The coffeeshop looked ominously dark when they approached, and although Shawn could see the Chambers’ car from where they paused, nobody appeared to be inside it. “They should be here,” Shawn said. Walking up to one of the windows, he pressed his face against the glass to look inside and saw nothing in the darkness. “I swear, Edwin, they arranged a meeting that should have just started.”

“Shit,” Edwin said. “Something must have happened.” When Shawn turned to face the others, Edwin exchanged a look with Rob before meeting his lover’s gaze again. “Stay here with Dom. We’re going to look around. They couldn’t have gotten far.”

Shawn nodded, walking slowly toward Dominic while his friend watched the other two run off toward the abandoned car. As Rob confirmed it was empty, Edwin ran up to the buzzer for his apartment, attempting to rouse anyone who might be inside. “They’re not in there, are they?” Dominic asked.

“No, I don’t think they are.” Shawn peered around the neighborhood. “Where the hell could they be?”

Dominic frowned and walked toward the front door, which had still been left unlocked. “The lights are out, but the door is open. I’m not sure what that means.”

“Me neither. Maybe the Laurents cut out the lights?”

“Does that work at all to their advantage?”

“Not necessarily. My vision’s been getting better at night.” Shawn frowned and reached for the door. As Dominic stepped to the side, Shawn walked into the building and carefully evaluated the abandoned area. Dominic walked in behind him, and Shawn heard breathing coming from the kitchen, its cadence steady, but slowing the closer he came. Immediately, he stopped and felt his body tense.

“Shawn?” Dominic asked.

“Get out of here!” Shawn answered, spinning around the moment he realized what lay in wait.

Clattering echoed behind them, a rush of wind passing behind Shawn as he and Dominic clambered for the door. Shawn heard a growl and pushed Dominic forward, shoving his friend onto the ground, but catching a leap square in his back and falling with the wolf that charged him. The floor rushed up to smack him on the face, hard and unforgiving, and for a moment he couldn’t war against the weight which settled on his back.

Except that a rush of wind from the front entrance preceded another growl and another force rushing for where he lay. The weight flew from him and as Shawn rolled over, he saw Edwin’s wolf with his jaws wrapped around the wolf that had attacked Shawn’s throat. ‘Where is my family?’ Edwin asked and while the previous thoughts Shawn had heard from him felt aimed toward him, this one had been broadcast.

‘Probably being rounded up,’ the other wolf responded.

‘Where?’

‘What makes you think I’m going to tell you?’

The front door opened again, and this time a much more human Rob ran toward the entangled wolves, glancing at Shawn first before focusing on the two. “What do you need me to do, Ed?” Rob asked.

Whatever Edwin’s response had been, Rob nodded and ran into the kitchen, coming out only moments later with a knife. “What are they going to do to it?” Dominic asked, crawling closer to where Shawn still sat.

“I don’t know,” Shawn said. “Try to get information from him, I guess.”

Rob pressed the blade of the knife against the side of the downed wolf’s neck, permitting Edwin to let go. “Go on,” Rob said. “I’ve got him from here. If I can get anything out of him, then I’ll find you.”

If Edwin responded, he failed to broadcast the thought and, instead, retained his wolfen form while walking to the door, pausing until Shawn rose and opened it before proceeding onward. Dominic followed again, swearing beneath his breath, and as Edwin sniffed the ground first, and then the air, Dominic looked around. “We are going to get animal control out here if we’re not careful,” he said.

Shawn frowned, ignoring the thought of bystanders for the moment, and raced to catch up with Edwin when he bolted into a full sprint. While the nightlife seemed subdued for the time being, he knew better than to trust it. No sooner had Shawn noticed the lack of people out than Edwin cut down one of the larger roads and headed toward a collection of people congregating outside one of the local bars.

One person hollered a reflexive shriek while the others scrambled out of the way. Edwin passed them by without pause, forcing Shawn and Dominic to pull up the slack. “He got off his leash,” Dominic called after them, though when Shawn shot him a look, he wisely chose to ignore it. The farther along they went, the more Shawn recognized where they were headed, but it was Dominic who acknowledged it first.

“He’s not headed toward the Square, is he?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Shawn said, though it seemed the most likely destination. He panted for breath, lost in the sudden thought that someday, running this might not seem all that difficult. When I have four paws, maybe. If the run was taxing on Edwin, he didn’t show it, and with each collection of pedestrians they passed, Shawn became more and more worried that the Laurent family would be the least of their concerns. Edwin ducked down another side street, emerging on the other side. When Shawn joined him, the large park in the middle of Rittenhouse lay straight ahead.

Figures gathered in the Square, however, and as they approached, Shawn realized this collective looked familiar. A car slammed on its brakes so as not to collide with the giant wolf who crossed the street, and when Shawn and Dominic emerged, they took advantage of the driver’s hesitation. Shawn struggled for breath. He could hear Dominic panting beside him and when they reached the walkway leading into Rittenhouse Square, they both paused while Edwin barreled through.

A man held Joseph Chambers at gunpoint, but when Edwin charged for him, he turned the gun on the large wolf. Shawn paled, running forward at a sprint and though the gun failed to discharge, Shawn’s heart surged into his throat when Edwin leaped for the man. Both flew onto the ground, barely missing Joseph Chambers. Mallory stood near another unfamiliar figure, who looked at the wrestling match, struggling to figure out what to do with it.

Shawn made the last-second decision to run after Edwin.

Entering the Square revealed what they had wandered into; four members of the Laurent family, including the one that had taken Edwin the night he’d bitten Shawn. Other members of the Chambers family watched with shock, providing the final piece to the puzzle. Whatever was about to transpire had just begun. Right before Edwin crashed the party.

Now, however, they sprung into life. While the Laurent family motioned to strip clothing, the Chambers clan rushed them and forced the fight to become a brawl of fists. Shawn still saw golden eyes flashing, sharp teeth bared and claws being manifest, but as he turned back to the fate of his lover, Shawn breathed a sigh of relief that only one wolf would be reported by anybody who witnessed this. Nobody will believe the rest of it.

Mallory fought with the man who stood closest to her while Joseph Chambers shed his clothing, shifting into wolf form to help his son. Make that two, Shawn thought. Rushing toward Mallory, Shawn tackled the Laurent she struggled with and as he pinned him onto the ground, Mallory paused to catch her breath. Shawn’s hostage didn’t remain still, however. Receiving an elbow to his stomach, Shawn coughed with the wind knocked out of him and felt his captive escape his arms.

“I’ve got the mate,” the man yelled toward the rest of his family. He reached for his shirt, pulling up and over his head, but Shawn rushed to his feet and rammed the full force of his weight into the man again. Anticipating the attack, he dug his feet in, but remained in human form. Shawn heard him growl. The sharp cut of claws slashed into his arm and though he hollered from pain, he managed to avoid the next swipe. Mallory jumped onto the man’s back, her own claws bared and bit into his shoulder hard enough to make the man cry out from offense.

The distraction afforded Shawn the chance to kick the man straight in the crotch. Mallory threw him down onto the ground when she leaped from him and as he lay on the ground, groaning and bleeding, Mallory looked at Shawn in her partially-shifted state.

Shawn gestured at the others and she nodded, running off. Offering another kick at the man lying on the ground, he ensured he wouldn’t be moving for the moment to find Edwin. Joseph Chambers had another of their opponents by the throat. Edwin had helped him secure the man down, but as the original man with the gun stumbled to his feet, Shawn saw him lift the weapon again.

“Look out,” Shawn shouted, but as he did, he realized one thing from the bottom of his gut.

Edwin wouldn’t have enough time.

Something instinctual asserted itself within Shawn again. An image of their night beside the lake sprang to life inside his mind only seconds before something about the air shifted; some strange feeling overtaking him that caused him to lift a hand. He flicked his wrist, but as he did, a rush of fire jumped from the ground to the pant legs of the man with the gun. Howling with surprise, he looked down one second and flung his weapon aside the next moment, ambushed again by the wolfen Edwin only a moment later and propelled down onto the ground.

Shawn ran for the weapon had landed. As the man struggled with Edwin, he reached for the gun, but Shawn kicked it away. Edwin wrapped his jaws around his neck and as he did, Shawn approached, feeling numb about what he’d just done for the time being.

“You’re going to tell everyone to get the hell out of here,” Shawn said. “Because the police are probably on their way and if they’re not, I’m about to take out my phone and make it happen.”

The fallen man scowled and squirmed, but shouted, “Alright, alright,” and gasped for breath when Edwin freed his wind pipe. Coughing once, he reached to beat out the fledgling flames on his pants and rose to a stand. “That’s enough,” he shouted toward the other members of the family. “Enough,” he added when not everyone heard his initial declaration and this time, both Laurents and Chambers alike froze.

He offered a scowl to Shawn, casting a quick glance in the direction of where the gun had flown. As Shawn lifted a hand again, he growled, but started to stumble away, waving the other members of the Laurent family along with him. The Chambers clan watched them make their exodus, everyone afraid to move until the sound of sirens blared in the distance.

“That’s our cue, ladies and gents,” Dominic called toward them. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”