Urban Wolf

Nicolai Petroza stared out of the windows of his 70th floor penthouse as the sun began to rise over the sleeping city. Another day, and he still hadn't come to a clear decision. The near empty bottle of vodka in his right hand tilted as he lurched forward to grab his cell phone off the table where it sat, mocking him. After another sleepless night, it was time to make a call; the biggest one of his life if he were strong enough to admit it. But right now, Nicolai didn’t feel like one of the most powerful men in Atlanta, let alone one of the most powerful Lycan princes in the world. His hands were clammy and he felt like throwing up. For all his power and wealth, this was out of his control. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he mumbled. ‘Just get on with it. Men get engaged every day.’ He swept his icy blue orbs over the sleeping city, his eyes drawn to the first glimmer of Stone Mountain in the eastern suburbs. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to commit; he just wasn’t sure she was ‘the’ one his father and grandfather always urged him to find. While she was beautiful, intelligent, poised and successful in her own right, nothing about her brought his blood to a boil. When they were together, his beast lay curled in a corner ignoring the vixen. Perhaps they were right about love growing after the mating, but was that all he wanted? What about the passion and fire he knew should be there? He’d seen in his younger brother, the instant rush of heat and smolder that brought the inner self alive and drove them into flames. Shouldn’t he be allowed love? Shouldn’t there be something… more? Also, no mating signs had appeared to indicate they were to be together. Never before had a Regnant married without a sign and already his enemies in the Assembly were poised to pounce should there be any impropriety with his marriage. Nick tried to tell himself the signs were for the Old World. This was a new century, a new age for lycans. No mere tattoo was going to keep him from having what was needed for the pack to thrive. This was the perfect business marriage. If only she were a delight to his wolf. His beast steadfastly refused to accept her, insisting there was someone out there who they were destined to make their own. For two years, he'd been in a power struggle with the wolf who composed his core, only breaking down and leaving the city to hunt when forced by either his parents or his brothers. Nick was proud of his human world accomplishments, and wanted to find more opportunities for lycans to share in the world at large. But he had to admit, the damn beast was growing wild, uncontrollable, and getting married seemed the logical way to curb him. His fingers jabbed the buttons with a great show of false bravery. Holding the phone to his ear, Nicolai counted to himself each ring, imagining her ring tone quietly playing on the other end: one, two… “Hello?” Her voice brought his heart up into his throat. In his mind, he pictured her face and that brought his senses back into sharp clarity. Taking a deep breath, he plunged forward before losing whatever nerve he thought he had. “Will you marry me?”