Once it was morning, Lucas could no longer sit still. Having another woman in his arms was already enough pain for his wolf but he had to endure. Showing affection for the little Antherion would only get her into trouble, not when he knew that his mother was already watching his every move.
Thalia slept so soundly all through the night, while he'd had to stay awake, his little mate's face haunting him every now and then. He stifled a laugh when he remembered how the feisty female had almost had Lyle on the verge of ripping her head off.
He could not wait for the dawn of the next day, and the moment the sun had begun to peek in the horizon, he shrugged off the quilt off himself, tilting the woman in his arms to a side. Rushing into the bathroom to take a shower, he changed into a pair of jeans and plaid shirt, bothering to add a hint of cologne he'd left resting in his closet for quite a while.
Lucas scrunched his face at the scent he now wore, wondering if it had all been a bad idea to add it on himself in the first place. He shrugged, realizing that he had other important matters to attend to, one that included being around his mate.
Strutting out of the room at a fast pace, he made his way to the other end of the hallway, turning out of the corridor that led out of his quarters. In no time, he found himself heading towards the arena that had been used as a training ground by his pack.
He scoffed when his gaze settled on Lyle and he noticed the smile playing on his lips even as he went hard on the sentinels that trained for the day. He'd always being one to never slack on his duties as the gamma, and a small frown etched itself on the alpha's face when he reminded himself that the gamma would soon have to leave for the borders, to save himself from his mother's wrath.
"Alpha."
A low growl snapped him out of his train of thoughts when Byron suddenly appeared beside him. He acknowledged the beta with a nod when he bowed. Shifting his attention back to the sentinels in the ring that sparred with the gamma, he asked softly.
"Report." He muttered. "What's the progress with the prisoners?"
"Lyle had them moved to the gamma's quarters so we could easily keep an eye on them. They would stay in the make-shift basement as his prisoners but would work the duties with other maids, to shake off any doubts of what they really are."
He hummed a small sound, feeling his annoyance slowly seeping through him to the surface. As if sensing the change in his emotions, the gamma's head snapped towards their direction, his gaze dwelling on Lucas for a short while before he turned back to face the young lad who'd just realized the male standing right in front of him was not the kind of opponent one would wish for.
"My mother? Does she know about them?" He sighed, kneading his temples in agitation at the mere mention of the female alpha who'd birthed him. " I won't put it past her to start snooping around for any hint of information about them."
"You're right, alpha. She's taken an interest in them and I recently caught Reed spying on the yard. But do not worry, they're being watched and as long as you don't tell anyone who she truly is, they would never know."
He let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he could still sense the burden baring down on him, could still feel the anger churning in the pits of his stomach. He hated having to keep her a secret when all he truly wished for, was to spend as much time with her as he could.
"The antherion?" He asked, turning to face Byron who now wore a questioning look on his face, obviously wanting to know what exactly he'd wanted to know about her.
"She's refusing to work the shift so I had them confined to the basement."
"Fuck!" He growled. "Why the fuck would you have her confined?! She's the future Luna for bloody's sake and the earlier you start acknowledging her and treating her with respect, the better."
He'd nearly gone livid with rage.
Felt his alpha aura seep through every pore in his body to hold unto the beta in a death grip. Byron stumbled to his knees, writhing in pain from the sheer force of his dominance. He only heard Lyle curse under his breath from where he was, and the next moment, he'd covered the space between them, gripping his arms tight.
"Calm down, Alpha. The kids are watching." He snarled.
"Don't tell me to fucking calm down! I asked you all to do one thing! Just one thing and then what?! He has her confined to the basement?! You know how much I hated seeing that silver collar on her!"
"Shit."
Lyle mumbled out strings of incoherent words when realization dawned on him. She was the bloody Luna who already had so much hate in her for him already! She'd already seen him as a threat to begin with! Hurting her and her wolf only added to the long lists of disdain she had towards him.
The sentinels had now focused their attention on whatever it was that now happened between them, curious to know what must have caused the ruckus. Lyle motioned his hands and they nodded, slowly dispersing.
Byron continued to struggle under the alpha's hold when all the air swooshed out of his lungs and his chest constricted painfully. The gamma patted the alpha's shoulders, shaking his head to disagree with the beta's behavior and the alpha's.
"I'll fix this, I promise. I apologize for letting you down, we should have handled this more sensibly and I'm pretty sure Byron didn't think confining her would anger you.'
"Didn't think?!" He cackled hysterically. "He didn't think hurting my mate would anger me?! Does that even make any fucking sense?!"
Lyle dropped to his knees in attempts to quell whatever it was that had begun to surge deep within the alpha. It was his fault and he reckoned leaving the beta with little to no instructions only made matters worse.
"Give me another chance, Alpha. I swear on my life, I'd fix this."
Lucas groaned out in dismay, his lips quirking back in dismay when the gamma dropped to his knees. With a loud huff, he withdrew his alpha aura, watching the beta wheeze when relief washed over him and he gasped for air with a pained look on his face.
"No." Lucas retorted. "I'll fix this myself."