Chapter 6 : The Wolf's Den
The industrial district squatted along Portland's eastern edge like a monument to better economic times. Rusted warehouses. Empty loading docks. The skeletons of businesses that hadn't survived the last recession.
Monroe navigated the maze of abandoned buildings with unsettling familiarity.
"Used to hunt here," he admitted, not looking at me. "Before I reformed. Good territory. Lots of hiding spots. Prey that wouldn't be missed."
I didn't comment. Whatever Monroe had been, he was trying to be something different now. That mattered more than history.
[TRACKING ACTIVE]
[BLUTBAD SCENT: STRENGTHENING]
[MULTIPLE SIGNATURES DETECTED]
The warnings had been multiplying for the past hour. What started as a single trail had branched, split, converged into something more complicated than we'd expected.
"The killer's scent goes this way." Monroe pointed toward a hulking structure that might have been a meatpacking plant in better days. "But there's something wrong. The scent patterns don't match solo movement. Someone else has been through here. Multiple someones."
"A meeting point?"
"Or a trap."
We both considered the implications of that.
"If it's a trap, they're waiting for someone to follow the trail." I checked the knife under my jacket—Daniel's habit, now mine. "Question is whether they're waiting for you or for me."
"Does it matter?"
"Affects our approach."
Monroe's lips twisted. Almost a smile. "You're a strange Grimm, Cross. Most of your kind would charge in there convinced they're invincible."
"Most Grimms probably have more than three days of experience and a concealed knife."
The admission surprised him. I could see him recalculating, reassessing the man he'd been following through abandoned factories.
"Three days?"
"Give or take." I started toward the meatpacking plant. "If it's a trap, better to spring it knowingly than walk in blind. Either way, the answers are inside."
Monroe followed. His woge flickered at the edges—the wolf rising closer to the surface as danger approached.
The plant's doors hung off rusted hinges. Inside, darkness swallowed whatever light filtered through broken windows. The smell hit immediately: old blood, rancid fat, and underneath it something fresher. Fear-sweat and fresh meat.
"Someone's here," Monroe whispered. "Alive. Injured."
We moved deeper into the building. The System painted threat indicators at the edge of my vision, but the source kept shifting. Whatever was watching us knew how to stay hidden.
The blood trail led to a storage room in the back. The door was partially open, spilling sick yellow light into the corridor.
Inside, a man huddled against the far wall. Blutbad—the woge was visible, his face caught between human and wolf. Blood matted his fur. His right arm hung at a wrong angle.
"Monroe?" The voice cracked. "That you?"
Monroe pushed past me, dropping to his knees beside the injured Wesen. "Hap? What the hell happened?"
Hap Lasser. The name meant nothing to Daniel's memories, but Monroe's reaction suggested old friendship. Close enough that seeing Hap like this made his own woge flicker wildly.
"They found me. Said they'd let me go if I told them where she was." Hap's breathing came in ragged gasps. "I didn't know, Monroe. I swear I didn't know what they wanted her for."
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"The woman in the woods. I—" Hap's face crumpled. The confession poured out between sobs. "They said it would bring Angelina down. They said she deserved it. Said if I helped, they'd give me pure prey. Real hunting again. I couldn't... I fell off the wagon months ago and they knew. They knew I was hungry."
[CONFESSION DETECTED: HAP LASSER]
[MURDER OF SARAH MARTINEZ: CONFIRMED]
[MOTIVE: MANIPULATION VIA ADDICTION]
[ORCHESTRATOR: UNKNOWN]
Monroe went absolutely still. The kind of stillness that preceded violence.
"You killed that woman."
"They told me when and where! I didn't plan it!" Hap grabbed Monroe's jacket with his good hand. "Someone set it up. All of it. They wanted Angelina blamed. They wanted—"
The warehouse door slammed behind us.
[AMBUSH DETECTED]
[HOSTILE WESEN: MULTIPLE]
[WOGE SIGNATURES: 3 BLUTBAD (FERAL)]
[THREAT LEVEL: SEVERE]
I spun. Three shapes emerged from the shadows of the main floor, moving with predatory grace. Full woge—snouts extended, claws visible, red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
"Well." The lead Blutbad's voice was a growl wrapped in human words. "The strange Grimm finally comes to play. We've been watching you, monster-lover. Asking questions. Making friends."
Monroe rose slowly, putting himself between the attackers and the injured Hap. His own woge completed, teeth extending, muscles bunching under skin that rippled with barely contained power.
"Karl." The name came out flat. "Should have known you'd be involved in something this pathetic."
"Pathetic?" Karl laughed. "We're cleaning house, Monroe. Removing the weak. The compromised. The race-traitors who cozy up to Grimms instead of killing them." His eyes fixed on me. "And now we get to add one more monster to the pile."
"Three against two." I calculated distances, cover options, escape routes. None of them looked good. "Someone's confident."
"Three against one and a half." Karl's smile showed too many teeth. "Monroe's gone soft. All those years pretending to be human. He's forgotten what real hunting feels like."
The other two Blutbaden fanned out, circling. Textbook pack tactics—divide, overwhelm, destroy.
"Hap." Karl's attention shifted to the wounded Blutbad. "You talked. That's unfortunate."
Hap's scream lasted less than two seconds. The nearest feral crossed the room in a blur, claws opening Hap's throat before Monroe could react. Blood sprayed across the storage room floor.
Monroe roared. The sound wasn't human. Wasn't even animal. Pure Blutbad rage, centuries of predator instinct compressed into a single moment.
He launched himself at Hap's killer. They crashed together in a tangle of fur and fury, snarling and snapping in the confined space.
Which left me alone with Karl and his remaining ally.
"No weapons." Karl stalked forward, savoring the moment. "No backup. No experience. What exactly were you planning to do if you found us?"
The knife was in my hand. I didn't remember drawing it.
"I was planning to ask questions." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "But questions can wait."
Karl lunged.
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