Chapter 58: Exposed

One hour. That's all we had before the police arrived.

The pack gathered in the common room. Nervous. Scared. Everyone talking at once.

"We have to run," someone said. "Pack up and go."

"We can't run. That makes us look guilty," another said.

"We deny everything. Say the video is fake."

"It went viral. Millions of people saw it."

"Enough!" Cole's Alpha voice cut through everything. The room went quiet. "Panicking won't help. We need a plan."

Everyone looked at me.

Right. Luna. My call.

I thought fast. We had maybe fifty minutes now.

"The video. How clear is it? Can you actually see wolves shifting?"

Andres pulled up his laptop. Showed us the video.

My heart sank. It was very clear. Two wolves shifting mid-fight near the motel. Bodies changing. Fur growing. Everything visible.

Four million views already. Comments everywhere.

"Real wolves fighting people!"

"What is this? CGI?"

"That's not natural. Those are monsters."

"Okay," I said. "Here's what we do. We don't deny the video. Denying something millions of people already saw just makes us look like liars."

"Then what?" Stacey asked.

"We control the story. Tell them what we want them to believe." I looked at Andres. "Is there anything in that video that proves it was people who shifted? Not just wolves who appeared?"

Andres watched it again. Carefully. "The shift happens fast. And it's dark. You can see shapes changing but it's not super clear."

"So we can argue it was regular wolves. Wild animals that wandered into the fight."

"But the fighting. The coordination. Wolves working together with people." Andres shook his head. "That's harder to explain."

"We say they're trained wolves. The gym trains animals as part of its program." I looked at Cole. "Do we have any actual dogs or wolves on the property?"

"No."

"We need some. Fast."

Cole pulled out his phone. Made a call. "Hey. I need three big dogs. Like yesterday. Bring them to the gym. Yeah. Right now. I'll explain later."

He hung up. "My friend breeds Malamutes. Big ones. He'll bring three over."

"Good. When the police come, those are our wolves. Trained guard animals." I started pacing. "We also need a story for the people in the video. The ones who shifted."

"We say they were wearing costumes," Alex suggested. "Halloween style wolf suits."

"In October? Maybe believable." I thought. "But why would people in wolf costumes be in a motel fight?"

"A themed event gone wrong?" Stacey tried.

"Too weak."

"What about the explosion?" Marcus asked. "They'll definitely ask about that."

"Gas leak. The motel was old. Someone's car backfired near a gas line." I looked at The Elder. "Can we make that work?"

"The motel owner is human. If he panics and tells the truth, it falls apart."

"What does the motel owner know exactly?"

"That people fought on his property and his building exploded." Andres typed fast. "His name is Frank Greer. Sixty two years old. Criminal record. Small stuff. Owes a lot of money."

"Cole. Can we pay off his debt? Fast?"

Cole smiled. "Already thinking like me. Yes. I'll make some calls. Frank gets his debts cleared and a new building. He says gas leak and nothing else."

"Thirty minutes," Alex announced.

"Okay. One more problem. The wolves that were clearly fighting people on camera. If police look hard enough, they might ID some of them."

"Already handled." Andres showed his screen. "I'm running a filter over the viral video. Blurring faces. It won't stop everyone but it slows down identification."

"Good." I looked at the pack. "Everyone who shifted at the motel. You were not there. You were here. At the gym. Training. Clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Andres, I need timestamps. Security footage showing everyone here at that time."

"Creating it now."

"Is that legal?" Marcus asked.

"Is shifting in public legal?" I shot back. "We protect the pack first. Ask legal questions later."

Fifteen minutes.

Cole's friend arrived. Three huge Malamutes on leashes. Beautiful. Intimidating.

"These are our guard animals," Cole told the pack. "Learn their names. Know them like you've always known them."

"Their names are Storm, Shadow, and Frost," the friend said. He looked confused but didn't ask questions.

Ten minutes.

I changed into clean clothes. Professional looking. Pulled my hair back.

"You look like a Luna," Stacey said.

"I need to look human. Normal. Calm." I straightened my shirt. "Like nothing unusual happened."

"Can you pull that off?"

"Watch me."

Five minutes.

Police cars pulled up outside. Three of them. Plus an unmarked car. Plain clothes detective.

Detective Morris. The same woman from before. When Brian attacked.

She remembered me. That could be good or very bad.

I walked outside. Cole beside me. Alex and Stacey behind.

"Miss Dillard." Morris looked at me carefully. "Quite the night you've had."

"Detective. Thank you for coming."

"You had any choice?" She looked at the gym. At Cole. "There's a video online. You've seen it?"

"Yes. Our guard dogs got loose during the fight. It looked worse than it was."

"Guard dogs." Morris looked at the three Malamutes now chained by the door. "Those your dogs?"

"Yes. They're trained but they got spooked by the explosion."

"The explosion caused by a gas leak."

"Old building. Old pipes. The fight caused vibrations. Something ruptured." I kept my voice steady. "It was an accident."

"And the woman who caused the fight? Erica Hartman?"

"She's here. We've detained her. Ready to hand her over to you on assault and property destruction charges."

Morris studied my face. "You're very calm for someone who had a motel blown up around them."

"I've had a rough few weeks. This barely makes the top ten."

Morris almost smiled. "Smart answer." She looked past me. At the gym. "Mind if we look around?"

"Of course not." I stepped aside. "But Detective? The video. The wolves. That's not what it looks like."

"Then what does it look like?"

"Trained animals in a chaotic situation. Plus some people who like wolf themed fight gear." I met her eyes. "This gym trains fighters. Some of them are creative with their look."

"Uh huh." Morris walked inside.

I followed. Heart hammering.

But face calm. Steady. Luna face.

As we walked, my phone buzzed. Text from unknown number.

Not Erica. Someone else.

"The detective isn't here for the video. She's here for something else. Check her jacket pocket. She has a warrant. Not for Erica. For you. They think you're involved in your mother's death. And James's."

My steps slowed. Just for a second.

Then I kept walking.

Because showing fear now would destroy everything.