5 Puppies For The Alpha
Chapter 39

Lukyan was very quiet. Too quiet for Lucian’s taste and concern. He had not touched the food that had been brought to his room, nor was there any sign of escape. The alpha tapped his finger on the table, a sure sign of unease, looking at his beta.

-And?” he asked his beta who stood on the other side with his hands behind his back.

-He hasn’t spoken, he keeps sitting on his bed with nothing to do but stare into the void.

Staring into the void was something he surely did, Lucian thought, it was common knowledge the difficulty he possessed in his eyes. But something else, he needed something else. He was sure he would not stand idly by, while he was on loan, as he put it.

He rose from his seat with so much momentum that he knocked him over. He couldn’t dwell on the reason why he had it there either. It had been two days since he had brought it and surely the Silver Pack had noticed his absence, and his.

For the moment, he wasn’t worried about it, not until the next day. Dante must be recovering from his rut and no one would move without his permission or enter their lands without their leader at their head. Anyone doing so could lose more than one paw. Still, he had only hours left for the omega to work its magic on his little brother and bring him back or he would be forced to….

He walked down the hallway shaking his head. He wasn’t supposed to think that now. The pressure in his chest began to choke him and he had to stop. Ellar was the only family he had left, he couldn’t afford to lose him; no matter what he had to do, even give up his life for him. She took a deep breath and resumed her march seconds later.

Without asking permission, she opened the door to the room where Lukyan was being held. Sure enough, he was there, sitting cross-legged on the bed, one of his fingers folded over his lips as if he was pondering life. He didn’t even turn his face as Lucian entered and locked the door. The smell of food, still warm, made him look down at the table and frown.

-You haven’t eaten anything,” he questioned in annoyance. The idea was not to starve him, but to solve his brother’s problem.

-Shut up,” he whispered back, still undeterred.

That simple word made a vein throb in the alpha’s temple. Not even his parents had told him to shut up when he was a cub.

-Lukyan,” he spoke his name through gritted teeth, but without moving from the spot, that wolf could unintentionally get on his nerves.

Apparently her tone made him react, for he straightened up and lowered his hand gently to his lap.

-You don’t want me to help your brother, so shut up, I can’t think with all this noise, your people have been going in and out all the time and I can’t concentrate,” he spoke gruffly.

-What do you have to think about,” Lucian took a deep breath and came closer, sitting on the edge of the bed, a meter away from him and crossing his legs, “Your power didn’t work the first time, you just have to try again,” he urged the omega.

She saw him move one of his feet impatiently and scrunch the bridge of his nose. He was getting annoyed.

-My power, as you call it, has never failed on the first try, I was even able to make all the males in my pack lucid again. It’s not that I don’t understand why it didn’t work on your brother, it’s just that it barely had any effect on him, even when I used all my concentration.

Lucian looked disappointed, but disguised it by putting on the self-satisfied face with which he always achieved all his goals.

-Try again,” he commanded, concealing his concern.

-It will be the same result,” he was unfazed by the alpha’s authoritative tone.

-We have a deal,” he reminded, keeping his tone intimidating.

This argument seemed to have nowhere to go, and he had an answer for every sentence. The alpha clenched his fists and turned his back on him, walking over to the table and taking the plate of food and bringing it to him.

-Eat,” he ordered, placing it in front of him, “You will need strength.

-Are you worried about me,” he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He didn’t know what had happened in the time he had been there, however, one thing he was sure of, he had lost his fear of the alpha male.

The alpha leaned down until his face was level with him.

-The only thing that matters to me is that your body is strong enough for you to help my brother, the rest is indifferent to me,” he clarified, fearing confusions that would complicate the already very difficult relationship with Dante.

Lukyan didn’t move a muscle in his face, though inwardly he swallowed a snort. The advantage of not being able to see was that you could perceive beyond the normal. The wolf was not sincere. He hid his emotions and the inner wounds behind his aggressive words, but he had been able to see over that. Perhaps, in the distant future, they could talk and not as enemies.

-You lost a lot of b***d, and I don’t want my brother to feel guilty when you collapse in the middle of your task,” he continued, ordering left and right to hide the unease that gripped his chest.

-B***d,” he repeated, “B***d,” this time he shouted.

He pushed the plate away, setting it on the bed, and grabbed the front of Lucian’s shirt to steady himself, his knees unsteady from holding the same position for so long.

-Why didn’t I notice that before,” she shook him slightly and he, not understanding the change in his mood, just held his elbows, helping him to steady himself.

He was about to answer when the door was opened with such force that it cracked as it hit the wall. A colossal wolf with dark fur and a clearly aggressive demeanour bared its fangs after long puffs of air. It came walking slowly towards them, while violently changing shape. The tension in the room could feel oppressive and hostile.

-Well, Dante, you showed up rather quickly, shouldn’t you be recovering,” Lucian joked, separating himself and putting distance between him and the omega. Surely the image wolf had seen had not pleased him at all, including other things.

Dante, now in his human form, completely naked and with his hair in disarray, stepped in front of Lukyan, taking his hand carefully. His claws and fangs still refused to retract, the worst part was that he was on the verge of collapse.

-You shouldn’t have come out in that condition, your heat is too intense, you must be extremely exhausted,” no one knew better than Lucian the state his opponent was in, that he was conscious was already a miracle.

During the heat all the senses were so heightened that it hurt. Their muscles would tense to the point where they could tear and the urge to mate could drive them mad, because their nature commanded them to procreate pups. In Dante’s case it was different, he refused to hurt a she-wolf because of the level of violence that males could reach in heat. His condition, once this period had passed, was wearing and devastating. It was even known that there were times when males needed more than a day to recover and this seemed to be the case.

Lucian estimated that he had only finished his rut a few hours ago, by his scent and that as soon as he had heard about it he had set off in the direction of his pack. If he had waited another day, he would have taken him himself, but the wolf was too possessive of his things, not to say stubborn. Foreseeing the worst, he had ordered that if they saw him coming, they should let him pass. He did not want a quarrel, for that would only expose his secret.

-Lucian,” he growled gravely, releasing almost all the air from his lungs, “I won’t let you pass this time,” he threatened in a voice of thunder.

-You don’t look fit to me,” the red-haired man used the joke to lighten the mood. He knew that a fight between the two would be fatal for both of them. The laws did not allow it.

For his part, Lukyan could hear his current fiancé’s unrestrained heartbeat and feel the cold, trembling palm holding him against his back. He swallowed dryly and lowered his head. Dante didn’t look well at all and yet she’d gone looking for him, facing an entire pack, she hadn’t expected that. He smiled slightly as his own heartbeat intensified as well. He moved to Dante’s side and touched his forearm, feeling the skin just as cold and sweaty under his fingers.

-Dante, calm down, I’m fine,” she said softly, “Let me finish some business I have here and we’ll be right back,” she urged him to calm down.

But the alpha didn’t seem to hear him. She squeezed his hand and looked at him. Her eyes looked at him with such intensity that it made him remember what had happened at their last meeting; though he restrained himself from breaking away from him, it might make things worse, so he would hold on.

-We’re leaving now,” his words were firm.

-I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” Lucian’s tone had changed.

Both wolves growled and Lukyan, this time, lost his patience. He waved his hand and let go of Dante.

-Since you won’t listen when I speak, I’ll leave you to attend to your own problems without me, I have more important things to do,” he turned and walked towards the exit.

They both stared at him with shocked faces.

-Are you sure he’s the one you want as your queen,” Lucian pointed a snorting finger at him; receiving a growl from Dante who staggered slightly, “I see you losing your alpha position,” the scarlet wolf said with conviction.

And he followed him, knowing exactly where he was going.