The lost royal

Lucian's POV I stood outside my car impatiently. “Hurry up!” I boomed to my beta,who had already made us thirty minutes late. This week was regional pack check ins.I had to visit each and every pack to check their farm and economic productivity. I genuinely didn't have a problem with these check ins.However,today was Northvale park's check in.I hated alpha Marku.He was an arrogant bastard that never treated those inferior to him with respect,and he felt like he was better than everyone, including me,the regional alpha.I wanted to go and get this done with and Braylon,my beta was making us late. “Okay,okay I'm coming,”he said, making his way to the car. “You could have washed up at least,”I bantered, “Well you were too impatient,”he said with a smirk. Bray and I have been best friends since birth,our parents were best friends and they got pregnant almost the same time having Bray's and I's birthdays a month apart. He and I were the same yet opposites.Our demeanor was the same,he had the same commanding aura and even if I would never admit it out loud our strengths were almost at per.However, Bray's personality was quite different from mine.He was a womanizer to begin with while I was not. Bray’s mate rejected him 5 years ago because she had fallen in love with a human and that took a toll on him resulting in his womanizing tendencies. I on the other hand have been with a handful of women since I lost my mate 14 years ago when the royal pack was attacked.I was closed off and fully focused on my duty as regional alpha. On our way to Marku's territory we were listening to some classic rnbs while chatting about anything and everything. As we pulled up to Marku’s driveway I could already feel the energy shift.I really didn't like alpha Marku, something was off about the man. I also recently found out that Marku's books weren't balancing,funds were mysteriously disappearing.I needed to understand why despite being allocated a large funding due to his territory's population,its economic and farm produce was declining.Was Marku not investing the funds to the farm produce of his territory? And if he wasn't, where was Marku redirecting the funds? As we were ushered in I could already hear Marku shouting at someone whom I couldn't see at the time. “I swear if you mess it up for me today,you know exactly how that is going to go,you know how dungeon week is and I'm sure you wouldn't want that would you?” “No alpha.” This is one other thing I hated most about Marku,he subjected his servants to severe punishments including a week in the dungeon with no food nor water and constant severe whooping. Suddenly I felt pity for whoever Marku was talking to but it was not my place to say anything,his pack,his rules.I just wanted to get this over with,this place makes me sick. As if on queue, Marku comes out of the room he was in and leads Braylon and I towards his study. “Welcome Alpha Lucian,Beta Braylon” he says to me and nods to Braylon and I can already feel the contempt by the way he refers to me. Marku does not like me because he feels like he can be a better regional alpha than I am. He has always been jealous,but he tries to mask it because there is nothing he can really do about it.Unless challenge me for an alpha fight that even he knows he would lose. “Thankyou for having us,”I say as casually as I can. As we take our seats I go straight to business,I do not intend on making small talk with Marku. “I've noticed a decline in your farm products this year Marku,not only that but also your territory is declining economically.All this happening despite your territory having the second largest funding allocation raises questions,is there anything I should know?” I could see the color drain in his face. When Marku sent me his books,he tried to cover all this flaws,however what Marku doesn't know is I never really use the books sent to me by packs,I mean I do but I compare them to the ones my personal analysts bring,and the records Marku submitted are far from what my analysts gave me.He was hiding something and his reaction confirms it. “Are you accusing me of anything alpha Lucian?” “I'm not but I want answers,Alpha Marku,”I said with authority, “The books sent to you are balanced,I don't know where you got these ideas from,” he said, trying to regain his composure. “Here look at this,” he pulled out the same records sent to me. Marku thought he was playing me,and if I wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on in Markus territory I had to dance to his tune,he had to think he was indeed playing me. “I must have gone through the wrong records,my apologies Alpha Marku,”I said , ensuring I stroke his ego with the apology so that he does not suspect a thing. “Regional alpha indeed,”he said in a hushed tone. “What was that?” “Nothing,nothing alpha Lucian,”he quickly replied but I had already caught on to whatever he said. “Can you take me to your farms?I need to do a physical inspection of the place,”I said, trying to gauge his reaction. He stiffened but quickly regained his composter, “Certainly Alpha Lucian,but after we've had our meal.” I knew what he was trying to do,Marku didn't want me to see the farm because then I would know that he was indeed not investing in his territory's farm produce,so he wanted to indulge me in a meal in an attempt to make me forget all about inspecting the farm. Like I said,if Marku wanted me to dance to his tune I would do exactly that,if that is what is going to take to uncover what Marku has going on I would. “You know I wouldn't say no to a meal,” I replied, agreeing to what Marku was suggesting. Braylon seemed disturbed,he knew that Marku's books was not indeed balanced and he knew what Marku was trying to do with the meal, “What are you doing?”he asked me through our mind link,he was clearly irritated. “Marku is hiding something,if he knows we are onto him he will try and hush things out before we know what is really going on,”I explained everything to my beta,not looking at him to ensure Marku did not catch the communication. Marku ushered us towards his dining room,and rang a tiny bell on the dining table. The door opened and I was hit with the most beautiful scent of cinnamon mixed with a touch of vanilla. A beautiful red haired curvy girl appeared and when my eyes locked with her beautiful brown ones I could already feel it.She felt it too for sure because she dropped the tray of food she was holding. Withdrawing her eyes from me,I could see a change of emotions in her features,but the most prominent one was panick,it's just a tray of food I thought while still studying her body language. Then it hit me,this must have been the person Marku was warning when we walked in. “Amelia I gave you one simple I instruction,”Marku boomed as he walked towards her.His outrage confirmed that she was indeed the girl. He raised his hand in an attempt to hit her but before he could Sifa my wolf took over and growled. “MATE!”