pretty sure that having Ian fight was kinda like pressing the button to release the nukes.
Then Sam propped up her tablet and turned it to face us. Lifting a brow, she pressed play. "Ground us if you want, but I think this is kinda important," she said.
At first, I couldn't make out what was on the video. There was a lot of darkness and a bright spot in the middle. I wasn't the only one who moved closer to get a better look. It seemed the bright spot was a fire burning in a metal barrel. In the darkness were two different mobile homes - one on each side. This had to be the yard space between them. And there, sitting in a lawn chair, was Damon, shirtless.
Then two men dragged a third up before him. The men said something but their voices were too low to make out. Just random mumbles coming from the cheap tablet speakers. The man being held tried to struggle, doing his best to get free or fight back, but the others were simply too strong.
And then Damon shoved off his pants and shifted. The wolf was brown and white, but not in the typical pattern. More like Bridget, yet not as striking. Without warning, it simply lunged forward, sinking its teeth into the struggling man's leg. There was one thrash, and then the wolf released and backed up, shifted into Damon again, and began to pull his pants back on.
He flicked a finger and the pair of men took their captive toward the mobile home on the right side. As they got closer, a curtain opened, someone's head appeared, and then a light came on over the door. I watched as they dragged the now-injured man inside, clearly against his will, and the video ended.
"They're making converts," Olivia said. "I know you can't hear it on the tape, but Damon told the guy that this would either be the best day or the worst day of his life. Welcome to the new army."
"Shit," Seth breathed.
"Yeah, that's not the worst part," Samantha said, tabbing back through the time stream of the video. When she got where she wanted, she dragged at the screen, enlarging a corner. "That window in the mobile? I didn't notice this until I was just trimming it down to show you." And she tapped to play again.
There, at the back of the room, visible through that window, was a man. A young one. It looked like he had a chain around his arm, and he was pulling at it. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped and looked at the window. Sam paused the video again.
"That," she said, "is Jonah Sims. The missing football player who supposedly ran away. The boy whose ring Damon's girlfriend gave you."
"He's chained up in there," Olivia said. "Damon's making converts, guys. That's how he got so many wolves."
"How many?" Trent asked.
"A lot," Olivia told him. "The whole trailer park is filled with people who have amber eyes. There are wolves lying in yards and running across the street. I saw a symbol for the Dry Creek pack on a car, so maybe they merged?"
"Where's that pack?" Gabby asked.
Ian scrubbed at his mouth. "Next county over. I'm honestly more worried about the bite."
"Full moon's coming next Friday, Ian," Nik pointed out. "He's got at least two waiting to turn. How many more has he shifted? And those wolves that attacked us on the trails?"
"Damon was there," Gabby said. "I saw that same wolf, I just didn't know it was him."
"Fuck," Ian hissed, glancing over to me. "If he has that many new wolves?"
"Younger men, too," Pax pointed out. "Looks like eighteen and maybe mid-twenties."
"Think he's scouting?" Trent asked.
I was so lost. "Scouting?"
Trent huffed like he wasn't sure how to reply. "Um, sometimes packs need new blood. It's not unheard of to go looking for able-bodied men and women, tell them what we are - slowly and over time, mind you - and offer to make them wolves. Some call us insane. Others think it's amazing and want to be converted."
"Keeps our lines from getting a little close," Pax admitted. "It's also not a very common practice. Kinda like marrying girls the day they turn eighteen. It's legal, technically, but kinda gross at the same time."
Ok, I could see that. "Normally, you just, what? Wait to see if you get caught? Or..."
"Lovers," Ian admitted. "Boyfriends, girlfriends. We meet humans, we become close, and we offer to bring