Mated to the Demon Luna

Chapter 2-The Lycan Prince

Darius POV

I sat next to my Father King Daniel at the meeting table. I stared at the clock on the back wall which faced me in a mocking manner, the second hand ticking by painfully slowly as the hour hand barely broke past 3 in the morning. This had to be, hands down, the most impromptu and infuriating meeting I had ever been dragged to.

"So you're telling me that the Silver Dream Pack has... What?" My Father cracked his knuckles slowly, his eyes staring point blank at the poor sod who managed to convince Beta Peter into calling this meeting. I eyed the wolf carefully, he was a simple enough man. Mid-ranked by my estimate, and middle-aged too. He had tousled blond hair that was caked in mud and pine needles as if he ran here without stopping even for a moment. He was built well enough, not ripped but not pudgy either. If I had to guess he was a rankless warrior in the... What was it again? Oh yeah, Silver Dream Pack. I'd never heard of them.

"It's... Gone sir. They came in the night and attacked like Rogues, but when we went to battle them the stench of Rogue faded and we realized we had been duped. It was another pack, they slaughtered us with terrifying speed. They had anticipated our every move. My men, my brothers and sisters... My parents... There's nothing left. I can't even say if they killed the weak and helpless. My Alpha told me to report to you immediately, so I started running and I haven't stopped for four days your Highness. I felt my Alpha die an hour after I began my journey. I can only assume..." The wolf's voice broke and I winced as tears began to stream down his face without pause. Still, I had to remain focused if my Father asked any questions of me.

"Are you sure, son? Has there been no new Alpha to take the pack?" I nearly laughed at the question, this poor sod wouldn't know after all. He would not have been bound to a new Alpha while he was on the run, so if any of the pack did survive to take over we would have to find that out on our own.

"Please mind-link Beta Peter and have him organize a party to visit the Silver Dream Pack to investigate their current situation. They are to arrive no later than two days from now." Father dictated to me without even turning to make sure I received the orders loud and clear. I immediately followed his direction before focusing back on the scene before me. The wolf was still crying, but he appeared to be wrapping it up.

"Son, do you want to attend the team while they visit your pack or would you like to remain here until after we conduct our investigation?" My Father offered, his voice unusually soft. I couldn't blame him, this wasn't the first time we'd heard of packs being annihilated. But we always have to check even after receiving the news, there were a few false reports in the last few years.

"I... I would like to... I'll go with them." He nodded his head as if to convince himself he was making the right choice. I had to admire him a bit for being brave enough to go back despite how shaken he was. Perhaps he had hope that his pack survived, that they defeated the intruders despite the loss of their Alpha. But I knew better than to hope, if the Alpha died it was likely the pack had fallen. It fit the criminal profile our team had put together. Father then dismissed the wolf.

"Darius, how many does this make?" Father asked darkly, his green eyes darkening with rage. I could sense his Lycan creeping to the surface, but I couldn't blame him. My own was on edge with these recent events.

"This would be... The fourth in that region in a year. There are bordering packs which remain intact and stable without any threats of attack. They report no known Rogue sightings, though occasionally Rogues are scented. The current two hypothesis are a highly organized Rogue pack formed under a powerful hybrid, or the other theory is a pack not within the region strategically eliminating competition. But there is not enough evidence yet to lean one way or the other." Father's eyes swirled with the presence of his beast as a low growl broke through his chest.

"Goddess blast it all! Things are just going from bad to worse. With the vampire Kingdom knocking on our back door threatening a war, and the Northern Kingdom baring their fangs... We can't even keep our own Kingdom in check for Goddess sake!" He roared, his fist slamming into the table cracking it in half. I stared down at the splintered oak with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't usual for Father to fall to fits of rage.

"We'll figure this out Dad. Have you checked with the Oracle?" I didn't like talking to that old bat, she was loonier than all the cuckoo's in the crazy house, and her moonlight eyes unnerved me. Despite her blindness she always tracked me across any room as if she saw something... But if it was a tragedy or a triumph I wasn't sure yet.

"That old girl always says the same thing. She's saying the next Queen will be crowned in Fire, and the Kingdom will fall. But she hasn't said anything new yet that I've heard. I'll try again in the afternoon. But I think it might be time to call in the Coven of Witches. They can't see the future, but perhaps their abilities can sniff out a culprit if the crime scene is fresh enough." I shuddered, as much as I didn't like the Oracle, I hated witches even more. They had a rather eerie ability to say the most unhinged things to set me off. And they weren't opposed to laying on the occasional 'prank' curse if I said anything they didn't like. Still, Dad was right. We had to start grasping for straws now that things were becoming less a coincidence and more a pattern.

"Still no idea on how the Kingdom falls?" I quipped as I pushed my chair back to stand up. It was high time I go back to bed, and I figured he'd go straight to his office to work some things out. I didn't envy him, but I also wasn't going to stick my neck out and offer to help. Not yet anyway.

"Look at how many enemies we have right now, how can I be sure it isn't all of them? Goddess above, I need to make some phone calls." Ah, as I had predicted. I turned to walk away but apparently he wasn't done yet.

"You're going with the inspection party." He quipped lightly, as if he was ordering coffee or something. I grit my teeth, my fists clenching and unclenching. I had really been hoping to return to bed. But now I'd be debriefing a team and scheduling a caravan of SUV's.

"Yep." I snapped as I pushed my way out the door. I marched through the halls until I found the first servant around, I grabbed her shoulder and asked quickly,

"Hey could you grab me a big to-go container of the strongest coffee in this castle? Like, make the to-go cup as big as possible and make the coffee almost lethal. I'll be in the Warrior Office when you get that put together." The poor woman, now scared half to death, simply nodded before scurrying off into the dark halls. I felt a little bad, but it would take too long to find the actual right servant to ask. Oh well, I had a few bigger things to worry about suddenly.