Chapter 3

Lucas sat at his reading table, he held a flora design magazine and was going through the different flowers in it. The room was neatly arranged, Ruby had ensured that he grew up to be neat which was paying off, Ruby entered his room carrying a pot of wolfs bane, the praetor wolves sent to deliver a message to Reginald had some of it on them and gave it to her, Wolfs bane killed normal werewolves by touch but its scent was to help them tame and have self-control in cases like mortal combat and wars, she was so glad they could give her a pot of it, it would tame Lucas in case of any danger in the human world.

“Is that Wolfs bane? Is Lucian here?” Lucas asked as she put the pot on the window side frame, not too far from his bed but just out of reach. “He didn’t tag along, I think he has more duties that obligates him to travel far more than usual” Ruby answered and took a seat on his bed. Lucian was his cousin and best friend, they grew up doing everything together and their dream was to, become praetor wolves, werewolves that went worked alongside the underworld rulers to maintain order in the underworld. When Lucas’s grandfather died, his father succeeded him as the Alpha and his dream was taken away, he could no longer become a praetor but the heir and next in line to be Alpha and rule the Nightwalker pack.

“Can I get a pot of jasmine and lavender also?” he said with a smile, she had managed to creep into his thoughts. “ What is with this mysterious smile?” Ring asked in excitement, it wasn’t like this was the first time he was around humans, Lucas had been homeschooled for half of his life but he had gone to schools with humans until a drastic event took place and he had to be homeschooled up until now.

“Since when do you like Jasmine and Lavender?” The smile on her face broaden and he smiled back, returning his focus to the magazine. “When I’m sure about it, I’ll let you know. But for now, I think I’m in love with Jasmine and lavender” Ruby's laugh filled the room as she stood to walk out, he had a crush and it was too obvious to go unnoticed.

“Bring her home sometime, when you have figured it out. I would love to meet her” She said and punched his cheeks playfully. “You are growing to become a fine and handsome young man, I’m proud of you”.

Ruby left the room and Lucas sat staring at the plant, he had been inhaling the scent since he was six, the first time it was brought home, Lucian had ran up to it to touch it’s petals but his aunt, Joyce had quickly held him and told him the dangers of touching it. They were bought sick and had to stay in bed for a month of inhaling it, but it helped them survive. He laughed at the memory, he wondered how Lucian was doing, the last time they saw was about five years ago when Lucian's dad Mateo died. Even though he tried to cry, Lucian embraced it and took the pain of the death like a big boy. Lucas was devastated for at least a week, the thought of losing his dad would shatter him and tear him apart from the world, he loved his parents so much and would do anything to keep them alive.

He walked down the hallway into his father’s study, there sat the pack's beta, Louis Bane ,They were in a heated argument and from the growls he heard, their wolves weren’t in sync also, he coughed to make his presence known and the two men went into silence.

“Why were you guys almost ready to rip each other apart?” He asked playfully and hugged Louis, Louis was more than twice his age and probably the youngest beta any pack could have but he was far more stronger than any other werewolf in the pack. The Bane's were known to be extremely strong werewolves, during the war that split the werewolves into various packs, the Bane family was among the wolves who stood by the Jade wolves, they eventually withdrew from the pack and distributed themselves across the various packs for necessities.

“It’s nothing serious, your father is just a hot-headed man who will stop at nothing to get my head ripped apart if I disobey him” Louis said and Lucas laughed, he had always been a jester, Louis was sixteen when he first joined the Nightwalker pack, Lucas was four and Lucian was six. During his initiation, the boys were not allowed to witness it to avoid fear at a young age but they sneaked into the garden to witness it, Louis was stark naked and the elders of the pack had surrounded him wearing long cloaks and holding a spear each, Lucas could see his mother and father, as well as his aunt and uncle, Lucian's parents. Louis bones slowly cracked, his hands first, they twisted to the back, then his legs and neck, it was a terrifying experience for the young boys. After he had transformed, the elders circled him slowly chanting the sacred words from the Nightwalker's handbook. The name Nightwalker, was the name Lucas Grandfather Otto was called, he had the ability to run fast and his reflexes during combat was astonishing but at night, he always fought off preying werewolves and took them by surprise at night, and when the split happened, he took his people and created the Nightwalker Pack.

Louis was growling and in defense mood, ready to attack anyone of the elders, the circling stopped and the elders stretched forth their spears towards him, Reginald approached him slowly holding the spear in his left hand and the moon stone in the other, the moon stone was a relic from his father, it had been passed on to him by his ancestors. It was said that the moon stone was once a jewel of the first werewolf and when it touches a wolf, it binds the wolf together with whoever owned it. Reginald placed it on the left paw of Louis and it immediately lit up, it shone brightly in a pure white color and burned Louis, the excruciating pain made him shape fit back and his cries echoed loudly. The stone left a beta shaped mark on his arm when he collapsed, it was also used to select where a wolf could belong to, Lucas and Lucian couldn’t sleep at all that night but they swore never to tell anyone about it.

That was twelve years ago, Lucian had already undergone his initiation into the praetor wolves and it was far more frightening than what the Nightwalker had to offer, Lucas was still in line to become Alpha meaning his initiation hadn’t happened yet and would only happen after his father steps down.

“Mum said the praetors came around, what did they want?” he asked as he took a seat beside Louis. “They came with orders from the rulers, new laws that need to be addressed and put into use immediately” Reginald replied. “ Aren’t you supposed to be reading or doing some school work? Your focus is not supposed to be here”.

“If this is your way of kicking me out, please stop dad, its not working” the three men laughed as they switched the topic to his first day of school. “There are wolves there in disguise, I went to lakeshore once for an investigation last summer, those wolves don’t have themselves well enough.”

“ I don’t think it comes natural to them, I mean there are a million wolves out there who can hide their scent from the world but will still be found by another whereas there are those who do it and can never be found” Lucas said as he remembered Anika, she was a wolf and didn’t care to take extra precaution in disclosing it to the humans.

“Did you meet a wolf in school Lucas?” Reginald asked. “No, I was just saying out of observation and books that I have read” He had to lie, werewolves weren’t friendly beings even to their own kind and it was best to keep it from them.

“If you find out that any of your classmates is a werewolf, you need to steer clear from them. Not everyone is what they seem at first sight”. Louis said. That wasn’t new to him, Anika was a spoilt brat and to top it all, a wolf. He wondered what pack she was from.

The Adler mansion was surrounded with praetor wolves, they busied themselves around the house searching and disorganizing the already arranged house. The workers stood in a straight line, heads down worrying for their boss, it was unusual for the praetor wolves to come unannounced. The pack had gathered in front of the mansion awaiting their Alpha, their houses had been searched also and they needed an explanation for the invasion of privacy.

Jonathan spoke in hushed tones on his phone and then to his wife, Sofia, they both rushed into their room along with two praetors. The praetor wolves finally concluded their search and took their leave after apologizing for the intrusion.

Jonathan watched as they left, they had found nothing and that would mean the rulers would close whatever issue they had figured he would be into.

“We have been tainted evil, the rulers are out to fish us and throw us away. They think we are straying away, they do not want us to know about the Great Lycan. My fellow wolves, as your leader, I’m going to get to the bottom of this issue, and if the Great Lycan is out there, then it will be ours” he said and they all cheered him on, singing and chanting his praises.

The area finally cleared off, and Jonathan and Sofia apologized to the pack for the intrusion and compensated them for what had been destroyed, they entered the house and the workers got busy tidying up and putting things into place, Sofia picked up a broken china plate, it was given to her by her mother. She carefully placed it on a table and arranged its pieces together, but a piece pierced her and her blood dropped on the table, a maid immediately arrived with a first aid box and cleaned the wound.

“I want to rip those wild dogs out this instant,” she said with gritted teeth while clenching hard onto a scepter. “I can’t believe they would become suspicious of me because of a suggestion I made at the meeting. I had only asked to share the remains of the Great Lycan's fur with the Alphas to increase our chances of immortality.” Jonathan paced aboutthe room furiously, the most important thing was they didn’t find anything but it wasn’t over yet. Anika walked down the staircase closely examining her mother and father, they were angry and lashed out at the workers.

“What were they looking for dad?” She picked up the china plate examined it and dropped it immediately. “Grandma’s going to be pretty upset”.

“Did they get into your room?” Sofia asked, she had cooled off and sat down drinking a glass of wine. “Of course not, I’m a teenager, not a serial killer. They should know who they are after”.

“You had better keep your mouth shut Anika before I make you do so.” “They didn’t find anything and that’s the most important thing. I have something that will jump-start your moody face into a killer smile.”

“And what will that be? This is no time for jokes Anika.” Sofia replied in a stern voice, it was bad enough that they had to deal with praetors, a spoilt daughter was not what she needed right now. “Just let her speak Sofia, you are being too hard on her” Jonathan nodded to Anika to speak but she gotinterrupted by her mother.

“This is why she’s spoilt, this is the reason why she feels so on top of the world,” Sofia said and they began to argue, Anika rolled her eyes at their childish behavior. “I found the King star”. They stopped immediately and started at her in unbelief.

“You found the king star?” they asked in unison.

“Yes, Lucas Fairchild.”