Howler
The hours seemed to pass at a snail’s pace, but when the sun finally went down, they were ready to go on their mission. All the women were dressed in black, and he made sure they were well-armed. When he put his gun into his shoulder holster, Tempest shot him a look.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “You’re supposed to stay here and run the mission from behind the scenes.
” He knew that was the plan, but letting them go out into the night alone felt wrong.
He couldn’t really tell her that he had a “Bad feeling” about their mission, but that was exactly what it had boiled down to.
“I’ll be of better use to you on the road. I’ve done enough recon and research over the years that I know where their cameras are. I know what we’re looking for, and I can be of more use with you than stuck back here,” he insisted.
Tempest looked at her second in command and back to him. “Your boyfriend can be very convincing when he wants to be,” Chris said with a shrug.
Tempest sighed and shook her head at him.
“Yes, he can be,” she whispered. “Fine, you can tag along, but don’t go playing hero,” she insisted.
“We stick to the plan that my pack came up with, got it?” she asked.
He nodded, keeping the fact that Wraith was going to be on their six to himself.
There was no way that he’d give Tempest that bit of information when she seemed downright pissed off that he was going along on their mission.
Howler, Tempest, Red, and Blue moved through the outskirts of Baltimore, their bikes muffled, their forms blending seamlessly with the urban backdrop.
The target was a sprawling, nondescript industrial complex nestled deep within a forgotten side street, far from prying eyes.
It radiated a cold, sterile energy that made his wolf bristle.
As they approached the complex, the air grew heavy with a subtle, yet pervasive, hum.
Howler knew from experience that it was the signature of the energy dampeners.
It was faint, but enough to make his skin crawl.
It was a constant reminder of the insidious threat that had haunted his nightmares for years.
He felt his wolf stir uneasily, its primal senses dulled, its power subtly suppressed.
It was a terrifying sensation, a taste of what Ares Corp intended for all shifters, a taste he knew all too well.
But if they had their way, they’d take things one step further and murder every last shifter on the planet.
He moved like a phantom beside Tempest, his senses still sharp, his focus absolute.
He pointed out hidden cameras, pressure plates, and laser grids with an unnerving precision.
His experience in this silent war was evident in every fluid movement, every whispered warning.
He was a hunter, and Ares Corp was his prey.
They found a weak point in the perimeter, a blind spot in the surveillance, and they silently slipped inside.
The interior was a maze of sterile corridors, humming machinery, and heavily reinforced doors.
Red, using a modified scanner, began to map out the layout, identifying key areas.
She could tell where the labs, containment units, and power sources were from just that one piece of equipment, and the few minutes that it took her to walk through that part of the building.
Howler followed her, keeping his senses peeled, his hand never far from his gun, his wolf silently waiting to get his chance at the fuckers who ran the place.
He would have reminded his wolf that they were there just doing recon, but he knew that would be useless. His wolf was always ready for a fight.
As they delved deeper into the complex, they stumbled upon a horrifying discovery.
In a dimly lit chamber, behind a reinforced glass wall, were cages.
And in those cages were shifters. Their gaunt, terrified eyes stared back at him.
He was sure that their forms were unable to shift.
They were test subjects, living proof of Ares Corp’s monstrous experiments.
The sight ignited a cold, righteous fury in Howler, a primal scream from his wolf that threatened to tear through his human form.
This was what they had done to his pack, and when they were finished with them, they murdered them in cold blood. This was his past, laid bare.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. His hand found Tempest’s, his grip tight, a silent anchor against the rising tide of her own rage.
Her eyes were dark with shared horror as she looked up at him.
This wasn’t just intel anymore. This was a rescue mission waiting to happen.
He felt her fury, her pain, and it mirrored his own.
Their bond, forged in fire, deepened further in this shared moment of horror.
“We can’t just leave them here,” Blue whispered.
“The Capital Wolves kept me in a cage like that, and I won’t leave them,” she said, nodding to the shifters sitting behind bars.
Howler knew that she was right, but how would they get everyone out of there alive?
He wouldn’t know if he didn’t try, and not trying wasn’t an option.
“She’s right,” Tempest agreed. “I know that we said that this was only going to be about intel, but I won’t leave them.”
“Red, you go ahead with Blue and gather the rest of the data that we need. We’ll meet you back at the entrance when you’re done. You have about seven minutes to finish this,” Tempest whispered.
“Got it,” Red agreed. She took Blue’s hand and pulled her along down the hallway.
They would gather what data they could, giving him and Tempest time to free the captive shifters.
He knew that Red would meticulously download schematics and research logs that they could analyze once they were all back at the clubhouse.
But Howler already knew that the information would be damning.
He used the shadows, making his way over to the cages with Tempest. “We’re going to get you out of here,” he whispered to the captives.
“You’re going to be safe,” Tempest added.
The man in the first cage barked out his laugh. “We haven’t been safe since this company took our wolves from us. You open our cages, and they’ll be alerted. We’ll all be dead before we can ever reach the entrance.”
“He’s right,” Howler said, pointing to the alarm on the cage door that would alert the assholes who were holding them that they were escaping. “We’ll have to come back for them.”
Tempest looked at him as though he had lost his mind. “We can’t just leave them,” she insisted. “We need to help them.”
“And we will,” he agreed, “but we can’t help them if we’re behind bars too.
We need reinforcements and more information.
Red is getting us the information that we need, but we’ll have to rally the troops to come here to help us.
I promise, we’ll be back,” Howler said. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Tempest or the people who were being held captive.
He just hoped like hell that he wasn’t making them a promise that he wouldn’t be able to keep.
She checked her watch and nodded. “We have less than a minute until we have to meet Red.” She looked at the man and pasted on her best smile.
“We will be back soon.” Howler grabbed her hand, dragging her to the front entrance, afraid that if he let go of her, she’d double back for the captives.
He knew how hard it was for her to just leave them there, because he felt the same way.
But they had to be smart about what was turning into a rescue mission, and hopefully, the intel that Red gathered would help them with that.
They met up with Blue and Red, and hightailed it out of the complex’s parking lot. With any luck, they had made it out of there within the window of the security cameras being down, and they wouldn’t have been captured on the video feed.
As soon as they made it back to the clubhouse, Tempest jumped off her bike and ran over to Red. Tell me that you got the intel that we needed,” she growled.
Red smiled and held up a thumb drive. “I found detailed plans for mass production of the dampeners, and proposals for a global ‘shifter containment’ program that they are working on. I also have the names of key Ares Corp executives and their political allies, including Mayor Lila Grant, whose involvement was far more extensive than we initially believed. The pieces of the puzzle are clicking into place and revealing a vast, insidious conspiracy against shifters,” Red said.
As they filed into the clubhouse, the importance of their discovery felt like a weight had lifted off of Howler’s chest. The recon mission had been a success, but the cost was immense, because they had to leave other shifters behind—for now.
But they finally knew the full extent of the enemy’s depravity.
Howler felt Tempest’s presence beside him, a steady, reassuring force.
Their hands met, his fingers intertwining with hers in a silent promise.
This war was far from over, but now, they had a target.
And a reason to fight with every fiber of their being, not just for their freedom, but for the freedom of all shifters.
The shadows of deception had been pierced, revealing a darkness far greater than they had imagined, but also illuminating the unwavering light of their shared resolve and deepening bond.
He would not fail her. He would not fail any of them—not again.