A Den of Wolves

The next day, Lukos had curled up with Nymeria on the living room couch. Nymeria had a mystery book in her hands, and she was reading silently while Lukos watched random horror movies on the TV.

"Oh, come on!" Lukos exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"¿Qué pasa?" Nymeria asked.

"Oh, sorry," Lukos said shyly. "I didn't mean to interrupt your reading. It's just… movies always get werewolves so wrong. It's almost funny."

"What do they get wrong?" Nymeria asked. She peeked at the page number she was turned to before closing her book and giving Lukos her undivided attention.

That always made Lukos nervous, especially when she'd look up at him with those big, brown doe eyes the way she was at that moment. "Um…" he started. He cleared his throat and tried again, avoiding her gaze so he could focus on what he was saying rather than thinking about kissing her. "Well, for starters, we don't just change into a wolf during the full moon. We can change whenever we want to. Then there's the highly insulting myth that we're wild beasts that do nothing but kill. We begin learning to control the wolf inside us starting when we first get our wolves. That's usually around the time puberty hits, if you're wondering."

"You don't consider the wolf part of you?" Nymeria asked him, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed together. "¿Por qué no?"

"Well," answered Lukos. "The simple answer is that it's just not. The wolf has his own voice, his own opinions... It's almost like he's a separate part of me entirely. He even has his own name." Lukos laughed.

"His own name?" Nymeria asks with wide eyes. "¿Cómo se llama?"

"My wolf? Oh, his name is Kiba," Lukos answered.

"I like that," Nymeria said with a smile. "Kiba is a good name."

"I'm sure he'll be very glad to know that you like it," Lukos said, laughing. "I will say, though… They sort of got the silver right. I mean, we can be hurt by any weapon, but we heal really quickly. Silver is the only thing we have a hard time healing from, so it does pose a decent threat to us."

Nymeria was going to respond to Lukos, but at that moment, someone began knocking on the front door. Feeling scared, she hid herself just out of view while Lukos answered the door.

Sparing Nymeria a worried glance, Lukos opened the door. Standing on the other side, there was a 6 foot, 8 inch tall man. The man had shoulder-length shaggy brown hair, golden-yellow eyes, and light tan skin. "Amarok?!" Lukos exclaimed, incredulously. He and the man hugged tightly. Then, Lukos clasped the man on the back and ushered the man inside, saying, "Bro, you're a long way from the Crescent City. What are you doing all the way out here, man?"

Nymeria slowly came out of her hiding spot then. She smiled awkwardly at Amarok, then started to make her way upstairs until Lukos called her.

"Wait," he said. " Amarok is an old friend. He's safe. Come hang out with us, Lil Red." He held an arm out for her and she gave him a shy smile as she walked over and nestled into his side. "So, what brings you out this way?" Lukos questions again.

"Well, I looked into those guys you told me about. The guys that were following her," Amarok replied, nodding at Nymeria.

"And I'm guessing you've got something good?" Lukos asked. "If you didn't, you would have called me instead of making an unnecessary trip. I know you."

"That, you do," Amarok replied. Then, he took a deep breath and told Lukos the truth. "Those guys weren't just regular guys, Lukos," said, running his hand through his hair. "They're wolves, like us."

"Okay?" Lukos questions… He may not have understood human men, but he did know how the wolves worked. "So… I'm assuming that means the attack on Nymeria and her family was planned?" He set his jaw after saying this, and clenched his fists at his sides.

Nymeria looked up at Lukos with sad eyes and asked, "But why? What did we do?"

"You didn't do anything," Amarok replied then. "They were never supposed to… assault you or your family…" He looked down after saying that, took a deep breath, and then looked back up with tears in his eyes. "Lukos," he said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady. "Lukos, I'm here. I made the trip. And I did it because… it was your father that ordered the wolves to attack her and her family."

"Yeah, that figures," Lukos sighed. He is the Alpha, after all, but I still don't understand why he'd set up something like this. and what I can do about it."

"You could challenge your dad to a duel. No weapons, just teeth and claws," Amarok responded.

"But I don't understand why he went after Nymeria," Lukos said.

"Well, supposedly, she's your mate," Amarok replied. "That's why your father wants her dead."

"Mate?" Nymeria asked. Lukos didn't think he'd ever seen her so confused before.

"Kind of like a soulmate," he told her. "But wolves can't mate with humans," he said, turning to look at Amarok.

"According to your father, she isn't a human," Amarok said with a shrug.

"What?" Nymeria asked. "That's crazy!"

"I don't know," Amarok said. "All I know is he told a story about your mother running off with you because she didn't want to raise you as a wolf. And the working theory is that you can't turn yet because you've never had a reason to even attempt it."

"I could… try," Nymeria responded. "That could help."