Delta's Deceit [ShadowPack #4]
Chapter 1: The Show

This was the worst night of his life.

Damien Laskaris sighed before he was taking a deep breath as he was looking at the stage that he will be giving some comics later that night. He was just delivering the lumbers with some of the pack warriors and Zack was kind enough to bring him here before he has to take charge and talked to the old man Mr. Papadopoulos about the charge for the newest lumbers that he ordered.

I hope you will win the argument, kid, he thought as he was leaning against the wall beside the front door to the carpenter's shop before Zack appeared from it.

"You got it?" he asked before he was falling into steps with the Omega of the pack. After being discovered that he was being attacked by a pack of rogues and soon knew that he was related to the Gamma of the Shadow Pack, Arthur Adamos, Zack has been seeing better days now.

He was healthy and showing the glow of a prime werewolf. Damien would be wondering who would be his mate later. Not that he has any luck at replaceing his at this point. Damien was now 25 years old and when most werewolves would replace their mates at the age of 18 years old, he has not been lucky.

Even his best friends; Caleb, Xavier, and Arthur were just replaceing their mates later in life 3 months ago. The first sign that Damien should not be losing hope where his true mate was concerned.

Or perhaps he did not explore enough to uncover her. Or him, you never know the gender of your true mate anyway.

Damien sighed before he was looking at the famous café that served the greatest brunch and chocolate frappe in town as he was pulling Zack to a stop. The Omega turned to look at him before he arched his eyebrow at Damien.

"What?" Zack asked before Damien turned to smile at him.

"Shall we go into that café? I heard they have the best food and one of our own is working there. You know, the Ultima's sister, Samantha?" Damien said before Zack stiffed. He can feel the tension was coming from his shoulders before Zack was schooling his facial expression.

At least he was learning to be tough in this world.

"I'm not hungry," he said before Damien was tugging him along.

"Come on, it will be grand. And Sam was not due to work in one hour so you don't have to meet her if you don't wish to," he said before Zack sighed. Perhaps he was not on good terms with Sam so he might not be comfortable with her around.

They walked into the café and ordered up as they took a seat and looked around. The café has an ambient vibe that Damien liked so much before their food arrived and they went to dig in before they have to leave the town to their tight community again.

*****

After their break, Damien was making his way to the house that once belonged to his family. But then, his parents died when there was an attack from the Old Council that was led by the old man that lived in the cottage in the neutral territory.

The old man was Luna Marina's grandfather.

Damien unlocked the door before he went inside the room. He put the keys on the counter before he was making his way to the kitchen to drink some water. The frappe was good and all but it was too sweet for his taste. Damien needed to cleanse it with some water before he made his way to the couch to watch some shows before his comic show tonight.

He sighed before he noticed there was a letter on his coffee table that he forgot to look at when he was rushing to get some things done. He left it there for almost a week now and this was the only time that he had time to relax and enjoy. So, he opened the letter and read the content.

Someone has booked you to be a personal tour guide. Her name is Anika Regio and she will be arriving on 20th April. Be sure to pick her up at the airport for she took the exclusive service. Don't disappoint her.

Your manager

Damien took out his phone and checked the calendar. Today was 19th April and he swore as tomorrow he has to be up and early to greet this Anika.

Anika.

That name was so pretty that Damien was wondering if she was as pretty as her name. He smirked before he took another swig of his water before he put the letter down and he was watching the television until his eyes were closing.

A few hours later, someone was rapping at his door that jerked Damien into action. It was dark outside as he was rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands. Then, he got up from the couch and went to open the door as he was looking at Zack who was ready to get going for his show.

"You're not ready yet?"

"I slept," Damien said before he was walking into the house again and switched on the lights. He made his way to the bathroom in his master bedroom before he told Zack that he will be back in 15 minutes.

15 minutes later, Damien was wearing a white shirt with a black blazer and pants. He ushered Zack to get out of his house before he locked it and they went to the truck that Zack was driving tonight.

"Why did you sleep? You know you have to get ready for your show tonight," Zack, ever the concerned one, was telling him off before Damien was waving his hand dismissively.

"Look, I am ready and smells nice. Now, can we please just go into town so I can get my comic started?" he said before Zack was shifting the gear into D and drove off from their tight community to the town as Damien was taking a deep breath with every mile they were getting closer to the town.

*****

Once arrived, the stage manager was urging him to take what he needed: a microphone, a chair, and a water bottle. Damien thanked him before he was taking a deep breath as the announcer was calling his name and he went to greet his audience that night.

Zack was one of them.

"Hey, hey, hey! How is it going?" he asked as he was looking around, feeling the lights were shifting as he was walking around on the stage as he was greeting the audience.

"Well, we have a full house tonight. I don't know if it was because you guys don't have anything to do or you just want to watch me be miserable on here," he said before some of the audience was laughing. He smiled before he was taking a moment to start his set.

"As you all know, I am born and raised in Cyprus," some of the audience shouted.

"Yes, I know. What a place to be raised in since we have the Turks and the Greeks' sides before the UN decided to make a wall as well. It would seem that I would have to know all the conflicts of those things that were happening in my own country. But to tell you the truth—"

He was looking at the crowd before he was smiling, "I don't even give a shit about it since it did not wall me up on my life," he said before some of them laughing right now.

"But of course, I cannot say that I was ignorant. No, that was for the older generation since they forgot to take their medicine," he said before Damien was looking around and proceed to tell the set for the rest of the night.

Until someone was asking about the myth of Cyprus.

"Well, once upon a time, there was this ship contained barbarians that were coming to an island that no one knows about. They landed there before they saw a beautiful young woman as they were enchanted by them. No one knows who she was but being barbarian, they took what they thought was theirs.

"And so, the sailors from the ship went after the woman before some locals were attacking the barbarians. It was the most gruesome scene that one could possibly imagine. And to think that locals were the ones that settled after Alexander the Great drove them out of Ancient Greece, they were the first settlers on the island that was now later known as Cyprus." Damien said before he shrugged.

"I mean they could have a better name but here they were, choosing a name that might rhyme with citrus. But hey, at least they remembered that no one messes with the locals. You have been a very wonderful audience. Thank you and good night," Damien said before he was bowing at the audience as he was looking around and they were clapping and applauding for his set tonight.

Then, it was time for him to get home and sleep for he has to pick Anika Regio up from Kato International Airport at 8 AM.

Damien will have a break for he was not a morning person, not until he saw what a beauty the person that was known as Anika Regio, a stranger that will be in his care for the week where the folk festival was in commence.