Battle of the Ages

- n i n e t e e n -

Lukas POV

My phone ringing woke me up in the dark hours of the night.

I cracked my eyes open, trying orient myself and reached over to my nightstand. I grabbed the my ringing phone and tried to answer it as fast as I could.

Grayson stirred in my arms and let out a quiet whine as the noise disrupted his sleep. I gently stroked his hair and soothed him back to sleep before he could fully wake up and I silenced my phone. It did not sound so fun to deal with a cranky and tired teen at 3 in the morning.

I hit answer and held the phone to my ear, not checking who was calling.

"Hello?" I grumbled, sleep still evident in my voice.

"Rouges lining the Southern border. They aren't attacking, they are demanding to speak with you." Karsyn's voice flooded over the phone. "And... they mentioned Grayson."

I glanced at the sleeping boy in my arms and squeezed him tight to my chest. "I need someone here to guard him while I am gone. It's not safe leaving him alone while there are rouges so close. Get Alex here."

My mind link wasn't going through to him so that meant he was asleep. Mind links don't work when the person you are trying to reach is asleep. I untangled myself from Grayson and watched as he cuddled into my pillows, snoring lightly. He looked so gentle and peaceful. His blonde hair splayed messily across his face and his mouth was slightly parted open.

My purple hoodie against his skin looked so beautiful. The hoodie bunched up as he slept and a sliver of his stomach was exposed, highlighted by the moonlight that streamed through my glass wall.

A faint scar peaked just above his waistband and I reached out to trace it. Grayson shivered beneath my touch and pushed into my hand subconsciously. A small smile made its way onto my face at his action.

He's so beautiful, even if he doesn't believe it. The scars that mark his skin don't take away from his beauty, nothing could. Not his stubborn personality, not his snarky comments, his rude remarks, nothing. He will always be beautiful in my eyes and nothing could ever change that.

My hand ran gently up and down Grayson's back as I waited for Alex to get here. He sank into my touch and fell deeper into sleep. I couldn't risk leaving Grayson vulnerable for even a minute. I don't know what I'd do if he was taken from me. The thought made my skin crawl.

I reluctantly got out of bed and didn't bother with shoes. I was going to shift in order to get to the Southern border quickly meaning I was going to have to strip so shoes would just be a waste of time.

I paced quietly until I heard Alex knock on the door downstairs and I went down to let him in. It was obvious to tell he came straight from his bed because his hair was sticking in all directions and he was wearing pajama pants and untied shoes.

"You're in charge of Grayson until I return. Hopefully he'll just stay asleep but if he does happen to wake up, just keep him safe in the house." I instructed before hurrying out the door, quickly stripping and shifting into my wolf form.

I weaved through the woods that surrounded the neighborhood and tracked the scent of my pack and rouges to the Southern border. A large number of my night patrol circled the pack of rouges. The rouges stopped right along the border, not yet crossing it. There were only about 5 of them. Karysn and her mate Adrian stood directly in front of them. They were my top warriors, hence why Karysn is my third in command and Adrian trained the pups.

Standing before them was a scraggly man covered in filth. Shorts hung loosely below his beer belly and his eyes were crazy, they were the same blue as Grayson's.