Runt Of The Litter

The Sandulf Pack was well known for their strength, speed, and size -- for they were much larger in size than any other pack of werewolves around their dwelling place. The leading wolf, Saku Sandulf, and his mate, Luana Sandulf were reverenced and feared in the land. Saku ruled with a tight fist and made it a duty to teach his sons how to rule with an iron fist.

"Where is Salome?" Saku asked his wife as she adjusted the bear fur that Saku usually draped across his shoulders. Which made him look much larger and accentuated his broad shoulders. The man stood a good 8ft in height and had such a build that caused shivers in the spine of anyone that looked at him. His subjects knew better than to go against him. No one disobeyed Saku Sandulf's command. No one challenged him as well. Saku Sandulf's word was law and three of his four sons were his enforcers.

"She is somewhere in the woods... you know that she always likes to be the-" Luana began.

"I wonder why we had a daughter... you should have given me another son," Saku cut in disdainfully, interrupting his wife's response. He knew fully well that stopping Luana from completing what she was saying would infuriate her but Saku was not one to care about another's feelings -- even that of his mate. He stepped away from where he had been standing in front of Luana and walked towards the exit of their room.

Salome squinted her eyes at him in anger. Luana was no pushover. She was the Alpha's mate for a reason.

"If you didn't want to know, why did you ask me about her whereabouts?" Luana growled as she stared at the back of her husband's head. In her thoughts, if Saku was going to say any wrong thing again, she was ready to tackle him to the ground like they usually did when things needed to be settled between the two of them. Yes, they settled it in combat -- they were werewolves afterall.

Saku stopped in his tracks sensing the anger that dripped off his mate's voice. Just before he turned around to face Luana squarely, Saku Sandulf smirked.

"Salome is no good to me... and so is Beowulf," he said to Luana.

She had heard this statement before but had not gotten the strength to ignore her husband anytime he uttered it. Luana closed her eyes in a bid to calm her nerves even though her nostrils flared visibly.

"Don't you dare talk about my children like that," Luana spat. "Everyone can not be kingly like you are... Beowulf is of our blood and so is Salome," Luana muttered.

Saku's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at his wife through his slanted eyes which made him look more menacing than he was already. "If I didn't know better...." Saku started.

Luana froze subtly and her eyes widened a little as she waited to hear what was about to come out of Saku's mouth. "Yes?" she added when he didn't continue with his statement.

Saku stared at his mate who was almost as tall as he was. She was built of the same height but not as muscular as Saku was -- obviously. Luana was a beautiful woman with jet black hair cascading down her shoulders and her back and those eyes of hers were Saku's weakness. Her hair was something of an attraction for the alpha also and so was her stubbornness and sharp tongue -- even though he didn't let her know outrightly.

Luana, who had the strength of fifty wolves was his backbone and Saku knew that he couldn't have asked for a better mate. Luana was the one made for him -- she was the mother of his children -- she was his mate. However, Saku had never wanted a female child because he saw no use for them. Salome didn't resemble him or Luana in the way that Saku wanted -- she only had the same color of hair like her mother and the same color of eyes as him -- as if that was what was needed to rule a pack.

That was definitely not enough for Saku Sandulf -- someone who was power-driven and bent on leaving a legacy of strong, almost giant, and, agile wolves behind.

"Forget it... I have somewhere to be," Saku said as he thought it wise to surrender before the fight even began.

"You should have completed that statement, Saku..." Luana said with a hiss as she briskly walked past him, only avoiding brushing his shoulder a little. She was not going to exchange words with her husband -- Luana was not in the mood to, especially regarding Salome and Beowulf. It had always been like this and frankly[y, Luana was beginning to get fed up with Saku's whining.

Saku followed closely behind her. He nodded in acknowledgment to his subjects that paid their respects as he and Luana walked past. Saku's eyes met those of his eldest son, Antonio. It was an intense gaze that was followed by a subtle nod of his head -- a nod that one wouldn't have easily noticed.

Antonio Sandulf got the message that his father passed and immediately stepped away from where he had been standing. He and his father had something planned for that night -- something of utmost importance -- something that no one else was meant to know about.

After Luana and Saku had taken their seats inside the room where they passed judgments and settled cases, Antonio walked up to his father and bent down beside him.

Placing his mouth almost on his father's ear, Antonio whispered, "I could not find him anywhere."

"Good. I would not want him to cause hiccups for us. He had better remain unfound," Saku stated as he used his peripheral vision to check if Luana was listening in on them. However, she was listening to what a female wolf was telling her, so that made Saku relax. He continued, "How about your brothers?"

Antonio already knew the 'brothers' that his father had just asked about. He didn't need to ask 'which ones?'.

"They are on stand by, Father," he said. "At your command, we will move."

"We move at the first sign of moonlight."

Antonio nodded with a wicked smirk on his face.