014: The Rival Pack's Shadow

Kiera's POV

The rumble of unfamiliar engines outside made my blood run cold. These weren't the synchronized throats of Darius's Black Howl machines, nor the familiar growl of Steel Vultures bikes. This was something else entirely different, more aggressive, like predators announcing their arrival.

I was in the garage with Eli, teaching him how to identify different engine sounds, when the convoy rolled up to our gates. Through the grimy windows, I could see at least fifteen motorcycles, their riders wearing crimson and black patches that made my wolf recoil instinctively.

Crimson Howlers.

"Mama?" Eli looked up from the wrench he'd been pretending to use on an old carburetor. "Those bikes sound angry."

He wasn't wrong. Everything about the new arrivals screamed aggression, from the way they'd arranged themselves in attack formation to the casual way their hands rested near concealed weapons. This wasn't a social visit.

"Stay here," I told Eli, guiding him toward the back of the garage where an old tool cabinet would provide cover. "No matter what happens, you stay hidden until I come get you, okay?"

His dark eyes… so like his father's… searched my face with that unsettling perception that made him seem older than his years. "Are they here for us?"

"I don't know yet." I kissed the top of his head, breathing in his scent of motor oil and childhood innocence. "But I'm going to find out."

By the time I reached the main clubhouse, Jack was already at the front windows with a pair of binoculars, Sable at his shoulder with her favorite shotgun. The remaining Steel Vultures… about thirty of us now, after Carl's departure… had taken defensive positions without being asked.

"What are we looking at?" I asked quietly.

"Trouble," Jack muttered, handing me the binoculars. "Big trouble."

I focused on the lead rider and felt my stomach drop. Even at this distance, even after seven years, I recognized the massive frame and platinum hair of Magnus Veyra. The Crimson Howlers' alpha was a legend in the supernatural world… and not the good kind. Where most pack leaders tried to maintain some veneer of civilization, Magnus ruled through pure brutality.

"You know him?" Sable asked, reading my expression.

"Magnus Veyra. He's got a blood feud with Darius that goes back decades." I lowered the binoculars, my mind racing through possibilities, none of them good. "The question is what he wants with us."

As if summoned by my words, Magnus dismounted his bike and walked toward our gates with the casual confidence of someone who'd never met a problem he couldn't solve with violence. He was alone, which meant either supreme confidence or a trap.

"Jack," Magnus's voice carried clearly across the compound, rich and commanding despite the distance. "I'd like a word."

"Stay here," Jack told us, but I shook my head.

"This is about me. I should be there."

"Bad idea, Ghost."

"Maybe. But hiding won't make him go away." I checked the knife at my belt, made sure my gun was secure. "Besides, he came alone. That's either respect or stupidity."

"With Magnus, it's probably both," I muttered, but followed Jack outside anyway.

Up close, Magnus was even more intimidating than I remembered. Seven feet of muscle and scars, with pale eyes that held the kind of cold intelligence that made him dangerous in ways that went beyond physical strength. He wore his age well… maybe forty now, with silver threading through his platinum hair… but there was nothing diminished about his presence.

"Kiera Vale," he said, inclining his head in a mockery of respect. "You're even more beautiful now than the stories suggest."

"What do you want, Magnus?" I kept my voice level, businesslike. No point in pretending this was a social call.

"Direct. I like that." His smile revealed teeth that were slightly too sharp to be entirely human. "I want to make you an offer. Several offers, actually."

"I'm listening."

"First option: Leave Darius. Bring your son to my territory. I'll protect both of you from the Black Howl, and your human friends here remain unharmed." He gestured toward the Steel Vultures clubhouse like he was discussing the weather. "Clean, simple, everyone wins."

The casualness of it made my skin crawl. "And in return?"

"In return, your boy gets the protection and training he deserves. The education in pack politics that his... other father clearly can't provide." Magnus's eyes glittered with malice. "Plus, you get revenge against the man who abandoned you."

Behind me, I could feel Jack tensing, probably recognizing the manipulation even without understanding all the supernatural politics involved. Magnus was good at this… finding pressure points, exploiting weaknesses, making his offers sound reasonable.

"Second option?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew.

"You leave these humans behind and come to me directly. Become my Luna." The words carried weight, the kind of formal pack declaration that couldn't be made lightly. "I'll protect the Steel Vultures from Darius, ensure they never have to worry about supernatural threats again. And you... you get to be what you were born to be. A true Luna, not some outlaw hiding among humans."

The offer hung in the air like poison. On the surface, it sounded almost generous… protection for everyone I cared about, an end to the constant running, a chance to embrace my wolf nature again. But I could see through Magnus's words to the rotting core beneath.

"Let me guess," I said dryly. "All you want in return is my son as your heir and weapon against Darius."

Magnus's smile widened. "You always were clever. Yes, the boy would be valuable in my conflict with his father. But I'd treat him well. Train him properly. Give him the education Darius clearly hasn't."

"Education in what? Murder? Betrayal? How to use children as political pawns?"

"Education in power." Magnus stepped closer, and I caught his scent… predator and violence wrapped in expensive cologne. "Your son has the blood of two alpha lines, Kiera. In the right hands, that makes him incredibly dangerous. In the wrong hands..."

The threat was clear enough. Take Magnus's deal, or watch Eli become a target for every ambitious wolf in North America.

"And if I refuse both offers?" I asked.

Magnus's pleasant expression didn't change, but something cold flickered in his pale eyes. "Then you continue this futile war with Darius while other packs circle like vultures, waiting to claim the prize you're too stubborn to protect properly."

"Other packs?"

"Oh yes. Word is spreading about the runaway Luna and her unclaimed heir. The Silvermoon Pack out of Colorado is already mobilizing. The Iron Wolves from Nevada sent scouts last week." Magnus's voice took on a helpful tone, like he was doing me a favor by sharing intelligence. "Face it, Kiera. Your son is going to end up with one of us eventually. The only question is whether you choose his fate or let it be chosen for you."

The words hit like ice water, but I forced myself to show no reaction. "Generous offers. Both of them."

"I thought so."

"There's just one problem." I stepped closer to Magnus, close enough to see my reflection in his pale eyes. "I wouldn't trust you to protect a rabid dog, much less my son."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as Magnus processed what I'd just said. Behind me, I could feel the Steel Vultures going tense, hands moving toward weapons.

"I see." Magnus's voice was perfectly controlled, which somehow made it more terrifying than if he'd started shouting. "You prefer to gamble with your son's life rather than accept reasonable terms."

"I prefer to protect my son from monsters. All of them."

"Including his father?"

"Especially his father." The words came out harder than I'd intended, carrying five years of pain and betrayal. "At least you're honest about what you are, Magnus. Darius still pretends to be something better."

Magnus laughed, rich and genuine and utterly without warmth. "You think I'm the monster in this scenario? Interesting perspective."

"I think you're all monsters. The only difference is degrees."

"Perhaps. But I'm the monster offering your son a future. What is Darius offering? What are these humans offering?" He gestured toward Jack and the others with casual dismissal. "A life of running? hiding? Or pretending to be something he's not?"

"They're offering him love," I said quietly. "Something you wouldn't understand."

"Love." Magnus tasted the word like it was foreign. "Love doesn't stop bullets, Kiera. Love doesn't prevent ambitious wolves from taking what they want. Love is a luxury your son can't afford."

"Then I'll make sure he can afford it."

The finality in my voice seemed to surprise him. For a moment, his mask of civilized menace slipped, revealing something frustrated and dangerous underneath.

"You're making a mistake," he said finally.

"Probably. But it's my mistake to make."

Magnus stared at me for a long moment, pale eyes calculating. Then he smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I'd seen all day.

"Your son will kneel before me one day," he said conversationally. "Dead or alive, he'll serve my purposes. The only problem is whether you'll be around to see it."

The threat was clear enough to make Jack take a step forward, but I held up a hand to stop him. Magnus was baiting us, trying to provoke a reaction that would justify whatever he'd planned next.

"Is that all?" I asked mildly.

"For now." Magnus turned to go, then paused. "Oh, and Kiera? When you change your mind… and you will… remember that I offered you the easy way first."

He walked back to his bike with the same casual confidence he'd arrived with, but I could smell the rage rolling off him in waves. I'd embarrassed him in front of his pack, rejected his offers publicly. That wasn't the kind of slight Magnus Veyra forgot.

As the Crimson Howlers roared back into the night, Jack moved to stand beside me.

"Well," he said dryly. "That could have gone better."

"Could have gone worse too," I replied, but my heart was hammering against my ribs. Magnus's threats weren't idle. He had the resources and ruthlessness to make good on them.

"You think he'll be back?" Sable asked.

I watched the taillights disappear into the distance, knowing that everything had just changed. We weren't just fighting Darius anymore. We were caught in a web of pack politics that stretched across the continent, with my son as the prize everyone wanted to claim.

"Oh yeah," I said quietly. "He'll be back. They all will."

The war I'd been dreading had just gotten a lot more complicated.