Page 2 of Red Hood, Bad Wolf

He pushed the memory aside. Danny needed him now.

"You won't." Alder gripped the boy's shoulder, letting his alpha power flow between them. "Feel the pack bonds. We're your anchor. Let the change come naturally."

Danny's breathing steadied. His eyes, now wolf-gold, fixed on Alder's face. Slowly, the transformation smoothed out. Fur spread evenly across his body. Bones shifted with purpose rather than panic.

Where the frightened boy had been, a young werewolf now stood on shaking legs. Alder smiled and shifted his own form, leading his newest pack member on his first run beneath the full moon. The rest of the pack followed, their joyful howls celebrating the successful transformation.

Hours later, as dawn painted the sky, Alder's beta approached him at the pack house. Serenity's expression was grave.

"What is it?" he asked, already tensing.

"Red Hood spotted near our borders. Heading this way."

Ice gathered in Alder's gut. Red Hoods. Were-hunters who'd executed his mother, the order who he suspected had taken his father as well. "How many?"

"Just one. Female. The scouts say she's powerful."

Of course she was. The order never sent their weak ones. "I want to know everything about her.”

“I’ll get on that.”

“And alert the pack. No one approaches her alone." He caught her arm as she turned to go. "If she makes any aggressive moves—"

"We'll protect our own." Serenity's eyes hardened. "We always do."

Alder nodded, but unease prickled along his spine. The timing was too perfect. A Red Hood arriving just when people had started disappearing from his territory. His mother's face flashed through his memory, her eyes clear and sane even as she had been accused of moon-madness.

He wouldn't let the Red Hoods hurt his pack again.

***

THE PACK’S WARDS WASHEDover her as she crossed into Black Pine territory. Old magic, complex and well-maintained. This alpha was serious about protection.

Good. She preferred them competent. It made it easier to tell when they were lying.

The pack house rose before her, a sprawling structure of stone and wood that blended naturally into the forest. Wolves emerged from the trees, flanking her path. Not attacking, but making their presence known. She kept her pace steady, her hands loose at her sides.

A crowd had gathered in the front yard. Rowan cataloged faces, stances, potential threats. Her attention caught on a tall figure standing apart from the others—broad-shouldered, dark-haired, with sharp green eyes that watched her every move. Power rolled off him in waves.

The alpha. It had to be.

Something strange happened when their eyes met. A jolt, like lightning through her bones. His nostrils flared, and she knew he'd caught her scent just as she caught his—pine and wood smoke and something wild that made her pulse skip and warmth flood through her.

No. She wasn't here for that.

Rowan stopped at a careful distance, close enough to show she wasn't afraid, far enough to react if needed. "Alpha Blackwood. I am Rowan of the Red Hood Order. I believe you know why I'm here."

Those green eyes narrowed. "Enlighten me."

"Seven people have disappeared in your territory over the past three months. The pattern suggests—"

"Suggests what?" He stalked forward, all contained power and barely leashed anger. "That one of my pack has gone feral? That we're harboring a killer?"

Heat rolled off him in waves. This close, his scent was overwhelming, making it hard to think. "Has anyone in your pack shown signs of moon-madness?"

"No." His voice was ice over steel. "And if they did, we would handle it ourselves."

"Like the Southampton alpha handled it?" The words slipped out before she could stop them. "He protected his killer until twelve people were dead."

---