That was the part that was hardest for Howler to swallow. She was just a kid. He shrugged, as though it didn’t matter, but it did. “She’s about thirteen or fourteen, according to Moon. She wasn’t awake when they carried her into the clubhouse, and I stayed out here to call you.” He could tell by Wraith’s expression that he wasn’t any happier about the girl being so young. Everyone involved in this fight was old enough to know what they were getting into, but this girl had no clue. If the Capitol Wolves were coming after children now, they’d have an even bigger fight on their hands. That wasn’t something that Howler or Tempest would stand by and allow to happen.
“You need us to watch parameters?” Wraith asked. He knew that his enforcer would know the drill. The women of Dark Chaos would need to question Lena, and he’d need his men to keep everyone safe while that happened.
“Yes,” Howler said, “and come find me if anything seems out of the ordinary. I want to be with Tempest when she questionsthe girl.” Wraith nodded, and Howler walked back into the clubhouse in time to hear Lena telling the women about her ordeal.
“They had these things,” Lena whispered, her voice trembling as she clutched a blanket. “They looked like small boxes that glowed blue. When they pointed them at us, my wolf felt as though she had just died. I couldn’t shift. I couldn’t even feel my pack anymore.”
Tempest’s gaze snapped to Howler, her eyes wide with a question she didn’t want to ask. He stepped forward, his voice like grinding stones. “Energy dampeners,” he breathed. I’ve heard rumors of them being developed in the black markets of D.C. and New York by a company called Ares Corp Tech.” He had just gotten the intel back from his guys and hadn’t shared it with Tempest yet. He was sure that she’d have plenty of questions for him later, but right now, he just wanted to fill them all in.
“Ares Corp?” Tempest’s jaw tightened. “The pharmaceutical giant?”
“They’re more than just medicine, Tempest,” Howler replied, his hand instinctively reaching for the knife at his belt. “They’re into what they like to call ‘shifter management.’ If the Capitol Wolves have their hands on this tech, the war just changed. They aren’t just looking for territory anymore. They’re looking for eradication.”
“Where is your pack?” Tempest asked Lena. “We can help you get back to them.”
A small sob escaped the girl, and Howler knew that they weren’t going to like what she was about to say. “It’s no use,” Lena whispered. “They are all dead. They made me watch as they tore through my pack, killing everyone—including my parents.”
The room went silent, the weight of her words pressing down on the gathered women. Tempest looked ready to kill,her knuckles white as she gripped her vest. Moon was already examining the faint, singed markings on Lena’s arm with a grim focus. Howler felt the shift in the air—the realization that their teeth and claws might not be enough against the cold machinery of their enemies.
After the clubhouse had been fortified that evening, and Lena was resting, Howler found Tempest in her office. She wasn’t looking at maps this time. Instead, she was staring out the window at the Baltimore skyline, her shoulders slumped with a weight no one person should have to carry alone.
He didn’t knock; he didn’t need to. He walked up behind her, the scent of her—leather, rain, and the faint, lingering musk of their intimacy—filling his lungs. He didn’t touch her at first, just stood there, a silent sentinel in the dark.
“I can’t lose them, Howler,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “If they take our wolves, then they are taking our souls.” He couldn’t help himself—he reached out, his large hands settling on her shoulders as he pulled her back against his body. She didn’t flinch or try to shrug him off. Instead, she leaned back into him, her head resting against his chest. He felt the tremor in her frame and tightened his grip, his wolf roaring with a need to shield her from the world as he wrapped his arms protectively around her.
“We won’t let that happen,” he growled into her hair. “We will find the source. We’ll find where they’re keeping these devices, and we’ll burn the building to the ground. Every last one of them will pay for what they did to Lena’s pack.”
She turned in his arms, her eyes searching his. “You’ve fought these people before, haven’t you? Not just the CapitolWolves, but the people behind them—the ones who make these devices.”
Howler hesitated, not sure if she was ready to hear about his past battles. The memories of his former own pack—the screams, the smell of burning fur, the cold blue light that had rendered them helpless—threatened to drown him. He’d been the only one to escape, the only one fast enough, lucky enough. He’d spent the last five years hunting in the shadows, wanting retribution for the pack that he had lost. But he’d never found the head of the snake—until now.
“They took everything from me, Tempest,” he admitted, his voice raw. “My family, my former pack. I’ve been a ghost ever since, waiting for a chance to strike back. I thought I was just passing through Baltimore, but then I found the Silverfang Brotherhood. I saw what they built here, and when they wanted me to be a part of it, I couldn’t say no.”
He brushed a stray hair from her face, his thumb lingering on her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. “Will you tell me about what happened?” she asked.
He sighed and nodded, sitting down on the sofa that took up most of the room. “I was just a teenager when a pack of wolves attacked us. My mother and father had no idea what hit them until it was too late. Our assailants had the inhibitors, and that’s when I first came into contact with Ares Corp. They made sure that our pack knew who they were before they took our wolves from us. It was agony, not being able to hear my wolf, but I was one of the lucky ones. I got away. Once I was out of range, and the dampeners couldn’t reach me anymore, I slowly started to feel my wolf again. He was weak, and it took some time for him to recover, but he did—we both did.”
“I’m so glad that you made it out of there, alive,” she breathed. “What happened to your family?”
He shook his head, as though trying to rid himself of the awful images that still remained. “I had to lie low for weeks, but when things died down, and I knew that it was safe, I went back for my mother and father. They were both dead, along with the rest of my pack.”
“Like Lena’s pack,” Tempest breathed.
“Just like Lena’s pack,” he agreed. “We can’t let this keep happening. Shifters won’t stand a chance against Ares Corp’s technology.”
“I’ll make sure that they won’t be able to touch another shifter,” she promised.
“I’m not leaving you to face this alone,” he insisted. “Our packs will fight together, and maybe, just maybe, we will be able to bring down those assholes and the Capital Wolves.”
The air between them crackled, the fear and the fury of the day melting into a desperate, hungry need. Tempest’s hands found the front of his shirt, bunching the fabric. “Thank you for telling me about your past. I know that it couldn’t have been easy. Will you stay here with me?” she breathed.
He didn’t even have to think about his answer. “I’ll stay here with you for as long as you’ll allow me to, honey,” he admitted. Howler claimed her mouth in a kiss that was both a vow and a plea. It was a collision of two wounded souls finding a temporary sanctuary in the dark. He lifted her onto his lap, loving the way that she straddled his cock as he sought the heat of her skin.
War was coming, and the enemy had weapons that could destroy their packs, but as he felt Tempest’s heart beating against his own, Howler knew he had something worth dying for. He wasn't just a ghost running from his past anymore. He was a man with a purpose, and a wolf with a mate to protect. Together, they would face the blue light and the evil that they brought to their packs. They would show Ares Corp that a shifter's soul couldn't be so easily extinguished.
Tempest
The air in Tempest’s quarters was still thick with the lingering scent of their lovemaking, a sweet, musky perfume that clung to the sheets and her skin. She woke up nestled against Howler’s powerful form, his arm a heavy, comforting weight across her waist. For the first time in years, she had slept deeply and felt truly rested, the constant vigilance of her alpha mind momentarily silenced by the profound peace she found in his embrace.
