Run! The Black Wolf's prey.

Chapter 6 - Shower and shave

"So, what do you say? A charming little lady, don't you think? "

Warren was seated at a large desk in the library, his dark brown eyes looking deep into a crystal glass with whiskey and ice in his hand, when John entered the room. It was late. The moon was up, and it had been hours since they bade farewell to the entourage from Emerald Lake Pack.

"She's a child, father," John scoffed. "I will not mate with someone that young.”

"She's your sister's age! And Chloe is already planning to go look for her true mate very soon," Warren took a sip and lingered with the glass at his lips, nibbling the edge with his teeth.

"I thought she will go to college when autumn comes?" John was surprised. His sister was a very clever girl, with great grades. He was sure he had heard her talk about wanting to study law or economy, the most common higher educations among Lunas.

"She has changed her mind," Warren waved his hand dismissively. "Shut the door."

Without a word, John did as Warren had asked.

"Did you inform the squad about the situation in the north?" Warren ran his hand over his face with a sigh.

"I did. More of our scouts will go patrolling our borders at night, and we will send a few fighters to Emerald Lake Pack so they can exchange fighting skills and practice collaborating in combat."

"Good," Warren nodded. "We need to strengthen our bonds with our northern allies, or the other northern packs may become bold enough to initiate a war. I had hoped to not have to experience another war during my lifetime. Peace is precious, John. And allies are necessary."

"I know, father," John agreed. "But I am still not mating with that girl."

"Then who will you mate with then?!" Warren snapped. "It is definitely time, John. You have been roaming around too long in the world of humans! It's time you start thinking about your responsibilities. We have been way too slack with you, and it's your mother's fault."

"What is my fault?" Rebecca entered the room with a wry expression on her face. "Can you lower your voice Warren, everyone in the pack can hear you howling."

"It's your fault John is not honouring his responsibilities to the pack. You were the one who insisted on letting him go study for years and years, and now he's all nested up in the human world! I wanted him to study something useful, like economics or law. Something useful for his future, for our pack and our tribe. Now he needs to step up and he must focus on leadership, fighting-skills and battle training, not running around among humans... And he is going to mate with that girl from the Emerald Lake pack."

"I am practicing leadership, father. And skills. And discipline. Every day," John snarled. His gleaming eyes narrowed at his father, and his claws started to itch behind his fingertips as his wolf fighted to emerge. "I can decide for myself what is right for both me and the pack."

"I AM YOUR ALPHA!" Warren roared, jumping up from the chair with eyes burning like flames. "And you WILL do as I command!"

"Warren!" Rebecca stepped in between the two men, facing her husband. "We will not force John into mating with someone who isn't of his liking!" She took one step closer and looked him in the eye. "We can't do that. He would be miserable. I would be miserable. You, more than anyone, would know that." She laid her hand on his arm, and his features softened.

"But Rebecca..." his voice milder. "That was different... It was you. And he hasn't found his true mate. We've been looking for years."

She stepped even closer and placed her hand on his chest, her blue eyes gleaming.

"Don't you want our son to experience what we have?" she smiled suggestively at her husband, who's eyes immediately started to glow with another kind of fire. "A bond so strong that it can never break, until parted by our Moon Goddess herself?"

She trailed the collar of his shirt with her fingertips, eliciting a soft growl from Warren who seemed to think less and less about his son's shortcomings with each passing second.

"A bond that has created three beautiful, strong and intelligent wolves with the highest blood in the country, who will rule and keep our tribe safe and thriving?"

Warren exhaled deeply as his free hand caressed the slender back of his wife, this beautiful woman who still could spellbind him to the point of no return.

"Urhumm," John caughed, feeling utterly awkward. He was still standing by the door, not really knowing where to look.

"You can go, John," Warren didn't lift his eyes from his wife. "But you better find our future Luna soon, or I'll have your brother taking over as Alpha" he grunted.

"Close the door, John" Rebecca smiled, not taking her eyes from her husband either. The two of them kissing was the last thing John saw before leaving the room, carefully closing the door.

***

“So, I heard you don’t want Freya as your mate?”

Chloe was lounging in the living room sofa on the second floor, watching TV. Their parents had their bedroom and quarters on the third floor, including a couple of guest rooms and an office, as well as a wellness room with a jacuzzi and windows from floor to ceiling facing the river. The second floor, though, had always been the children’s quarters, where they had their bedrooms and thir own living room with a giant TV and an additional room with a pool table. Chloe's favourite spot to hang out was this snug sofa in dark green velvet, with cream coloured pillows and blankets.

“Will you tell me why?” She muted the TV and looked at John with a serious frown on her pretty face, pouting her plump lips.

“Because she's too young,” he sighed and sat down next to her. “And I am not attracted to her... Not like that.”

“But maybe you will be, if you get to know her?” Chloe shrugged, making space for him in the sofa. “But you have to be a little nicer to her, you know, so she can fall in love with you. You behaved like a jerk when she was here!”

“Sorry,” he smiled apologetically, “but it looked like you were having a good time nevertheless.”

“Well, some of the Emerald Pack’s fighters DID look nice when you guys were out practicing,” she blushed, letting out a giggle. “It’s so refreshing with wolves of other colours! I love those red hues in their fur. Have you seen Freya’s wolf by the way?” John shook his head, smiling at her enthusiasm. “She's gorgeous! Her fur has copper shades, and she has white cheeks. All her paws are white too, she's super cute.”

“I’m sure she is,” John laughed. “And so are you.”

“Like I didn’t know that,” Chloe punched his arm with her fist. “And you... you reall need to shower! And shave...”

“As you wish, princess,” John smiled and stood up.

Chloe unmuted the television as John walked to his room a little further down the hall. One day, when he was the Alpha of the pack, his parents would move out and he would take over the third floor. His sister would probably move out as well, and unless she found a mate and moved to a new pack, she would stay together with their parents in the Pack house, the old grand villa. His brother Nick had already moved out; he lived in one of the lodges closest to their training area. Since he didn’t study or hardly ever left the pack, he couldn't stand having his old room in the Alpha house with the rest of the family! John, on the other hand, usually stayed in his apartment in the city and only came back home for the weekends and had no problem with keeping his old room.

This was the way of the pack. The Alpha and his family always lived in the more luxurous Alpha house, while the parents and siblings would live either in the Pack house or in any of the lodges, unless they were living in the city among humans for shorter periods of time. Chloe would definitely not be happy to move into the Pack house, John was sure of it... She really preferred the Alpha house. Not that the Pack house was a bad place to stay, on the contrary! It had been the former Alpha house, before Warren built the new one, and was actually quite luxurious. Only not as modern.

Nevertheless, one day when John finally had met his mate, he would become Alpha of the pack and he would live in the Alpha house more permanently. One day his own pups would occupy this floor! The thought of it made him smile... He was very fond of children, and he couldn’t wait to have his own pups. If only he would meet his true mate… His smile faded. It felt impossible. And mating with someone who he had no feelings for? It just felt wrong. His mother was right, he did want what they had. How could he ever be satisfied with less?

He had never really been in love. He had had several flings, for sure! And some non-serious relationships, especially when he was a college student... Not so many wolves went to college, and those few who did often ended up having intense and very... physical... but not so serious relationships. Unless they found their true mate on campus, of course! It had happened, but it was very rare. However, those wolves who were granted the exceptional opportunity to study among humans were lucky enough to experience an exciting freedom that would never be possible in their ordinary pack lives.

The only reasons some families allowed their sons and daughters to study was because they were planning for them to become pack Alphas, Lunas or Betas. These positions needed extra training, and being able to navigate in the human world was important. They need to know how to watch over their packs’ interests, keep them safe and well hidden from humans, and also make sure their businesses were thriving so money kept coming in. There were some packs, especially in the South, that refrained from educating their children and their economies just got worse and worse. Some bad investments and some of them became completely bankrupt! This caused tensions, of course, as they were jealous of the wealthier packs in the north.

As John closed the door to his room behind him, he started to undress. He watched himself in the mirror and let out a chuckle. He sure sure needed a little shaving or waxing! He had always preferred his body well-trimmed. Now humans would soon start mistaking him for a bear!

A bear? his wolf snarled, sounding offended. How pathetic... Couldn't you come up with something better? A lycan at least?

"Chill! You always get so huffy," John chuckled back.

Flexing his arms, he checked out his own physique. He hadn’t had the time to work out much lately, being busy at work in the human world, but he didn't look any weaker. He guessed a couple of hours a day of exercise was enough to maintain his strength, even though the pack fighters were training for several hours per day.

You lazy bastard. We need to train more! his wolf grumbled.

"You always say so..." John shrugged. "You always want to do more, don't you? Run, hunt, fight, kill..."

You forgot mate... his wolf chuckled wryly.

"I didn't forget..." John sighed, shaking his head. Taming this beast of his had never been easy!

He went into his private bathroom and started showering, when suddenly, he sensed something was off. What was going on? His sixth sense told him something was happening outside, but he didn’t know what…

What are you waiting for? Find out! his wolf restlessy stirred in his chest.

He quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he went out to the living room, seeing Chloe asleep in front of the TV. He swiftly turned it off and went to the large window facing the forest.

Something was going out there, he was sure of it... But he couldn’t see anything unusual. It was dark, and the rain was drizzling, but it didn't stop him from running down the staircase and out through the back door of the house. He had to find out!

While taking his first steps down the stairs, he dropped the towel to the ground, instantly shifting into his black wolf and leaped into the shadows.