5 Puppies For The Alpha
Chapter 72

Lucian listened to the whole story and didn’t know if the outrage he felt was because of what they had done to Lukyan, or because of the way they had manipulated all the wolves, including him. Everything had worked out almost as Ryan had planned and that alone made the b***d boil inside him.

Lukyan could feel the rage in that wolf. It wasn’t for nothing that he was considered the strongest within the Council and almost always gave the last word. He lived up to his name even though he had never actually seen him in action. He settled back on the bed but let out a g***n again and brought his fingers to his back to feel a huge scar forming.

-Don’t move too much,” Lucian pressed his lips together in concern, “I don’t know why but I can’t heal the wound on your back. It’s deep and the tissue closes slowly, I think it will leave a big scar,” for a wolf to have scars was something totally rare especially because of their fast regeneration. Lukyan attributed this anomaly to the change Ryan had undergone and the toxins in his fangs, that meant the situation wasn’t as easy as it looked.

He heard the door open and a head of tousled red curls peeked out timidly. Lucian’s face underwent a quick transformation.

-Come, darling, I want you to meet someone,” he said to the newcomer with a smile.

Ellar closed the door behind him and hesitantly made his way to the bed. Seeing a scene where there was a wolf sitting with only a large nightgown that covered what was necessary and his naked brother only covered up to his h**s with the sheet was something that gave an insight into certain situations. Although he did not smell, in him, the scent of his brother. There was another, just as potent, that moved over the wolf’s pale skin in a possessive way that seemed impossible to disappear. Reaching his brother’s side, he sat down on the edge and his brother put his arm around him.

-Ellar, meet Lukyan, Dante’s current husband and queen of the silver pack, and your savior,” he kissed his brother on the temple, happy that he was accompanying him, “He was the one who brought you back to my arms from the madness,” he said.

Ellar’s eyes opened with a spark within them that Lukyan found pleasing. He was quick to note the similarity between the two brothers, their hair, their eyes, even their features, there was no doubt that the b***d that ran through their veins was the same. But he had to admit that, although this wolf, by age, must be older than him, he could pass for one of his sons very easily, even if he avoided some lines of expression marked on his face caused by the long stay in the madness.

Ellar crawled over to him and sat on his heels, clasping his hands in hers.

-I don’t know how to thank you,” he whispered shyly.

Lukyan felt nostalgic and the image of his children he missed flew over his mind. Smiling slightly, he rubbed her head, tousling her hair even more.

-You don’t have to thank me, but you could beat up your brother instead of me, the jerk kidnapped me, forced himself on me and then refused to k**s my feet for my help.

Lucian’s jaw almost dropped, thinking that any rancour Lukyan might have felt was long gone, but nothing could be further from the truth. That wolf kept it up his sleeve to come with his sword drawn when the situation called for it. Leaning forward, he covered his brother’s ears and pulled him back again.

-Don’t listen to him, little brother, you didn’t hear anything,” he said.

-Brother,” the shyness was gone and his head tilted back with narrowed eyes, “Is it true you did all that?

A bead of sweat crossed the temple of the mighty wolf who felt powerless in front of those two wolves.

-I’ll explain later,” he tried to lighten the situation by giving him a k**s on the cheek.

Lukyan felt for a few seconds relaxed with the scene, but he knew he couldn’t enjoy that tranquility. Lucian was magnificent. He was sure that if he were her husband she would care for him as if he were something sacred, but she had given her heart to someone else. He hoped that whoever would share his side would be worthy of how great he was. But for the moment he had more important matters to handle. His face serious again, he pursed his lips and bowed.

-Lucian,” the wolf looked up at him, stopping his brother.

Dante sat behind his bureau clenching his hands until his knuckles turned white. He had recently awoken only to learn that he had been poisoned, that Sylas had escaped with Ryan and Laita and Lukyan had not been left behind. The mark on his neck had strengthened her bond so she knew two things. First, that he was alive, second, that she hadn’t betrayed him. But the murmurs among the pack members did not say the same.

Bastian would not talk about it and tried to deal with his now adopted sons. Falco hadn’t rested in days and his exhaustion showed, and Dmitri looked like a caged beast wanting to cut someone’s head off. Still, he trusted him. Lukyan had given himself to him, had entrusted him with his body, his children, his pack, so he didn’t believe everything they said could be true. Still, he had no idea where he might be. He had strained his mind trying to open a channel of mental communication between them but failed, his queen must have been unconscious for contact not to be made.

He bit his l*p until it bled. She cursed that day she had let her guard down. Edgar had been reluctant to tell him how they had kept him and Matthias from succumbing to death, and though he had refused, in the end he spoke. It took all Dante’s strength not to grab him by the throat and strangle him. He didn’t understand how they had allowed their partner to go to such extremes.

-Falco was standing in the doorway of the study, breathing heavily, the dark marks under his eyes telling him he was on the verge of collapse, “Please come, it’s urgent.

Dante ran down the corridor and leapt over the balcony, landing gracefully on the first floor landing to replace the body of a badly wounded wolf and almost his entire pack surrounding him, while Edgar held back the bleeding that wouldn’t stop. His body was also shivering and his fur was almost melting into the splattered snow.

-Alpha Dante,” he spoke almost unintelligibly, coughing up b***d, “Please do something.

The wolf knelt down in front of him and took his pulse. He saw Edgar shake his head indicating that no matter what he did he couldn’t help him, they were losing him so he had to hurry.

-Speak.

-Our alpha,” he coughed and filled his lungs with air, “Our alpha was killed,” a collective gasp followed his words and Dante raised his head silencing them all, “The Iron Pack has fallen and all are being controlled, whoever resists will follow the same fate.

Dante felt his fangs grow inside his lips.

-Who was it?” He would ask him later if he had time for the details of how he could control the wolves, this was unheard of.

-It’s someone…I saw…here,” his words trailed off only to have his eyes turn lifeless white.

Edgar closed his eyelids and looked at his alpha who stood in thought. The only member he knew who was from his pack and could bring someone under control was Lukyan, but could he believe it was him? He shook his head, trying to push those thoughts away, but it only made someone else repeat them.

-Could it be that our queen did it,” a wolf said from behind him and several looked at him.

-We’ve all seen his power,” another mentioned, “You heard him, he said he could control other wolves.

-Then the queen has betrayed us,” another muttered.

Dante stood up to tell them to shut up when a small puppy stood in front of him and shouted at the top of his lungs.

-The queen is good,” a hush fell over the room and some recognised him, it was the puppy he had saved and the first time they had seen the power of the omega being used.

-The queen is good,” the cub sobbed, “He helped daddy, he took care of mommy, he’s always so kind,” he rubbed his tear-filled eyes, “The queen would never do anything bad, he always thinks of others before he does,” he said.

-That’s true,” another slightly older wolf who had been there during his tenure came to his defence, “When our pack was in crisis he would take away his own food ration so that we would all eat something. The queen is benevolent, and loves the herd, hates death and likes everyone to live in peace.

-Please don’t judge him without knowing the true facts,” a she-wolf took the child in her arms, she too was from the old pack, “You may be suspicious because you don’t know him, but even though he is always serious, the queen feels even more than we do.

The other members present, especially those who were from the original silver pack, remained silent and somewhat embarrassed. Dante was proud of the way his husband and queen was remembered. He understood the distrust of his wolves, it was normal as the merger had been in transit, which had been accelerated.

-So,” one wolf still insisted, “Who could have done that?

-It was Ryan,” the door opened, letting the cold and the snow let in those seven individuals, five guard wolves, Lucian and Lukyan at the head, “He is the cause of everything.