TWO

CHAPTER TWO

Noah.

I saw her and immediately knew she was the one, the perfect candidate... I could have even sworn I heard a howl ring in my ears. I felt my heartbeat accelerate with rapid urgency and then... she opened her mouth.

"What makes you think every random person on the street should stop and have a conversation with you just because you spoke to them?"

I was taken aback. No one had ever spoken to me this way, not even the most clueless human who didn't know anything about me.

"Well that's what I expect from people who were raised properly." I said, a weak rebuttal.

"You clearly weren't." She said, and I was surprised at how much this insult sent my pride into a flying rage which I did little to conceal. I wanted to tell her something, put her in her place, I could almost feel my claws trying to force themselves out, but then my assistant stepped in. 

"Sir! Sir, your father is on the line."

And then I remembered I had somewhere to be in the first place, and this mere mortal was simply a distraction to me. I scoffed and snatched the phone from Green's hand and turned to answer the call.

"Noah." My father's calm voice came through the phone. "I have been waiting for your call."

"Apologies, father." I said, acknowledging that I was in fact meant to call him. "I was just about to."

"Now," his voice strained a bit as he tried unsuccessfully to restrain a cough. "What have you found?"

"Nothing substantial, father." I said, turning to look at the girl from earlier but she was gone. I shot an angry glance at Green for not restraining her and allowing her to leave. "No trace of him."

"Well, circle back." My father sounded utterly disappointed, and I was too. "We'll keep looking."

The person we were looking for was the very thing that stood between life and death for my entire pack, most urgently, for my father. His name was Griffin, and the story went like this. Many, many years ago, on the night of a blood moon, my father, unable to help his transformation, succumbed to his primal instincts and attacked Griffin and his wife, resulting in her death. In his sorrow, Griffin cursed my father while holding his wife's lifeless body or whatever was left of it. Nobody thought anything would come of it, but now in his old age, my father was experiencing night terrors, seeing visions of that night over and over and getting weaker every morning he woke up. Everyone in the pack was growing significantly weaker as my father, the alpha was losing his life force. This made the Romulus pack, our eternal rivals, more daring and attacks had begun to spring up, leading to us losing more and more members.

"Okay, I'll return soon."

"Don't stay out too long now, Noah." He said. "These Mules are getting rather cocky. Let's not give them a reason to be bathed in blood." 'Mules' was our derogatory way of referring to the Romulus pack. He masked his worry in a conceited brag, but I knew he was not nearly as confident as he sounded.

"Of course." I said, knowing fully well that I intended to go about my business as though there was not the imminent threat of an attack. Everyone in the pack was complaining about their dwindling strength and being as weak as mere men, but I did not feel that way at all. I felt as new as the day my fangs kicked in as a pubescent teenager in tenth grade and I had to run to the toilet so I would not be exposed as a freak. I did not feel weaker- if anything, it was bloodlust I felt; I was practically begging for such a challenge from the Mules, but I also wanted to save the pack, so I channeled my energy into finding the 'cure'... Griffin.

"Why did you let her go?" I asked Green immediately I put the phone down.

"Er, I didn't think you wanted me to-"

"You didn't think. Exactly. Why would I stop a random woman on the road to speak to her if I was just going to allow her to leave right away?"

"I didn't see a way of restraining her that wouldn't have been illegal, sir."

"Who gives a fuck about the law?" I scoffed and brushed past him, getting into the backseat of the car. He got in and tapped the driver as a signal to start moving, but almost immediately, he tapped him again to bring the car to a halt.

A howl.

Green and I shared a concerned look- our senses were tingling. There was great danger just around the corner. The Mules. What I saw in Green's eyes was fear, panic... I wondered whether he could read the excitement in mine. Our driver could sense nothing, at least not the way we could. From our sudden change in behavior, he could deduce that something was off, but he could not feel the danger, the very presence of it like rain on your skin. Poor Randy. Between the three of us, Randy was the only one whose 'powers' simply never kicked in. He was a full blooded member of our Lykos pack, but that was by blood and blood alone. Nothing separated him from a mere human... Maybe someday he would transform, maybe when he is an old man. I felt for people like him, especially in a moment like that where we were nonverbally communicating the possibility of an imminent danger.

"Sir..." Green's voice wavered with the pronounciation of one syllable alone. I did not even think that to be possible. "I think the Mules..."

"Yeah, they tracked us."

"We should call for help."

"Mmm..." I rubbed my chin. "That may not be necessary." I said and stepped out of the vehicle.

Slowly, I took a few steps into the middle of the road and looked around, both of my hands in my pockets to hide the trembling. I almost could not contain my excitement. It was like two in the afternoon but the sun seemed to have gone on a break. I tried to remember whether or not the weather had been this way when I was on my way here.

"In broad day light now?" I called out and laughed. "Fucking Mules."

Almost as soon as I said this, Liam Romulus materialized from some dark corner between two buildings, two large men following five steps behind. Did they all fit in there? I immediately knew there would be no bloodshed here; my claws retracted in disappointment.

"Liam, my good man!"

"Noah." Liam replied, his voice lower than mine.

Liam was the heir to the Romulus pack- he was the next Alpha, and by nature, my archenemy from the moment I was born.

"Why are you following me, Liam?" I said, cutting the pleasantries short.

"Following you?" He scoffed and looked around. It was only us in the street. I wondered whether the occupants of these buildings would be watching or listening in.

"Yes, I know you don't have the balls to actually lay a finger on me, so what's the point of this tomfoolery?"

He laughed. "You're in my territory, Noah."

"Oh, you don't say." I looked back at my assistant in my car with surprise. "I didn't realize." I genuinely did not know that.

"Well, now you know."

"That's unfortunate." I said, turning away. "Well, we were just on our way."

"Not so fast." He said. "What brought you here?"

"I was looking for someone." I turned back, a smile playing on my lips.

"Who?"

"An old friend."

"In my territory?" He looked suspicious. "A human?"

"I think I am done here, Romulus. Like I said, we were on our way. Or will you stop me?"

We held eye contact for a few heated seconds until Liam smiled and nodded.

"Safe travels."

"Drive very slowly." I instructed Randy once I got into the car. A hasty getaway would signal fear, and that their little mulish intimidation tactic had worked, and I would rather chew glass than let them think this. Once we got home, I went in to see how my father was doing. He had not been able to leave his bed in days.

"I ran into Liam." I announced, once at his side.

"Liam?" He asked weakly.

"Liam Romulus."

"Oh." My mother gasped from behind us.

"Noah." My father held my hand in his. "You are going to be Alpha soon."

I started to shake my head but he squeezed my hand. "I have seen it already. I do not have much time, even if that Griffin is found. A curse is a curse, and I am the direct recipient of it. It is karma." He said. This was the most he had spoken in a while, so I knew better than to interrupt him.

"You must find your mate... for your future, for the entire Lykos family." He coughed. "If you find your mate and bear a child, the curse will die off with me and my generation."

"I- I don't understand."

"Find your mate." My father said weakly and let his head fall back into the pillow. He had used up all his strength. I nodded and walked out of the room accompanied by my mother.

"What was that about?"

"Just... do what he told you to do. Do you have any idea who she might be? You're almost thirty- surely you've seen her."

"I- I don't-" I hated when this conversation was brought up. "I haven't."

Once I said this, the girl from earlier flashed through my memory. The way I felt, the way it was as though my senses were heightened by the mere sight of her. Could it be?

My mother gripped my hands tightly. "Find her."