"You don't seem to be glad to be back here."
Lukas Mato turns his head to glance at his blond assistant whose attention is glued to the iPad on her lap. Her golden blond hair has been tied tightly on the crown of her head and she is wearing a tight blouse that outlines her globes. Charity, as was her name, was a beautiful woman and she knew how to lure the opposite gender. It explained how Lukas let her into his bed, even though he had a rule about mixing business with pleasure. Running a large werewolf pack was not child's play and Charity made things easy for him. The Mato werewolf clan ran across four states at the moment and with the recent attacks on weaker clans by rogues, many clans were seeking refuge in his clan increasing his responsibilities tenfold. At 29 years old, he was on Forbes top richest business men. Lukas ran his family`s real estate business with stealth and in the last decade since he took over, he had managed to have a net worth of 150 billion. Not only was he a wealthy tycoon at the moment, he was also one of the strongest Alpha`s on this side of the pacific that everyone spoke of in the shadows. Since his mother had been a Lycan, he was a part of the Lycan board that was all the way in Europe. They were a nail in his coffin, especially since half of the people in the board were all related to his late mother somehow and they expected him to have an heir that was going to end up continuing the Kirill bloodline. Lukas cared less about his royalty status in the Lycan world, hence why he had refused to take over the seat of King after his grandfather passed five years ago. His uncle Andrei had been more than glad to take over, but the old hag was sick and since he had no child, he too was starting to ask him to settle down as though it was a choice. The moon goddess wanted him to be a bachelor and he was doing per her wishes. He opens his eyes to stare at his family home. His forefathers had been show-offs building a palace-like mansion with three floors with an actual forest enclosed in it and a few miles away from the mansion was a private school, apartment buildings, a hospital and a mall. Most of the pack members lived here and some lived in a town which was just a few miles away from the estate. Lukas slips out of the car and pulls on his shades. He was seven feet tall with a broad, muscular build that his black v-neck t-shirt outlined paired with traditional Harajuku harem joggers. He kept his long ebony hair in a braid the same way his grandfather had always done when he was still alive. Lukas`s grandfather, Mato Mato was a Lakota man who had been ruthless and a sadist. During his time, the Mato werewolf clan had been amongst the most dangerous clans in all of America. They had no mercy and were ruthless. When Lukas`s father, Chaska Mato took over, he had continued to be ruthless and he had never relented. He had high cheekbones, long ears for no reason so ever and a button nose. Lukas had owl-like deep cold blue eyes with thick eyelashes. Toddlers run around the porch, laughing at the top of their lungs as they try to catch each other. Lukas jumps out of the way and watches the troublesome toddlers, heading to the garden.
"Welcome home." His beta, Chatan says, opening the door and striding towards the staircase. The two of them were both seven feet tall with Chatan being on the slimmer side. He was a model by profession and he was quite famous in the Mato clan. All the girls had been heartbroken six months ago when he found his mate. Lukas was less than thrilled by the news. Seeing Chatan smitten over a woman and following her around like a lap dog was nothing to write home about. "I see that Florence was nice."
"I detect some sarcasm in your voice." Lukas says, taking off his shades and hanging it over her v-neck t-shirt. He catches a few unmated women swaying their hips as they pass them. Nothing has changed, he thought to himself as he ignored the lot. Women were always throwing themselves at him no matter how many times he let them know that he was not interested. He knew the drill. Once they were in your bed, they expected a lot more than he was willing to give. Lukas was not even sure there was anything left for him to give.
"Welcome home, boss." Chatan says with a seldom seen smile.
Lukas frowns. "You are unusually enthusiastic."
He hesitates by the large mahogany door leading to the pack conference room. "Well, I have... Good news I suppose." His eyes wander away from Lukas`s for a while before he speaks again. "Jessica and I have a pup."
Lukas rolls his eyes and Chatan laughs. "Of course you are!"
"You are not even going to pretend to congratulate me, boss?" He asks amused.
Lukas makes a face. "I hope it does not whine a lot and turn you into a bitter old man. I still need you."
"I promise they won't distract me from my duties, boss."
"They?"
"Twins."
Lukas growls and Chatan chuckles. He turns the lock of the conference room and strides inside the tense room. Lukas opens his mind link once he enters the room. Feeling and hearing all the chaotic energy circulating around his regime. He slams in his chair and takes a good look at his most trusted regime. They were men of stealth. Men of courage. Wolves. Monsters that mirrored him in every way.
"What is it?" He asks without a ceremonial greeting.
Chatan exhales and leans forward, "Um... Alpha Dimtris`s pack has been raided and he was killed. The rogues took all of them unmated females and killed the men. We hear that they have continued down south and are terrorising some of our pack houses."
A vein jumped. None of his regime spoke up as they watched the raging monster inside of him fight to come out. Lukas and his wolf were often taken as two different beings, probably because when he shifted he gave in to the monstrous side of his Mato genes. There was no stopping him when he shifted. The mere fact that these good for nothing rogues killed a man who was one of his late parents' close confidantes....
The forest was chilly tonight and the moon glimmered down through the crack of the tall trees that are thick and closely knit together making it near impossible to see the sky. An owl cooed somewhere trying to compete with the howling wolves out on a hunt tonight. Paw met the ground and dust ascended into the air. Lukas`s wolf, Akicita was on steroids. Each and every sense of his was on alert as he ran through the forest. He was the largest of them all with grey fur that was almost snow white. He could walk upright like Lycans but preferred all fours when he was with his regime. His ears flapped as his heightened senses sniffed human blood in the distance. His regime barely caught up with him as he ran through the forest at the speed of lightning. He was communicating with each one of his regime members and his beta, all of them positioning themselves in case they were walking into a trap. Smoke ascends into the air of what looked like used to be a campsite. Akicita comes to an abrupt halt and captures the ruins before him in HD quality. Tents were on fire, bodies were lying around the place. Blood streamed down the ground towards a cliff and there was nothing but the sound of fire crackling and filling the air. Lukas shifts back to his human body and looks about the place. There was no person in sight and he felt his heart squeeze in pain. Chaftan comes up behind him and hands him a pair of jeans.
"We checked all the perimeters. There is no sign of any of..."
His words trail off. They all watched in astonishment as the ground seemed to lift up. Lukas`s claws slip out, canines ready for a fight. All the fight left his body as figures materialised from the ground. The men were gigantic and half their body had shifted whilst the other half was human. Their claws were out and their canines dripped with blood. He glances at Chatan who is frowning at the sight of men covered in mud and growling. For a split second in time, the group stood there watching them. Women come out of the trees, with children, old men and women. The men covered in mud began to growl, ready to shift fully and attack as the rest of their pack members stood behind them. Lukas puts his hands up.
"I am Alpha Lukas Mato of the Mato Pack. I mean no harm. I was a friend of Dimitris. We heard you are the last of what managed to escape. We are offering you a place to stay."
Silence greets him back. The men suddenly move back, creating space for one of the tall gigantic men to step forward. A small petite woman with a child at her side comes trailing behind him. The pack members bowed their heads a little as the two passed. It was clear that they held a great deal of respect to the two whom he supposed were Dimitri`s adopted children. Lukas drank in the image of the man before him before focusing his attention on the woman who walked with a straight spine and her head held high. Lukas found himself taking a step backwards as he watched her prance towards him with the gait of a lioness. This could not be happening to him. He knew her. There was no mistaking those almond shaped eyes, that hour glass body and thick thighs that were outlined by the pair of jeans she wore. Long gone were the pretty expensive designer suit she wore when they met in Greece and her expensive stilettos. She was barefoot and barely came up to his shoulder. Her faux locs are covered with a head wrap and fall from the messy bun atop her head. Lukas forces himself to look down at the small pub at her side. She was barely over the age of six and there was no mistaking her cold blue eyes that were the only indication that she was biracial.
Oh boy… Akicita says retreating to the back and leaving Lukas to deal with a mess they both created. He rolls eyes inwardly at his wolf. Traitor!
"Alpha Lukas. It has been... A long time." Came the devil`s crisp voice.
