Chapter 5: The Hunt Begins
The crime scene at the Reeves family home was a slaughter that would haunt Silver Ridge for generations. Marcus was waiting for me in the driveway, his face pale with the kind of shock that comes from seeing too much evil in too short a time.
"Luna, thank God you're okay." He pulled me into his arms, and I breathed in his scent like a lifeline. "When I got the call, I thought—"
"I'm fine." I wasn't, but Marcus didn't need to know about my encounter with Kane. Not yet. "How bad is it?"
"Bad. Three generations of the Reeves family. Grandparents, parents, and two teenage kids." His voice was tight with barely controlled rage. "Whoever did this wanted to make sure there were no survivors."
I followed Marcus toward the house, steeling myself for what I'd find inside. The scent of death and terror was overwhelming, but underneath it, I caught something else—multiple werewolf scents, at least four different wolves working together.
Kane hadn't done this alone. He'd brought pack members with him, turning the murders into a coordinated pack hunt.
"The killer—or killers—broke in around midnight," Marcus was saying as we entered the living room. "Went room to room, methodical and efficient."
I knelt beside the body of Thomas Reeves Sr., the family patriarch. The claw marks were different from the previous murders—more savage, less controlled. This hadn't been about precise execution. This had been about sending a message.
"Marcus, I need you to clear the scene for me. Give me ten minutes alone."
"Luna—"
"Please. Trust me."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but something in my expression stopped him. "Ten minutes. Then we do this by the book."
Once I was alone, I let my enhanced senses take over completely. The story the crime scene told was worse than I'd feared. The pack had surrounded the house, cutting off all escape routes. They'd herded the family into the living room like prey animals, then slaughtered them one by one while the others watched.
But there was something else. A scent that didn't belong with the others, something younger and more desperate. I followed it to the back bedroom, where I found fresh claw marks on the inside of a closet door.
Someone had survived. Someone had hidden during the massacre and escaped after the pack left.
I pulled out my phone and called the one person in Silver Ridge who might be able to help.
"Luna?" Tommy Reeves' voice was shaky, frightened. "Jesus, I heard about my family. Are they really all dead?"
"Tommy, where are you?"
"In the mountains. I've been running all night."
"Were you at the house when it happened?"
"I was supposed to be. Kane ordered me to come home for dinner, said it was pack business. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't watch them die."
My blood ran cold. "You knew what was going to happen?"
"Kane's been planning this for weeks. Said the founding families were either with us or against us, and the Reeves chose wrong when they refused to hand over information about the artifact."
"Tommy, listen to me carefully. You need to come in. Let me help you."
"I can't. If Kane finds out I warned you—"
"He already knows you weren't there. He's going to come looking for you."
Tommy was quiet for a long moment. "Luna, there's something else. Something Kane didn't tell you about the artifact."
"What?"
"It's not just a power amplifier. It's a binding stone. Whoever controls it can force any werewolf to obey them, regardless of pack hierarchy. Kane doesn't just want to strengthen our bloodline—he wants to create an army."
The implications hit me like a physical blow. With that kind of power, Kane could force every werewolf in North America to follow his vision of supernatural supremacy.
"Where are you, Tommy?"
"The old lumber camp in Greyson Canyon. But Luna, don't come alone. Kane's got pack members watching all the roads."
The call ended just as Marcus returned to the living room.
"Find anything useful?" he asked.
"Maybe. I think there's a survivor."
Marcus's eyes lit up with hope. "Where?"
"Hiding in the mountains. But Marcus, getting to him is going to be dangerous. We're not just dealing with a lone killer anymore—this is organized."
"Then we get backup."
"No." The word came out sharper than I'd intended. "We can't trust anyone else. Not yet."
Marcus studied my face, clearly recognizing that I was holding back information again. "Luna, what aren't you telling me?"
Before I could answer, my phone rang. Kane's number appeared on the screen.
"Answer it," Marcus said. "Put it on speaker."
I shook my head and walked outside, accepting the call.
"Did you like my gift?" Kane's voice carried casual satisfaction, like he was discussing the weather.
"You're a monster."
"I'm an Alpha doing what's necessary to protect our species. The Reeves family had information about the artifact's location. When they refused to share it, they chose their fate."
"They were innocent people, Kane. Humans."
"They were obstacles. Just like your detective will be if you don't bring me what I want."
"I told you I'd meet you tomorrow night."
"Plans have changed. I want the artifact tonight, Luna. Midnight at the silver mine."
"That wasn't the deal."
"The deal changed when someone warned Tommy Reeves to run before I could question him properly. Someone with access to pack communications and a soft spot for humans."
My heart sank. Kane knew about my conversation with Tommy.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me. I can smell deception through the phone. You have until midnight to bring me the artifact and the location of the surviving Reeves boy. If you don't show, Detective Stone dies. If you come with backup, Detective Stone dies. If you try to run, Detective Stone dies."
"Kane—"
"Oh, and Luna? Just so you know I'm serious about the timeline—check your email."
The call ended. With trembling fingers, I opened my email to find a video attachment. The timestamp showed it had been recorded fifteen minutes ago.
The video showed Marcus's apartment from the outside. Through the window, I could see his living room, his kitchen, the bedroom where we'd made love just hours ago. A werewolf in half-transformed state was moving through the apartment with predatory grace, touching Marcus's belongings, learning his scents.
The message was clear: We can get to him anytime we want.
I deleted the video and walked back to Marcus, who was examining the claw marks on the living room wall.
"That was a source," I said carefully. "Someone with information about the killer."
"What kind of information?"
"The kind that means we need to move fast. Marcus, I need you to do something for me, and I need you to do it without asking questions."
He straightened, and I could see the cop in him bristling at the request. "Luna—"
"Please. Lives depend on this."
Marcus was quiet for a long moment, studying my face in the dim light from the crime scene photographers' equipment.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to go to the FBI field office in Denver. Tonight. Tell them Agent Blackwood has uncovered a domestic terrorism cell in Silver Ridge and request immediate backup."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to find the survivor and get him somewhere safe."
"Alone?"
"I'm the only one who can track him."
Marcus caught my arm. "Luna, you're lying to me again. I can see it in your eyes."
I stood on my toes and kissed him, pouring all my fear and desperate love into the contact. When we broke apart, his eyes were confused and hurt.
"Marcus, if you love me, you'll go to Denver and you'll stay there until this is over."
"And if I don't love you?"
"Then you'll go to Denver because you're a good cop who knows when he's in over his head."
Marcus stared at me for a long moment, then shook his head. "I'm not leaving you here alone."
"You have to."
"Why?"
I looked at the crime scene around us—an entire family slaughtered because they'd gotten in the way of supernatural politics. In a few hours, Kane would make good on his threats, and Marcus would die because he'd fallen in love with a monster.
"Because the only way to catch this killer is to give him what he wants."
"What does he want?"
I walked away before I could lose my nerve, calling back over my shoulder, "Me."
As I drove toward the mountains, I caught Marcus's scent on the night air, following behind me at a distance. He wasn't going to Denver. He wasn't going to safety.
He was going to follow me straight into Kane's trap.
And there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop him without revealing everything.