Marcus spread the weathered parchment across the table, his calloused fingers smoothing the creases. Helena leaned forward, her shoulder brushing against Shawn's as they studied the intricate markings.
"Here," Marcus said, tapping a spot where the ink had faded to a rusty brown. "This is where you'll find the Tamed."
Shawn nodded and exchanged a friendly glance with Helena.
The night was dark outside yet illuminated by a full moon. The plan was simple. The wolf brothers, Damien and Stephen, would try to locate the original brothers inside of Elliot's mansion. Shawn and Helena would try to extract information from the Tamed's members.
**
Leaves crunched as Shawn and Helena made their way to the vampire clan's camp. There were tents all around the place similar to the Moonwalker pack's. But the scent of the vampires made it clear these were not fellow werewolves they would be facing.
Helena was already at full strength even though she could not transform because of being a hybrid. Shawn couldn't wait to let his inner wolf out.
Helena grabbed a hold of Shawn's arm. "Remember. We need to keep some members alive."
Shawn smiled. "Yes, we won't kill every last one. I promise."
**
"I'll kill them both." Damien said to his younger brother.
Both of them were camped outside Elliot's mansion. The night was cold yet the heat of anger warmed both the wolf brothers.
Stephen couldn't sense the original brothers through scent. "I don't think they are here."
Damien scoffed. "Lucky for them."
**
The sight was a full-on battlefield. Heads were flying. Bodies were dropping to the ground. Helena was using her full power while Shawn hadn't even fully transformed yet.
Two vampires were left. The Tamed leaders, brother and sister, Jordan and Julia.
They wore distinct hoods but removed them when they saw that their brethren had fallen.
"We'll spare you!" Shawn announced waving a vampire's dismembered arm in the air like a flag.
"If you tell us where Kyle and Elliot are." Helena said.
The brother and sister duo exchanged smiles and then the ultimate battle began.
Shawn and Helena tried their best but these vampires were too strong. Helena took a kick to the gut which sent her flying backwards and landing on the ground. That was the last straw for Shawn who used it as a reason to transform.
The full moonlight bathed Shawn's back in silver as his transformation began—skin stretching like heated taffy, muscles bulging and tearing beneath. His spine cracked with wet, popping sounds as it elongated, vertebrae jutting through his shirt. His jaw dislocated with a sickening crunch, teeth pushing through bleeding gums to form gleaming fangs. Coarse fur erupted from his pores like thousands of needles breaking skin. When the convulsions finally ceased, a massive werewolf stood where Shawn had been, amber eyes burning with rage, claws extended and dripping with anticipation.
"Shawn, no!" Helena yelled.
But her words evaporated in the blood-soaked air as Shawn lunged forward, a blur of matted fur and gleaming claws. He tore into Jordan's chest with a wet, meaty sound, ribs splintering beneath his grip. The vampire's scream cut short as Shawn's jaws clamped around his throat, ripping it away in a fountain of crimson. Julia's horrified shriek ended just as quickly when Shawn's claws disemboweled her in one savage swipe, her entrails steaming on the cold ground as her body crumpled beside her brother's twitching remains.
**
"Maybe we should try-"
Stephen was interrupted by Damien kicking the front door open.
The mansion loomed before them, a decaying monument of Gothic arches and crumbling stone. Moonlight sliced through broken windows, casting elongated shadows across marble floors coated with decades of dust. Though the original brothers typically occupied these halls, tonight an eerie stillness pervaded the air—the kind of hollow silence that made even immortal hearts quicken.
Cobwebs draped like silver veils from once-opulent chandeliers, and the faint scent of rot and expensive cologne mingled in a nauseating perfume that whispered of abandoned luxury.
Damien and Stephen searched the place. They found an old library but there was nothing to indicate the family history of the original brothers even though they combed through it for hours. Likewise, there were no indications to where Kyle and Elliot might have gone to. Damien and Stephen decided to remain here for two more days. They prayed that Shawn and Helena had more luck in tracking the villains down.
**
After the two werewolves had taken their separate showers, Helena was frightened at the prospect of Marcus being angry with them. In fact, the opposite occurred.
"My boy!" Marcus patted Shawn on the back almost causing him to collapse.
"But we didn't get any information out of the clan members." Helena apologized.
"That will come in time, my dear." Marcus smiled. "For tonight, in celebration of wiping out an entire vampire clan, we feast!"