Stolen Fate

Chapter Nine - The Pack

Chapter Nine

The Pack

“Don’t be too harsh on them, Luke. She crossed quick; their hesitation is understandable.”

Lucas wolf growled. “I really don’t need you telling me what I already know, Morgan.”

“I know man, and you know I mean no disrespect, but you’re pissed.”

“Damn right I am pissed.” Lucas wolf treaded fast amongst the shadows of town. His giant paws kicking up dirt and debris with every step. It had only taken him two hours to reach Krishna, but his return trip was half that time, and he was not far out now. The voices in his head were louder, clearer, as he got closer to home. “Where are the fools anyway?”

Morgan huffed.

“Don’t go there, Morgan; where are they?”

“They argued their entire trip home. They are with your sister.” Morgan hated when Lucas wolf barked commands that his own wolf couldn’t refuse to obey. And the tone in which Lucas was speaking now had the entire pack bowing in weak retreat.

Lucas wolf growled. If any of them were to give him a hard time, it would be Samantha.

* * *

“It would do you good to come when a man of authority calls, child,” the King said aloud, his back to the door as he poured himself a drink from the bar.

Riley softly closed the door behind him before crossing the room to plop in one of two massive leather chairs. “You know me, the rebel,” he said, choosing to ignore the child remark.

“Yes, well ... perhaps taking the hand of a particular female will reset your priorities.” The king turned with drink in hand, and gave his son a tired expression. One plagued with years of dealings with teenage outbursts.

Riley shrugged. “You assumptions are humorous.”

King Soloman sighed; taking a long swig of his drink before sitting behind his desk. “The wizard is not wrong, Riley.”

“I know that.”

“She is the one. You must go and retrieve her.”

Riley rolled his eyes, absentmindedly tapping his hand on the back of the chair. “No worries, dear father, you shall have your princess in Court.”

The king didn’t look convinced. His eyes lingering over his sons lack of given attention before focusing on his chosen sitting position. Riley noticed and instantly slid his legs off the chairs arm, and into the more correct position.

Satisfied, the king took another long swig, finishing the glass’s contents.

“If we are on the same page here, pops,” Riley said as he rose to his feet. “I just assume getting on my way.” He didn’t wait for permission to leave, turning on his heal and heading for the door.

His hand had just reached the knob when his father called out. “Riley.” Riley paused and looked over his shoulder. “Don’t screw this up.”

Balling his fists and biting his tongue, Riley nodded. “Sure thing, Your Majesty.”

* * *

Samantha’s house was much more extravagant compared to the one Lucas called home. It was a colonial farm house, from the early 1800’s, that she and her husband, Tommy, had remodeled back to its original beauty, while keeping some things modernized. It sat on over thirty acres of desert and mountain, just outside the limits of town, and offered plenty of running space for the pack. It was this fact alone that made this the pack center for meetings and such.

It was this house Lucas was running to now.

It angered him that any of his pack would go against his orders, even if it was due to location and territory blocks. It was true that wolves and vamps didn’t get along. But, with no one species stronger or deadlier than the other, it was a fight the two liked to prevent by simply not mingling. Territories were clearly marked, and it was expected no one species would cross without permission. So Lucas could understand the hesitance both Vincent and Anthony felt when his orders sent them directly in vamp central. But that didn’t mean he was any less angered over the situation.

Krishna was his mate. It was the obligation to all pack members to protect her, care for her, and look out for her best interests. Their failure to do just that hurt him beyond words.

It was that pain, now, that left him an easy target for those who wished him harm.

Lucas went human before bursting through his sisters’ front door, nearly taking it off its hinges as pieces of wood splintered and fell to the floor. It was nearly impossible for his human to hear the chatter of the others mentally; still, he knew exactly where the pair were and what they were thinking.

Samantha blocked him as he exited the hall into the kitchen. “Jesus, your mug is disgusting!” she said as she pulled her hands from his chest and wiped them on her jeans. “Did you purposely run through every puddle between here and Dixie, or just the majority of them?”

Lucas grumbled, looking over his sisters shoulder and out to the back patio. When he refused to acknowledge her standing there, she smacked him with the dish towel she’d had over her shoulder. He looked down at her. “You are meddling again, sis,” he warned through clenched teeth.

She rolled her eyes. “You boys and your supersized tempers. You’d be worse only if you were related by blood.”

“This is one discussion you will not be preventing, Sam, so you minus well just move.”

Samantha stood her ground, placing her weight on one leg and crossing her arms. “If it were just a discussion, I wouldn’t much care, would I?”

“Isn’t there a pie to bake or a floor to sweep?” Lucas teased as he once again raised his eyes to look out the doors.

Samantha gasped; tossing her arms in the air and turning heal into the kitchen. “You boys and your lack of respect.” She mumbled something about parents teaching their children, and undisciplined puppies before turning back towards him, knife in hand. “You will not come into my house acting all macho and barking your alpha bullshit, Lucas.”

The way she waved the knife in the air as she spoke, and then slammed it through the vegetables while mumbling lines of complaints his human ears barely understood, made him almost laugh out loud. Samantha was older than him, by only a few years. But she acted much like a mother – to all of them. With their own mother passing so early in their lives, and their father following suit, it was a relief to him - and the rest of the pack, whose own parents had passed on in one form or another - to have a parental type amongst them. Even if she was often close to crossing the wolf line of authority.

After watching for a moment, he calmly walked over and placed his hand over his sisters; pausing her violent chopping. Resting his head on her shoulder, he spoke, “you’re right, and I apologize.”

She signed. “They respect you.” His eyes darted back to the doors and he nodded. “You know they wouldn’t have backed off unless they had to. She already means too much to them.”

He sighed. “Yes, I know.”

“This nonsense will not be allowed at my table, and dinner will be ready in an hour, so work your shit out – outside.”

He smiled and hugged her, kissing her cheek before pulling back and walking towards the doors. “It smells amazing, sis.”

“Uh huh,” she said as she resumed chopping. He had just about closed the doors behind him when she called to him, “and you will fix my front door after we eat!”

He closed the doors with a chuckle before taking a deep breath and losing all sense of humor as he turned to face the pack waiting for him not ten feet away.