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_Things are about to get good. Enjoy!

• HP_

November 1992

"It was one of the most difficult eras for the existence of werewolves," Anthony explained, half an hour into his current lesson in werewolf lore. "We had to avoid capture both by the Germans and the cameras that were filming the newsreels on the war fronts. It didn't help that the Nazis had werewolves of their own, and they weren't all that interested in keeping things a secret. In a lot of ways, it was the worst nightmare of our enemies; a band of wolves that believed themselves to be superior to humanity, even moreso than the Aryan race. This was evident in their missions - not to kill, but to injure, so that the wounded would be infected and grow their ranks. The only reason we were able to eventually defeat the Überwulfs is because this was the one time in human history where werewolves and Paladins on the Allied side were willing to put aside their own differences and fight this threat together. With the natural hunting talents of the wolves working in concert with the marksmanship of the Paladins, a single regiment of troops was able to wipe out the threat before it could get out of control."

Tommy had been glued to his seat the entire time. Not because Mr. Grey's sermons were especially riveting, but because of the message he had gotten from his father shortly after moonrise. There was no way to know exactly where the danger was coming from, and he certainly couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, but his father was apparently convinced that the four of them were in trouble - enough to right a panicked note to Tommy telling him they needed to get out of the house as fast as possible.

"So that pretty much deals with the involvement of werewolves during World War II," Anthony declared. "There's more to discuss regarding the aftermath of the war, but did you have any questions? You guys have been pretty quiet tonight."

"Actually, Mr. Grey," Tommy piped up, "I think I need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, no worries," the Alpha replied. "Down the hall, first door on the right."

"Mind if I join him?" Tommy's father chimed in.

That elicited a bemused expression and a few eye-blinks from Anthony. "You want to join your son in the bathroom?"

"Uhh... yeah. I need to help him... y'know."

"That seems like a pretty simple exercise."

"I know, but Thomas can get a little... messy."

"Dad!!" Tommy whined, understanding what his father was trying to do but still not exactly thrilled with the tactics.

"Fine, go ahead," Mr. Grey acquiesced, clearly not wanting to hear any details. "There's some bleach in the cupboard under the sink if you need it."

"Thanks."

Father and son went down to the restroom, closing the door behind them. Immediately, Tommy's dad turned on both of the faucets in the sink full blast.

"Thomas," his father whispered, "we need to leave. Right now."

"Why? What's going omm-" Tommy began asked, only to have a hand clamped over his maw.

"Shhh!!" His father interrupted, then went back to speaking as softly as his vocal cords would allow. "We can't let them hear outside. Look, there's gonna be another Paladin attack here tonight, and he's coming for you."

"What? How?" Tommy asked. Even with the rain outside, Tommy should have been able to hear if there was an intruder lurking, but there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Still, the idea that a Paladin was about to strike the house again chilled his blood.

"You know how Mr. Grey had me wait in the guest room while you guys changed?" Tommy's father explained. Tommy nodded. "I was in there for about 20 minutes. I got a little bored, so I started looking around inside the closet. Honestly, I didn't even mean to find this; it fell off the top shelf and almost hit me in the head."

Tommy's father reached into his front pocket, and pulled a small metal object out of it.

"Recognize this?"

Tommy inspected it for a moment, when something caught his eyes that nearly made him actually cause the mess his father had talked about outside.

If it weren't for the hilt sticking out of each side, the slender, cylindrical object looked like a lipstick case. But it was what adorned the front of it that made Tommy's breath catch in his throat. Six small amethysts, perfectly cut and polished, were set into the silver case, representing a fleur de lis. Engraved around the symbol was a shield, and two diagonal swords crossing in the background. His father pulled the handle away from the case, just an inch or so, and the honed edge of a silver blade hiding inside reflected the light coming off the bathroom fixture, nearly shining directly into Tommy's eyes.

"That's..." Tommy gasped.

"The Paladin symbol, I know," his father confirmed, slipping the object back in his pocket. "I don't know what this thing is doing in the house of an Alpha, but we need to get out of here now before whoever this belongs to comes back."

"But... why did you say he's coming for me?"

"Thomas... your birth parents were killed by a Paladin, weren't they? You don't think he's going to want to come back for you now?"

Tommy's head shook back and forth in disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation he was in now. "We've gotta show this to Mr. Grey!"

"No. I'm not convinced he doesn't have something to do with all this."

"What?!"

"Think about it, Thomas. Anthony was so desperate to get us to spend last month here, and what happened? And then, he outright commanded us to be here tonight. This was a trap!"

"So... what do we do? How do we get out of here? And what about Andy?"

"I don't know, Thomas, I don't know. But whatever you do, don't let him think anything is out of the ordinary, and do not let him split us up. I'll figure something out."

A silent nod was all that Tommy could muster. They flushed the toilet once for show, then turned off the faucets and returned to the living room. Even though he was terrified of what was going on, he dare not tip anyone off.

"Everything come out OK?" Andy joked as the two of them returned to their seats.

Tommy gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Good," said Mr. Grey. "Now we can continue with the Berlin occupation-"

"Mr. Grey," Tommy's father interrupted.

The alpha sighed in annoyance. "What is it now, Michael?"

"Sorry, Anthony, but I think Tommy should probably spend some time on his homework before we get into another discussion."

Mr. Grey smirked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you guys to death."

"No, it's actually quite fascinating to hear about this stuff, and I'm sure Thomas would agree. But I don't think the teachers are going to accept a paper on werewolves in World Wars for credit. Thomas, why don't you and Andy go back into the bedroom and take care of that, and then we can talk a little more lore when you're done."

"Uhhh..." Tommy feigned ignorance, although he actually never did bring his backpack with him. "Actually, Dad, I think I forgot to bring it with me."

"You forgot it?" his father retorted, reacting a little more demonstratively than normal. "Come on, Thomas, I thought I told you to bring all of your schoolwork with you tonight." He sighed in exasperation. "Sorry, Anthony. We've gotta run back home and grab his stuff. Do you mind?"

"Absolutely I mind," Mr. Grey replied forcefully. "Are you crazy? What if someone sees him?"

"Don't worry, Anthony, nobody's gonna see him," Mr. Ainge rationalized. "It's raining and it's pitch dark outside. We'll be in the car the whole time. It'll take ten minutes."

"No way," Mr. Grey said back, standing his ground. "I'm not going to endanger the Secret over a homework assignment. If you want to run over there and grab it yourself, that's fine, but Thomas stays here."

Tommy felt a pang of panic shoot up his spine.

"Well, actually..." Mr. Ainge hesitated. "...I guess it's not going to kill his grades to miss one assignment."

"Really," Anthony mused, as his eyebrows perked upward. "So all of a sudden he doesn't need to do his homework anymore? Or are the two of you just looking for an excuse to bail out of here?"

"Of course not," Tommy's dad said defiantly. "I just... don't want to be away from him considering what happened last month."

"And what makes you think what happened last month is going to happen again?" Anthony got out of his seat, and began to step towards Mr. Ainge, staring the lone human right in the eyes while the human held the gaze. "Do you know something we don't know?"

Andy looked over at Tommy. "Yeah, man. What's going on?"

The four of them were frozen in silence for a long moment. Anthony looking angrily at Tommy's father while Andy looked plaintively at Tommy, searching for answers. Who knows how long the stares would have lasted if not for the sudden interruption of the phone ringing.

Mr. Grey looked back into the kitchen, where the nearest phone was located, and sighed. "I'll get it," he said, then looked directly at everyone else in the room. "Nobody moves a muscle, understand?" He lingered there for another second, then as the phone rang for the third time he finally turned around to head into the kitchen. Moments later, all three of them could hear the phone get picked up off the hook. "Hello. ...Yes, Benny."

Tommy and his dad both let out a sigh of relief as the conversation continued in the kitchen. Andy was still totally baffled.

"What the hell was that about?" Andy asked quietly.

Tommy's father quickly responded. "Guys, we need to go, right now."

"But Mr. Grey said-"

"I don't care what he said!" Mr. Ainge said sharply but without raising his voice. "If we don't leave now, someone is going to die!" He glanced back towards the kitchen to make sure the phone conversation was still going on, then turned back to the kids. "Go outside and get in the car. We'll drive somewhere safe for the night."

"What about Mr. Grey?" Tommy asked.

"What about him??" Tommy's dad said back.

"He's the Alpha!" Andy argued. "We can't leave him here!"

Mr. Ainge nodded his head widely. "Oh yes we can. Come on!"

Tommy, Andy, and Michael scrambled to their feet and started for the front door, and Tommy even got his hand on the doorknob when an angry voice was heard behind them.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

The three of them stopped in their tracks, as though their feet were glued to the floor. When their bodies finally responded to volition again, they all turned around to see Anthony, in the doorway of the kitchen, with a cold, piercing look on his lupine face.

"I got two ears, you know," Mr. Grey said. "And they each work ten times better than a pair of human ears. You don't think I heard everything you were talking about just now?" He took a step closer to the group, and then another. "So what's this I hear about someone dying tonight?"

"M-Mr. Grey," Tommy's father stammered. "I know this looks really bad, but let me explain..."

Another step. "You've got some nerve, Ainge." Another. "Undermining my authority as an Alpha over and over again like this. Now you even got my Junior trying to abandon me."

"Thomas, Andy..." Mr. Ainge instructed, but not before gulping down the cue ball in his throat, "...stay behind me."

"If you want to challenge my position as Alpha..." Anthony threatened, almost growling, "...then by all means, challenge me. After all, it's in the lore if you think you can do better. But it isn't going to end well for you. I can promise you that."

Even Tommy's instincts were frazzled. His father - his human, non-biological father - was now standing between him and the authority figure his wolf side was supposed to look to as a mentor. The two of them were still about 8 feet apart, but the heat of the confrontation made it seem like they were in each other's laps. Even despite the intense fear he knew his father was experiencing, and the peril of the situation, with a powerful monster of legend capable of ripping him to shreds looking directly at him, Tommy still marveled at the way that never, not once, did his father break eye contact.

At least until the moment when he turned back to look at the two boys - and then everything happened at once.

"TOMMY!! RUN!!"