Chapter 2

🎵Fireboy–spell🎶🎵

         Lucas.

There was a loud bang on the door and Lucas groaned. He felt a violent pang in my brain like he'd been whacked severally with a club. Gently moving Thalia out of his arm, she snored beautifully he couldn't help but place a kiss on her forehead, tucking her into the sheets. He lifted off the bed, striding towards the door and pulling it open.

"Ew! Put some clothes on man. " He sniffed, "Thalia's in right? That would explain why you're naked." Lyle mused. 

"Shhhh. Thalia is sleeping. You're too loud." Grinning, Lucas leaned against the doorframe. "How long has it been? A month or two since we last saw you." He asked.

"I had to go check some of my men at the border with Clyde, but we found something interesting."

"What is it?" What could be that interesting? And why had it been at their border?

"Come see for yourself. And please put something on." He said, letting out a groan of frustration.

..........

Lucas hurriedly put on a plaid shirt and a dark jean. In the next five minutes, they had exited the main building. When they'd gotten to the Omega quarters, a shewolf stepped forward. She turned towards them, bowing courteously. Lyle signalled her, she nodded and walked away towards the cell.

After waiting for nearly three minutes, he spoked. "Could someone please tell me what the fuck is going on? What exactly do you–" 

Suddenly, the air became thick. A strong force powerful enough to knock him off his feet rushed through him and he staggered back. the feeling akin to everything around him being isolated. Every senses in his body becoming heightened and alert to a particular foreign scent that felt familiar to his being.

a strong scent invaded hissenses and set his mind ablaze. As if calling out to his wolf he felt him restless, panting, wanting out. He clawed relentlessly at his skin. He struggled to stay still, fighting the urge to go trail the scent. He inhaled, nostrils flaring. No fucking way! A part of him strongly hoped it wasn't what he'd thought it was.

dread filled his insides as the scent neared. Lucas hadn't seen what Lyle had brought yet, but he'd been sure it was no good. It was too heady and too powerful to resist making him shudder at the feeling.

The shewolf returned and his gaze zeroed in on the person behind her. She wasn't the only one behind, but she was all Lucas could see. Lavender and cedar. His wolf wailed in his head, screaming in protest at the shifter that wasn't even their kind. Olivia gasped, her grey eyes bulging as she neared. Her heart pounding hard in her chest. Lucas clenched and unclenched his fist when he could do nothing but stare at her, mouth wide open.

"There they are. Is everything okay?" Lyle asked. He stared at him, surprised at his change in demeanor, sensing his fear and uneasiness through the pack bond.

He swallowed hard, before turning to face Lyle,

"What the fuck did you bring?!" He said almost out of breath, his chest heaving. Expression tightening from annoyance.nNo way! That couldn't be his mate! 

Before Lyle could begin to ask questions, Lucas turned away in frustration. Walking to the gamma's quarters. Whatever just happened had left him in a great turmoil. She wasn't a lycan but an antherion! He wondered how he would explain to his people his mate was an antherion?! And why now? Why get a mate when he had just gotten Thalia back and they were preparing for their mating in a month. 

He found himself in front of a door, knocking frantically, only stopping a few seconds later when the door finally flew open. His sister stepped out, her chestnut–brown eyes gleaming with amusement as she pushed her hair out of her face.

She arched a brow, "hmm. It's quite odd to see you come visit me at the gamma's quarters. What have you done this time?" 

groaning, he raked his fingers through his hair. " Something bad has happened."

"How bad?"

"Really bad." He growled. A scowl etching itself on his face as his stomach churned.

She pulled the door wide open and letting him in. Leading him to the chair she sat on the bed, watching him lament his sorrows to her. She patiently listened and when he was done, she spoke.

"So, your mate is an antherion?" She said. Looking neither surprised or fazed. 

"Yes! I'm confused. I don't.....I don't know what to do. It's a difficult thing to throw away a true mate for a soul mate, but I could never take an antherion for a mate." 

She smiled, " you're lucky. I've seen most people end up with a wereserpent as a mate. An antherion isn't all that bad. And you know I was clearly against your union with Thalia. Even if you were betrothed to her, I told you to be sure you didn't have a true mate before willing yourself over to a soul mate."

"What was I supposed to do?! Stay mateless? You know I had to take her for some unconventional reasons. And I could never be the next alpha of this tribe if I had no mate. Mother would never relinquish control." Lucas grimaced.

"And mother would never accept your union with another woman except Thalia." She said as–a–matter–of–factly.

"What do I do? I can't just throw her away." He said, placing his elbow on his knees with his palms covering his face. He had to think of something and he had to do it fast.

"One thing's for sure. Mother mustn't know about it. She wouldn't hesitate to get rid of your mate, just like she tried to do with Lyle." 

"There's no way to go about this then." Lucas heaved a sigh of disappointment.

Her pause hung for a few minutes and she stared blankly at him. Finally, she snapped out of it, her face lighting up.

"Ah! There are two options. You could either claim her and mate her before your mating with Thalia, or you let her go." 

He lifted his head up to look at her as if her suggestions had multipled his sorrows in more ways than one. None of those options were easy. "I can't claim her. What about Thalia? I can't just let Thalia go for a mate. War would break loose. Her father wouldn't just sit still and watch me take another mate. If that happens then the peace treaty is over and the two tribes would both be at war and you know that doesn't end well." 

She stared at him like he was insane, "so, you'd let your mate go for a peace treaty?! You're sacrificing your happiness for a tribe that's already broken?! Why didn't mother take him? We both know a female alpha has the privilege to get another widowed alpha to be her mate if she cannot handle the responsibility. Think about it! Mother is trying to deprive you of your happiness for a thing she could fix, herself." She scowled.

"It's not as easy as you think! If mother took him as mate, then our entire tribe would fall under him! We'd have no control over anything and she'd have to relinquish her position as alpha. I asked her to let me do this."

She chuckled hysterically, her face mirroring her pain, " mother was never meant to be alpha. You're old enough already, but she's not letting you have what's rightfully yours! No matter what you say, I would never change the way I see mother. She was against Lyle and I. We lost–" she stopped, her voice becoming wobbly.

Knowing what she was about to say he felt guilty for making her re-live the past. He hurriedly got off the chair, gathering her in his arms before she broke into tears.

"We lost a pup! All because of her. My–" she gasped between tears, "my pup." 

"I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry for making you remember that again." He spoke with a soothing voice, rocking her slowly in an attempt to calm her. 

"I could never forget." She said, her voice wheezy.

Luckily, she quieted down, pulling away from him, her palms cupped his face, her eyes held unspeakable pain. 

"If you lose your mate, you've lost one of the most beautiful gifts of the moon. I hope you would make this decision wisely." She placed a kiss to his forehead.

......

When he'd walked back to his room, he knew he was torn between choosing his happiness and the tribe's happiness.