Chapter 37: Part 2 Beasts on the loose
Luka's POV
"Luka, Luka," I heard from a distance as I was in deep thought, sitting at the edge of my bed.
"Luka," I heard again, now lifting my head towards Mei that was trying to shake me off my foggy daydream.
"What happened? I need to know. You haven't been yourself since...." She stopped there, trying to avoid mentioning the unexplainable death of my stepmother.
"Look, you can't stay in the same room forever. You are the King alpha of not just our pack, but of every wolf around the world. You cannot look like this," She encouraged, lowering herself down to my side.
She gently held her hand over my bicep and back, trying to give me the strength to move on. But I felt guilty, guilty for not being there, protecting the person that stood right behind me until I left her, abandoned and alone.
"It's my fault, what happened to her. It's my responsibility. She was fine before I shut her off completely from my life," I expressed, holding myself from tearing up for the millionth time.
"There was nothing you could do, Luka. You know that. No one can stand against demons. They fear no one, except themselves. Nothing would have stopped them from victimizing their target."
Her words didn't mean anything to me. I was determined to find their weakness and I swore to death that I will not stop until they are convinced to go back to where they belong; in hell.
"We'll see about that," I mumbled raising my eyes towards hers. "No one presumed we would face the vampires and be Victorians, but we did, and now, it is the demons' turn to be convinced to turn their sorry tails back to where they belong," I urged, standing up feeling the energy to get into action abruptly.
"What are you planning? Don't forget you have a son on the way. Don't bring any unnecessary attention to our quiet home," Mei said, now standing beside me frowning.
"They will not dare to do so. They are not welcome here! Never were and never will be," I replied, standing up from the bed, strolling towards the window to look at the bright sun outside.
I folded my arms to my chest and watched for a while until I remembered I had a meeting with Jake regarding some activity ideas he had to come up with for the coming months.
Mei's POV
Luka has not been himself for quite a while. I have just opened my bedroom door and he was sitting on the bed, drowned in his thoughts. I needed to shake him off his feet and remind him of his duties as alpha and as King. He left the room in a rush, remembering that he had to plan for some activities with Jake. Unfortunately, our wedding plans have got into a halt for some time as he was still feeling guilty for his mother's death.
"Mei, you in here?" Lylah shouted from behind the closed door.
I slowly opened the door, allowing her to see my face.
"May I?" She asked pointing at my bedroom.
I nodded and let her in, closing the door behind me.
"Lylah, there is something you must know. It is startling Luka so much that he is barely sleeping or thinking straight. I only hope that there is something you can do about it," I started.
"Oh? Sure. What's happened?" She asked raising an eyebrow at me.
"You know his mother has recently passed."
She nodded and moved to sit on the chair we keep at the corner of the room.
"I haven't told you exactly how it happened, because I never had the chance to tell you since I'm always around people. When Luka went to visit her, he noticed how weak she has gotten and looked older than her age. She pointed at something and said It's him. Luka turned his head and spotted a black cloud hovering behind his back before she died right in front of him."
I sat down on the bed feet and hands across.
"That's an imbroferno. Haven't seen one in a long time," she mumbled, lifting her hand to her chin, frowning.
"That must mean that the doors of hell have been opened. That's bad, really bad. If you spotted one, there must be more around, hovering."
She started to mumble something under her breath, looking down at the floor, possibly thinking.
"We must warn every coven around," she announced, lifting her eyes to meet mine.
"Luka wants to get rid of them but he is in no good shape. What can a wolf do about it? Someone also spotted an Aergon and managed to take a blurred photo of it months ago, before the battle with those vamps. Look..."
I knelt to pick up the box from under the bed and took out the picture to show it to her. She stared at it for a while then gave it back to me.
"We need to work on getting them back to where they belong. They cannot be left roaming around everyone. It is up to me and the witches. It's our responsibility!"
Lylah stood up from the chair and rushed out of the door, leaving her flowery scent behind her.
Luka's POV
I was rushing towards the office where I had planned to meet up with the beta, thinking of a good excuse to why I was running late when I spotted him rushing towards the office too.
"Have you thought of anything we can do for this coming month?" I asked him, opening the office door.
He followed me inside and stood in front of the table where there seemed to be a couple of papers piled up on top of each other.
"You might want to go through these sheets. These are a few ideas I picked up, asking other packs for some help."
I glanced at him, then at the papers which I shuffled for a while as I shifted my fingers through the beard, browsing through.
"We have to start with something good to help our pack get their energy back after years of abandonment. Full moon dance, wolf flower fest, fire combat or candle night."
I skim read the titles but felt no connection to any of them. Shaking my head, I sat down on my chair, in front of the desk full of papers, exhaling loudly whilst lifting one leg over my other knee.
"What about the Mating hunt tradition? It's something our pack did back in our childhood. It is held to help increase the pack and make it stronger," Jake said now walking in front of me.
I looked up at him, my fingers still going through my beard. I felt my lips form a faint smile, feeling glad I made the right choice to have him as my beta.
"It's only right to approve of your suggestion. The mating hunt tradition. Yes. I remember that. Send word to the pack. I will meet with them in the halls."
He nodded to my command and I watched him walk out of the wooden door, closing it back behind him. One thing before this mating hunt is to get rid of the demons that lured in the forest and amongst us. As I rested my index finger on my lower lip I started to think of the best way to get to them unharmed. This was not something I can do on my own. I needed more than just my wolf to survive from such a creature.
"Ah, my dear moon Goddess. You helped my reign to conquer the freedom to our kind. In your name, I ask you to allow me more strength to face the impossible. Everything I do is for my pack, my kind and every living thing that gives nature its rightful life."
I stood up holding a hand on the table, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulder. I thought we were going to start a life all the wolves deserve and yet we are facing a threat just as bad as our previous enemies, if not worse. I walked towards the window, observing the crescent moon as it stood amongst the bright stars looking dominant and majestic.
"You wield your wolf well enough to fight for your future kin and kind. Don't underestimate your every decision."
A woman voice said from behind. There she was with my favourite silky smooth red dress of hers, holding an arm over her pregnant belly.
"Mei, I didn't notice you coming in," I gasped looking at her breathlessly. She chuckled softly as she walked further in.
"Lylah came to say hi earlier. I was telling her about the new problem we are facing and she offered to take the burden off of your shoulders. As a witch, she can do more then you can in this situation."
She rested her head on my shoulder, gazing at the stars above. "What will she do? You know I don't like to stay idle when I know something is not right," I said softly wrapping my arms around her, placing her face into me.
"She didn't say," her midfield voice mumbled through my chest. She lifted her head to look at my face.
"But she sure convinced me she has a good strategy," she continued. "You need some rest, Lulu. I can see it in your eyes. Let's go".
I cleared the desk off the papers, folding them to one side and headed upstairs, trying to renew some energy for the next day.
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