Pursuing My Rejected Alpha
Chapter 24

"Mmph..."

Ronan could not remember the last time Lucien took the initiative to kiss him, let alone kiss him in front of others.

Lucien pried Ronan's lips open and gently sucked on his tongue. Ronan's mind went blank right away. For all it mattered, Kendra just dissipated into thin air. Both of his hands flew to Lucien's waist and kneaded it. Lucien's eyes fluttered open.

The kiss ended as fast as it began. Lucien's tongue lightly scraped Ronan's lips as they parted, leaving Ronan to ache for more. Just like a desert wanderer who only got to take one precious sip of water.

"I believe you have the answer now," Lucien said to Kendra. Speechless, Kendra stared at Lucien without blinking even once. She looked as if she was about to get a heart attack soon.

It was not some she-wolf of good breeding from a different pack.

It was not some rogue she-wolf.

It was... the Alpha of the Infinite Eclipse Pack!

.....

Rumors about Lucien and Ronan did spread in the Silent Walkers Pack years ago, but Kendra dismissed them completely. She never thought that... that Lucien... that Lucien and Ronan!!!

Seeing that Kendra was still in her own world, Lucien passed her a curt smile and turned to look at Ronan. The Alpha cleared his throat to suppress the urge to kiss Lucien one more time. "Let's go," Lucien said. He then dragged the Alpha out of the kitchen.

Ronan shot Kendra a sympathetic look before he left the kitchen. It was too bad for Kendra, but Ronan felt a little better now that he was not the only one who had to suffer from Lucien's merciless rejections.

He obediently followed as Lucien dragged him all the way to his bedroom. He only let go of Ronan's hand after the door closed behind them.

"What are you following me around for?" Lucien demanded to know. He put both hands at his waist and pinned Ronan with a glare.

The latter merely covered the top half of his face with his hand and sighed.

"You don't really have anything to talk about, do you?"

"No," Ronan admitted.

They already agreed to sleep early that night. There was no urgent matter to talk about. Not yet anyway.

Lucien furrowed his brows at the man in front of him. "You know I hate to be followed around."

"I know," he repeated his words.

Ronan might have grown up, but he was acting the same way he did back then when they were teenagers. Lucien remembered the young Ronan who stalked him for days. He ended up scolding the boy, only to hear his love confession that warm summer day. Lucien put his arms around Ronan and leaned against the man's broad and warm chest. Ronan wrapped his lover in an embrace and pressed a kiss on the side of his head.

"Did you feel insecure?" Lucien asked.

"Mhm. A little."

Lucien looked up at Ronan.

"And now?"

Now? Ronan was happy that Lucien openly disclosed their relationship to Kendra, but the fact that Kendra pursued Lucien was disconcerting enough. How many more flies did Ronan have to swat away to keep Lucien safe? His insecurity might never go away. "Oh, Ronan."

Lucien sighed. He pulled away from Ronan's embrace when the Alpha failed to respond to his query.

"Lulu."

Ronan pulled Lucien back into his arms.

"I am sorry. It's just... The temptation is too big. You always preached about being a good Alpha, marrying a Luna, and having pups. Now you have the chance to do so. I can't blame you if you want to grasp the chance." Ronan did not even want to talk about Kendra and Lucien being childhood sweethearts. Or that Kendra knew Lucien longer than Ronan did. Thinking about these things only served to add fuel to Ronan's jealousy. Lucien grabbed Ronan by his jaw and grinned from ear to ear.

"Is that so? Should I go back to Kendra now to tell her that we can hold the wedding ceremony right after the war ends? And then we can start making babies together..."

"NO!!!!" Ronan did not want to listen more to Lucien's alternative love life. One without Ronan. The Alpha tightened his arms around Lucien's body. "You are mine. You promised to give us a chance."

He meant to be intimidating, but he sounded like he was begging instead.

"Heh."

Lucien patted Ronan's cheek a couple of times.

"Isn't it better to just trust me? I will not go against my words. Not without a good reason anyway."

Landon would ensure that any good reason turned into a meaningless wisp of smoke.

"Mh, you better don't."

Ronan took Lucien's hand and planted small kisses along his palm and the inner side of his hand. An idea manifested itself in Ronan's head. There was something that Lucien could do for him to alleviate his insecurity to some degrees. Ronan did not shy away from asking directly.

"I need something, Lulu. Something to tell everyone that you are mine."

"Go buy us a pair of rings. I will wear it," Lucien quipped, still thinking about the Clearwater family's heirloom ring.

A chuckle escaped Ronan. Rings? If anything, it would be hand shackles, not rings.

"Eventually," he said. "But for now I want something else."

"Like what?"

"Like this."

Ronan's hand wandered to Lucien's neck and settled on his nape.

"Let me bite you."

Lucien raised an eyebrow in surprise. Ronan Silverback, asking for permission to bite him? Was Judgment Day nearing or what?

"Fancy hearing you ask for permission. You never bothered with it before."

Ronan flashed Lucien a charming smile.

"Should you not reward me for my good behavior then?"

"Heh," Lucien scoffed. "We are not having s*x right now. Even if you bite me, it is not going to do anything."

"It's fine. I just want to leave my mark on you."

Lucien rolled with his eyes.

He then unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt and pulled it down, exposing his nape to Ronan's eyes.

"Go ahead," Lucien said in a sultry voice. "Bite me all you want, then."

Looking back, both Lucien and Ronan agreed that it was not a good idea at all to expose one's weak point to a beast. The carnal desire that clouded Ronan's mind somehow morphed into bloodlust when Ronan cast a look on Lucien's naked nape. He bit hard into Lucien's flesh.

Too hard.

46

Lucien did not even get to scream. He thought that he was going to die for sure.

And Ronan thought he just killed Lucien in a crazy fit. He could not even blame his wolf for the act.

"Oh Goddess, Lulu...!!!"

His knees weak from the sudden loss of blood, Lucien dropped to his knees and fell to the floor with a thud. There was blood everywhere. His blood.

.....

Lucien's eyes were unfocused as he lay on the floor and stared at Ronan's shoes.

A few seconds later, Ronan shook his shoulders in a fit of panic.

"Lulu, where is your first aid kit?"

"Lulu! Lulu, answer me!!!"

Lucien thought that he must be the only assault victim who had to additionally point out where to get help. He raised his hand weakly, his finger pointing at the bathroom. "Bathroom. Mirror."

That was all he managed to say before he passed out.

When Lucien opened his eyes again, the night had already passed and the morning sunlight had already broken through the horizon. He was lying on his stomach across Ronan's lap while the sleeping Alpha leaned against a stack of pillows to maintain his sitting position.

Lucien hissed from the stinging pain on his neck when he tried to move. He raised his hand and ended up rubbing his fingers against the layer of bandages around his neck. Additionally, there was thick padding on top of his nape.

Good that it happened after Landon came back. Thanks to his healing ability, Lucien's wound healed rapidly. At the very least, the bleeding already stopped.

Ronan was startled awake by Lucien's movement.

"Lulu, don't move around too much," Ronan grabbed Lucien's arms and pushed him back onto the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

How was he feeling?

What kind of dumb question was that?

Lucien wanted to claw at Ronan's face.

"You brute," he scolded the Alpha without hesitation. "When you said you wanted to bite me, did you mean to kill me?"

"Of course not!" Ronan quickly said.

"Because if that were your plan, I would rather have a fight out in the open instead of offering you my neck in your bedroom." Ronan massaged his aching temples.

"Lulu, shut up," he begged. "It was an accident, alright? I am sorry."

Lucien scowled. He clawed hard into Ronan's thigh and propped himself up that way.

"You are not going to bite me again," Lucien narrowed his eyes at Ronan. "Not until you learn the differences between a mate and food." Mate.

Ronan's guilt was quickly washed away by the single word. He tackled Lucien into bed and showered him with kisses all over his face. "Ronan!" Lucien shouted. "Get away from me, you mad wolf...!"

"I am so sorry, my Lulu. My love. My mate," Ronan rambled between kisses. Lucien groaned. He pushed at Ronan but the latter was like a giant dog that loomed over its poor owner. Lucien could not break free at all. After cuddling for an hour or so, Lucien finally managed to remind Ronan that they were preparing for war. It was the first day of cross-pack training, and Lucien could not wait to start.

Although Lucien wore a turtleneck sweater to hide his injury, the bandages still peeked out of the collar treacherously and drew everyone's attention during the morning meeting. "Your neck," Beta Desmond stared at Lucien's neck. "What happened to you?"

"I fell," Lucien lied.

Desmond gave him a look. "Really. What an interesting fall."

Lucien ignored his remark altogether. "Did you get acquainted with the packs under your lead?"

Desmond shrugged. "I met the lead warriors. I have yet to meet the warriors. Will do so once we begin with today's training."

When Acatha, Annalynne, and Kendra came to the meeting spot, their eyes too were drawn to Lucien's neck instantly.

"What's wrong with your neck?" Kendra asked with a frown. If she did not misremember, Lucien's neck was still intact the previous night.

Desmond answered on Lucien's behalf, "He fell."

Annalynne stared at her brother.

"What?" Lucien snapped. He did not want to be the center of attention. Maybe he should have worn a scarf to further hide the bandages. "Nothing," Annalynne retorted in a haste.

The meeting proceeded without a hitch. All group leaders then left to take care of their group training.

Lucien had wanted to put the warriors from Infinite Eclipse Pack under Annalynne's charge because Annalynne had the second least experience with wars in general after Lucien. Lucien was worried that Annalynne would get overwhelmed. If that were the case, Ronan would be a great help.

Unfortunately, Ronan disagreed. The focus of the war would be Lucien, so he argued, so naturally, Lucien should have the strongest pack around to protect him.

Despite much persuasion, this point remained non-negotiable for Ronan.

Eventually, Lucien gave in. In turn, he allocated the weaker packs under his lead to balance the power distribution among the five groups.

After the meeting ended, Lucien went over to the training spot that was reserved for his group. Ronan and Jake were already there. They were chatting in a low voice.

In front of them, the lead warriors and the other alpha warriors already transformed into their wolf form.

Jake had arranged to split them into four teams of equal strength to do war simulations.

Each team had an "Alpha", a wolf who had a colored scarf around its neck, that served as the target. When an "Alpha" lost his scarf, his respective team automatically lost the war. This was the training plan that Lucien and Acatha finalized the day before.

Lucien took off his shoes and walked across the field. He also wanted to join the war simulation. When Ronan saw him, though, he stopped Lucien right away.

"Your wound," Ronan whispered as he grabbed Lucien's arm. "If you run around in your wolf form, the wound will tear again. Rest for the day, it will not be too late to join tomorrow." Lucien scowled in displeasure.

Great.

Thanks to Ronan, he was going to miss out on an exciting war simulation. "This is all your fault."

Aware of his contribution to the situation, Ronan was quick to agree. "I know. If you want, we can practice some combat skills with weapons. How does it sound? It will also be useful for you on the battlefield." Training was training. Human form or wolf form. With or without weapons.

Lacking better alternatives, Lucien begrudgingly agreed.

When Jake saw the bandages around Lucien's neck, he didn't even bother to ask. He also did not wish to know the details.

"Hi Lucien," he greeted before handing two spears to Lucien and Ronan. "I will go and watch the war simulation."

.....

Ronan nodded at him in agreement.

Lucien swung the spear like an expert and aimed the pointy end at Ronan, his eyes burning with fighting spirit. Ronan's lips were pulled into a smirk.

"Come at me, baby," he taunted.

Lucien squinted at his opponent. He lunged forward and aimed at Ronan's waist. The Alpha quickly used his spear to block Lucien's attack.

He did not expect Lucien to lightly step to the side, let the spear drop, and land a kick at Ronan's chest instead.

That one kick wiped the smirk off Ronan's face.

Thankfully, Lucien only used half of his power. If he had been serious, he would have broken a rib or two.

"You will regret it if you underestimate me, Alpha," Lucien said with a sweet smile.

"Not bad," Ronan commented, a glint of amusement flashed in his eyes. "And I thought that you did nothing but painting in the past seven years."

The two men attacked at the same time and met in the middle, their spears clashing against each other with every turn.

Ronan knew that Lucien was not as weak as he thought, but the man truly knew how to fight. In the past years, the man had been actively working on his fighting skills. Not bad at all.

Lucien especially liked to catch his opponent off guard. When one expected the pointy end of the spear, he got a flaming fist instead, and vice versa.

His movement was elegant like a dancer and smooth like flowing water.

Ronan got hit more than once while admiring Lucien's beautiful moves.

Just as Lucien thought to give Ronan one final whack to sober him up, the Alpha turned around, smacked the spear off Lucien's hand, and locked the latter's limbs in a tight embrace. Lucien threw Ronan an annoyed look.

"Is this how Alpha Ronan subdued his enemy in a fight on regular basis?"

"Only if the enemy is my beloved Lucien Clearwater," Ronan flirted openly.

Lucien could not help but smile. He averted his gaze but it was a tad too late. Ronan already saw it.

"You are so lovely," Ronan whispered with a husky voice. His warm breath ghosted at Lucien's neck. "I might just accidentally kiss you. Sorry in advance."

Lucien wriggled around in Ronan's arms restlessly. "Ronan, don't play around," he hissed.

Ronan lowered his head teasingly. If they were not standing out in the open right now, he would love to attack Lucien with hundreds of kisses. Sticks and stones only hurt him, but kisses would melt Lucien into a pool of wax. One that Ronan could knead to his pleasure.

A choir of howls was heard coming from a distance away. Ronan released Lucien and dragged him to look at how the warring teams were performing.

The red team won over the blue team as the "Alpha" of the blue team had lost his scarf to another wolf from the red team.

Later on, the yellow team lost against the green team. The second round was to take place after lunch. When lunchtime arrived, all the wolves morphed back to their human form. They all looked messy and exhausted.

Alice Clearwater and a few ladies from the pack were in charge of preparing lunch and distributing them to the hardworking war participants.

Today, they came with another delectable lunch menu : fresh chicken salad with a generous amount of dressing, grilled cheese sandwiches, and piping warm apple pies.

A lot of wooden tables and benches were laid outside for each group to take their lunches.

Ronan and Lucien sat together in a corner. There were still some free spots at the table, but no one dared to take a seat close to Ronan Silverback. Not even Jake the Beta. Only Alice Clearwater had the guts to disturb the couple.

"Lucien? What happened to your neck?"

Lucien could not bear to feed his mother the same dumb lie, so he decided to tell her half of the truth.

"I got hurt by accident, Mom. The bleeding has already stopped. You don't have to worry."

Alice said nothing, but she gave Ronan a bone-chilling side stare.

"Is that so? Then please enjoy the food."

"Thanks, Mom. They are delicious."

"The best, Mrs. Clearwater," Ronan added.

Alice gave them both curt smiles before leaving with the other ladies to tend to the next group.

After lunch, Ronan and Lucien joined Jake to watch the final simulation between the red team and the green team. While the first rounds took merely around two hours each, the final round lasted more than that. Both teams took it very seriously. No one wanted to be on the losing team, especially those who came from the Infinite Eclipse Pack.

Ronan looked around by chance and caught sight of Annalynne who was standing at the periphery. She was not there to watch the second round. She stared at Ronan the whole time instead. Once she locked eyes with the Alpha, she gestured for him to come over. "I will get us some water," Ronan said as he rose to his feet.

"What? I will do that," Jake quickly said, but Ronan pressed on his shoulder instead.

"Sit."

Ronan strolled away from the area and found Annalynne near the fence.

"Hello, Alpha Ronan," Annalynne greeted him with a solemn expression. "Please follow me."

Annalynne led Ronan to the pack house, heading toward the Clearwaters' living room. Inside, Alice and Kendra were already waiting for them.

Alice gestured toward the couch area.

"Let's take a seat. Anna, can you pour us some tea?"

"Sure, Mom."

Ronan eyed the steaming pot of tea on the table suspiciously. He was an Alpha, but the three women gave off intimidating auras. Just what were they planning to do?

Anna served each of them a cup of tea before she took her seat on a single couch.

"Have some tea, Alpha Ronan."

Ronan stared at the red-brown color of the tea. No one else was drinking. Was it poisoned? His instincts told him not to touch it.

He smiled graciously at Alice, "Thank you, Mrs. Clearwater. I am not thirsty. Maybe later."

.....

Alice regarded him with a cold look.

"If you are not thirsty, then why did you have to drink my son's blood yesterday night?"

All three women stared at Ronan with deadpanned expressions on their faces. Ronan cleared his throat. Did Lucien tell them?

All of them?

It was just an accident!

And that was also what he told the three women that were judging him harshly.

"It was an accident. Lucien and I, we..."

When Ronan looked at Alice's face, the words would not come out. Apparently, no matter how thick his skin was, he still had some restrictions from speaking of his love life.

He should not have to tell Alice what was going on between him and Lucien, right? Right???

Could they not all just take care of their mothers? Lucien! Talk to your mother!

Ronan was unable to finish his sentence, so Alice decided to help him.

"I know that you have been doing unspeakable things, night after night."

Goddess.

Ronan wished that the earth could open up and swallow him.

"My son is a grown-up. I do not wish to tell him what to do and what not to do."

Thank you, Goddess.

"But it is in my interest to keep my son away from harm."

???

Ronan was in a daze.

The three women looked no different than vengeful harpies at this point. Aggressive she-wolves were the worst. They used their claws and fangs effectively to maximize pain for the victims.

"So let me ask you again, was it really an accident, or were you bullying my son?"

"It was an accident," Ronan repeated. "I would never bully Lucien."

From now on, he continued in his heart.

If Alice knew everything that happened in South Bedford City, he would perish here and now before the war even started.

Annalynne's face loosened somehow, but the lines around Alice's and Kendra's faces were still as tight as before.

Ronan started to get irritated.

Annalynne was Lucien's sister and Alice was Lucien's mother. So what was Kendra there for?

Was she considered part of the family or what???

As if reading his mind, Alice continued, "Kendra informed us that Lucien had openly confessed his feelings for you. Honestly, I don't know what the two of you plan to do. All I want is for my son to no longer get hurt, physically or mentally."

Ronan nodded. "I will take good care of Lucien."

Alice furrowed her brows at Ronan.

"If ever I get another clue that you hurt my son... Then forgive me, Alpha Ronan. The next time we meet, I will not be as friendly."

Ronan could not help but raise an eyebrow.

This is friendly?

What does unfriendly look like, then?

Alice sipped from her cup of tea, and so did the two other women.

Ronan swallowed hard as he scrutinized his own cup, partly hoping that the cup would suddenly strike an alarm and shout that it contained poison.

"Are you not thirsty yet?" Alice demanded.

Ronan forced himself to smile at Lucien's mother.

He took the cup of tea in front of him and downed it in one gulp.

Then he placed the cup none-too-gently against the tea table surface.

"If Mrs. Clearwater has nothing else to talk about, I shall excuse myself."

Ronan rose to his feet, and so did the three women.

When Ronan walked toward the door, Alice stepped before him.

The Alpha was a lot taller than Alice Clearwater, but Alice's back was ramrod straight as she glanced up at Ronan. There was neither fear nor a sense of inferiority in her eyes.

When she stepped closer to Ronan, it was Ronan who felt a slight chill in his bones.

"I almost forgot," Alice Clearwater slowly said before she landed a hard slap across Ronan's face.

The Alpha unwittingly glared at Alice. Before he even opened his mouth to ask what that slap was for, Alice told him.

"Your mother, esteemed Lady Fangblade had given me permission to give you a slap whenever you hurt Lucien."

" "

Ronan was stumped.

Mom! He screamed in his mind.

How could you allow strangers to hit your son? I am an Alpha, damn it!

Ronan left the room without another word, slamming the door behind him.

Back at the training ground, Ronan grabbed Lucien from behind and bit into the latter's cheek out of resentment.

"Ronan, have you gone mad?" Lucien pushed Ronan away and rubbed at his cheek.

He then narrowed his eyes at the red handprint on Ronan's face.

"Did someone slap you?"

"Yeah."

Lucien was dumbfounded. Who in this place even dared to look straight into Ronan's eyes without blinking, let alone slap him?

"Who did it?"

Lucien pinched Ronan's chin between his fingers and examined his cheek.

"Who else but your woman squad?" Ronan muttered under his breath.

"Huh? What did you say just now?"

Ronan cleared his throat.

"Nothing."

Lucien stared at Ronan for a while but then he decided if Ronan was not going to tell him then he was not going to push for it.

When Lucien had his eyes on the contending teams, Ronan sneaked a glance at his lover.

What was with Lucien and all these women anyway? Even Ronan's mother ended up taking Lucien's side!

On their last day of training before they departed for the war site, everyone gathered to watch the final round of the war simulation. The winning teams from all five groups got to participate, and this time the group leaders also joined in. Lucien and Annalynne formed a group together while Desmond, Acatha, and Kendra formed the opposing group. The distribution reflected the actual war circumstance where the Silent Walkers Pack was at disadvantage in terms of number. After they all transformed into their wolf forms, Alice tied a green scarf around Lucien and a blue scarf around Kendra. When she was tying the scarf around Lucien's neck, she took the chance to inspect Lucien's wound. Thankfully, it was healing well. The whistle was blown at 10 AM, announcing the start of the final round. According to their current strategy, Ronan and his lead warriors were to push through the crowd so that Lucien could reach Kendra. Annalynne's group was in charge of engaging the other werewolves and keeping them busy. Desmond, Kendra, and Acatha were not stupid. They came up with their own strategy. It was to separate Lucien from Ronan and his lead warriors as far as possible so that Kendra could disarm Lucien easily.

That proved to be a difficult feat because Ronan was faster and stronger than any of them. He casually flung away one alpha werewolf after another that blocked his way. Whenever Kendra wanted to pounce on Lucien, Ronan was there to foil her plan. Thankfully, Kendra's group had a lot more werewolves. Because Ronan was not attacking to kill, naturally the werewolves he tossed aside could easily make a comeback. Eventually, Ronan was separated from Lucien. Desmond and Acatha forced Ronan to fight far away, while Kendra and her team cornered Lucien in the opposite direction.

The two alpha wolves walked in a big circle while glaring at each other. They both had their eyes set on the scarf that the other party was wearing.

Kendra struck first with her paw, and Lucien retaliated.

.....

And then they were back to observing each other's movements again. Being the impatient one, Kendra kept trying to replace a hole in Lucien's defense. She lunged and snapped at him a few times to no avail.

Lucien was very patient. He played with Kendra for a long time until he managed to read Kendra's movement.

She was always a little insecure on her left side.

Lucien made one jump and pinned Kendra to the ground. The latter struggled and the two alpha wolves ended up rolling together on the ground in an attempt to break free and also snatch the other one's scarf. Kendra's scarf was tied a little too tight together. Lucien tugged at it a few times but did not manage to pull it off. In the end, he ripped the scarf apart and jumped off Kendra before the latter snapped at his scarf.

"THE GREEN TEAM WON!!!" Alice announced loudly, followed by excited cheers from the spectators.

Jake clapped his hands from the side.

That was it then, the last training in the Silent Walkers Pack territory.

The young ladies from the pack came over with blankets to wrap around the alpha wolves so they could transform into their human forms.

"Great match, Lucien," Kendra said with a smile. She had the blanket wrapped around her slender body, displaying her naked shoulder and some cleavage.

"You too," Lucien said with a smile.

Kendra then left to take a shower.

It did not take long for him to defeat Kendra. She was smaller than Lucien, be it in human form or wolf form. She was also weaker.

Kinnon was bigger than him in human form, but their wolf forms were somewhat comparable, whether in size or strength. The only thing that Lucien was mostly worried about at the moment was his lack of experience in wars.

Lucien's train of thought was interrupted by a scoff behind his back. He turned around and came face to face with Ronan, whose lips were pulled into a taut line.

Lucien raised his eyebrows at him.

"What is it? Not good enough for you?"

Ronan's face darkened. He stuck at Lucien's back and hugged him from behind.

"I saw you rolling around with her," he said, his tone dripping with unconcealed jealousy.

Lucien rolled with his eyes.

"That was unavoidable, was it?"

Ronan's brows were pulled together into a tight knot. He knew that, but it still made him unhappy.

Lucien could not help but tease him a little bit.

"Or are you telling me that you would rather have me roll around with Acatha? Or Desmond?"

"For goodness sake, no!" Ronan snapped.

Acatha was another she-wolf, but Desmond was a male! Ronan could not digest the image of Lucien rolling around with another man, pressed together skin-to-skin... It was as bad in wolf form as it was in human form.

"Then stop complaining," Lucien said while patting Ronan's cheek. The latter pressed a secret kiss into Lucien's palm while no one was looking at them.

"You are all sweaty," he commented right after the kiss. "And your palm has dirt on it," he added.

Lucien chuckled.

"Did I ask you to kiss my hand? Why don't you wait until I am clean from head to toe before you kiss me?"

Ronan responded by stealing a quick kiss from Lucien's lips.

"I don't want to."

"Rascal."

The two men walked together and headed toward the pack house to take a shower.

From the other direction came three elders who walked in their direction as soon as they spotted Lucien.

"Lucien," one of them bowed his head when he arrived in front of Lucien. His hand trembled a little when he held out an envelope in Lucien's direction.

Lucien took the envelope and flipped it to reveal the wax seal from the Werewolf Council.

"Is this...?" He asked although he already knew what the answer was.

"Yes," Ronan said in response. "The location of the war has been decided."