The first body was found hanging from a streetlight.
Silver hooks through the ribs. Jaw broken. Throat carved open like a warning.
Detective Lena Cross stared up at it, rain soaking her coat.
"Animal attack?" a rookie asked.
Lena lit a cigarette with shaking hands. "Animals don't write messages."
Carved into the chest, deep and deliberate:
ALPHA BLOOD WALKS.
Across the street, a man in a gray suit watched from inside a black SUV.
Father Crowley smiled.
"Mobilize the Order," he said into his phone. "The wolves are breeding again."