The Strange Attack

Kieran

The Marriott's elevator seemed to take forever. I stood there watching the numbers climb, Damien's words kept ringing in my head. "But you'll never get it if you don't try."

Maybe he was right. Maybe I was an idiot for not fighting harder three years ago. But what was done was done. Right now, I had to focus on the case, on keeping people alive.

On keeping Aria alive.

The elevator dinged, and I walked down the hall to Aria's. I knocked twice.

"It's open," came her voice from inside.

I found her at the small desk by the window, papers spread everywhere. Crime scene photos, genealogy charts, maps of the pack territories. She'd been busy.

"You found something," I said, closing the door behind me.

"I found more than something." She didn't look up from the papers. "Your Morrison wasn't just an elder who supported the rejection. He was the one who started it."

I moved closer, studying the documents she'd laid out. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's the one who first approached the other elders about your 'unsuitable mate choice.'" She finally looked at me, and her eyes were hard. "He's the one who orchestrated the whole thing."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Morrison. I'd known he opposed our bond, but I'd thought it was just politics. Pack tradition. Not a personal campaign.

"How do you know this?"

She pulled out a folder. "Phone records. Email communications. All buried in the pack files you gave me. Morrison started reaching out to other elders six months before the rejection. Building a case against me."

I sank into the chair across from her. Six months. He'd been working against us for six months before I even knew there was opposition.

"There's more." Aria pulled out another document. "He kept detailed records of every argument against me. Physical weakness, lack of pack training, unsuitable bloodline." Her voice was clinical, professional. Like she was reading someone else's file. "He even hired a private investigator to dig into my family history."

"Aria..."

"The point is, this isn't random. Someone is targeting the people who were instrumental in our separation. And if I'm right about the pattern..." She spread out a genealogy chart. "Kieran, look at this."

I focused on the chart, trying to push away the guilt and anger churning in my stomach. Names, dates, pack affiliations. It looked like a family tree.

"What am I looking at?"

"Pack lineages going back fifty years. Look at the highlighted names." She pointed to several entries marked in red. "Davidson, Morrison, and three other alphas who've had suspicious deaths in the last month."

"Three others?"

"Alpha Rodriguez in Oregon. Alpha Kim in Northern California. Alpha Hendricks in Idaho." She pulled out newspaper clippings. "All ruled by accidents or natural causes. But look at the dates."

I studied the timeline she'd created. The deaths were spaced exactly two weeks apart. Like clockwork.

"It's not just about our rejection," I said, understanding dawning. "It's bigger than that."

"Much bigger. These five alphas were all part of an informal alliance. They shared information, coordinated on territorial disputes, and intermarriage agreements." She tapped the chart. "They were the old guard. Traditional pack politics."

"And now they're dead."

"And now they're dead." She leaned back in her chair. "But there's something else. Something that connects all of them besides politics."

"What?"

"They all have the same bloodline marker. All descended from the same ancestral pack." She pointed to a name at the top of the genealogy chart. "The Thornwick Pack. Disbanded in 1952 after some kind of internal conflict."

I studied the name. Thornwick. It was familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"What happened to them?"

"That's what we need to find out. But first, we need to check the site where the Thornwick Pack used to have their territory. If I'm right, that's where our killer is building up to something big."

She started gathering the papers, and I noticed her hands were shaking slightly. Not from fear, but from exhaustion. When was the last time she'd slept?

"Aria, when did you last slee..."

"Don't." She cut me off without looking up. "Don't start taking care of me now, Kieran. I'm fine."

"You're running on fumes."

"I'm running on purpose. There's a difference."

I watched her organize the files, noting the methodical way she worked. Everything had its place, its priority. She'd learned to compartmentalize, to function on minimal resources. Skills she'd needed to survive alone.

Skills she'd needed because I'd failed her.

"The Thornwick territory is about an hour north," I said. "Mostly wilderness now. If you're right about this connection, we should check it out."

"Agreed. But we go prepared. This killer has been planning for months, maybe years. If we're walking into their endgame, we need to be ready for anything."

She pulled weapons from her duffel bag; silver bullets, blessed blades, things I'd never seen her carry before. The old Aria had been strong but innocent. This Aria was a warrior.

"You've changed," I said quietly.

"People do that. When they have to."

"I never wanted you to have to."

She finally looked at me directly. "But you made sure I did."

The words were delivered without heat, without anger. Just a cold fact. Somehow, that made them worse.

"Aria..."

"Save it." She holstered a knife at her thigh. "We have work to do."

An hour later, we were hiking through dense forest, following old pack markers toward what had once been Thornwick territory. The trees were older here, thicker. The kind of woods where supernatural creatures could hide entire communities.

"Tell me about the Thornwick Pack," I said as we walked.

"Not much to tell. They were isolationists. Very traditional, very rigid about bloodlines and pack hierarchy. Then, in 1952, something happened. Records are spotty, but it looks like there was a challenge to the alpha. A succession fight that got ugly."

"How ugly?"

"The kind where half the pack died and the survivors scattered to other territories."

We crested a hill, and I could see the remains of old structures below us. Stone foundations, collapsed walls. Nature was reclaiming it, but you could still make out the layout of what had been a substantial settlement.

"There," Aria pointed to the center of the ruins. "That would have been the pack house."

We made our way down the slope carefully. Something felt wrong about this place. The air was too quiet, too still. Even the birds seemed to avoid it.

"Kieran." Aria's voice was sharp. "Look at this."

She was standing next to what had been the foundation of the main building. Fresh dirt had been disturbed, arranged in the same pattern we'd seen at the crime scenes. The same ancient symbols.

"He's been here," I said.

"Recently." She knelt, studying the markings. "This is fresh. Maybe within the last few days."

I was about to respond when I heard it; the snap of a branch behind us. I spun around, but saw nothing. Just trees and shadows.

"We're not alone," I said quietly.

Aria was already moving, pulling a silver blade from her belt. "How many?"

I listened carefully, using all my enhanced senses. Multiple heartbeats. Multiple scents. They'd been here waiting for us.

"At least four. Maybe more."

"A trap?"

"Definitely."

The first attacker came from the left, moving fast through the trees. Rogue werewolf, by the smell of him. I shifted partially, letting my claws extend, and met his charge head-on.

Behind me, I heard Aria engage with another attacker. The sound of silver meeting claws, a grunt of pain. She was holding her own, but we were outnumbered.

More rogues emerged from the tree line. This wasn't random, they'd been positioned, waiting for us to find this place. Someone had known we were coming.

I took down my first attacker and spun to help Aria, just in time to see a rogue coming at her from behind with a silver blade raised. Without thinking, I threw myself between them.

The blade meant for her heart caught me across the ribs instead. Silver burned like acid, but I ignored the pain and grabbed the rogue's throat.

"Kieran!" Aria's voice was sharp with concern.

"I'm fine. Keep fighting."

But I wasn't fine. The silver was spreading, making my movements sluggish. Around us, more rogues closed in. Too many. We were going to be overwhelmed.

Then Aria did something I'd never seen before. She threw back her head and howled, not a human sound, but something primal and powerful that made every rogue freeze in their tracks.

In that moment of hesitation, she moved like lightning. Silver flashed in her hands, and suddenly, three rogues were down. The others scattered, disappearing back into the woods as quickly as they'd appeared.

The silence that followed was deafening. "What was that?" I asked, still staring at her.

"Something I learned." Her voice was carefully neutral. "We need to get out of here. Now."

I tried to stand and nearly fell. The silver wound was worse than I'd thought, and black veins were spreading from the cut.

"Kieran." Aria was beside me instantly, supporting my weight. "We need to get you help."

"No hospitals."

"I wasn't talking about hospitals."

She helped me to the truck, and I could smell blood, hers as well as mine. She'd been hurt too, though she was hiding it better.

The drive back to town was a blur of pain and consciousness. I kept fading in and out, aware only of Aria's voice talking me through it, keeping me awake.

"Stay with me," she kept saying. "Don't you dare die on me now."

When we finally reached her hotel, she half-carried me to her room. The irony wasn't lost on me, three years ago, she'd been the one who needed protecting. Now she was saving my life.

"Sit," she ordered, pushing me onto the bed.

I obeyed, watching through a haze of pain as she gathered supplies. Her movements were efficient, professional. She'd done this before.

"This is going to hurt," she warned, starting to clean the wound.

"Everything hurts lately," I said, repeating her words from earlier.

She paused, looking at me with something that might have been concern. Then she went back to work, carefully cleaning away the silver residue.

"The attack was planned," I said as she worked.

"obviously."

"Someone knew we'd be there. Knew exactly where and when."

Her hands stilled. "Inside information."

"Has to be. Someone with access to pack communications."

She resumed cleaning the wound, but I could feel the tension in her touch. "How many people knew our plans?"

"Too many." I thought about the pack house, the council meeting, all the faces that had been there when I'd defended her presence. "At least a dozen pack members heard us discussing the lineage connection."

"Then we have a problem."

"Yeah." I hissed as she probed deeper into the wound. "We do."

She worked in silence for several minutes, removing every trace of silver she could find. Her touch was gentle but thorough, and I found myself remembering all the times she used to patch me up after training sessions.

Back when she cared about me.

"There," she said finally, applying a bandage. "That should hold."

"Thank you."

She was already moving away, putting distance between us. "Don't thank me yet. We still have to figure out who's trying to kill us."

"Us?"

"You think this is just about punishing people who supported the rejection?" She pulled out her phone, scrolling through messages. "This is about eliminating threats to whatever the killer thinks is the natural order. And right now, we're both threats."

"How am I a threat?"

"Because you're working with me. Because you defended me to the pack. Because despite everything, you're still..." She stopped, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter."

But it did matter. I could see it in her eyes, the way she'd cut herself off. Still what? Still attracted to her? Still in love with her? Still the same fool who'd let politics destroy the best thing in his life?

"Aria..."

"Don't." She held up a hand. "Just... don't."

My phone buzzed. Text message. "Sophia's plane lands at eight. She wants to meet tonight to discuss pack security. - Damien"

I stared at the message, and Aria must have seen something in my expression.

"What is it?"

"Sophia's arriving tonight."

Aria's face went carefully blank. "Your ex-wife."

I nodded.