The Inauguration
Chapter 2

"Again!”

The wind was howling harder than usual on this particular night. The clouds grew bigger with every passing second, its dark shade only adding to the intense atmosphere beneath the clouds.

Thunder roared across the sky and lightning painted the darkness with white every few seconds, but that did not scare the Lycans below.

He shifted left, dodging the right fist. Ducking it again, he threw his fist squaring the opponent in the jaw. The young male groaned rubbing his now bruising mandible.

“Again!”, his voice boomed louder than the thunder above. The young male came towards him again throwing fists left and right at the large male but none hit the target. He was on defence, dodging every attack that was thrown at him. The offence threw a leg to hit his opponent’s side but his leg got caught and he is flipped over, making him land on the hard floor with a thud and a grunt.

Thunder boomed and the race for which drop of water would hit the earth floor first began. It poured hard, drenching the two fighters but they didn’t mind- it seemed they didn’t even acknowledge it- and this somehow seemed to make the sky angry as it rang with roars and white flashes painted the skies one more time.

“Stop playing with me Leon,” the man growled as they circled each other. The young male, Leon, growled, his yellow eyes shining bright with the help of the lightning, making them pop as the thunderstorm above them grew.

He ran towards the man wrapping his arms around his waist pushing all his force against him, but that tactic did not last as the man held Leon by his waist, lifting him from the ground before flipping him over the shoulder and dropping Leon and himself to the muddy floor.

Leon winced, holding onto his chest as he heaved trying to replace his air. The man circled him, watching how Leon laid on his knees coughing and wheezing every two seconds. “Again!”

“Lucius!”

He lifted his eyes from the squirming male to the green eyes that narrowed into his. Her white hair was tied into a simple ponytail and some strands escaped from either side. The exotic colours making her brown melanin skin-pop.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to kill my men,” she glared at the male as she walked past him helping Leon onto his feet.

“Well if they would get past me, I wouldn’t have to try,” he shrugged watching as Leon walked out of the kill circle. His eyes left Leon once again and landed on her scrutinizing eyes that stared at him.

Her eyebrow rose and her expression was hard for him to read, not that it has always been easy to read.

She shook her head at him before clicking her tongue twice and the training grounds were immediately emptied, leaving the two of them right in the middle of the storm.

She throws him a water bottle, “two-pack wolves were caught trying to cross our border today,” she started, ” the same two that have been sniffing around it for the past two weeks”.

He drank from the bottle letting the information sink in, “I suppose they’re sitting in one of our cells right now?” She nods and he huffs. “What are their reasons for being so far from home?”

She rolls her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest she scoffs, “They won’t talk to any of us,” her fists clench, “they want an audience with you”.

“Now,” he says turning and heading inside, “what could be so important that they would risk getting killed just to talk to me,” he humours himself as he opens the door escaping the cold wet rain from outside and she follows behind.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” she sneers, “I say we kill the pack mutts”.

He chuckles passing the pack kitchen, “you make them sound like pack vermin, Genhji”.

“Aren’t they?”, she asks lifting her perfect brow emphasizing her question.

He stops walking, as he reaches the bottom of the staircase, “well tell the pups that I will see them after I see mama,” he informs her before turning to mount the stairs.

But her question stops him in his tracks, ” How is she?”. He exhales thinking of the woman that’s lying in bed, “she is as she was yesterday, the day before that and for the past years,” he continues his elevation, “I will tell her you said hi”.

He walks past the second floor. The floor that held the guest rooms for visitors and other pack member’s rooms, although none live here, they all live with their families or mated ones as well as meeting rooms and the hierarchy offices; Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta offices can be found on the second floor.

He steps into his room for a quick shower closing the pack link that he always leaves on and humming, buzzing with chatter and some would not agree with him leaving it open but he enjoys listening in.

He enjoys feeling the connection besides the string that connects them but everyone knows the real reason he leaves it on is to feel the moment his mother’s string thrums.

He leaves his room feeling refreshed with a new set of clothing. He sighs as he hears the storm outside get bigger and angrier, demanding attention. He hesitates right as he was about to open the door, reminding himself not to get his hopes high like he does every day.

He opens the door and he’s met with grey eyes that perked at the sound of shuffling outside the door. The eyes watch him enter the room before the close, “Morning, how is she?”.

The black wolf huffs before laying its head on the female under the sheets as if saying the same as yesterday.

Lucius sits on the chair beside the bed ignoring the haunting sound of the beeping machines beside her bed. His hand stretches out holding her cold hand in his.

“Genhji says Hi”.