Tempest
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.”
“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 blessing in 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.
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 could trust 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.
She was 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 faith in 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.