A white wolf cub began to poke its muzzle through a trapdoor on the wall. She entered with caution and stealth watching any movement that was in the room, she is 3.2 feet tall which allows her to hide a little from watchful eyes.
A sudden sound gives her a scare and quickly hides under one of the seats.
Behind the desk is her father, Arseni Volkov, king of lycans and werewolves of Russia. A man in his twenty-eight years with blackish gray hair and amber eyes. Many would say that he is terrifying with his height of 6"5', muscular body with white skin. A strong mandible and straight nose, his face reminds us of the times of the Tsar with marked features of the Russian aristocracy. Even so behind that appearance he has a big and kind heart, only allowing his family and pack to see that side.
"We're almost done, get to the meeting on time, Jayden, I don't want excuses again." Arseni says in front of the big window with his back to her.
She comes out again, almost crawling, until she reaches a coat rack near the door, where it has a winter cloak. The cub looks towards her father and then back to the cloak, she will have to do it fast, because her brothers are waiting for her in the secret corridor. She just jumps by throwing the coat rack to the ground and clutching between his teeth before running to the secret corridor on the wall.
"What the hell? Kira! Come back here!" exclaims Arseni as he turn over when he hear the noise. Running towards the trapdoor in an attempt to grab his cloak without success. "It's nothing fun, kids!" hits the wall.
Kira smiles naughty before advancing a little through the passage, trying not to step on the cape, being a little difficult by the size of her. It didn't take long to get to an wide hexagonal area, looks like an abandoned warehouse, where are four wolf cubs, her siblings.
"I can't believe you'll make it, Kira," He growls the autumn red cub, but no words came out of his mouth but went through a mental bond.
Lycans and werewolves can communicate in their wolf and human form through a mental bond between themselves and their pack. Only lycans, the only ones that are pure blooded , can create new bonds with other races or packs.
"I told you, Garald, I can hide my smell very well, even from Dad," she smiles and raises her head proudly.
"We're better off moving, Dad won't take long." The dark gray cub speaks, grabbing the cloak between his teeth.
The rest of the children do the same.
The five move with difficulty through the passages, it is not easy to coordinate being five cubs of the same height. They take a while but manage to find another trapdoor, pushing from it to open it. Stepping out into the ornate hallway, whose red walls and golden details shine in the light of the lamps.
"Kira, Tatiana, Garald, Lev and Sergei come back here with that! I'm serious!" exclaims Arseni from his office door, "The reunion begins in fifteen minutes, for the mother moon goddess's sake!"
The cubs only laughed and tried to run away from their father faster. They barely manage to advance, with Kira being the one who goes to the front. At one point a deep tremor on the ground, as if something huge and heavy fell on the floor, they did not doubt for a second to whom they belonged and ran again. But they are entangled by the fabric and fall like lead on the ground.
"What a genius you are, Sergei, look where you're going!" Growl Tatiana, the cub with a light gray coat.
"Close the muzzle, Tatiana!" He says scathing and showing his teeth. He is the dark gray cub.
"Try to force me, Sergei!" Tatiana sticks out her tongue and ducks on the floor, seeking to provoke her brother.
"Really? Just what we needed," says the autumn red puppy. "Hey! Stop this nonsense!"
"Now the voice of reason speaks, Garald the great," says the bluish-gray cub.
"Shut up for once, Lev." Garald growls at his brother.
"Great, we look like a monkey cage with meaningless fights," mentioned Kira, an unusual bluish glow on the back, legs and tail. Her yellow eyes look at her siblings.
This is how their father finds them soon after in his wolf form. In a tangle of colors that are his six-year-old children fighting. Sometimes it is a blessing that the lycan are born in litters of three or more cubs, so they are prepared to be able to lead and live with the herd, without losing control of them; but in cases like these, it's more of a curse.
Like any of the children born in the Blood Moon pack, his pack composed only of lycans of different bloodlines from other sister nations, the cubs are born completely like wolves knowing their real body and soul from the beginning. At some point when they reach the age of six, their body and power will be more understandable to them, allowing them to take on human form.
Arseni walks towards them and after hitting the ground hard with his paw, breaking the fight of the children who jumped out of fright.
"What have I told you about stealing my things before meetings with my betas, deltas and gammas? " Arseni gently growls at his cubs.
"Don't let us get caught by you?" The five said in unison and with what may seem like a wolf smile.
Arseni only laughed, he adores and loves his little four-legged demons of six years old. It's hard to stay angry with them for a long time, as long as they are unsyncing things.
"Other than that, kids, at least I hope my cloak is still somewhat intact." Arseni looks at the fabric, barely having the tiny bite marks. "Are you going to explain to me why you were fighting now?"
"They started! No, I don't start anything!" The five shouted and growled at the same time.
"Enough, don't start over." Arseni sighs and lays on the floor to see them better. "Cubs, what have I told you about the importance of coordination and harmony?"
"Without them the pack does not last nor does it survive," Garald says with some embarrassment.
"Very well, Garald, it's an unofficial rule, but it's a heart motto that werewolves and lycans follow." Arseni I look at them calmly. "I understand that you are siblings and the fighting between you is normal. I had my own problems with my sisters, but we always left our differences behind the castle gates. The unification of the pack begins in its leaders, if there is hopelessness and panic it can be destroyed if their alphas keep their heads clear and up."
"You should listen better to your father, my little ones," says Sonia, an elegant woman with autumn red hair and eyes of a vivid green, wearing a long black gown with small white splashes that resemble the stars. It is the dress worn only by the moon queen, only used for meetings with the king's inner and external circle, meetings with the pack, international visits or the organization of the Asian kingdoms.
Arseni returned to the human form, preserving the elegant costume of the Lycan king, an old-fashioned costume made of the Tsar style ivory white and the coat had a hairy part on the upper edges.
"Hello, my beloved moon," Arseni takes his wife's hand and kisses the back.
"That's disgusting, dad!" exclaim the five cubs.
"You will have your moment when you find your soulmate, kids." He smiles at his children's faces.
"Come on, my little ones, we will be late for the meeting."
Sonia pulls five thick gold necklaces from Arseni's cape. Each carries a huge oval gem, embedded in the head of a wolf. The two adults put one on each of the cubs, according to their birth order.
Kira has a violet sapphire with light blackish tones.
Sergei has two chrome diopside, combining perfectly with his eyes similar to those of his mother.
Garald has one aquamarine stone and two medium-sized moonstones on both sides.
Lev has two large topazes and two medium-sized peryls.
Tatiana has three rhodocrosite and two pink quartz of medium size.
These are the necklaces of the heirs to the throne.
"Come on," Arseni surrounds his queen with one arm.
The family began walking down the hallway to the meeting room.
The royal family came to two large doors of black wood and gold knobs. It is the partially secret entrance to a private meeting room.
Arseni opened the door, revealing a large ornate room. Natural light entered perfectly through the large windows that overlooked the red square and people could be heard passing by. A rectangular table occupies a large part of the room, already occupied by eight people, each has a high position in the pack. Except for the omega pair on the other end of the table.
"Until the important ones arrive," says Giovanni di Rossi with a sarcastic tone. A blond man with brown eyes and an intimidating aura. It is the beta of Arseni, an Italian alpha lycan, second son of the king and married to Annika Volkov, one of the younger sisters of the alpha.
Arseni smiles at the insolent tone of his right hand. They met during the war of the giants, who had invaded Italy, both had a correct respect and worked well together. Giovanni had decided to submit to his position after the victory even though he knew that his blood was of an alpha.
Before he could say anything, his children decided to say hello first.
"Uncle Edmon!" The five scream before jumping into his lap.
The reddish-haired man barely manages to maintain his balance in the chair. Edmon Vasiliev is the older brother of the moon queen.
"Wow, guys, you have grown up so much!" Edmon laughs.
"Of course, go with the most pathetic and forget the others," says Vladimir, a young man with dark blonde hair at the other end of the table.
"Please, Vladimir, don't be jealous just because the bored Edmon likes it more." The woman speaks next to him, she has mahogany hair and hazel eyes.
"Hey! Speak for yourself Natasha!" Edmon says feeling insulted.
Kira got up and jumped on the table, running very fast. Before Natasha knew it, Kira had fallen on her lap and was showering her with licks.
"Hey, no! Kira stops!" laughs Natasha trying to stop the cub without much success.
Each of the puppies, acting as one mind, go to other occupants, doing the same as their sister. It doesn't take long before the cubs come out of the bottom of the table, attacking each of the different members.
Arseni laughs low, lifting one of the cubs in his arms. These are the children of his inner circle, only a couple of months younger than his cubs. It is a tradition that the first litter of the alpha will always be the oldest in age.
"Enough kids." Arseni sits at the head next to Sonia and puts the cub back on the floor. "Kira, take your siblings and friends to the playroom."
"Come on, Dad, we are having fun and can we stay this time?" Kira groans playfully.
"Kira," says Arseni with a slight warning in his voice.
Kira growls low, but she knows her father's temperament well enough not to pressure him in meetings like that. She jumps off the table and lets out a slight howl to grab the attention of the other cubs, as she approaches one of the walls, nose pushing a hidden hatch. It is a well-kept secret between the royal family and the inner circle that there is a network of secret tunnels behind the walls.
One by one of the thirty-seven cubs leave the room, starting the small journey to the playroom next to the meeting room. When passing to the other side when opening another trapdoor, they find a spacious place with a number of toys and obstacle routes; including a wooden house with slides and ropes to help them climb, using their strength on the muscles of their teeth and face.
Each of the children ran in different directions of the area, playing with each other or competing. They knew each other quite a bit almost since they were born; it's not hard to think about it, considering who their parents were.
Kira looks intensely at Aristide, the eldest son of Giovanni and Annika, a dark gray puppy with a toasted yellow underbody; she begins to get close and stalks him.
Aristide was scratching behind his left ear, when his intuition began to warn him. Lycans have a rather strange intuition in several things, but at the most opportune moments it serves something more than a lifesaver. The young wolf barely had time to turn his head before he felt Kira's full weight on him. Rolling on the ground, he feels Kira's teeth wedged into his neck. He manages to slow down the turn by resting his paws against the wall, propelling himself upwards and destabilizing Kira.
Some of the advantages of the fights between them, being descendants of lycans and most alphas directly, who undergo another is more difficult.
"Give it hard, Kira!" Tatiana says excitedly, releasing the chewing toy on the floor, while her sister and cousin fight almost on two legs over how they hook each other.
"Oh, please not again. All these toys, and you two prefer to fight?" Snorts a pale reddish cub rubbing the pink, for the slight white tone on the lower part of the body.
"You always act like a little princess, Agna, and you're not even one," another puppy says, rolling her eyes. Her fur is a toasted golden reminiscent of the Tuscan sun.
"Because I am one, Sarka," Agna says and raises her head proudly. "While you on the other hand..."
"You better not complete that sentence, Agna," Kira growled, leaving when she already had Aristide under her.
Kira approaches her, threatening. Unlike her, Agna is descended from an alpha father and a delta mother, Kira surpasses her with a more dominant aura. Not to say that she acts like a doll, she being the only female in the litter of Edmon and Astrid. She was pampered quite often.
Agna shrinks on the ground with her tail between the legs and whimpering, putting her ears flat against her head, showing a submissive behaviour. Kira is bigger than her by half a foot.
"Be careful what you say, Agna, Sarka is as strong as any of us and part of the family, do you think I will allow you to insult her?" Kira growls showing her teeth. The fur on her back standing up making her look bigger.