No respect

Author's note: This is from Seraphina's point of view

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I had no idea what to expect when Fynn met Sergio and Duke, but I definitely didn't expect him to break Sergio's nose. Luckily, the latter is a werewolf, so his healing kicked in, otherwise, we would need to find him medical help.

There was so much blood that I drooled a little.

Part of me feared that I will get punched also if I start disclosing information recklessly, so I decided that we move inside and have a peaceful conversation over a cup of calming tea that Maria prepared while Sergio went to clean up. The scent of blood was distracting me, and I hoped that no one noticed.

Mona was with Zoe in Zoe's room, going over the details for tomorrow and Mona also brought some facial treatments for Zoe. My estimate was that those two will take at least one hour and that should be enough for us to talk without being disturbed.

Mona was excited to come and help plan activities for Zoe's birthday party. During Luca's birthday party, four months ago, Mona announced that she will be Zoe's, Luca's, and Ash's godmother. I thought how that was unnecessary, but Mona wanted to be part of the family, so I let her have it.

While here, Mona also wanted to check out the area and pick a spot for her next branch of the Beauty Sphere.

I was surprised that Mona didn't ask much about why we want to open a location here for her luxurious spa even after I disclosed that currently there is only a ghost town within a hundred kilometers radius.

Mona responded with, "Drago and you own a big chunk of my business. Or should I call it, OUR business? Besides, without you, there would be no Beauty Sphere. I trust you."

I was touched by the confidence Mona showed in me. Mona is my familiar for more than three years and in that span of time, I delivered my forever-young potion (how Mona calls it) four times. It keeps Mona's body in peak condition, granting her fast healing and preventing aging. So far, there are no side effects. I'm watching her by doing a full physical checkup every three months.

I was curious how Mona will react when she sees Fynn. She gets easily excited over muscular bad-boy type of guys, and Fynn definitely falls into that category.

On the other hand, I wanted to see Fynn's reaction to Mona because I heard about his reputation related to bedding beauties, even though he never flirted with other women when I was around.

Back to the situation in the living room…

Fynn listened to Duke's and Sergio's story, about their last eleven years, starting with how Damiano sent them to London with fake identities and instructions to not look back.

"You knew we were alive, but you didn't bother to contact us?", Fynn asked Sergio.

Fynn was not surprised that Damiano would protect his son, but it was obvious that he was upset because his Alpha didn't trust him enough, leaving him to believe that Mateo was lost in all the mess when things escalated, presumably dead.

Now that things were in the open, I wanted to ask Fynn to fill in the details from his perspective. After all, Fynn was the highest-ranking general in Damiano's army of thousands of werewolves, and I was itchy to hear more about the big war that reshaped much more than just the society of werewolves. Also, I was confident that Duke would want to hear about his father's last days. Unfortunately, this was not the time to talk about it.

I took a mental note to ask Fynn later.

Sergio explained their lack of contact. "The young master didn't know anything. The instructions I received were to ensure his safety and not to tell him about the creatures unless his wolf awakens. As for me, I swore an oath, Fynn. I couldn't go against it unless I was tired of living, and the oath included keeping myself alive so that I can protect the young master. A few years later, I hacked into the database of the Hunters Association, so I knew about the bodies found and packs that formed. You weren't on either of the lists, so considering your high profile, I suspected you were alive, even though I was unable to find anything solid. My guess was that you either went into hiding or you were captured and kept somewhere secretly."

Sergio paused and shuddered, and I could imagine that the 'secret capture' would include torture and probably experiments. Every part of a werewolf is valuable; I learned that from my father's notes.

"Only recently I found out that you, Otto, Bert, and others are connected with Aldus, and my guess is that he prevented information about you from leaking…"

It was obvious that Fynn didn't care about why or how things happened. He only cared about the outcome.

Fynn eyed Duke suspiciously. "How come Mateo knows about us, and he is still wolf-less?"

Sergio shrugged and gestured toward me. "It was not me who told him the truth."

Yes, it was me who told Duke that his father was a werewolf and not just any werewolf, but the Supreme Alpha, the king of werewolves, and I have no regrets about it. I was determined to spend my forever with Duke (and I still am), and living while threading through the web of lies was not a happy future I desired.

Seeing my nonchalant expression, Fynn moved on to his next question for Sergio. "It seems that the two of you have been doing well for yourself in London. Considering that he is just a helpless human, why did you come here?"

"I'm done with hiding.", Duke responded instead of Sergio. "Now that I know the truth, I want what was taken away from me."

"That's stupid.", Fynn said bluntly. "You were an ignorant kid then, and the only thing that changed is that you are not a kid anymore. Do you think that people who destroyed the Bluemoon pack disappeared? They are out there, some in the light and some in the dark, and once they find out you are alive, you will become either their puppet or dead, and you won't have a choice in that matter."

"What if I tell you that I can awaken my wolf?", Duke asked and Fynn froze with a frown on his face and his mouth half-open.

A second later, Fynn shook his head. "Even if you can do that, it won't change anything. Actually, it will only make things worse because our kind will feel your presence and not all of them will be happy that you are back from the dead."

From the beginning, Fynn showed underlying hostility toward Duke, and I didn't like it. What's Fynn's problem?

"That's not why we called you here, Fynn. We need two things from you.", I said and Fynn's raised eyebrow told me to keep talking. "First, we want you to keep Mateo's existence a secret for one week."

"What happens in one week?", Fynn asked.

"After that, you can spread the word, if you feel like it.", I responded. "And second, we need your assistance in waking up his wolf."

"My assistance?", Fynn asked in disbelief.

Sergio responded. "We need someone who can resist Alpha's aura. I will boost your strength and we will need you to hold him down if things go wrong…" Sergio gave a quick explanation of how Duke's wolf will probably be feral and confused, and that we will need to subdue him physically until he calms down.

Fynn nodded in slow motion as he connected the dots. "I see. You want to awaken this brat's wolf in one week."

Fynn looked at me and lifted his lips into a challenging half-smirk. "What's in it for me? How will you ensure that I won't spread the word before one week is up? What if I don't want to help you?"

"You won't do that.", I said without missing a beat. Fynn's snarky behavior rubbed me the wrong way. This was not the time for jokes. "If I learned anything about you in the last three years, Fynn, you are loyal to Damiano. You won't endanger his son. And if you think that you are not strong enough to help us, I will respect that. No one will force you."

Fynn's face fell. I was aiming for his ego, and it seems I hit a bullseye.

"Not strong enough?", Fynn grumbled. "Instead of worrying about my strength, you should focus on the stinky boy who is sticking to you. Even if the procedure succeeds, his own wolf will rip him from the inside. Will you be willing to share a bed with him when his wolf takes over?"

I could feel Duke tensing against me and I had a bad feeling about it. And there it was… Duke stood up slowly and glared at Fynn.

"Maybe I'm not the strongest, but I can whip some respect into you. How dare you talk like that to Serina!?", Duke spoke through his teeth. "I saw how you are looking at her. Dream on, you old fart. Serina is MINE!"

Duke's possessiveness turned me on.

My dear God! This was NOT the place or time to get aroused. There were three werewolves in the room, and they could smell me, for crying aloud!

Fynn stood up and his glare matched Duke's, as they were locked in an intense macho-staring contest. What's up with all the testosterone in the room?

"Do you have anything to back up that mouth of yours, boy?", Fynn asked with a growl.

I realized that for Duke this was not about the strength, but about me. Oh, no… they are going to fight, aren't they?

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For a visual refresher, I added Fynn's photo as a comment to the previous chapter.

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