Chapter 5: Wolf Hunters

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!"