Empire of the howling moon

Chapter 10

Stewart arrived home at two in the morning to find Claire awake in the living room, waiting. The lamp cast shadows across her face, making her look older. Harder.

"Sit down," she said quietly.

He obeyed, exhaustion settling into his bones. The wolf was quiet now, sated by the partial transformation, but its presence lingered like a second heartbeat.

"I called your mother. Asked about Rowan Ashford. About your childhood." Claire's hands were folded in her lap, controlled. "She said you two weren't that close. That his family moved away when you were ten and she never heard his name again until you mentioned this job."

Stewart's throat tightened.

"So I did research. Rowan Ashford, billionaire, appeared in business records twelve years ago. Before that? Nothing. No college records. No previous employment. No history. Like he materialized fully formed." Claire's eyes met his. "People don't work that way, Stewart. Unless they're hiding something."

"Claire..."

"I'm not finished." Her voice was steel. "Then I looked at the contract you signed. Really looked at it. Termination of life. Pack law. I thought it was weird corporate cult language. But tonight, lying awake, I realized it sounded familiar. Like those old stories your grandmother used to tell. About the wolf packs in the mountains. About people who weren't quite people."

Stewart's heart hammered. She was too close. Too smart. "You're exhausted. Not thinking clearly."

"Don't patronize me." Claire stood, pacing. "Something happened to you. Something that changed you physically. Your eyes. Your temperature. The way you move. Even your smell. Danny's not wrong. You smell like the forest now. Like wild things."

"You're imagining things..."

"Show me your hands."

"What?"

"Your hands, Stewart. Show me." Claire stepped closer, demanding. "Let me see them."

He couldn't refuse her. Not his wife. Not the woman who'd stood by him through poverty and desperation. Stewart held out his hands, and Claire grabbed them, turning them over. Looking for something. Finding it.

His fingernails were slightly pointed. Not claws, not yet. But not quite human either.

"Oh God," Claire whispered. "It's true."

"I can explain..."

"You're one of them. Those things from the stories." She backed away, fear replacing anger. "That's why Rowan found you. Why he offered you everything. He turned you into something."

"I'm still me," Stewart said desperately. "Still your husband. Still Danny and Emma's father."

"Are you? Because the man I married wouldn't disappear for days. Wouldn't come home smelling like blood. Wouldn't have secrets that make him look haunted." Tears streaked her face. "What did he do to you?"

Stewart broke. The whole story poured out. The injection, the transformation, the pack, the hunt, the violence he'd already committed. Claire listened, her expression moving from disbelief to horror to something worse. Acceptance. Like she'd suspected all along and was almost relieved to have confirmation.

When he finished, silence filled the room. Heavy. Absolute.

"We have to leave," Claire finally said. "Take the kids and run. Tonight."

"We can't. The pack will track us. And there's a blood oath. If I try to leave pack territory without permission, they'll know. They'll come for us."

"Then we break it somehow."

"It doesn't work that way. I'm bound, Claire. Supernaturally bound." Stewart's voice cracked. "But there might be another way. A hunter named Strand offered to help. And there's a woman named Sarah who runs a refuge for wolves who want out."

"So we run to other monsters for protection?" Claire laughed bitterly. "This is insane."

"I know. But it's real. And tomorrow night, Rowan wants me to help raid a rival pack's building. If I do it, I'm complicit in arson. Maybe worse. If I don't, he'll know I'm disloyal."

"What are you going to do?"

Stewart looked at his wife, at the fear and determination in her eyes. "I don't know."

Claire sat beside him, taking his transformed hands in hers. "Then we figure it out together. Like we always have. But Stewart, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't hurt innocent people. No matter what Rowan demands. No matter what the pack wants. Don't become the monster he's trying to make you." Her grip tightened. "Promise me."

"I promise."

They sat together as dawn approached, making plans. Claire would take the kids to her sister's house upstate. A vacation, she'd tell people. Just a week away. It would give Stewart time to decide, to contact Strand or Julia, to find a way out.

By morning, Stewart felt almost hopeful. Almost.

Then Marlene arrived unannounced at seven o'clock. She let herself in like she owned the place, smiling at Claire with predatory warmth.

"Morning! Rowan sent me to help Claire with the charity foundation paperwork." Marlene set a briefcase on the kitchen table. "Lots to go over. Stewart, shouldn't you be getting ready? Big day today."

The message was clear. They were being watched. Monitored. Any attempt to run would be noticed immediately.

Stewart kissed Claire, whispering against her hair, "Stick to the plan. Be careful."

She nodded slightly, but her eyes held pure terror.

Downtown, the strike team assembled in a parking garage beneath Crestmont Tower. Gabriel, Thomas, Marcus, and three others Stewart barely knew. They reviewed the plan. Simple, brutal, designed to send a message to Sienna's pack. In and out in ten minutes. Burn the warehouse, destroy inventory, leave a warning.

"Remember," Rowan said, addressing them all. "This isn't about victory. It's about dominance. Make them understand that challenging me has consequences."

They loaded into two vehicles. Stewart rode with Gabriel, stomach churning. This was it. The point of no return. After tonight, he'd be a criminal. An arsonist. Maybe an accomplice to worse.

His phone buzzed. Claire texted, "Marlene is still here. Watching me. Be safe. I love you."

Then another text from a blocked number appeared. "Your wife is being monitored. Whatever you're planning, they know. Get out now. Strand."

Stewart's blood ran cold. Rowan knew. Had known all along. This raid was a test. Maybe a trap.

"You okay, fresh meat?" Gabriel asked, noticing his tension.

"Fine. Just focused."

They drove through the city as evening settled in. Stewart's enhanced senses picked up everything. The fear radiating from a woman walking alone. Aggression from two men arguing outside a bar. The metallic taste of coming rain. His wolf stirred restlessly, sensing the violence ahead.

His phone buzzed again. Unknown number. Against his better judgment, he checked it.

A photo. Claire and the kids at home. Taken from outside through the window. The message below read, "Beautiful family. Would be tragic if something happened during your little raid tonight. Complete your mission. Prove your loyalty. Or they pay the price. M."

Marlene. She was threatening his family directly now.

Stewart's vision went red. Claws pushed through his fingertips, piercing his palms. The wolf inside him howled for blood, wanting to tear Marlene apart for daring to threaten his mate and cubs.

"Whoa, easy there." Gabriel grabbed his wrist, forcing the claws back with supernatural strength. "Save it for Sienna's people. We're almost there."

They arrived at the docks at sunset. The Northside warehouse squatted by the water, lights on inside. Not abandoned. Very much occupied.

Stewart's phone buzzed one more time. Julia's number.

"It's a setup. Rowan knows you've been talking to Strand. Sienna's pack knows you're coming. The police have been tipped off. Everyone's waiting for you to make a move. Whatever you do next defines everything. Choose carefully."

The vehicles stopped. Gabriel checked his weapon. Thomas was already shifting, bones cracking, fur beginning to sprout. The others prepared for violence.

And then Stewart saw her.

A woman stood in the shadows near the warehouse entrance. Mid forties, with silver streaked dark hair and eyes that glowed amber in the dim light. She raised one hand in greeting. Not aggressive. Not threatening. Just acknowledging his presence.

She mouthed two words he could read clearly even from this distance.

"Sarah's here."

Gabriel followed his gaze. "Who the hell is that?"

Before Stewart could answer, the warehouse doors exploded outward. Not from Sienna's pack emerging. From something else entirely. Flames erupted from inside, and screams followed. Real screams. Human screams.

"What the..." Marcus started.

Then they heard it. Sirens. Multiple vehicles. Police. Fire trucks. And something else. A sound that made every wolf in both vehicles freeze.

Howls. But not werewolf howls. Something older. Something that made the hair on Stewart's neck stand up even with his enhanced nature.

"That's not possible," Gabriel whispered, genuine fear in his voice for the first time. "They're extinct. Rowan made sure of it."

"What's extinct?" Stewart demanded.

The silver haired woman smiled, and her teeth were too sharp, too many.

"The Old Pack," she said, though she was fifty feet away. Her voice carried perfectly to Stewart's enhanced hearing. "The ones who were here before Rowan. Before the blood oaths and the corporate games. And they've come to collect what's theirs."

From the burning warehouse, shapes emerged. Not quite wolf. Not quite human. Something in between that should not exist.

Gabriel grabbed Stewart's arm. "We need to leave. Right now."

But Stewart's phone buzzed one final time. A video call. He answered without thinking.

Marlene's face filled the screen. Behind her, Claire sat bound to a chair, eyes wide with terror. Danny and Emma crying in the background.

"Choose," Marlene said simply. "Save your pack brothers from whatever the hell that is. Or save your family. You can't do both. The blood oath demands loyalty. What's it going to be, Stewart?"

The Old Pack creatures moved closer. The police sirens grew louder. The mysterious woman named Sarah watched him with ancient eyes. And his family's screams echoed through the phone.

Stewart Lennox had seconds to decide what kind of monster he would become.