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_Hey guys, sorry this update took so long to get finished. My car got stolen a few weeks ago, so I've been dealing with all of the insurance headaches, not to mention finding transportation for a job where having a car is essential. The good news is that things are relatively back to normal now, so I should have the story finished up in the next couple of weeks. This part is a relatively long one, and covers a lot of ground, so it should make up for the long wait. Enjoy!

• HP_

Part 27 - November 1992

"TOMMY!! RUN!!"

Before Tommy's father could even finish the command, Anthony was already starting to lunge at the man. That split-second of delay it took for the information to process through Tommy's brain was just long enough for the Alpha wolf to pounce, closing the gap between him and Tommy's dad. Even as Tommy had managed to spin around and turn the doorknob to open it, the force of the tackle was enough to drive his father right into the two young wolves, sending all four of them onto the ground in a heap and forcing the front door closed again.

From the bottom of the pile, Tommy looked up at Anthony, whose eyes were now glazed red with rage. He didn't know what had caused the Alpha to become so hostile, but he could see in the powerful werewolf's eyes the same type of unbridled fury in Anthony that he'd experienced himself at least twice before. A deafening roar was let out of Anthony's maw, and Tommy could feel the echoes of it rattling off the walls of the narrow entry way. A long, furry arm was raised, claws brandished as Anthony wound up for what looked to be a killing strike. Even with two people between them, Tommy saw from Anthony's eyes that the attack was directed at him. With no way to defend himself, Tommy could only clench his eyes shut, preparing to be killed.

But instead of feeling the pain of claws against his face and body, Tommy felt nothing. Instead, the roar that had been ringing in his ears was replaced with a short, high-pitched, agonizing yelp.

Tommy opened his eyes. Anthony was no longer atop the pile. The Alpha wolf had recoiled, back arched in pain. The boy's vision was drawn to a small, shiny object, protruding from Anthony's left oblique. As Anthony staggered backwards, still stunned by the attack, Tommy, Andy, and Tommy's father managed to scramble back to their feet. They couldn't help but watch as the Alpha looked down at the golden hilt of the knife that had been plunged into him - the very same knife that Tommy's father had discovered in the guest room while they were all changing. Anthony grabbed it, yanked it out, inspected it, and threw it angrily to the ground.

"Dad...?" Tommy said in a daze, finally putting two and two together about what his father had just done to save them.

Tommy's father turned around to look at the young wolves. "Get out, kids!" he shouted. "Go to Linus!"

By the time his father had finished speaking, Anthony had recovered enough for another charge. This time, though, Mr. Ainge held his ground long enough to allow the kids to get the door open. As they rushed outside, Tommy could hear as the enraged Alpha wolf's jaws clamped down into his father's body, and his father screamed in pain.

"DAD!!" Tommy screamed, turning around to look back into the house.

Andy grabbed him by the shoulder. "Come on, Tommy! We need to go!"

Running as fast as they were, it didn't take much adjustment to drop onto all fours and take advantage of the greater speed that came from their wolf forms.

"What the hell is going on?" Andy asked frantically. "Why did your dad tell us to get out of there?"

"That knife... the one Dad used on Anthony just now," Tommy explained. "He found it in the house tonight. It had the Paladin symbol on it. Dad thought Anthony had something to do with the Paladin attack last month, and that we were the targets for another one tonight."

"Seriously?" Andy retorted. "Anthony's been Alpha for years. Why would he want us to get attacked? Why would he want someone to kill his son?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to spend the night there and find out."

"God damn it, Tommy. You realize what's gonna happen if your dad was wrong? We're all dead."

"Did you see Mr. Grey just now?" Tommy argued back. "He was ready to kill me."

"Why??"

"I don't know!" Tommy shouted. "Look, we gotta go to Linus' house like Dad said."

"No way!" Andy replied, slowing down enough to return to a bipedal stance. "I'm not hiding out in a Paladin's house."

"We don't have a choice. Anywhere else we go, Mr. Grey is gonna come after us. The only place we're gonna be safe from him is with a Paladin."

Andy shook his head in disbelief. "That's some fucked up logic right there, Tommy."

"Fine. You go where ever you want, then." Tommy turn around and started for the Colton house. "I'm going. Ryan's there too, and I need to see how he's doing."

"Wait, Tommy!" Andy pleaded, causing Tommy to hold up. "All right, we'll go to the Paladin's house. Geez, this was so much easier when we thought you were just a falsie."

The boys finished off the remaining 100 yards to the Colton's house, and knocked loudly on the door.

"I wonder how a Paladin's going to react to having three werewolves spending a full moon at his house," Andy mused aloud. "I know if this was the other way around, my dad would flip out."

As they waited for the door to open, Tommy couldn't help but look around nervously. Even though they had gotten away from the immediate threat of a raging Alpha, the danger of another attack coming from any angle had him in a constant state of panic. That panic was replaced by confusion when the front door opened and neither Linus nor his wife were there to greet the boys, but a familiar face to both of them ushered them in.

"Benny??" Tommy said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The gregarious werewolf swiftly closed the door behind them. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why aren't you at Anthony's place? What if someone saw you just now?"

"There was another attack," Andy replied. "Tommy's dad is badly hurt."

"What??" Benny gasped. "Just now?" Tommy nodded in response. "Well, then we know for sure that Linus isn't the one behind the attacks, 'cause he's been here this whole time. Your dad had me come over to help Ryan out through his first moon since you guys were gonna be occupied "

As if on cue, Linus emerged from the hallway into the living room where the wolves had gathered. "What's going on?"

"Another attack," Benny replied. "Tommy's father is injured. They say it's bad."

"What about your Alpha?" Linus interrogated. "What's his status?"

"The Alpha..." Tommy said, still not believing what he was about to say, "...was the one who attacked him."

Benny's face dropped in shock. "What??"

"Dad found a knife in the house," Tommy explained. "He showed it to me before everything happened. The sheath to the knife was decorated with a Paladin symbol. He said that we had to get out, that there was going to be another Paladin attack on the house and that I was probably the target. But when we tried to leave the house, Mr. Grey raged and attacked us. And he was going to kill me if my dad didn't fight back with the knife."

"Wait..." Linus interjected. "Thomas, can you describe the knife?"

"It was really small," Tommy explained, holding two index claws about six inches apart. "Like, the whole thing couldn't be more than this long. The blade looked like it was silver. And like I said, there were purple gems on the outside of the case that looked like the Paladin symbol."

Linus looked deep in thought as Tommy described the weapon - then suddenly, something dawned on the man. "Wait a minute..." he said, looking of in the distance as if working out a mystery. "What's the name of your Alpha again?"

"Anthony Grey," Benny replied. "He's been in the pack since 1981, and was chosen as Alpha in '85."

"Anthony Grey..." Linus repeated softly. Then the Paladin suddenly darted back down the hallway. "God dammit, I should've known!"

"Known what?" Benny asked.

"Gimme a minute," Linus said back. "I need to find something."

"Wait!" Tommy interrupted. "Where's Ryan?"

"Ryan's in his bedroom," Linus replied from within his own room. "He hasn't let me come in all night. I think his wolf side is too scared of me to let me get close."

Before Linus could even finish his explanation, Tommy was dashing down the hallway himself to his lover's room.

Tommy barged inside, and what he saw before must have been similar to how Tommy looked when his parents first discovered him in his wolf form. Ryan sat in the back corner of the room, huddled into a ball, whimpering, completely terrified of himself and what was happening around him. But when the young werewolf saw Tommy standing in the doorway, all the fear and shame immediately melted away and Ryan scrambled to his feet. Tommy ran to his friend and wrapped his arms around Ryan in the strongest embrace he could muster.

"Oh my God, Ryan..." He said, fighting back the tears of relief and joy, "I'm so sorry I left you alone tonight. Are you all right?"

Ryan, still unable to speak, nodded eagerly and whined.

"Thank God," Tommy sighed. "I swear, I will never do something like this to you ever again. I love you so much."

Ryan nuzzled his muzzle against Ryan's cheek. "Awwwrrooooo..." he howled softly.

It was then that the two wolves heard the sound of a clearing throat behind them. Tommy broke the embrace and turned around to see Linus standing in the doorway, apparently having been there to witness the show of affection.

"Let's head back to the living room," Linus said quietly. "You too, Ryan."

Tommy felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment at being seen with Ryan in such an intimate way, but matters were too important to worry about that right now. "Come on, Ryan," he said. "Let's go. It'll be fine."

Ryan looked nervously at Tommy. "Prrrrommm?"

Tommy returned the look and smiled genuinely. "I promise."

Tommy, Ryan, and Linus headed back to the living room, where Benny and Andy were waiting.

"Where's Mrs. Colton?" Tommy asked.

"She's staying with your mother across the street," Linus replied. "I figured it might be better to ease her and the little girl into the 'Paladins and Werewolves' paradigm that she's going to have to live with from now on. Now, about this knife you say your father found..." Linus reached into his pocket. "Did it resemble anything like this?"

The object that Linus produced from this pocket made the breath catch in Tommy's throat. Indeed, the size, shape, and appearance of it was identical to the one that he saw in the Alpha's house. "That's it."

"Is that your knife?" Benny asked. "But I thought Paladins moved on to firearms ages ago. They don't want to get in close quarters with a werewolf if they can help it, for obvious reasons. Something like that would never be used for an attack."

"That's right," Linus explained. "This knife is intended to be used on a newly turned werewolf. One who hasn't changed for the first time yet. This... this is a suicide knife."

A moment of silence fell on the group.

"This is issued to every Paladin, whether they ever see combat or not. If a Paladin is ever injured by a werewolf, they're supposed to use this on themselves before the next full moon and they undergo their first transformation. This way, they avoid a life of being hunted after by both sides. It's considered the more honorable way to go."

"And if they don't?" Andy asked.

"Well, most of the time, the Alpha of a werewolf pack will know enough about Paladin activity in the area that they'll catch on to a werewolf who's been recently turned and spot them as a former Paladin. At that point, the pack usually brings him in and takes care of it. Or if that doesn't happen, the Paladins still have enough information on their former member to go after him themselves. Either way, the thrall usually doesn't last longer than a month before one side or the other neutralizes him."

"But someone must have slipped through the cracks," Benny said, working out the direction of the argument.

"There's something you need to know about the Paladins," Linus continued. "We hunt werewolves, yes. But our stance on the existence of werewolves has grown significantly more moderate over the past few decades. Our organization was more effective in an era where communities were more rural and spread out. With cities growing so much bigger since the '50s, you can't have roaming assassins operating under the dark of night like you had 100 years ago. So our mission statement changed. We focus more on protecting humans from any dangerous werewolves than just targeting the race of werewolves for extermination."

"You obviously weren't around when Tommy's birth parents were murdered," Benny retorted. "Along with fifteen others whose only crime was being a werewolf."

"Let me finish," Linus said sternly. "Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with this softened stance on werewolves. Some Paladins were brought up to view any werewolf as an active threat, even if they never harmed an innocent bystander. Those people decided to continue on their own. Now, most of those Paladins were found and apprehended before we could do much damage - which explains the détente that your kind enjoyed after World War II. But every so often, a Paladin manages to escape our justice... and apparently this one managed to evade us long enough to join your ranks."

"Mr. Grey?" Tommy asked. "He used to be a Paladin?"

Linus nodded somberly. "Anthony Grissom. An eighth-generation Paladin whose family were so revered among the organization that he had uncles and cousins in leadership positions. The decision had already been made to scale back on the indiscriminate hunting when he was being trained, but I guess his folks weren't too keen on the idea and this resentment was passed onto him in a big way. He dropped off of our radar shortly after finishing his training at the police academy, and I guess the council decided to leave him alone after that. Big mistake - it wasn't long after we lost track of him that we started hearing reports of mysterious killings in the Ventura County area."

"So why didn't you go after him, then?" Benny protested. "You had to know something was up, even if it wasn't him."

"You forget - Anthony had friends in very high places. We wanted to bring him to justice, but the Grissom name was still such a powerful one among the Paladin ranks that nobody wanted to dishonor the family. Besides, I'll bet there was more than a little lingering bitterness from the rank and file about having most of our usefulness rendered moot. Nobody wanted to try and track down another Paladin - especially one who was far more skilled than any of them - when they all secretly wished they could do the same thing he was doing."

It was then that Tommy put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Does this mean that Mr. Grey... killed my birth parents?"

Linus could only look down at the floor in remorse. "I'm sorry, Thomas."

Tommy was expecting to feel surprised, or enraged, or devastated, or some sort of emotion as a result of hearing this. But if anything, he felt a sense of completion. At least now he knew.

Linus gathered himself again. "But the important thing right now is, what we do about the situation we're currently in. You're going to have a hard time convincing the rest of the pack that Anthony has been behind all of this. Most of them probably still think I'm the one responsible for Justin's murder last month."

Ryan, who'd been sitting by himself for most of the conversation, whined morosely. The others turned their attention to the young werewolf, who looked completely overwhelmed by everything going on around him.

"Ryan..." Linus said plaintively. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you."

Ryan looked at his father with uncertain eyes.

Linus sighed. "I'm sorry, Ryan. This is all my fault. I thought by leaving the past behind, nobody would ever know, and I could go on to living a normal life like I'd hoped for originally. I never thought anything like this would ever happen."

Ryan still looked unsure about his father.

"It's OK, Ryan," Tommy said, trying to encourage his friend. "Trust me. We'll be fine."

That was all the motivation the young werewolf needed. Ryan slowly walked up to his father, who then closed his arms around the boy and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Ryan..." Linus said as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. "It's going to be all right. I promise. You and Thomas have nothing to be ashamed of."

Tommy's stomach churned, as he thought back to when Ryan's father caught him professing his love to Ryan a few minutes ago. "Dr. Colton," Tommy said, feigning innocence, "What do you mean?"

"It's all right, Thomas. I can tell there's a strong connection between the two of you. And I suspect it was there before any of this ever happened."

Tommy blushed.

"One of the reasons we were told that werewolves were a threat to humanity was because of their willingness to give in to their hedonistic tendencies," Linus explained. "I don't know how true that is. But I've never seen my son as close to anyone in his life as he is around you. You love him, don't you."

Tommy got over his embarrassment enough to answer the man directly. "Yes, Dr. Colton. With all my heart."

Linus sighed in resignation. "Then take care of him. He's still quite young. He may be intelligent, but there are a lot of things he still doesn't understand about the world around him. Being a werewolf is only going to complicate his life further. He needs someone like you to help him through this. And if the two of you were meant to be together, then it's not my place to question it."

Tommy smiled. "Thanks."

"Well, now that that's out of the way..." Benny said, redirecting the conversation again, "We need to figure out to do about all of this."

"Whatever we do, we're going to have to do it tonight," Dr. Colton replied. "We can't give Anthony access to the rest of the pack or else he'll most certainly turn things around on us. A known Paladin is going to be much easier to throw suspicion on than the person they're instinctively compelled to trust."

"Are you going to have to go back there?" Tommy asked.

"I'm afraid so. And as much as I hate to say it, I think we'd better better off if all five of us were there. I'd rather you kids be with me, just so we can all be sure of our locations. The last thing I want to have happen is for Benny and myself to leave the rest of you here and have something potentially happen to you while we're gone."

"Even Ryan?" Benny asked.

Linus looked directly at his son. "Especially Ryan."

Tommy looked at his friend. "You OK with this, Ryan?"

Ryan looked back at Tommy, whimpered, and then finally nodded his head.

"I think I'd better head back home, actually," Andy interjected. "I need to tell my folks about what's going on."

"Good idea," Benny said back. "That way we at least have a few people on the outside who know what's happening in case things don't work out."

Before anything else could be said, the phone in the living room rang, startling everyone there. It rang twice before Linus finally walked up to the handset and picked it up. "Dr. Colton's residence." Several seconds elapsed, after which everyone in the room saw the Paladin's eyes widen and his jaw drop, the color draining from his face. The receiver dropped to the ground, making the dial tone audible to everyone there.

"Linus?" Benny asked, concerned. "Who was that? What'd he say?"

Linus gulped down a suddenly dry mouth, looking at the wolves around him. "It was Anthony. He said to bring the boy home in ten minutes... or I'll never see my wife and daughter again."