LUCAS
“What the f**k, Cyrus? Lashes?!”
The door had barely closed behind them before Sorin was on Cyrus, pushing his brother against a wall with a dangerous gleam in his eye. Cyrus’s head gave a hard thunk where it bounced against the wood of the door but he didn’t seem bothered. Instead he just shot Sorin a smug smile that only served to engage him further.
Sorin growled, eyes flashing. Lucas could tell his wolf was close to the surface. The display was making his own wolf antsy and on edge. The last thing they needed was a brawl between them. Especially in foreign territory where anyone could see.
They fought like cats and dogs, had done so since they were pups, but never in public where someone could see. In public they always backed each other up and they always always were on the same page.
That’s what made Cy’s actions with this girl, this omega, so stunning. Lucas wasn’t ready to throw down with Cyrus over her, not yet at least, but he didn’t understand what Cy was thinking and it bothered him. Cy was their planner but he never left them out.
“Guys, Guys calm down,” Lucas said, hands raised as he stepped between the two growling men. He placed both hands on Sorin’s heaving chest and pushed the other male back. It took more strength than he’d like to admit, but Sorin was a much larger wolf. Cyrus was their planner, Sorin their warrior, and Lucas was.. Just Lucas.
“You know how terrible a lashing can be. You know that so why would you subject an innocent girl to it?” Sorin asked. He took a step back and ran his hand through his hair, it made the messy dark waves look even more unkempt than usual.
“Okay first of all, she is not innocent. She was fully planning on murdering us, or have you forgotten?” Cy said in the same annoyingly haughty tone he usually saved for court nobles. Sorin's left eye twitched.
“But you said-”
“Of course I did! They were going to kill her. I had to give them something. A lashing for being a clueless omega is much better than a guillotine.”
Sorin fell silent and rubbed at his jaw. He still looked primed for an argument but Cy was right. A beating, deserved or not, was better than being dead. Lucas could attest to that. They all could.
Lucas took Sorin’s silence as an opportunity to voice the question that had been bothering him since the feast.
“Why save her if she is a killer?”
Cyrus looked at him, at first with his haughty cold mask but as he met Luc's eyes it softened and he dropped his shoulders. No longer aiming for a fight then. Maybe he’d stop being a hot shot asshole for long enough to give them some answers then.
“We need a killer, Luc, that’s why we’re out in this godforsaken border pack, to find a rogue we can use as a killer,”
“Right, but why-”
“Because,” Cyrus interrupted. “We need someone we can control. I don’t like the idea of bringing on a loose cannon, someone who doesn’t answer to us and is too dangerous. She clearly has the predatory instinct, but isn't the best at the planning portion. That works for us. We take her with us, get her in the castle, point her at the King, and let her go.”
Okay. That made sense. But…
“What if she tries to kill us?”
“Oh, I fully expect her to”
Cyrus smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.