Even if Darius wanted to make sure that the gremlin wouldn't escape them, it was the first graduation exam for the Gamma trainees for the year. The Alphas of their pack could only wait at the porch for a negative result before moving in. Then again, since Nicholai could survey the forest, Darius was so sure that the gremlin could only run—but not hide—from them.
While watching over the graduation exam, Nicholai was seated on the steps where they spent their dinner as well. Darius was only leaning on both of his arms and whiling the time away. The night sky was not worth the gaze, as the waxing moon had yet to change its look from last night.
That was why Darius decided to busy himself by checking Nicholai's face. The new leading Alpha of the Canini Shore pack looked like he was sleeping, with his arms crossed on his chest. His eyes were closed, seemingly sending his senses to a different place as he tapped into nature. Since he was not looking or talking to Darius, the mate felt the freedom to examine his face closely.
Perhaps even experiment a little.
"…hey, can you still hear me even if you're watching them?" Darius whispered as he decided to bother Nicholai to relieve his boredom. Even if he rarely wanted to be noticed by this delusional Alpha, he had nothing to do here but accompany Nicholai.
"…" There was no answer from the other man. Darius then moved to lean closer as if trying to see if Nicholai was just faking it. He poked at Nicholai's cheek, earning no reaction at all.
At this, an evil glint came to the other's eyes. Darius smiled at the thought of playing with Nicholai's face as his palms rubbed at each other. He then looked around to see if there were trainers that could wake Nicholai up at any moment.
After seeing the coast was clear, Darius took out his phone and saw that it still had no reception from this place. No matter, he just took a photo of Nicholai before starting to choose filters to play with his image. He then cackled like a scheming villain as he edited some of them while waiting.
"Hehehe, I now have a lot of secret weapons against you! If you don't want me to spread this, you'll do what I say to do!" Darius snickered before turning to the sleeping man again. His deep smile of malice started to fall before he groaned, his head falling to the side. "How long are they going to take? Didn't the senior trainers trap the gremlin first?
"Hey, say something." Darius turned to the delusional man again and rapped at Nicholai's firm cheek. He then puckered his lips and pouted since Nicholai was like a statue. He didn't want to hurt the other just to test his consciousness. Neither did he dare to push Nicholai down in fear of a nasty misunderstanding. "This is too boring…"
Darius left his finger on Nicholai's face before he traced it down to Nicholai's chin. The firmness of the skin helped with the hard angles of his face. Freely feeling the sensation of holding Nicholai by the chin seemed to give Darius some sense of dominance. It's just that… his gaze moved up to the thin lips of the sleeping man. The father's eyes blinked.
He then brought his hand down and slowly leaned his forehead against Nicholai's head. His wolf ears shot out of his head again, and they kept on flicking as if getting rid of the hair from where they rose. If only he could free his tail, it would have wagged like a flicking whip as well.
"…I can't smell that perfume on you, but you still smell so good. If only you're not an asshole…" Darius closed his eyes and continued drowning himself in the scent of Nicholai's hair. He was even rubbing his face against Nicholai's head as if the closer he got, the stronger the scent would become. His nails would even claw at the wooden steps, keeping himself from grabbing the other.
It's just that… when Darius moved his face up, something furry brushed against his nose. He opened his eyes and stared at the tall wolf ears of the other Alpha. It was not there earlier, but it seemed that it was reacting to his nuzzling. Was Nicholai aware of his action or not?
One way to find out!
Darius grabbed Nicholai's shoulder to keep him from moving away, and the father decided to reach and bite the relaxed ear nearest to his face. At the sudden action, Nicholai finally flinched and pulled away with a laugh. It's just that even if he even ended up lying on his side of the dusty wooden steps, Darius still chased to bite his ear. He just couldn't reach it due to Nicholai holding him down.
"Dear, let's not do this in a public place." Nicholai giggled as he opened an eye to find the red face of the other Alpha. "Having my ears chewed is not something I enjoy."
"Bastard, pay for tricking me." Darius tried to get Nicholai's hand off of his neck. The arm was wrung at a strange angle just to keep Darius from reaching the wolf ear, but the father didn't want to force his way that would hurt the other. He wanted to punish Nicholai, but not that way.
As if finding a good tactic, Darius moved to the side behind Nicholai and dared to hold Nicholai's head down against the step. It's just that his victorious, playful grin suddenly fell apart. A terrifying aura flitted into the place, and a dangerous scent suddenly wafted nearby. His forward ears suddenly folded back in fear, the lesser Alpha retreating from covering Nicholai's vision.
At the same stimulus, Nicholai flashed a glare at the space before them. His cherry eyes glinted mercilessly at the emergence of another figure before them. Nicholai sat up slowly, Darius unsure why he moved to hide behind the delusional man.
"Forgive me for disturbing such a dear time between you and your prospective mate, Your Majesty." The man in a dark coat walked closer to them, standing between the steps and the dead campfire in front of them. His hair was white, and his eyes were surprisingly black with a reddish glint. "I might have some business with Mister Walker—if you don't mind."
"I mind, greatly." Nicholai got to his feet, remaining to be on the steps to turn his nose up and glare down at the man who arrived. "It doesn't matter what you mean to discuss with him. You are not allowed to take another step closer."
Before the newcomer could make another noise, the Gamma Chief and the remaining senior trainers dropped from the roof and surrounded him. They only left space from the encirclement to encourage the newcomer to back off and leave. In a ring of stark gray and blue eyes, the cherry color was enough to make normal wolves shudder.
It's just that… the newcomer only chuckled at the loud refusal. "Your Majesty, don't misunderstand. If Mister Walker refused to speak with me, then I might have to force him to spare me some time. I don't really want to implicate you on this rather important night."
"You seem to be aware of why I came to this place." Nicholai flapped his coat as if hiding his hand to make Darius stay where he sat. The leading Alpha descended the steps like the regal figure that he was. "You might be the same person who sent the golem to distract me. Didn't it occur to you that I have long known that you will be coming to ask for Darius's audience?"
"I see. Then, I shouldn't hide from you or Mister Walker." The newcomer grinned, but his aura just got a notch more dangerous. The stench of death that he brought assaulted the noses of the other wolves, even Darius covering his mouth in pure terror.
The campfire behind the newcomer combusted in flames, the red light bursting into an image to illuminate the man that had come for Darius. His silver claws shot up from one hand that he swiped. "I am known as Pollux, one of the Lunar Houses. I have come to deliver retribution in the name of the Moon Goddess. It's time for you to vanish, Darius Walker."
...
[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
Hello! Thank you for reading up to this point! The next chapter will become Premium starting June 28, 2022. The next chapters will need fast passes or coins to be unlocked. Some of you might find it inconvenient, but it is a great help to me. Though fast passes don't give me anything, I still appreciate anyone reading beyond this point.
Powerstones, reviews, comments... they are all good alternatives. I would really love to receive them on behalf of coins. The book will span mostly until December 2022, so we have a lot of days together. Thank you for staying with me and Darius! Let's have more fun in the future!
If you decide to stop reading, I will still thank you for the silent support.