Lucius pov
From the moment we stepped on this territory, I knew the underground market was worse than my spies reported. Every building we passed was another orphanage or hospital.
There was no way that a pack with such wealth and infrastructure as this one claimed to have had nothing but abandoned children and injured warriors.
“They lied,” Titus, my second in command, whispered.
I nodded my head, letting my eyes roam the surroundings. All suspicions aside, what had my senses alerted was that by now, I had counted thirteen orphanages, but no schools and there wasn’t even one playground for the pups they claimed lived here.
Not only did this place look suspicious, but it also had a stench of something I couldn’t put in words. I felt like I stood in the center of everything wicked, cruel and malicious.
Worst of all, the feeling sunk deeper and rooted itself when a very pregnant looking woman wobbled her way towards us. She had a wide smile across her lips, but her eyes were empty, almost void of emotion like she was playing out a role.
She didn’t look older than twenty. My eyes focused on her as I tried to take in anything that shouldn’t be there. Her dark hair was matted, but reached her hips. Her nails were longer than that of a woman expecting a child, dirt underneath, fingertips slightly covered in bits of blood.
Oh, yeah, there it was - either she was faking pregnancy for pity, or she was another breeder.
“Good evening, gentlemen. Or should I say night? I must admit that I was quite surprised to hear that an Alpha was requesting access to my territory so late. It’s almost midnight, gentlemen, we have many children under our care, commotion at such late hours isn’t something we strive to have.” Her eyes darted between us, but I didn’t utter a word.
Just like I knew he would, Titus stepped forward and spoke up. “Our apologies, we didn’t mean to intrude. Could we please meet the Alpha?”
She tilted her head, scrunched her nose and glared at me. After all, the woman wasn’t as foolish as I thought she might be. She did realize that Titus wasn’t the man in control.
But then, to my utter surprise, she dropped the attitude and turned to Titus with a wide smile across her lips. She offered him her hand as she spoke. “The Alpha left to help our allies, so you’re left with me, sorry. I’m the Luna of this pack, my name is Amelia. And you two are?”
The forever gentleman, Titus brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before he spoke. “My name is Titus, I am the Alpha of the Crescent Moon and this is my friend, he, the same as me is an Alpha. I am accompanying my foreign friend in search of new allies. He doesn’t speak English and barely understands any, so I'm acting a little like a spokesperson here.”
I wanted to laugh at his lies, but since they seemed to work on her, I bit my tongue to stay quiet.
One thing I noticed about her was that she wasn’t a Luna. The same as her claims about this mysterious Alpha being out of the territory were lies. I couldn’t sense an Alpha’s presence here.
So far, everything I had noticed kept getting increasingly worse. What worried me the most was that a pack that housed that many children looked like a shithole at best and so far, we had met only two adults. The man at the border and this… woman.
“Oh, is that so? Where is he from?” She raised an eyebrow at me, letting her eyes roam over me.
It wasn’t that I felt uncomfortable under her gaze, but she set herself up by doing it. She wasn’t a mated woman or Luna, at that.
“Russia,” Titus blurted out.
Now, because of his big mouth, both of us stood in front of this woman and struggled not to break out in laughter. Russia, he had to choose the worst fucking place on the entire planet.
“So exciting,” she suddenly cooed, grabbing a strand of her hair and twisting it around her finger. Was she seriously trying to flirt with me now? She was pregnant, or pretended to be, for fuck’s sake!
“We are very sorry to intrude, Luna Amelia. Tell me, would it be possible for us to get a room for a night somewhere in your territory? We would pay, of course,” Titus asked, finally prying her attention off of me.
“Oh, no need for that,” she waved him off and returned her attention to me. “You two are more than welcome to stay at the pack house. In fact, your Russian friend can take the Alpha suite, that’s the only place in the building with a bed big enough for a man as grand as him.”
Then, she had the nerve to wink at me. Even if I didn’t know the language as Titus claimed, I wouldn’t have to be a genius to figure out her intentions.
The woman spun on her heel and called, “come along, it’s time to get some rest, I’m sure you boys are very tired.”
Titus nudged my side, grinning like an idiot he loved to be. I shook my head and opened the mind-link between us. “You’re so fucked for this stunt. Russia, seriously? I couldn’t think of one word in Russian even with a gun pointed at my temples, you moron.”
“Better than nothing. Be grateful for my quick thinking. The moment you would open your mouth would be the very moment she figured out you weren’t an Alpha.”
“Fair point,” I could admit that I was wrong when needed. Truthfully, although the lies were pretty bad, they worked and distracted her, so we had enough time to get our men to snoop through the buildings. “Alert the men, they can come in. Join them as soon as possible. I hate the idea, but I will distract the penguin.”
“Luna, would you mind it if I went for a quick run? I can see the pack house from here so I know where to go and I don’t mind sleeping on the couch either. It’s my wolf, he’s been nagging me for a run for hours.” Titus suddenly called out to the woman.
She glanced over her shoulder and focused her eyes on me. “I don’t mind spending some time with your friend. I might teach him a couple of phrases in English,” she winked and returned her attention to the trail ahead.
Goosebumps covered my skin while Titus chuckled. He nudged the mind-link. “You can survive this, my friend, we have been through worse. I will update you as soon as we find something. Just a quick question - what happens if your suspicions are right? What’s our next step?”
“Erasing the territory and everything that could be left behind. No survivors. We will burn it all down.”
Lucius povThe moment Titus ran away, the so-called Luna slowed down until we walked side by side. She did her best to rub herself against me. When she tried to place her hand in mine, I took a step to the side and glared at her. Maybe she understood me, maybe not, but once she opened her mouth, I realized she was very well aware of everything she was doing. “Oh, don’t be like that. I’m somewhat human and loneliness without my Alpha around has its toll on me. I just want some company.” Sure, to someone else, she might sound like a lonely woman, but in my eyes, she was nothing but a power-hungry mutt. She didn’t have an Alpha, she wasn’t a Luna and there was no saying whose child she was carrying. If she was carrying any. “I will show you the Alpha suite. You will fall in love with the bed, it’s so comfortable, like clouds,” she beamed as she opened the door to the massive building and let me inside first. Just like in the rest of the territory, I didn’t hear any sounds. If there w
Lucius povMy heart started racing while I couldn’t suck in a breath. Titus, the forever observant asshole, noticed the change in my demeanor within seconds. He shoved the man he was holding in a headlock towards one of the warriors and ran to my side. Titus tossed my arm around his shoulders as if he feared I might lose my footing. “Lucius, what is it? Are you getting worse?” He whispered the second question to ensure my men didn’t hear him. I shook my head as I struggled to fight Xabat’s attempts to grasp the control. If the hothead were to succeed, he would surely scare our mate away and I wasn’t willing to risk it. The Goddess had forgiven the family sins, she had granted me a soulmate, I was willing to go down in flames along this place if it meant I could keep her. “Mate,” I choked out, only for Titus to hear. We had once discussed the possibility and the risks that were most likely to follow, especially with the brainless fool that resided within me. “Xabat, calm the fuck
Eden povLazily, I blinked awake and realized I needed to use the bathroom really badly. The thought of running around the forest to find an area I could use sickened me, but it was what it was until we found a proper living space, I had to suck it up. Only… That wasn’t quite the case. I had no idea where I was, but there was a weight pressing me down into something soft beneath me and it felt like limbs were tossed over my body. On top of that, whatever was obviously lying nearly on top of me was so hot, my clothes were sticking to my skin, I was drenched in sweat. Holding my breath, I tried to wiggle out of the vice-like grip someone or something had on me. It stirred and I froze while my heart was beating against my ribcage at such speed, I feared it might stop any moment. Then, came the sharp intake of breath and deep, husky voice. “Where do you think you are going?” A man asked. My head was spinning - where was I and why did I sleep next to a complete stranger? The surviva
Eden povAs the water hit my skin, a sigh of relief left my lips. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a proper shower, or to be fair, any shower. I spent years using a bucket of semi-dirty water and a rag to wash myself, so this feeling truly was like an out of this world experience. Since Lucius told me I could use the shower, I doubted if I could use any of the products lined along the wall, so I stuck to a bar of soap. When I looked down and noticed how dirty was the water that disappeared down the drain, I understood why he was mumbling about changing the sheets - I was, in fact, filthy. By the time I stepped out of the shower, the bathroom was filled with steam and my skin was bright red. Then, I noticed that there was a neatly folded towel left next to the sink basin. I frowned at it - when did someone enter the bathroom? Did they see me… naked? The very thought of anyone seeing me exposed like this terrified me, so I grabbed the towel and quickly wrapped it around my b
Eden povNo matter how hard I tried to make sense of his words, I still couldn’t understand why this man kept addressing me as his mate. Then, there was the detail that nagged me - Diana addressed me as majesty and Lucius as the King. Did that mean I was in the presence of the King himself? No, it couldn’t be. My guess would be that Lucius was someone crazy rich pretending to be the King, not the man himself. No one really knew much about the King besides the things that were common knowledge. For example: he was a crazed maniac, extremely powerful, literally a one man army no other supernatural could take down. There was a reason why the King ruled over everyone. He wasn’t the King of werewolves or shifters, no, he was the King of supernaturals and everyone feared him more than death for the man was the one who brought it, slowly and painfully. Even the Elders Council didn’t hold half as much power as the King. That man was above everything and everyone, close to a God of a sort.
Lucius pov I needed her close. It was so selfish of me to use the moment and give into my urges, but I needed her more than I needed my next breath. The only way to calm down Xabat was to be as near to her as possible, and that was exactly what I did. After I heard Titus mention that my beautiful, fragile mate had been fated to someone else before I found her made my blood boil. To be honest, as grateful as I was to that fuckface who was incapable of appreciating the gift the Goddess had given him, I was outraged that he had hurt my Eden by rejecting her. But then again, if we were paired, if I was given to her as the second chance, it meant she was strong enough to face him and accept the rejection to break the bond. That thought made me feel such immense pride in her strength and self-control, I nearly lost it. Once I was sure I was calm enough to carry on with our day, I finally looked at Eden and smiled at her. The way her cheeks turned bright red at the simple action made
Eden povThe food Lucius prepared was hands down the best meal I had in years. As if he knew, he didn’t shove eggs and bacon down my throat. Instead, I got some porridge with fruits and a glass of fresh orange juice. “Eat slowly, Eden. You are a divine woman, not a savage.” Lucius laughed at me. All I did was glare at him and raise an eyebrow as if I had the right to challenge the King. But he didn’t take it personally, he just laughed at my attempts to appear intimidating and added some more blueberries to my porridge.On top of already taking care of me, Lucius kept up a small talk about the most random things. He asked what my favorite color was, what foods I enjoyed, what I liked to do for fun and about a million other questions. At one point, he let it slip that he would have to introduce me as his Queen after he marked me, which I won’t lie scared me, but he quickly noticed my reaction and stirred the conversation to another topic. When we were finished with breakfast, Titus
Eden povMy breath hitched, but to my surprise, for all the reasons I never thought were possible. I wasn’t scared to kiss Lucius, but what truly worried me was if I could do it… I mean, the only man I had ever kissed was Asher and truth to be told, I didn’t think it was an actual kiss. It was him who forced himself on me. It was Asher, who tried to kiss me, but I never kissed him back. Although I was sure he had stolen my first kiss, now I wondered if it was true. Had he, really? “Whenever you’re ready,” Lucius chuckled and tapped my butt. My cheeks burned bright red when he placed his hands on my hips and lifted me off his lap as if I didn’t weigh more than a feather. It got worse all too soon, right when I noticed Titus was still present, watching us and grinning like a madman. “Let’s go, not rogue girl, we have a grandpa to see,” Titus offered me his hand. I was about to take it when Lucius’ growl startled me and I jumped back. “Come on, man, I’m not trying to seduce your mat