Haven

Rhiannon's Grove

Gravenhurst Forest was a misty woodland, mostly pine trees, on the edge of a mountain range. Colorado was cold all around during that time of the year, but the woods were especially bad.

That being said, it wasn't hard to figure out where they were going. Any large gathering of werewolves was easy to find, just by scent alone, but Kaden didn't even need to do that much. There was a clearing, a couple dozen miles in, well off from the main hiking trails.

It was called Rhiannon's Grove, at least in the werewolf community. They called it that because on the night of the full moon, at the stroke of midnight, the canopy in the forest framed the moon perfectly and bathed the entire clearing in white light.

Most other nights in any given month, werewolves just used it as a meeting place.

Normally, Kaden would have stowed his bike in the parking lot by the front gates and walked the rest of the day, but he was in a hurry. He and Shilah blazed right into the park, Kaden on his Harley and Shilah on his dirtbike, with the others in a five-door Nissan SUV following close on Shilah's bumper.

When they got to the end of the beaten trail and had to cut deeper into the forest, Kaden and Shilah tore on ahead while the others had to tumble out of the car and follow along as best they could on foot. Considering how fast werewolves could move and the fact that the two up front had to slow down a little to navigate the terrain, they weren't as far apart as one might have thought.

When they came to the mouth of the clearing, Zac and Anto stood guard at the very edge. When they saw Shilah and Kaden approaching, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder and crossed their arms over their chests.

Kaden skidded to a stop in front of them and climbed off the bike.

Anto sneered, "Private party."

"I'm not feeling that merciful tonight," Kaden informed him. "So I'm gonna tell you once: Move."

"And we're only gonna tell you once, you're not invited."

"You've actually said it twice," Shilah interjected. "And you might want to rethink that stance."

"Why, is the Big Bad Wolf gonna move us? Fuck that, he can't even touch us any-" Kaden's fist collided with his stomach, hard enough to lift his feet off the ground and send him to his knees.

Zac sprang into action, but Kaden was faster. He slashed him across the face, kneed him in the stomach, brought his hands together up over his head, and clubbed him on the back of the neck. Anto stumbled back up, Kaden whirled back around, and slapped him open-handed upside the head so hard that he flipped upside down. Zac came back for more, but Kaden elbowed him in the gut, then caught him by the collar, lifted him up, and threw him sidelong into Anto.

They both crumpled down against a rock on the far side of the passage, tangled up in a bloody mess together.

Kaden spat on them as he walked by. "Can't touch you, huh?" He growled. "C'mon, Shi."

Shilah stopped to address them as well. "Y'know, guys, you could've just moved."

Ray was at the center of the clearing, dressed in her usual punky fashion, flanked on either side by guys who looked like extras on Trailer Park Boys. A small group of Griffith werewolves had come to meet with her. Mutt and his father were there. So was Winnie Howell, from the corner store, and even a couple of Owen's usual poker buddies had tagged along.

When she spotted him marching toward her, with Shilah and about six other pissed off werewolves behind him, she looked shaken for a moment. But she regained her composure quickly and addressed the crowd, "Well well, look who showed up! I guess my new best friend really didn't off you after all, huh?"