The air in her father's office was suffocating. Charlie took a deep breath as she closed the door behind her. She had been summoned here and the fact that her brother, Adrian was present too didn't ease her raging nerves. What could possibly be the problem now? Their father never summons them like this except it was very important.
Sitting behind an expensive mahogany desk, John Hayford sat with his fingers clasped together. His gaze was fixated on a sheet of paper in front of him. Charlie didn't know if he was looking into the paper or he was just lost in thoughts. The man was exuding a dangerous aura and at times like these, his children preferred to give him stay away. It was why Charlie couldn't just understand why her brother was here in the first place.
"Father?" She mustered courage and called his attention when the silence dragged on for too long. "You sent for me?"
The man slowly raised his eyes but he didn't look at her. He looked at his son instead. Adrian was so uncomfortable and he wished he could just leave alread. His father's gaze seemed to be penetrating the very fabric of his being.
"Go on Adrian" Mr Hayford finally spoke. Tell your sister what you just told me".
'Finally' Adrian thought as he turned to his sister.
Charlie had a questioning look on her face as she turned and met her brother's gaze. What did he have to tell her? She had a bad feeling about this. For Adrian to have involved their father, it only meant that whatever he had to say couldn't be good.
"I saw the Grand Alpha's wolf" Adrian dropped the bomb with so much conviction and Charlie just stared at him wide eyed.
"It can't be" she heard herself say.
"Exactly what I thought" their father said.
"But that's not possible" Charlie added. "The wolf hunters..."
"Reported that they had stabbed his heart" their father finished her statement. "That's what I thought too. Go on son. Tell her the interesting part".
Charlie's heart was beating wildly in her chest. She didn't know how to process any of what she was hearing. She turned to Adrian and more paid attention as he spoke.
"The thing is, he had a different body" Adrian said.
"What are you saying?" Charlie asked in confusion.
"I'm saying that I witnessed the shifting of some guy and he became the Alpha wolf".
"You must have been mistaken" Charlie was convinced.
"No!" Adrian was too sure. "I've seen Roman's wolf and that's what that guy shifted into. No other werewolf is that big and strong".
Charlie had no words. She thought that the news of Roman's death would put an end to the wolf hunting madness. Her father was the leader of the hunters. Other werewolves preferred to call them zealots. If only the wolves knew that the hunters were of their own kind.
She had always found it sickening that her father was hunting down werewolves. She understood his objectives but she just wished he would be more diplomatic about the whole thing.
"And we have not come to the most interesting part yet" John Hayford broke the silence.
"The one who shifted into the Alpha wolf is the same guy you were flirting with at the smoothie stand last night" Adrian said.
"What?"
"You heard him" Mr Hayford said with a smile. "Don't worry I'm not against you flirting. Infact, I'm glad you did".
Charlie didn't like her father's tone. He only ever sounded like this whenever he had come up with a mischievous plan.
"Charlene, I want you continue flirting with whoever this young man is" Mr Hayford said. "Get close to him and get to the bottom of this. If possible, have him shift into a werewolf in your presence. We need to confirm your brother's words. I don't know what game the Pentagon is playing, but I am going to beat them at it".
"But father..." Charlie tried to protest.
"This is not a request, Charlene" Mr Hayford said in a grave tone. "This is an order from your Alpha. You're both dismissed".
As they both left the office, Charlie was trying to wrap her head around everything she had just heard. Calvin was a werewolf? There was no way. He was so clueless about the moonlight festival. And Adrian is convinced that he saw him shift into the Grand Alpha wolf? But that's not possible, she thought.
"Adrian" she called her brother. "You must have been mistaken..."
"I know what I saw" he cut her off. "I've seen Roman's wolf. It was the same".
"You should've come to me first with that kind of information".
"Oh yeah?" Adrian was suddenly looking angry.
"You really didn't have to tell father yet" Charlie argued.
"Easy for you to say" Adrian snarled. "You're not the one seeking his approval. Ever since I came of age, father has always looked at me like a failure because I've never shifted. Unlike you, I don't know if I have a werewolf side and I'm supposed to be father's first born child!"
"Adrian" Charlie called softly but he was not ready to listen to whatever she had to say. He simply turned his back and walked away, leaving her with so many thoughts. Charlie didn't know where to begin sorting her thoughts. She knew she had to find Calvin pronto!
********
Calvin woke up to the deafening banging on his door that invaded his sleep. He had a splitting headache and when he looked at the time, it was almost noon. He cussed out and got out of bed when the banging came again.
He was already at the door when he noticed that he didn't have any clothes on. He had no recollection of how that happened and he couldn't even bring himself to think because someone was knocking so impatiently.
Slipping a pair of joggers on, he quickly opened the door. He was going to give the knocker a lecture on how to knock politely but the words got stuck in his throat when he came face to face with a beautiful middle aged woman. Calvin was not the type to be rude to women so he said good morning instead.
"Calvin Moss?"
"That's me" he tried to smile, but the headache wouldn't let him.
"My name is Lucille..."
She was interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone. She apologized and quickly took out the phone. Seeing that it was a call from Phiri, she excused herself to take the call.
At the other end of the line, Phiri sounded frantic. Lucille could barely hear a word so she asked her to calm down.
"Now, what did you say?"
"Roman's body disappeared!"
"Roman's body disappeared". The words kept echoing in Lucille's head as she tried to understand what had just been reported. How could Roman's body disappear? He was already dead and the Pentagon had been so busy with finding his wolf that they had delayed the cremation of his body. "Lucille" Phiri called. "Are you there?""Yes. Yes, I'm here" the woman assured her even though her mind was all jumbled up at the moment. She didn't know what to do and she could only imagine how the other werewolves would react once they found out about this. They hadn't been informed about Roman's death."Don't tell this to anyone, Phiri" she said into the phone in all seriousness. "We're on our way back".With that, she hung up the phone and quickly turned to face Calvin who had the most impatient look on his face. She knew she had to convince him to go back with her in anyway possible. If Roman's body had really gone missing then, it means someone other than the Pentagon knew that he was already dea
Awesome! Calvin thought as he made his way into the building that served as the official headquarters of the Pentagon. It was a high rise building and the architectural design was marvelous. The building obviously served as an office complex and using the elevator, Lucille and the others took Calvin to the topmost floor. At the entrance of the room they entered, Calvin read the restricted area sign and he could only wonder who these people really were. From what he could see, they had a lot of money and he wondered if they were a secret organization that controlled the economy. While he was feeding his eyes on the conference room they had just entered, they stumbled on a beautiful young woman who had confusion plastered on her face. Calvin observed how she suddenly smiled at the sight of him. Being who he was, he smiled back, flashing his pearly whites. "What happened?" Rufus broke the silence in his usual gruff voice. "Before that, we need to make introductions" Lucille interru
"That voice you've been hearing in your head... That's the Alpha wolf." With Lucille's explanations, anyone would believe that Calvin got the answers to the questions that he had come with, but that was not the case. More questions plagued his mind and he was wondering how this development would now affect his life. "So, what is expected of me?" He really wanted to know. He had just found out what these people were and what it had to do with him. This was more complicated than he had imagined, but he wanted to understand everything. "The werewolf race is in danger of extinction" Lucille informed him. "We're being hunted by a group of werewolf eradicators who call themselves Zealots. These people wouldn't stop till the race of Lycanthropes are completely extinguished from the face of the Earth. Thing is, Roman had this master plan he had come up with to save our race but he died before he could share it with us." "So there are people who are aware of your existence?" Calvin asked
"Just as you instructed, I drove the dagger into his heart. Yes, he did manage to get away but there was is no way he could have survived that wound." Those words kept echoing in John Hayford's head as he stared at the dagger lying on the table in front of him. It was the very weapon that had been used to stab Roman and the wound had supposedly led to his death. If Roman was really dead, his wolf was supposed to die with him. And if it did, who was the young man that Adrian had seen? The man picked up the weapon and observed it. Roman's blood was still on it. John was going to use this to prove to all the werewolves that his men had killed the Grand Alpha, but after what Adrian had seen, the man had to put all his plans on hold. He needed to find out the deal with this Calvin. Only then would he understand why The Pentagon was keeping Roman's death a secret. While he sat, observing the blade, Charlie walked in. Her steps were light as she was moving in stealth. She was yet to noti
Before noon the next day, Calvin found himself at a park, leaning on a tree trunk , waiting for Charlene. The air was humid and though the sun was high up in the sky, the trees provided shade, covering the grounds. Though this was meant to be a relaxation spot for students of Hayford, many preferred not to patronize it for reasons best known to them. Rumors had it that a student had been mauled to death by strange beasts on the lawn while some claimed that the place simply gave off an eerie feel.Calvin could spot a few daring couples who had come to make out. It was the perfect spot for that. There was an abundance of trees and a river flowed through the park, keeping the place at a cool temperature.Staring at his wristwatch, Calvin could see that it was already noon. It was the time Charlene had agreed to see him in this very place. He had even come fifteen minutes earlier just to make sure that the rumors about the place weren't true. He had been waiting for a while and so far, h
Calvin ignored Lucille's question. Even he didn't know what he was doing here. Being the Alpha, his wolf couldn't ignore the distress howl of another werewolf and here he was. Since he couldn't help the situation, Calvin was now concerned about the numerous stares he was getting from the people. He didn't like being the center of attention in this place so he asked to see Lucille at a corner. "Is this some sort of werewolf community?" He asked her."This is my Pack" she responded. "I thought it was best for all of them to be on one place so that they could defend themselves in case of an attack.""I don't think that's working" Calvin pointed out."I can see that" Lucille said with a sigh. She was wearing a signature long coat and she tucked her hands into the pockets with a drawn countenance. For the first time, Calvin observed that she didn't have her usual confident look. "Are you alright?" He asked out of concern."No," she confessed. "That mother is mourning her only two child
At the appointed time, the members of Pentagon were already seated in the conference room, ready for the meeting the grand alpha scheduled for six o'clock. The room was brightly lit and sparsely furnished. There was a big screen, a huge table was at the middle having the shape of a Pentagon and five seats surround the edges, one for each member. Calvin came in less than a minute past six and he was glad that everyone was seated. Being the grand alpha, his elevated seat was at the edge. Standing by the entrance, Calvin took a cursory look at the four present. He observed how they sat so stiffly and he did not fail to notice their expensive attires. Even Rufus had a distinctive robe on. Calvin looked down at himself to compare his clothes with theirs. He was wearing a black denim jeans and a black jacket which he wore over a white shirt. Compared to everyone else, he was dressed unceremoniously. Even his black sneakers was the type that would make anyone look at them twice. They we
Standing by the window and observing the dark clouds, John Hayford could tell that it was going to be a full moon the following night. Werewolves were going to be shifting, howling and running through the night. It was what they usually did, the man thought with his face twisted in annoyance. John picked up a glass of wine that was sitting on a stool beside him. He slowly started moving the glass, observing it's content. He then inhaled for a second before taking a sip. He let the wine linger in his mouth as he savored the taste. A smile soon appeared on the man's face that made the wrinkles by the side of his eyes pretty obvious. He was satisfied with the taste of this wine.John Hayford was a tall, lean man with a receding hairline who always wore a monocle over his left eye. He had a sharp gaze and a brilliant face. He was a master minder who easily came up with excellent plans. With all the money he had, the man didn't have friends. He preferred to sit in his cold, dark office a