Howler knocked on her office door, and she looked up from the map she was studying. “Can we talk?” he asked.
“Why are you here?” she asked. “I thought that you’d be back at your clubhouse interrogating the assholes who attacked us. Do you have any new information?” Howler’s club met just around the corner from the Dark Chaos clubhouse. Hell, they should have all been better acquainted by now, but as the new MC in town, her pack wasn’t ready to cozy up to any of the other shifter packs in Baltimore. They weren’t sure who they could trust. That was still up in the air, but Tempest hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by trusting Howler and the Silverfang pack.
“Nothing yet,” he grumbled. He walked into her office and stood over her desk. “I take it you’re doing some research?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. God, why was he so fucking sexy? Every time he looked at her that way, her wolf wanted to come out to play. Down girl. She didn’t even know if she couldtrust the guy yet, so jumping him and having her way with Howler wasn’t going to happen—not yet, anyway.
Tempest stood and shoved the map between the two of them. She and Howler stood over the large map of Baltimore, their heads close, and their voices low as they talked strategy. The intimacy of their shared purpose was undeniable, a different kind of heat than the one that had flared between them earlier, but no less potent. They were two alphas, two leaders, forced together by a common enemy, their individual strengths merging into a formidable force.
“The Capitol Wolves have been systematically weakening other packs in the region,” Howler explained, tracing a finger across the map. By the time his finger landed on her clubhouse, she was practically panting with need, thinking about the way she wanted him to run his fingers down her body. Jesus, she needed to get herself under control before she did something that she couldn’t take back.
“They isolate them, then move in. They want a unified shifter front under their banner, controlled by them. Baltimore is their next target,” he continued.
“And Mayor Grant is their puppet,” Tempest added, her jaw tight. “We need to expose her, cut off their political ties. That should stop them dead in their tracks.”
“Yes, and we need to find out where they’re getting those dampeners,” Howler continued. “That tech is a game-changer. If they can mass-produce it, no shifter pack is safe.” The idea of losing her ability to shift just pissed her off. Her wolf wasn’t very happy about the idea either.
Their conversation flowed easily, a seamless exchange of ideas and strategies. Tempest found herself relying on Howler’s insights, his broader knowledge of the Capitol Wolves and their tactics. He, in turn, respected her intimate understanding of Baltimore’s underworld and the fierce loyalty of her pack. Shewas pleasantly surprised at how well the two of them worked together. She just hoped that when they got their clubs together, their members would all play nicely with each other, too.
“I need to talk to my pack, but you should stick around,” she offered. “We can have a few drinks and make sure that we have everything lined up for our next move.” That was a total lie. She wanted him to stick around because the thought of him leaving did crazy things to her heart. She had only known the guy for a matter of hours, but she was already missing him, and he hadn’t even left her clubhouse yet.
“Um, I’d like that,” he breathed. His hand brushed over hers as they both reached for the map, and there was no mistaking how his heart rate picked up. She was sure that hers had too, but she hoped that he hadn’t noticed.
“Oh, sorry,” he almost whispered. “Should I wait for you back here while you talk to your pack?” he asked. “You know, so I don’t get in the way?”
“No, I think it would be good for my sisters to meet you. We’re going to be working closely with the Silverfang club, and since you’re their leader, they should know who you are.” Tempest wasn’t sure if she had emphasized the word closely or not. God, she hoped that she hadn’t. She quickly retraced her words in her head and was sure that he was going to pick up on how nervous he had suddenly made her. Get it together, girl.
“I’ll follow your lead,” he said, giving her his sexy smile, and had he just winked at her? Now, she was imagining things. She had to be because there was no way that Howler had just winked at her.
She walked out into the clubhouse, and Moon gave her a nod when she looked over at Blue. She just hoped like hell that Blue’s half-shifter blood would work some magic because the poor kid didn’t look too good. She was lying in the corner of the room on the couch, and Tempest worried that she had put too much faithin their doctor. Moon was good, but they all needed to remember that Blue was mostly human since she had never shifted.
“Listen up,” Tempest shouted to the women as they gathered around her and Howler. “This here is Howler, and he's the Prez of the Silverfang club, just around the corner. We were ambushed tonight by the Capital Wolves. They sent in some of their human enforcers to try to take us out, but they failed. We’re still here, and we’re gathering intel as we speak. We will be working with the Silverfang pack for a bit, until we can figure out what to do about the threat that the Capital Wolves are bringing to our city. For now, they are our only allies, and we trust only them. Got it?” she asked. Heads nodded as they collectively agreed to her orders.
“Is that how Blue got hurt?” Angel asked. Tempest looked at Howler and sighed. She knew that her pack would have questions. She just wished that she had all the answers that they’d be looking for.
“It is,” she admitted. “The Capital Wolves took her and held her hostage until releasing her to us tonight. She was the decoy they sent in to distract us before their enforcers moved in on us. We still don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is that you all need to be vigilant. You need to keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground. If you shift and go out hunting, you don’t go alone. In fact, you don’t go anywhere alone. You’ll need to pair up with one of your sisters or someone from the Silverfang pack—and that’s an order,” she shouted above the murmurs from the girls.
By the time she got done answering the pack’s questions, it was late. Most of the women had decided to spend the night, and that worked for her. If they were all together, she’d worry less. A few of the Silverfang members stopped by, and as the night wore on, the lines between their clubs and Tempest and Howler began to blur. The alliance, born of necessity, was slowly, irrevocably,becoming something more, after just one night. The war was only just beginning, but with each shared glance, each whispered strategy, Tempest felt a growing certainty. With Howler by her side, the Dark Chaos MC would not just survive; they would thrive. And the Capitol Wolves, and their corrupt Mayor, were about to learn the true meaning of a united front.
Howler
The Dark Chaos MC clubhouse, a place Howler had once viewed with a mixture of suspicion and grudging respect, now felt different somehow. His presence, along with Wraith’s, was a constant, undeniable reminder of the fragile alliance forged in the blood and chaos of the sugar warehouse. He could feel the subtle shifts in the dynamics of Tempest’s pack, the wary glances from some of her sisters, the grudging acceptance from others. He understood it because he felt the same tug and pull of emotions about working with the Dark Chaos pack. He was an outsider, a male alpha in a sanctuary built specifically to exclude his kind. His wolf, however, felt a strange sense of belonging, a pull towards the fierce independence that permeated these walls.
Blue, though physically recovering under Moon’s meticulous care, was emotionally scarred. Howler had seen that kind of terror before, the hollowed-out eyes of shifters and humans who had been subjected to being held by packs like the Capital Wolves. It fueled his own rage, solidifying his resolve to dismantle the Capitol Wolves and their political puppets. The energy dampeners Blue described, and he had confirmed from his own intelligence, were a chilling new element, atechnological threat that could cripple any shifter. It was a violation of their very nature, an abomination—which was ironic since that was what the humans thought all shifters were.
He watched Tempest closely. She was in a constant state of strategic assessment in her every move. The Capitol Wolves, backed by Mayor Lila Grant, were a far more sophisticated enemy than the street-level gangs he usually contended with. This was a war on multiple fronts—physical, political, and technological. And for the first time, he acknowledged that even his Silverfang Brotherhood couldn’t fight it alone. They needed Dark Chaos. They needed Tempest.
She sat in her office, the updated map of Baltimore spread before her, marked with known Capitol Wolves’ territory, Mayor Grant’s political strongholds, and potential locations for the dampener manufacturing. Howler stood beside her, as his inner wolf begged to come out to play with her. He tried to tell him that wasn’t how things were with Tempest, but God, he wished that they could be that way. Their discussions were intense, their minds syncing with an effortless precision that both thrilled and unnerved him. He found himself anticipating her thoughts, her strategies, a dangerous dance of two alphas finding their rhythm.
“They’re not just trying to take over our territory,” Howler stated, his finger tracing a line across the map. “They’re trying to dismantle the entire shifter community in Baltimore. Then, they’ll replace independent packs with their own controlled hierarchy.” His wolf snarled at the thought of such subjugation.
He had fought hard to become the alpha of his pack and his club’s Prez. His father was alpha before him, and when he died, other shifters challenged Howler for the position of alpha. It wasn’t handed to him, as some believe. He had the scars to prove that he had clawed his way to the top, and he planned on staying there.
“Mayor Grant is their key,” Tempest added, her jaw tight. “She’s giving them the legal cover and the police support they need to take us all down. We must expose her if we want this to end.” Her anger was a palpable thing, and his wolf resonated with it. Her determination was what drew his wolf to her. He had to admit—it was pretty damn hot the way she protected her own.
“And those dampeners,” a woman interjected, entering the office, a small, intricate device in her hand. “I’ve managed to get a better read on the energy signature. It’s highly specific, almost like a corporate fingerprint. I think I can trace the source, but it’ll take time and access to some serious tech.” Howler felt a surge of respect for the quiet, intelligent shifter.
Tempest smiled at her sister. “Howler, this is Red. She’s our mechanic, but she can fix just about anything.”
“Aww, thanks, Prez. And to be clear, I can fix anything except for a broken heart. When a heart gets broken, it stays that way,” she insisted.
