“I can’t smell them,” Tempest said.
“They are human,” Blue whispered. “They work for the mayor with the Capital Wolves. They are the ones who dropped me off here to find you. I’m so sorry, Tempest.”
“If they are humans, confident enough to walk into a den full of wolves, then they are idiots,” Wraith insisted.
Howler’s lips peeled back, his fangs pressing against his gums. “They followed her.”
“They used her,” Tempest snapped.
“Yes,” Howler agreed. “And that means this isn’t just your problem anymore. We have your back.”
The first figure broke from the shadows—a man, lean, his eyes hard, and gun already raised. Howler didn’t hesitate—he shifted. His wolf was itching to get his chance to fight, and hewas giving him just that. His bones cracked, and muscles surged as the wolf tore free with a roar that shook dust from the rafters.
Beside him, Tempest shifted too—faster than he’d ever seen a wolf shift, her wolf a storm of black and red with her eyes blazing with vengeance.
Wraith didn’t shift. He didn’t need to. He moved like a weapon in human form, his gun firing once, then twice. Chaos erupted around them. Howler lunged at one of the men, taking the first attacker down in a blur of teeth and fury. He tasted blood and fear as he heard the satisfying crunch of bone beneath his jaws. Another man screamed as Tempest’s wolf attacked him. As though on cue, another ran, trying to avoid the same fate as the first two men, but it was too late. This wasn’t an ambush anymore; it was a declaration of war.
And as Howler tore through the last of the intruders, he knew one thing with absolute certainty—by dragging Dark Chaos into this, the Capitol Wolves had just made the biggest mistake of their lives.
Tempest
Tempest shifted back into her human form as Howler and Wraith secured the perimeter. The warehouse air was still thick with the acrid scent of gunpowder, fear, and freshly spilled blood. Howler had shifted back to his human form and found Tempest, his chest still heaving from the fight. His eyes scanned the fallen figures of the Capitol Wolves’ human enforcers.
“They used her,” Tempest snarled, her gaze immediately went to Blue, who was being helped by the fiercely protective Wraith. He was assessing Blue’s injuries, his touch gentle, and Tempest worried that Blue might need a hospital. That was the last thing her pack needed, because trouble would surely find them if she delivered a human to the ER. She’d have to explain things that she had no explanation for. Things were already tense between the human and shifter worlds, and taking Blue to the hospital would only lend to that tension. But the sight of her MC sister bruised and terrified ignited a cold, hard fury in Tempest’s gut. This thing that was brewing with the Capital Wolves quickly escalated from a territorial dispute to something personal.
“They used one of mine,” Tempest growled, her voice raw as her eyes locked with Howler’s.
He nodded, his expression grim. “It was a calculated move to provoke you. The Capital Wolves wanted to force your hand, and it looks as though they have succeeded. He looked around the warehouse at the unconscious men scattered around them. “They underestimated you, though. Hell, they underestimated us.”
“Us?” Tempest scoffed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Howler. I just happened to be here for our meeting, but there is no us.” She left out the part where she had already decided that joining forces with his club was a good idea. Or that she’d do just about anything to protect her pack. As soon as the Capital Wolves took Blue, they became her problem, and she planned on taking care of them with or without the Silverfang pack’s help.
“This was a declaration of war,” Howler insisted. He was right, but the idea of involving her pack in a war scared the shit out of her. She looked over at Blue again and back at Howler.
“I know,” she growled. “That’s why I’m going to fight with you, Howler. You will have the backing of my pack. The Dark Chaos club will fight alongside you, and we will win this fucking war. There’s no way that I’ll allow the Capital Wolves or anyone else to hurt another one of my members. So, what’s your next move, Howler?”
He met her gaze, his eyes holding a dangerous glint that in different circumstances would have scared the hell out of her. “We take the fight to them. We’ll hit them where it hurts and take down their operations, their connections, and their precious Mayor.”
“Mayor Grant,” Blue murmured, looking up from Wraith, “She’s deeper in this mess than you can imagine. The Capital Wolves aren’t just using her; they are controlling her. And by controlling her, they now control the entire city of Baltimore.”
“Do you know if they are using advanced tech?” Howler asked Blue as his gaze swept over the warehouse again.
Blue nodded, “They are using dampeners that can suppress a shifter’s abilities,” she whispered.
“That changes the fucking game entirely,” Wraith spat, wrapping his arms protectively around Blue. Tempest’s mind raced as she pieced together the new information that Blue had provided. The Capital Wolves weren’t just a rival MC trying to take over Dark Chaos’s area. They were a sophisticated, well-funded organization with political ties and dangerous technology. This was a war on multiple fronts, and the Dark Chaos MC, even with their fierce independence, couldn’t fight it alone. She needed Howler’s pack as much as he needed hers.
“We need to get Blue back to the clubhouse,” Tempest insisted, her voice regaining its usual authority. “Our club’s doctor will get her patched up.”
“She needs to go to the fucking hospital,” Wraith insisted. “She’s human and won’t heal like the rest of us.”
“Moon is as good as they come. She’ll have Blue back to her old self in no time. Plus, Blue is half shifter. Her mom was one of us. Hopefully, having some shifter blood in her system will help her with the healing process.”
“I’ll have a few of my Silverfang brothers come over and clean up this—mess,” Howler said, looking at the bodies scattered across the warehouse floor.
“I can send over a few of my sisters to help,” Tempest said, gesturing to the unconscious enforcers. “We need to know who they are and what we’re up against. Do you think your guys can handle the interrogation?” she asked.
Howler’s smile was mean, “Yeah, it’s what we do best,” he growled. Tempest believed him. She had heard rumors about Howler and the Silverfang's. He wasn’t someone she wanted to go up against, and being on the same side as him was a blessingin disguise. Having him as an ally would ensure that her women had a fighting chance, and that was more than she had before she walked into that old sugar warehouse. Tempest would take whatever advantage she could get over the Capital Wolves—it was the only way to save her pack.
Back at the Dark Chaos clubhouse, the atmosphere was a mix of grim determination and simmering anger. Blue, though shaken, was recovering under Moon’s care. The captured enforcers were being interrogated by the Silverfang club, though they remained stubbornly silent. Tempest was just itching to get her hands on one of them—she’d be able to make them talk, but first, she needed to talk to her pack. They needed to be filled in on what was coming for them—all of them.
