Conflict Avoidance

Sawyer Nygaard’s POV

Oxbow Lake Clinic

I left Carson and Chase behind to stay with Mom, then walked out the door into the cold winter night. “Alpha Sawyer,” a voice said. “A word with you, if you please.”

I looked into the darkness, seeing the man coming out from the side of the building. “Of course, Chairman Coffey,” I said. “Should we retire to your room?”

“A walk would be good,” he said as he turned towards the woods. “I love the woods in the light of the moon, and it’s easier to avoid people who might overhear.”

“Of course.” I fell in behind him, pulling on my hat and gloves now that I was going to be out for a while. Werewolves ran at higher body temperature, so cold didn’t affect us the same way. We walked along the trail, up and over the rise and down towards the frozen creek cutting through an open meadow. Moving into the center of the clearing, he stopped and scented, verifying we were alone. “Your youngest brother has left us with quite the mess,” he said as he turned to me.

“He’s doing the best he can, in a dangerous situation,” I responded.

“That is my concern.” He looked up at the moon high above us. “Rori grew up with no Pack knowledge or life, and Chase has spent far too much time among humans with his college and medical training. Their familiarity with humans keeps them from recognizing the dangers of those interactions. The Steel Brotherhood relationship alone is fraught with danger. She still maintains that relationship, despite our orders to withdraw from them.”

I kicked at the snow as I considered my response. I was tired of the dismissive attitude Coffey had towards Arrowhead’s alliances with the bikers. The Brotherhood had treated her better than the Council. “And yet, right now those same people you disparage have shown up in numbers to defend her and her Pack. They weren’t asked to help; they came at their own expense, and they are risking their own lives and expecting nothing in return. Who else has done that? The only wolves who have come to her aid are those tied by blood to them, including the warriors I sent her. Where is the Council when there is a danger to one of the Packs?”

He shook his head. “You can’t expect the Council to watch her defy our laws to get in trouble, then ride to her rescue when the relationship draws her into a gang war. If she had withdrawn when the Pack was formed, she wouldn’t have been in Orlando. If she was not in Orlando, Oxbow would not have lost warriors, and your brother would not be a target of the Jaguars and their human followers.” He kicked at the snow clinging to the long grasses. “We made a mistake in allowing the Trusted Agents.”

“Those women had kept her secret for years without the threat of death at our hands,” I responded. “All of this is water under the bridge. In the morning, we will hear directly from Luna Colletta what happened in the meeting. She was able to make an agreement that protects us, I’m sure.”

“That’s why I need to talk to you,” Chairman Coffey said. “I know you will support your younger brother and his mate, and you aren’t the only Pack. I doubt if I could ever convince you to vote against him, nor would your brother or sister, or her Uncle. No, you’ll oppose action against her, even if she deserves it.”

“She has no reason to trust the Council or other Packs,” I said. “The Brotherhood has protected her always. We have tried to hurt her; even my little sister nearly killed her!”

“I’m not here to argue who is more worthy of trust. I’m concerned about our kind, Sawyer. There is a split forming within the American Packs, and we have to find common ground before it spills into war. The anger among the Packs now is palpable. They rightly resent being forced to come out, whether now or in the future, because of actions they blame on a single Alpha pair.”

“Surely they understand that some things are out of their control.”

“Surely they think that if we had acted earlier to remove them, those things would not have happened.” He looked at me, eyes pleading. “Charges are filed; there is no path forward for Arrowhead to be found innocent. By Luna, Sawyer! I warned Rori that no more humans could find out, yet days later there is a DEA fucking DIRECTOR in your home and Colletta shifts in front of him. Even if the laws change in the future, the laws we have in place NOW will convict them. The penalties are clear for this, Sawyer. If we can’t find a middle ground BEFORE the trial, your brother and his mate could receive a death sentence.”

I started to growl at this; there was no way I would allow this. “What are you proposing?”

“A plea bargain. They plead guilty before trial and accept a punishment agreed to by the Council and the Packs. Take the severe penalties off the table, enough to allow her allies to support it as an acceptable compromise. The agreed-to sanctions have to be harsh enough for the rest to accept it as best for the Council and our kind. Present an acceptable compromise to this situation, and we avoid a split that could lead to a civil war.”

“Why me?”

“Because you have forced compromise before, and only you can force Chase and Rori to step down voluntarily,” he said. I looked at him in shock. “It has to be this way, Sawyer. The other Alphas will not accept a compromise that leaves them in place, not when they blame their leadership for the situation we’re in now. Find a way to leave Arrowhead in her bloodline, but not with her as Alpha. It’s the only way to avoid a war that could destroy us.”

Now I knew why he wanted this so far out. What he asked was reasonable, but the first reaction of either side would be to reject it. “I will find a way,” I finally said. “How long do I have?”

“I will schedule the trial after the New Year. In the meantime, come up with a proposal to present to Council and the Alphas when it convenes. If it has teeth, I can shepherd votes towards it and we can put this behind us. She’s the Blessed One, Sawyer. We as a species can’t allow her to be put to death, not when we so desperately need the blessing in numbers she can provide.”

I nodded. “What do we do about Frank Grimes?”

He looked up at the moon. “We pray to Her to save his life. He’s already connected to our kind, and we can’t survive the storm that would come if the humans find out one of us killed him. I will ensure he becomes a Trusted Agent as we will need his help to work with the human authorities.”

“And Colletta? She was the one who shifted in front of him.”

“Her shift was in the heat of battle, defending the Blessed One and the heir to the blessing. It is the Alpha’s responsibility to deal with the exposure.”

“Understood.” He started to walk back towards the Pack House.

“Alpha Sawyer, make sure they send those humans away as quickly as possible. The longer they are there, the greater the chance of additional exposure; any more reveals might make a plea agreement impossible.”

“When the threat is gone, they will return home. I will speak to them about it.”

“That’s all I can ask.” We reached the woods again. “We should rest, the meetings in the morning should prove interesting.”

“The Chinese have a curse; ‘May you live in interesting times.’ Things haven’t been quiet, have they?”

“No, nothing has been quiet lately.” We walked in silence back to the Pack House and returned to our rooms.

Heather Rhodes (Harleigh’s) POV

Alexandria Safe House

“Oh GOD yes, HARDER,” I screamed out as Greg’s big cock pounded up into me. I was bend over the end of the couch, ass high in the air, my face on the pillows as he took me from behind.

“So tight, so good,” he said as the smack of his hips into my ass filled the living room. “You feel amazing,” he said as he plumbed my depths.

We’d finished the binge-watching of Breaking Bad on Netflix and now was the ‘chill’ part. I’d been teasing him for hours; my hand under his shirt, or in his pants, feeling the need to have him fuck me hard again. He was resistant after the last time when my wound had a painful twinge. He kept telling me I needed to heal up before he could take me the way he wanted, and to be patient.

Patience, hell. I needed that cock in me again.

I’d had my top off since midnight as he played with my tits while I laid on my back, my head on his thigh. Our need was a powderkeg ready to explode, and I had the match.

By two in the morning, I decided to do whatever it took to get what I wanted. I’d sucked Greg off a few hours earlier, and had kept him so hard since that a cat couldn’t scratch it. I sat up from where my head was on his thigh, kissed him, then stood up in front of the television. Looking back at him, I dropped my shorts to the floor before I bent over to pick up our empty glasses from the coffee table. I heard him groan behind me as I walked off to the kitchen with an exaggerated sway of my hips.

When I returned, he was standing and naked. He’d piled a bunch of pillows on the cushion, and he bent me over the end of the couch so I was resting on top of them. “Wait, I thought I wasn’t healed enough for sex,” I said as he moved behind me, condom already on.

“I said you weren’t healed enough for me to take you the way I want to,” Greg said as his cock slammed into my hot pussy, balls deep in a single stroke. I let out a groan, loving the way he filled me up. “You’re just so fucking sexy I have to take you any way I can. Hold on and let me do the work,” he said. “If it hurts, let me know.”

That brought me to where I was now, face down, getting pounded hard by the big strong man I’d fallen in love with. I didn’t care if it hurt, I was in heaven. I was so horny that the first orgasm hit me almost immediately, and I screamed my release into the isolated home we were staying in. “God yes,” I said as he hammered my dripping sex through it. “I love this, Greg. I love you.”

“This is MY pussy,” he said as he plunged in over and over. “MINE.” He was moving faster, building to a peak. “I want you to cum with me, my love.”

“I’m close,” I said as he continued giving it to me hard.

“Almost there,” he replied. He moved even faster, taking me hard, fast, and deep until I started to lose conscious thought. It felt like a spring was wound up tight inside me, and I just needed one thing to set it off.

He spanked my ass, HARD, and I screamed as the orgasm slammed into me just after the pain registered. Greg plunged deep, holding me by the hips, and I felt his cock swell and twitch as he filled the condom. “FUCK YES,” he screamed. “CUM WITH ME, LOVE.”

I couldn’t say anything as the orgasm washed over me. Greg kept his big hand on the middle of my back to keep me in place as my legs gave out. He finally pulled out, leaving me exhausted and empty as I lay there on the pillow stack. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said. “Don’t move. You’re so beautiful like that.”

My thoughts were hazy in my post-orgasmic bliss as I caught my breath. My core felt the effects of the hard use and even harder orgasm; I moaned when he returned from the bathroom with a warm washcloth and applied it to my swollen lips. I lay there as he cleaned my juices off my legs and sex, then helped me stand up again. I kissed him deeply as he pulled me to him by the hips. “I can’t get enough of you,” I said.

“I love you, Heather.” He wrapped a blanket around my body to ward off a chill. “Come on; we should go to bed.”

“I just want to check the weather first,” I said. Greg picked up the food from the table while I grabbed the remote, turning it to the local station for the late news. I felt a chill go through me as I saw what was on the screen, and I dropped the blanket and the remote. “GREG!”

He ran back into the room and to my side, checking I was all right, then looking where I was looking. “GUN BATTLE IN DULUTH WITH SONS OF TEZCATLIPOCA,” the crawl said.

Greg sat down and pulled me into his lap as we watched the coverage. The Sons had gathered at a hotel, and police had attempted to arrest them as they tried to leave. Of the fifty or so Sons, more than thirty dead and a dozen arrested. Live camera shots from behind the police tape showed dozens of police cars with lights on around the hotel, as ambulances left at regular intervals.

The police were still looking for a half-dozen men, who escaped in three vehicles. Their mug shots, vehicle descriptions, and license plates were shown repeatedly. Police asked the public to watch for them, along with warnings not to approach as they were armed and dangerous. Reverse 911 calls were being made in the Arrowhead Lake area, warning residents to stay inside and lock the doors. Helicopters were circling the lake as police went door-to-door looking for the fugitives.

Of course, no gun battle this large would be without losses on the police side. Names of the casualties had not been released yet, pending notification of the next of kin. ,A spokesman for the FBI reported three officers and one FBI agent were dead and a dozen more injured in the gun battle. Of those injuries, two were life-threatening.

As the local reporter was giving her update, a coroner’s vehicle was escorted by a squad with lights through the police line. As the camera watched, every officer and EMT stopped what they were doing, faced the car and saluted. The reporter had enough sense to shut up and let the video speak for itself, not talking again until the two cars were out of sight. “Ambulances and coroner’s vehicles have been running shuttles between here and the hospital,” she said. “The focus has now shifted to removing the dead. We don’t know the name of that officer, but we know we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Thanks to him and others here tonight, a dangerous gang has been taken down in North Duluth. For KDLT news, I’m Cassandra Johnson.”

I was shaking in his arms. Greg reached down and grabbed the remote, turning it off, then stood up and carried me into the bedroom. He set me on the vanity while he got ready for bed, then went to turn down the covers as I went to the bathroom. I managed to brush my teeth, then he led me to bed as sobs racked my body. He removed his prosthetic and got into bed with me, holding me tight to his broad chest as the emotions came out. “Is it over?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “There can’t be many of them left, the FBI has been arresting them left and right. If they catch the rest of this group, it might be.”

“What do we do?”

“We stay here, safe and hidden, and let you recover until we know it’s time to return to Lake Arrowhead,” he said. “Sleep, my love. We will know more tomorrow.”

It took a while to fall asleep.

I hadn’t done a thing to avenge my parents, and now it might be too late. The men who killed them were dead, the club they belonged to had been wiped out, yet I was still hiding. What would I do now?

And would Greg be with me for the next step?

A few weeks ago, my biggest worries were my grades and what to wear to the party that weekend. How quickly things had changed.