Dominic had been pouring drinks in the glasses when the glass slipped from his hand. He grabbed tissues and attempted to keep the drink from damaging his pristine white shirt but the damage was done. He asked her, "Are you accusing me of trying to kill your pack?" as if one might ask how they found the weather to be.
Valencia leaned forward, "I am only stating the obvious. Hycwen population is the highest near your territory and they rarely cross it."
Dominic said resolutely, "I may be many things Val, but I will be the last person to hurt the ones you love."Valencia had meant to reprimand him for calling her Val but she saw the softness in his eyes and decided to let it go. She was the alpha of the alphas, but Dominic always made her feel ordinary- that she was a normal girl without a thousand responsibilities on her shoulders.They had known each other before they had turned and he was the only connection to her life before becoming a lycan. In fact, she wasn’t supposed to be a lycan, her cousin had been destined to be at her place. She tolerated Dominic just for that.
Dominic managed to get back to his unruffled demeanor and quipped, "There has been a rise in the attacks on your pack since the day your nephews and niece were born. If I'm not wrong this was the third in the last fifteen days."
Valencia smiled, "I thought you were on a vacation to the North Pole."Dominic waved his hand, "I had wanted to challenge my inner werewolf, but God, the cold is too much. I prefer to keep myself hot."So, he had been keeping tabs on her. Even though he had been gone for a month.Valencia tied her hair in a bun and Dominic's eyes were drawn to her plump lips. Even in that ragged clothes, she looked ethereal to him. She said to him when she was done, "Stop gawking like an idiot."Dominic looked elsewhere. "The conclave is ecstatic to welcome the newborns in our world. They hope that your bloodline will help in securing the werewolves' progeny."
She was unimpressed, "You want me to attend a kitty party?"He looked in her eyes directly, "The Lycan council thinks that the children of the Archon Alpha would be far more powerful than those of her Beta. Our population is dwindling. They want you to choose a mate and soon."She matched his gaze, "You want me to choose you."He was steady though his voice faltered just a little, "Yes, for the greater good."She laughed mockingly, "Oh, you would do anything for our community, wouldn't you? Like, hitting on a female of every species, as long as she could give you an heir to the pack"Dominic smiled, "My reputation precedes me."She pressed on, "Do you deny that?"He left it unanswered. "I will accept anything you ask me to do to extract a yes from you.""God, you are one desperate alpha. Maybe, I should name your beta as the new leader."Dominic caught the hint of supremacy in the Archon Alpha's voice. He could only behave like this with her until her patience waned. And, she was beginning to grow frustrated as her wolf itched to be let out. It was not wise for any werewolf, especially an alpha to offend her. She could rip him apart to pieces then and there.
Rugor arrived at the right time to diffuse the tension with a tray of food. He bowed low and began to hurry away when he caught a glimpse of a cut on her left foot. "Alpha Valencia madam, you need to check that shoulder of yours."
Before she could reply, Dominic had jumped on the table by performing a somersault and bent down on one knee, placing her feet upon it.Valencia muttered, “Show-off”
He ignored her comment and observed the cut after slowly taking away her shoe. The smell of her cologne hit his nose though he controlled to keep his hands stubbornly close to his body. His voice was concerned, "This cut wasn't there when you had walked in and it doesn’t look normal."
She was touched at his affection though she had threatened to rip him off of his title, his respect, and virtually everything of being a fearful alpha only a minute ago. She managed to say, "It will heal as usual."
It wasn't healing. On the contrary, it was deepening at a very slow pace. His werewolf eyes could see her skin being unable to stitch on itself."Do you feel the pain?"Dominic's eyes went a furious shade of dark green as he roared, "Rugor, I am going to kill you."A pale-looking Rugor hurried at the sight and put his hand on his mouth, "Rugor done nothing, master Alpha."Dominic asked through gritted teeth, "Who else knew of the meeting? I chose this sick place because it was far away from the other hideouts.""No...nobody except we three. I swear on me diner"
Valencia looked at the poor man cowering under Dominic's rage and patted his back affectionately, "It’s nothing, Rugor. Off you go." After ensuring that Rugor was well out of earshot, she turned to Dominic, “Stop distracting me, Dominic. What was it about werewolves not protecting each other?”Dominic’s voice turned grim, “Well, it’s not only your pack that has been attacked lately.”
She waved away his concern, “Werewolves tend to bicker and fight like little children, it’s pathetic.”
“Nobody got killed in a long time due to a fight. They may be stupid enough to fight but not stupid enough to kill each other when our numbers are low already.”
Valencia turned to him, “Why has nobody informed me of a death?”
Dominic rubbed his forehead, “Well, everybody is scared of you. That is why I want you to be present at the conclave and order everyone to look out for each other. Your word would mean a lot against all of the other alphas combined.”
She considered his offer and knew that though she found meetings boring and generally asked the alphas to report to her after the meeting, this time she had to make her presence felt.
She stifled a yawn as she suddenly felt drowsy and managed to say, "Fine, I will attend the conclave. But, I don't need a mate and we are not discussing this again."
She attempted to walk before her feet wobbled under her weight. Dominic caught her graciously as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She surrendered to the darkness that engulfed her. Dominic held her close, breathing in her scent, "But, I need you and I am not letting you go."
Valencia laid in a cozy king-size bed sprawled across many layers of silken cushions and comforters. She had spent a lot of time tossing and turning in the bed and was tangled in the sheets. She pushed the curtains away and a small light of ray entered the room through the window just above her head. It was well past mid-day and she had been asleep for more than 24 hours. She groggily got up, her head in her hands, and groaned. It hurt to open her eyes but she glanced across the lavish room surrounded by exquisite furniture. A huge wardrobe was lined across a wall and a dressing table stood at the opposite wall. A coffee table with a lavish settee stood in the other corner. Soft yellow lights glowed in the wall brackets and a huge chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling. She didn’t have to guess where she was. She screamed, “Dominic!!”A
Dominic walked away from Valencia and settled on the settee. "So, let me get this straight. Your cousin gives birth to three cubs, your pack is attacked thrice in a span of fifteen days and you somehow lost control of your inner wolf."Valencia struggled to admit, "It was horrible...it was as if every nerve in my body wanted to kill Tom. I would have done it, had you not interfered."There was a soft knock on the door and a young boy appeared, "Is the Archon Alpha back to normal?"Dom turned around, "Yes, Freyge. You may come in."Freyge was the healer werewolf, an omega of the pack who tended to the werewolf’s health.
“What?”Dominic and Valencia asked in unison. It wasn’t that they hadn’t heard him, their ears were sensitive and would have picked up even the slightest whisper. They were just giving Freyge time to go back and change his sentence.The poor omega cowered under the gazes of two alphas and his hands shivered a little. He had already been lifted up and his feet had been dangling in the air not just minutes before. Freyge could still feel the grip of the archon alpha around his neck, her fingers digging in his skin.Subconsciously, he rubbed his neck with one hand while he tried to maintain the grip on the large tattered book that he had been holding because almost his hands had turning sweaty.In a trembling voice, he raised the book with a certain page open and showed it to both of them.“I request…please read through it.”Freyge said in a pleading voice and bent his head, his eyes anywhere but on th
Dominic wasn't pleased as was evident from the way he began tapping the floor with his feet. His shoes clicking softly against the floor in rhythmic flow..tap..tap..tap. "This is dangerous. I don't think you should attend the conclave." Veronica's head was beginning to hurt and that was not because of some stupid mage or ghost trying to get to her. The cause of her headache stood before her- a cold smile plastered on a handsome face- the kind of handsome that got to her bones- that and a wildly beating heart. Valencia blurted, "Why, so that you don't lose the one potential mate, that you don't actually have?" Dominic's eyes stared at her in shock. He opened his mouth to bark an angry retort. But, he instead replied in a steely voice, "Oh, now I am the villain here?" Valencia's temper was flaring and there wasn't anybody else near her to face the heat. More often than not, Dominic was on the receiving side. Tonight, it seemed no different. He s
Olivia sat on the couch of their small cozy home nestled amongst the dense shrubbery. She had recently given birth to three beautiful children who were her heart and life. She preferred to call them kids instead of cubs…they weren't untamed beasts but cute little souls who filled every corner of a room with light.She had been ecstatic about meeting her mate but nothing had matched the warmth that filled her whenever her children called her 'Mom' she had belonged to a smaller pack, one that lived away from the mainstream werewolves and preferred a quiet life.They had been a handful of werewolves who worked in the human city by the day and returned to Sricgis by the night. The pack didn't allow socializing with humans so she was left alone after her day job. She was also relatively shy to meet and explore werewolves from the other packs as she had been told the other packs weren't as civilized as hers.She had been hunting one night when a gro
The crickets chirped and the insects sang a chorus that filled the forest with a noise so loud that Valencia had an urge to burn the trees down. She wanted some peace for the moment. She and Gerald had returned from Dominic's place and he had rushed straight to his hideout.She hadn't had time to apologize for her behavior. She kept recalling the look of terror in Tom's eyes and scolded herself. To add more to her guilt, her head couldn't stop replaying her conversation with Dominic. The way he had asked her to be his 'mate'... it was almost...weird?What was it? Why was he acting so strange nowadays?She shuddered at the thought of being someone’s mate. The idea itself seemed absurd to her. Dominic was an excellent person who she was sure would prove to be an ideal mate and husband, but she wasn’t ready to go down that path so soon.After all, she had forever to live. For now, she was content living on her terms. To her, belonging to someone
It was almost dawn yet Valencia was still at her office in the headquarters. She had despised humans for thinking of any creature other than them as inferior but liked how they kept their personal and workspaces different. Thus, she kept her personal space and workspace poles apart. She had pinned the map on the wall and pulled a large desk in front of her. She had been sitting on the desk, her legs dangling at the edges. Her eyes were drooping and she stifled a yawn. Coffee cups littered the floor as did several crumpled papers. She was going in circles, she had everything in front of her yet she had no clue of where to look for the attacker. Her phone beeped at a text message from Dominic. Need to discuss the conclave meeting. Can we meet? Perfect. She could talk to him about ways to find something about the attacks. She knew her territory of Sricgis quite well but she hated visiting the human city, Grawd. Dominic, however, was a regular visitor and h
He continued to scan the menu and said, “I see you are feeling chatty today.” She pounced, “I see you are not.” He shook his head and she continued, “You asked me to meet and now you won't even look at me. Is this how you respect your archon alpha?” He looked at her taking in her clothes and her pink lipstick. He wondered how it would feel to crush his lips into hers and lick the lipstick off her face. Crap, what was he thinking? “I got news from my omega, the one you scared away- his name is Bob. He said that the hycwens have been going paranoid and hurting their own.” She considered the news, “So, you think someone is trying to control the pea sized brains of the hycwens?” He lowered his tone, “ Bob said that he heard the hycwens whisper something about a person entering their territory and hurt them for fun.” Valencia shrugged, “It could be the reason why they suddenly started attacking werewolves. They stay well out of the