Fate of the Lycan Alpha

Chapter 2

Esme

The air was getting cool again. We had been spoiled with warmer days the last few weeks, warmer meaning above thirty. I could feel snow coming soon. I stood in this very spot less than six months ago staring at Lucas working his way through this agility course, my heart breaking at seeing him again. Life could change so quickly. I rubbed my hand over my belly at the thought. My heart was full today watching him. I wanted to tag along while we waited for Mason and Kenzie to arrive. With everything we have been through the last few months, I didn’t get time to train with him or watch him train. I forgot how much it turned me on to see him in his element. More so now than ever. As his body evolved, his movements were so much smoother and more skilled. He moved from the agility course to a workout area he had set up a little closer to where I stood. Sweat dripped down his perfectly chiseled chest and I couldn’t help but want to run my hands over him. He launched himself up and grabbed the pull-up bar. He pulled himself up, jumping the bar higher and higher with each pull. It was incredible to watch.

“Do you need something for that drool?” Kenzie teased, walking up beside me. I glared at her while Mason gave her a quick kiss before pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the ground.

“Hey Es,” Mason smiled at me. He reached into the box on the side of the training ground, grabbed four escrima sticks, and headed over to Lucas. He tossed him two and they circled, slowly moving at each other then suddenly the sticks started slamming rapidly against each other while they each turned and ducked, moving at insanely fast speeds. Mason struck out and connected his right stick with Lucas’s chest before pulling back and waiting for them to restart.

“Who is drooling now?” I laughed at Kenzie. "Let’s get out of here, I have plans."

“Plans? That is usually not fun,” she pouted, following me toward the packhouse.

“Esme! Take Erik with you,” Lucas called out, reminding me of my babysitter.

“Send him to the packhouse, I’m going to my office,” I yelled back. I wasn’t waiting for him. If I stayed much longer Lucas wasn’t going to get any more training done because I was going to take him right in the middle of the field.

Hey, can you meet me in my office? I texted Ariana and Gwen while we made our way to the house.

Ariana: OMW came immediately.

Gwen: Heading there now. I slid my phone back into my pocket and looked over at Kenzie.

“So, how is life at Snow Moon?” I asked her. It had been three weeks since she officially moved. We still got to see each other several times a week and talked almost daily, but I avoided the question so far, allowing her to settle in some.

“It’s actually not awful,” she laughed. “Mason has been very cautious of making sure I don’t feel pressured to take over the Luna duties. I think I’m ready to start feeling it out though. I can’t avoid it forever,” she replied, opening the door to the hallways where my office was.

“Take your time, get to know the pack. Don’t feel like you have to do anything. They have been doing fine without a luna all of this time,” I reminded her. Getting to know the pack and the people would benefit her anyway when she did start to take over.

“Yeah,” she sighed and opened the office door. I knew she was still not thrilled with the whole idea of being Luna, but at least she finally accepted that she could do it.

“Good morning ladies,” I smiled at Gwen and Ariana sitting on the couch when we walked in. I took a seat in a chair that faced them and waited for Kenzie to sit as well. “Yesterday Lucas received a letter, all but demanding him to meet with the Morrighan family in England next month.” I began and watched their faces as they processed what I said and what it meant.

“I know I am probably the only one who has no idea who they are, but this doesn’t seem good?” Ariana said softly. I forgot that she wasn't a part of the original research when we learned about Lucas.

“They are one of the royal lycan families. There are six different families, they all seem to be gathering for this meeting they want with Lucas.” I explained briefly.

“So, what happens if he just doesn’t go?” she asked.

“Well, we are about to find out. Lucas sent his regrets this morning. In the meantime, I think we need to learn everything we can about them so we know what we are looking at. Before we were mostly looking for their character traits and what it meant for Lucas. We didn’t really spend time getting to know their culture or much of their history. Now I want to know everything.” I explained. They all looked at each other with a little bit of fear. “We have a whole library of here with documented history, Hailey has some stuff I think we could use at her store and in her private collection. I don’t think we will find much on the internet that isn’t just human bullshit, but feel free to explore any angle.”

“I have a friend that lives in England. I can reach out and see what she has.” Ariana offered.

“Perfect, I appreciate it.” I smiled at her.

“Do you think we are looking at another war?” Gwen looked over at me concerned, her hand protectively over her stomach.

“I honestly don’t know. We don’t know what they want, but they don’t seem like the type to just want to invite us to dinner.” I frowned at her and walked over to my desk to grab the books I had pulled already. I laid them on the small table that sat between the couch and the chairs along with notebooks. “This is what I have already gathered,” I pointed at one of the notebooks. “And these are the books Hailey left with me when we were looking before.” I laid out the few books I had. “I’m sure there is stuff in those too,” I frowned looking at the huge wall of books in my office. This wouldn’t be a small task. “Anything you think is important you can use the little flags in the book and take note of it in a notebook.”

“I knew when you said you had plans it wouldn’t be fun,” Kenzie complained but leaned over and snatched a book off the table. I laughed at her and reached for my own book, a new notebook, and a pen.

“I'm going to make that call,” Ariana said and walked to the other side of the room with one of the blank notebooks.

“I thought we were wedding planning,” Gwen pouted, and I laughed.

“We will soon,” I smiled and started flipping through my book.

"Tomorrow," Kenzie glared at me. "I have something set up for tomorrow."

I smiled at her pout and silence fell over us as we all started doing our own thing, I could hear murmurs from Ariana occasionally. It sounded like her friend actually might be useful.

“Esme, did you know they enslave wolves and use them as their servants?” Gwen questioned, walking toward me with a book. I furrowed my brow and took the book from her, reading the part she pointed at.

When the lycans began their rise to power they turned on the wolves that were once their packs. They were forced into a life of unpaid service. They were stripped of basic rights and personal liberties. The lycans saw themselves as the superior species and sought to make the rest of the world aware of their superiority. Declaring themselves royalty and taking over packs in their area, they formed kingdoms where they ruled viciously. All documentation of their actions and their rise to power was ordered to be destroyed. New stories were created and shared among the kingdoms to create a culture of fear. A lucky few were able to escape, fleeing the country. As the families grew they began to spread out, taking over more and more of the packs and creating more kingdoms. Eventually, they would come to be six separate kingdoms spread out over Europe, Asia, and Africa.

“I had no idea, this is awful,” I stared at the page in front of me in shock. We knew that they were entitled and arrogant. We had no idea that they had turned on their packs or that they enslaved them. Nothing good could come out of them wanting to speak with Lucas.

“Esme, there's more,” Ariana said as she came back to the area we were all seated in. “They are a dying breed because they have been restricted to mating with only their own kind. My friend says the king slaughtered his own daughter for falling in love with a wolf.” She finished, looking at my stomach. I instinctively put my hand over my pup. What would they do when they found out that Lucas had a hybrid mate and pup?