin out for a 2015 Ford Expedition, Montana plates ZBB-087. This vehicle is registered to a shell company for Alpha Blackstone's pack."

"Why are they looking for it," Councilman Waterman said.

"Two nights ago, two men entered the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. As they walked towards their target, they were identified by a human victim as the two who had attacked and nearly killed her in the woods. Law enforcement responded, and both were killed in a shootout." He clicked a button, and the projector screens around the room showed a copy of the news article. He clicked again and the photos of the two dead men were put up, and gasps of shock went through the room. Both were of the Pack, one a Beta. "The Council and the nearest Pack, the Oxbow Lake Pack, have been working tirelessly to divert police attention from leads that can lead back to this Pack. The vehicle has been driven to South Dakota and set on fire already. The police did not get a clear photo of the driver, and our assets in the FBI are helping to ensure they never get one."

"And how does this relate to Alpha Blackstone?"

"It was the vehicle he was driving, Councilman Waterman."

"I see. Anything else?"

"Yes sir. In the first attack on the human, the two men were accompanied by a huge, black colored wolf or wolf hybrid. Alpha Blackstone's wolf is solid black."

"Alpha Blackstone, what do you say in response?"

He jerked his head up. "If my men weren't such idiots it never would have happened," he said.

"I see." The three of them conferred. "Alpha Blackstone, you have shifted inside a populated city and engaged in criminal acts against a human, acts which could lead to the exposure of our kind. You have been found guilty. The sentence is forfeiture of your Alpha rank and twenty years confinement."

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS," he screamed as his guards forced him to the ground. "I'M AN ALPHA BY BLOOD AND THIS PACK IS MINE," he continued as one of the guards placed his knee between his shoulder blades, pinning him down.

"We can, and we will, Todd Blackstone. We live by laws that are in place to protect our kind, and we all will suffer if men like you reveal us in your reckless acts." Kneeling in front of him, the Chairman placed his hands on each side of his head and focused his wolf on what had to be done. The Alpha bond was stripped from him, and every Pack member in the room screamed as if he had been killed. They looked up, confused, their wolves panicking as they no longer had a leader. "It is done. Return him to his cell, we will return to him after we have dealt with the others."