The Rescue

The Rescue
POV: Kael
As I run through the dark streets of New Orleans, the ground keeps shaking under my feet. There are no streetlights, cars are colliding, and people are screaming because shadow wolves are hunting them like prey. I only want to reach Aria before it's too late, though.
A text message from an unknown number rings on my phone. It says, "Your partner is with us." On Canal Street, go to the old Ravencrest office building. She will die if you don't come by yourself.
My heart is beating so fast that I think it will burst. Aria is with the shadow dogs. The woman I love is being used as bait by the same monsters that just came out of hell.
I need to get help from Vincent and Marcus. I should gather my pack and storm the building with everything we've got. But the text said come alone, and I won't risk Aria's life by being smart.
My wolf is going crazy inside my chest, demanding I shift and run faster. But I need to stay human until I know what I'm going into. The warehouse area is three miles away, and every second I waste is another second Aria could be dying.
I steal a motorbike from outside a crashed police car and race through the empty streets. The city looks like a war zone. Shadow creatures are everywhere, spilling out of sewers and broken windows. Some are shaped like wolves, but others look like things that should never exist - twisted monsters with too many teeth and eyes that glow like fire.
The old Ravencrest warehouse sits at the end of Canal Street like a big tomb. My grandfather built it fifty years ago, back when our family claimed to run normal businesses. Now it's just empty space and bad thoughts.
I park the motorbike and creep toward the building. Every window is broken, and I can smell blood and fear coming from inside. But underneath those scents, I catch something that makes my wolf howl with rage - Aria's smell mixed with terror.
The front door hangs open like a mouth waiting to swallow me. I step inside and immediately know I've walked into a trap.
"Welcome home, grandson," says a voice from the darkness.
My blood turns to ice. That voice belongs to someone who should be dead.
A person steps into the dim light coming through the broken windows. He's tall and thin with gray hair and eyes that look like black holes. He wears an expensive suit that doesn't hide the fact that he's not quite solid - I can see through him to the wall behind.
"Grandfather?" I whisper.
"Hello, Kael," says the ghost of Aldric Ravencrest, the man who died in jail twenty years ago. "Surprised to see me?"
My mind runs. Aldric Ravencrest was my father's father, the most evil alpha our pack ever had. He tried to reveal werewolves to the human government and start a war that would have destroyed both species. When he died in jail, everyone said it was the best thing that ever happened to our family.
"You're dead," I say stupidly.
"Death is just another place to do business," Aldric laughs, and the sound makes my skin crawl. "I've been waiting in the shadow world for years, planning my comeback. And now, thanks to Luna's sacrifice, I'm finally free."
"Where's Aria?" I demand.
"Safe, for now," Aldric says. "But her safety depends on your cooperation."
He snaps his fingers, and three shadow wolves drag Aria out of the darkness. She's tied to a chair with silver wire that burns her skin wherever it touches. Her face is pale but her eyes are fierce with anger instead of fear.
"Kael, don't listen to him!" Aria shouts. "This is all a trick!"
One of the shadow dogs puts a claw to her throat, and she goes quiet.
"Here's what's going to happen," Aldric says quietly. "You're going to help me open a lasting doorway between this world and the shadow realm. With your alpha blood and her First Witch power, I can bring my entire army through."
"Aria doesn't have First Witch power," I say desperately. "You've got the wrong person."
Aldric laughs again. "Oh, my dear boy, you have no idea who your little mate really is, do you?"
My stomach drops. "What are you talking about?"
"Aria Castellano isn't just a mafia princess," Aldric says, enjoying my confusion. "She's also the last live heir of the Luna-Moon witch bloodline. The most powerful magical family in Louisiana."
I stare at Aria in shock. "Is that true?"
"I don't know!" Aria says desperately. "I never knew about any witch stuff until a few days ago!"
"Her great-grandmother was the witch who banished my shadow army fifty years ago," Aldric says. "When Luna Torres died, it broke the seal keeping us trapped. But we're still not fully free. We need the blood of a Luna-Moon witch, freely given, to finish our escape."
"And if she refuses?" I ask.
"Then I kill everyone she loves, starting with you," Aldric says simply. "But first, I'll make her watch as I turn you into one of my shadow slaves. You'll spend forever as my slave, hunting and killing innocent people."
The silver rope around Aria starts shining, and she screams in pain. I can smell her skin burning.
"Stop!" I roar, taking a step forward.
The shadow dogs growl and press their claws deeper into Aria's throat. Drops of blood run down her neck.
"Choose carefully, grandson," Aldric says. "Help me freely, and I'll let her live as my prisoner. Refuse, and watch her die slowly while you become my monster."
I look at Aria, and she shakes her head slightly. Even with silver burning her skin and teeth at her throat, she's telling me not to give in.
That's when I smell something that changes everything.
Another smell drifts through the warehouse - werewolf, but not from my pack. It's familiar but wrong, like someone I know but different.
"You smell it too," Aldric says with an evil smile. "My other grandson has arrived."
My heart stops. "Other grandson?"
"Did your father never tell you?" Aldric asks. "You have a brother, Kael. A twin brother who died the night you were born. Or so everyone thought."
Footsteps echo through the building, and a figure steps out of the shadows. He looks exactly like me - same height, same build, same face. But his eyes are totally black, and when he smiles, I can see fangs that are too sharp.
"Hello, brother," says my dead twin. "I've been waiting so long to meet you."