by Riley Storm
Shadow’s Howl
High House Canis Book 4
Riley Storm
Shadow’s Howl
Copyright© 2019 Riley Storm
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, without written permission from the author. The sole exception is for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
Edited by Annie Jenkinson, Just Copyeditors
Cover Designs by Kasmit Covers
Contents
Shadow’s Howl
Note from the Author
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
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31
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Other Books by Riley Storm
About the Author
Note from the Author
Hi there!
Thank you so much for picking up Shadow’s Howl. While this book and series are self-contained and can be read alone, if you want to get the full experience of the Plymouth Falls world, you would be best off starting with the High House Ursa series and book one, Bearing Secrets which is linked below.
Either way, I hope you enjoy!
-Riley Storm
High House Ursa
Bearing Secrets
Furever Loyal
Mated to the Enemy
Shifting Alliances
Blood Bearon
1
Three Months Earlier
He was trapped.
“Why did you want to meet here?”
Liam turned, relief spreading across him as the person he’d been waiting for finally arrived. “Layton, where the hell have you been?”
Layton Canis, his best friend, confidant and the only person Liam knew he could count on in these dark days, smiled at him. “Sorry, man, you know how it goes sometimes. I’m here now. What’s up?”
“You heard?” Liam asked, resting his back against the cool stone. They were meeting in the bowels of Moonshadow Manor, the centuries old home of High House Canis. The first of their ancestors to flee to North America had settled in the bones of this structure, and that’s where Liam and Layton were now meeting.
The stone he rested against had been hewn from quarries by people he could trace his direct lineage to. It had a hallowed feel to it, unlike the upper levels, where the Tyrant King Laurien now reigned, inflicting his madness upon the rest of the House, dividing it. Fracturing it. Possibly even killing it, if something wasn’t done.
“Heard what?” Layton asked, bumping fists with his friend before taking up station on the other side of the hallway. Both of them were on guard. It was a necessity these days, even within the Manor itself.
Nobody could be trusted anymore.
“About our glorious leader’s new grand plan?” Liam said, spitting out the term, heavy with sarcasm.
“No. I don’t think so,” Layton replied, frowning. “What did you hear?”
“He’s losing it, Lay, I’m telling you. When he got the news yesterday that Logan and some of the others left, he went ballistic. Sent out a party to hunt them down.”
Layton chewed on his lower lip. “Who did he send?”
“Lyken.”
Layton hissed. “That savage? Shit. If he finds them, he’s just going to kill them all, not bring them back.”
“Just another sign we need to get out of here,” Liam urged. “Before his next plan comes into effect, and we can’t run.” He shuddered, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.
What had become of his House, of the beautiful place he recalled? The past several years had seen it spiral into a pit of shadows and darkness. Internal fighting, old feuds springing to the fore. You were just as likely to get stabbed in the back by one of your own as you were to go down fighting the wolves’ natural enemies, the bears, or any of the other paranormal elements in the world.
It was madness, is what it was, and Liam was sick of standing by just watching it happen. He needed to do something—anything, to stop it from spreading. If that meant fleeing the Manor, joining up with the resistance and helping them out, then so be it. He had made his decision, and he was confident Layton would not only understand but would come with him. He trusted him.
“You want to leave?” Layton asked cautiously. “Like Logan and the others?”
“Yes.” Liam nodded vigorously. “I don’t see how we have any other choice, Lay. He’s going to start putting tracking implants in us any day now. When that happens, we’ll never be able to get away. We’re not going to rot here, man. We can’t. So, we leave. Tonight. We get out of here, hook up with Logan, and we fight back. Retake our House, restore sanity.”
Layton was looking at him and nodding. “You’re right. We have to do something about this,” he said. “We can’t just stand by and let our House be torn in two.”
Liam sighed, his entire body sagging in relief before he drew himself up straight. “I knew I could count on you, buddy.”
The truth was, Liam didn’t have anyone else to count on. His parents had passed away when he was much younger, and his two brothers had both been killed during a confrontation with House Ursa two years ago. Liam had mourned for them all and moved on, as was expected of a shifter. They didn’t let themselves linger over death very long. Instead, they celebrated life extra vigorously.
But that lack of family support left Liam with very few places to turn. Thankfully, Layton had welcomed him with open arms, and the two had become fast friends. They did everything together, and if there was one person Liam wanted at his side at a time like this, it was Layton.
“How are we going to do this?” Layton asked, rubbing his chin as he stared off into nothingness.
“I was thinking we go out a couple of minutes early. Head for the perimeter. Find the guards, tell them we’re shift change. They head back, we go over, shift, and then make a break for it. It’s simple, effective, and they won’t see it coming.”
Layton considered that. “I could get us proper uniforms.”
Liam nodded; he’d been hoping for that. While Layton was part of the Canis House guard, Liam was not. He had no access to the armory. He couldn’t pull this off alone.
“You get the uniforms, meet me at the south-west service tunnel exit shaft, and we do it together. Quick. Easy. Simple.” Liam bit the inside of his lip, waiting for that last confirmation.
“What time?” Layton asked, smiling grimly.
“I think we go for the evening change. Shadows, not darkness. They’ll expect us to try something later, when it’s darker. If we go earlier, people will be less alert. We’ll get a bigger head start. If we can make it to Danzer Creek, we can lose them there.”
The water would wash away their scent, preventing the pursuers from picking it up until they found where the pair exited the water. But without knowing if they went up or downstream, it would leave them plenty of ground to cover.
“Okay, meet you there at eight thirty,” Layton said. “With some uniforms. Don’t be late.”
Liam snorted. “Shouldn’t I be saying that to you? Better make it twenty after eight.”
His best friend grinned and nodded. “Deal. I’ll be here.” He turned to go but paused midway. “And Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure where you were in regard to everything going on, your feelings and thoughts on it. I’m glad you trusted me, buddy. I feel better about it all now.”
Liam grinned, giving his best friend another fist bump. “You have no idea how relieved I am to know you’re feeling the same. This isn’t gonna be easy, but we need to do it.”
“Agreed,” Layton said. “But I better get going. Gonna have to plan out how to sneak those uniforms out without being asked too many questions.”
Liam grinned, waved his friend off, and watched him walk back up the tunnel. He hated having to meet so clandestinely, in the deepest, darkest tunnels of Moonshadow Manor. But the upper floors were riddled with bugs and shifters with ears so acute even the softest whispering risked being overheard.
His expression grew grim as he reflected on what happened to those who were exposed for plotting against the Tyrant King. Unconsciously, his gaze shifted, looking through stone walls and down several more stories, to the dungeons, where several dozen openly anti-Laurien rebels were now living in near squalor after having been caught and exposed.
Never before had a King of House Canis been so incredibly insecure that he couldn’t handle the fact not everyone supported his rule. That was to be expected. The compromises made to ensure a King did the best possible job of ruling for all subjects was what made House Canis the place it was.
The place it had been, you mean. What it is now is a cesspool of backstabbing, plotting and pure, malignant evil.
Liam couldn’t wait to get out of there. Just the day before, the Knight of House Canis, its successor, Logan, had taken nearly a dozen of his closest supporters and fled the Manor. If anyone could successfully organize against the Tyrant King, it would be Logan.
That was where Liam would go. He would find these rebels, and then he and Layton would join their cause. Fight for the side of right, and hopefully restore balance to their House. It was either that or end up in the dungeons with the others.
No. That simply wasn’t an option.
Slapping a hand against the stone, Liam begged for forgiveness from his ancestors, and then he too headed back up into the newer areas of the Manor. It was going to be a long ten hours, but he would have to act like nothing was wrong.
Tonight, he thought, tonight, everything is going to change.
2
Every footstep echoed out like a shockwave. It all sounded so incredibly loud, even though Liam knew it really wasn’t.
Not only that, but there was nobody around to hear his footsteps as he paced back and forth. Not a soul roamed the lower levels, unless they had a very specific reason to be there. Even fewer reached into the service tunnels below the lowest levels, except during annual inspections.
Or if they were planning something nefarious.
“Where are you?” he whispered for the tenth time, checking his phone.
8:25.
It was just like Layton to be late. The man was absolutely incapable of showing up somewhere on time. It was like his inner clock was wired differently than the rest of the world, and it drove Liam crazy. Most of the time he could overlook it, let it slide, but on a night like tonight, where it very literally was a matter of life or death, he was starting to get pissed.
If they were too late, they wouldn’t be able to beat the shift change to the perimeter and slip away undetected. Those minutes before anyone realized anything was wrong, those were the minutes they needed to build a lead. To run for it, in a quite literal manner.
Everything Liam owned was either back in his room, or on his person, and the only thing he expected to make it with him, was a small bag filled with a spare change of clothes and a large wad of cash. The bag had straps specially designed so he could put it on and shift without it getting destroyed, and then use his snout to tighten it around his upper torso.
Nothing else was coming with him. Except, supposedly, for his best friend who was still nowhere to be seen.
Could something have happened to Layton? A chill went through him at that. If someone had exposed the two of them and their plan, then maybe the Tyrant King had already clapped Layton in chains and tossed him in the dungeon with others. Layton would have to sneak in and free him, if that were the case.
He started plotting in his head, figuring out the best way to do such a task. Leaving without his friend wasn’t an option. He and Layton did everything together.
A boot scraped on stone. Liam went to full alert, hoping it was his best friend, but prepared for it to be someone else. He was ready to run. But then he heard a familiar voice.
“Liam.”
He sighed. “Layton. Dammit, you scared me. Where have you been?”
His friend came into view. Liam stiffened as he noticed something off about his friend.
“Lay, where are your boots? I–”
Even before he smelled the second scent behind him, Liam knew what had happened. There was only one reason for Layton not to be wearing his boots. He’d wanted to move in total silence so Liam wouldn’t know more than one person was coming.
Liam spun, kicking out hard with his right leg. He had to guess where he was aiming, but he wasn’t far off. The heel of his boot took the second shifter in the side, flinging him sideways and into the wall.
A third shifter came out from around the corner behind Layton and charged.
“Why?” Liam asked, staring at his friend, trying to process what had happened. Even his brain refused to think it.
The third shifter came on, and Liam almost went down, so dumbstruck was he as the revelation finally hit home.
Layton had betrayed him. Exposed him to the Tyrant King and his men.
At the last second, Liam brought his knee up into the onrushing guard’s stomach. There was no stopping the momentum, but he heard the air explode from his attacker’s lungs, and as they fell, he used that momentary paralysis to scramble free. Cupping his hands, he slapped them over the guard’s ears, deafening him.
Then in one huge hand, he took the guard’s head and flexed his arm, driving the skull into the stone floor.
“How could you do this?” he snarled, getting to his feet, facing his friend while the first guard recovered from the kick. “How could you do this to me?”
“Because,” Layton said. “This is the only way, Liam.”
“No, it’s not,” he said, grabbing the first attacker and tossing him at Layton.
His friend ducked, and the still-stunned guard acted like a missile as he slammed into another pair of guards charging up the hallway, no longer bothering to act stealthy.
He’s not your friend anymore. He betrayed you.
“It is,” Layton said, not moving to attack as the three still-conscious shifters got to their feet. “I told you, we can’t stand by and let our House be torn in two. We have a rightful King. It is those like Logan, and like you, who threaten our House. If you would follow your orders from your rightful leader, then we wouldn’t have any problems. Loyalty is the right way.”
“Those orders are madness!” Liam shouted, his voice raw and ragged with pain as he realized what was happening. “You have to see that, Lay! You have to! The man is insane!”
“He’s our King, Liam.” Layton stepped aside as the trio came back at him.
Fury boiled his blood, and Liam went on the offensive. He charged all three guards, uncaring of his own safety. That didn’t matter now. Nothing did. He d
idn’t feel pain. Didn’t feel the cold of the walls, or the warmth of blood as he smashed the first shifter’s nose in.
He didn’t feel the bone break in the arm as he snapped it over his knee. Or the dislocation as he kicked the third guard’s knee in. Hell, he didn’t even feel the pulse in Layton’s throat as he grabbed his former friend by the throat, picked him up and power-slammed him into the ground.
All he felt was numb. Even the anger was muted. It was just…nothing, to him.
“I should kill you right now,” he whispered savagely. “Crush your neck for what you did to me.”
“I did what’s right,” Layton said fervently, his eyes shining in the faint light. “You know it, deep down inside. You can’t deny it.”
Liam shivered. He’d never heard his friend talk like this, never seen him act like this. It was like a stranger was talking to him. How could he not have seen this? How could he have been so wrong about someone he’d been so close to?
“I can deny it,” Liam said. “I can, and I am. And that’s what makes me stronger than you. A better person than you. Because I recognize this is wrong. It’s evil, Layton, and so are you.”
He tightened his fingers around the shifter’s throat, cutting off blood flow until his eyes rolled back up into his head.
Turning, he kicked the shifter with the broken nose in the groin as hard as he could, trying not to shudder as something gave way under his blow. Picking up his pack, Liam jogged onward, down the south-west service tunnel and toward the exit.
Behind him he left four unconscious or badly wounded shifters, and one traitor of an ex-best friend.
That was what hurt the most. Not the violence against his fellow wolf shifters, though that didn’t feel good to him either, but he had barely known those men. With Layton, however, Layton, he’d been through so much, done so much. It hurt him on a level he was certain he wasn’t even processing.
Someone he’d trusted with his entire being, with every fiber of his personality, had betrayed him, showing a side he’d never even known existed.
It just goes to show, I guess you can’t trust anyone.