When I walk into The Den, Remy and Storm are bent over a laptop, both in their Third Forms. Their faces are grim. They look up when I enter, and for a moment, I see it in their eyes. The same ghosts that haunt me. The same memories that make us desperate to keep the Crimson Templars far away from Chicago.
“What did you find out?” I growl, putting my hands on the table.
“Good to see you too, Hayden,” Storm says dryly, glancing at me for a moment before returning his attention to the laptop in front of Remy. “You tell him. You’re the one who found it.”
Remy is quiet for a moment, then he looks up at me. “It’s worse than I realized. A lot worse. I’ve been looking into the recent missing persons cases, since that’s usually the best place to start when vampires are building a brood. I mapped out where most of the disappearances are occurring.”
“And?” I ask.
“They’re not being selective. Not like vampires usually are. You know how they normally operate. The stronger the person, the stronger the fledgling. But in this area?” Remy turns the laptop around and shows me a map of Chicago. I instantly recognize it. The bar Ansley frequents is at the northern edge of the zone Remy has highlighted. “There have been a lot of disappearances in this area, especially in the southern part.”
“That’s just the ones who have been reported,” Storm adds. “That part of Chicago? A lot of them never get reported.”
“Fuck,” I snarl. “We have to move against them soon. If this is where they’re hunting, their nest has to be close. If we don’t deal with them before the Crimson Templars catch wind of a vampire brood in Chicago, they’ll come here to exterminate them, and we could be exposed.”
“I’m working on that. Storm has set up surveillance cameras. I’m going to do some reconnaissance in that area tonight,” Remy says. “See what I can find. I might take Wyatt with me, since he’s better at picking up scents. It’s hard to pick up a vampire’s trail unless they’ve recently fed.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” Storm says. “I’ll be ready to fight when the time comes, but I’ve got my hands full managing our finances. Speaking of, are both you still doing okay? I can sell some crypto if you’re running low.”
“I’m fine,” I say, staring at the screen. Remy nods in agreement. I turn towards the door. “Okay, I’ll wait to hear from you. I’ll be out tonight, in the northern part, so I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”
“Does theotherScion have something to do with that?” Remy questions.
“Other Scion?” Storm raises a brow, looking between us. “What other Scion? And why am I just hearing about this?”
“Because I don’t know what she is,” I admit, turning back around and heaving a long sigh. “Not exactly. She’s a Scion. That much I know. But what kind of Scion is still a mystery.”
“Even more reason for the pack to be aware of this, Hayden,” Storm growls. “How do you know for sure she’s a Scion? If you got her scent, you should know what she is.”
“He got more than her scent,” Remy says, leaning back. “Tell him everything, Hayden.”
I growl under my breath, but I don’t hide things from my brothers. Our bond may not be as strong as it used to be, but we’re still a pack, even if we don’t operate like one anymore except in times like this. We’re all that’s left of our bloodline. We stay together because the alternative is worse than death: being the last of our kindandalone.
Explaining it is difficult, but I bring Storm up to speed. How faint her scent was in the bar. How hard it was to look away. Thedifficulty maintaining my Third Form. The pull I feel when I’m away from her. The instincts that scream when I’m close.
“Damn, Hayden. What you’re describing…” Storm trails off, conflict radiating in his grey eyes. “You think you could mate with her? Breed her like a she-wolf?”
“My instincts think so,” I answer him in a deep rumble. “And if they’re right, we may not be as close to extinction as we feared.”
“Impossible,” Remy says. “I still feel that ache in my soul. The one that nearly tore us apart when the last she-wolf fell in battle.”
“As do I,” Storm adds. “It’s never gone away. That feeling of impending doom, like a clock ticking towards the final hour of our kind.”
“Like I said, I don’t know what she is. That’s part of why I’m keeping tabs on her. But I’m feeling something different now instead of impending doom. I’m scared to call it hope, but…” I shake my head. “The vampires take priority. We’ve got a plan. As soon as we find their nest, we move against them. Hopefully, we’ll get rid of this problem before it turns into one that brings the Crimson Templars back to Chicago.”
“Are we doing this as a pack?” Storm asks, looking at Remy, then at me. “Because if we are, someone has to talk to Jaxton.”
There’s silence for a moment. Silence that says a lot about the brother who rarely visits the Den. Remy and Storm look at me. I’m the Alpha. If the pack needs to be brought back together for this fight, I’m the one expected to lead.
“I’ll do it,” I growl, turning away. “Let me know if you find out anything new.”
My brothers probably think I’m going to talk to Jaxton. I will, but not yet.
His scars are deeper than ours. He’ll fight by our side, but it isn’t because he cares about protecting the city. He’d be fine if the Crimson Templars returned to Chicago. He still wants his revenge, his mountain of Templar corpses, even if it costs him his life.
But we’ll need him. He’s the strongest next to me. I only became an Alpha because I was the oldest surviving member of the pack after our father fell. Jaxton was born to be one, though. Stronger, fiercer, more dominant than I ever was, especially after he fell in love with Joanna.
They weren’t true mates, but love can be just as strong. He was already becoming an Alpha when she died, and that made his potential wither. Her death brought more than anger and grief. It turned our brother into something dangerous, impulsive, and brutal.
