Mel waited in the sitting room, her Glock in hand, dressed in jeans and a ballistic vest from the estate supplies, praying that Keith was safe. She could feel Kim coming for her, and knew that it was best if she waited where she was. In this chaos, even the psychic link could be strained to uselessness.

The door to the master suite opened, and Kim and Valeria burst in, Kim carrying her own sidearm while Valeria stood in wolf form. She was an impressive wolf in Melanie's opinion, taller than Kim was in wolf form, the silver of age threaded through her fur adding gravitas to her frame.

"Let's go," Kim said, as Mel rushed across the carpeted floor. "Keith wants me to get you out of here. We're going to get to the chopper."

Even in all of the tension and danger, Mel could see the ironic smile in her Sister's face. "How many years have you been wanting to say that?" she asked, as they ran down the hallway.

"Since about 1987," Kim replied, turning the corner and heading for the stairs. Valeria led the way, when suddenly at the top of the stairs a shot echoed through the hall, and Valeria's head seemed to expand sideways for a moment before a jet of blood and brain matter exploded from the hole, splattering against the wall as the proud former Alpha Female dropped to the floor, dead.

"Mother!" Kim screamed, sprinting towards her fallen mother's body. She hadn't even begun to kneel when a black-garbed boot came from a hidden alcove, kicking her in the head and sending her tumbling down the staircase. Kim landed hard, striking her head twice on the steps before stopping on the landing below, unconscious.

Melanie couldn't spare her Sister a glance as she pulled her Glock up to the firing position, squeezing off two shots in the direction of whoever had just murdered her mother in blood and attacked her Sister. Her face paled as she saw Morrigan Thornblood step out of the small alcove, a bullet hole in her arm, but otherwise unharmed.

"Ah, if it isn't the little whore," Morrigan said, Melanie speechless as she watched her bullet wound begin to heal. "You know, you just ruined my favorite jacket."

Melanie knew she couldn't focus on the horror in front of her. Letting her cop instincts kick in, she aimed directly at the red head's eyes.

"Bitch, I'm going to do a lot worse before I'm out of ammo."

* * *

Keith leapt through the air, his body a furry arrow as he tackled the first Silver Bringer soldier. Plunging his claws through the man's throat, he flexed his hand, tearing his head clean off. While Keith was bleeding, none of the wounds were too serious, and now he could even the odds. Slipping back into semi-human form, Keith picked up the M-203 machine gun and socked it to his shoulder. "To me!" he cried, squeezing off a burst towards the enemy positions.

At his cry, a victorious howl erupted from the remaining wolves, and he could feel his blood rush as his Clan brethren tore into the enemy afresh. Soon, more positions fell, and with every loss, the Silver Bringers felt the sting of their own weapons being turned back upon them, now wielded by semi-changed wolves who could fit their hands through the trigger guards.

Still, Keith could see wolves falling. The tide was turning in their favor for sure, but it could possibly end up a Pyrrhic victory, he thought. Clearing his mind, Keith sighted in on the Humvee with the grenade launcher when he heard the Huey helicopter swoop overhead, razing the ground with machine gun fire. Keith barely avoided the blast, rolling to the side and squeezing a short burst off at the Mk19 gunner, missing completely. Cursing, Keith bounded forward, when he felt the presence of Nioclas Thornblood on his side.

"Hell of a fight, isn't it?" the older Alpha said, grinning madly. "Haven't had this much fun since your dad and I took on the fucking Hell's Angels back in '72."

"You're mad, you know that?" Keith replied, feeling his own grin stretching his face. Thornblood might have been mad, but he was right. They were werewolves, and there was always going to be a part of them that yearned for battle, for bloodshed, for slaughter. While the modern world may have partially tamed them, it would never fully control their kind, and when the opportunity presented itself, the inner wolf burst forth, ready to conquer again.

"Mad enough to kill those fuckers," Thornblood replied, pulling his scavenged M-16 up and firing a burst that almost decapitated the Humvee's gunner. "First one to the launcher gets to use it!" he cried, bounding towards the now empty Humvee.

Keith was hot on his heels. Dodging the shots of the desperate Silver Bringer forces, Keith flew through the air, landing beside Thornblood just as the man reached the triggers, grinning at Keith in victory. "My turn," he said, blasting the few Silver Bringer soldiers left around them.

The night dropped eerily silent, and Keith almost let loose a howl of victory when a new sound pulsed through the night air, clattering, and rumbling. Coming around the corner, 25mm chain gun ready, was a Bradley fighting vehicle. Keith looked at Thornblood, who just shrugged. "At least they didn't bring a fucking Abrams tank."