Pursuing My Rejected Alpha
Chapter 38

Annalynne stared at the ring.

She grabbed Lucien's hand and held the ring against the moonlight.

It was an authentic diamond ring. It was the most gorgeous ring that Annalynne had ever seen in her life.

"Does this mean that you and Alpha Ronan are engaged now?" Annalynne heard herself asking. She could barely believe it.

"Mhm," Lucien answered.

Annalynne was amazed.

Ronan just proposed, and Lucien was able to extricate himself from his fiance and go home in time. Annalynne did not smell Ronan's scent on Lucien. So they did not do it. Not even after Ronan proposed to Lucien.

Annalynne was not sure if she should say "Good job" or "Wow". Either way, Lucien did not look happy.

"Lulu, is something wrong? You don't look happy," Annalynne bit into her lip.

.....

Lucien sighed.

"He didn't want to let me go. He wanted me to go home with him and marry him the next day."

4"

Okay, even that was rather rushed in Annalynne's eyes. An Alpha's wedding must be carefully planned and executed in a grand manner before the Holy Temple of the Moon Goddess! From the day they reported their intention to get married to the Werewolf Council, it usually took a few months until the actual wedding day!

"And honestly, I wanted that as well."

.....

Annalynne stared at her only brother, the man who shared the same face and hair as her.

She knew Lucien.

She grew up with Lucien.

Lucien was not some lovestruck dumbass who renounced everything in the name of love.

Lucien sighed again and squeezed Annalynne's hand.

"Anna, I know that Mom and especially you dislike Ronan. But he and I, we have come to the point where we wish to get married and stay together. I am hoping to get your blessings for our relationship."

Annalynne was so stunned that her soul might just leave her body on spot.

"Wait," she quickly said before Lucien uttered another word to speak about his burning, passionate love affair with Ronan. She was not ready for this talk. She didn't think that she would ever be ready. Lucien pulled Annalynne into a hug.

"Sorry, I can't continue playing the game with you again."

Annalynne rolled with her eyes in response. She put both of her hands on Lucien's back, huffing in exasperation.

"It was not supposed to be a game. I just want to keep my brother for as long as I can."

Even without Alice mentioning it, Annalynne knew that she was being silly. She should not be jealous of Ronan but be happy for Lucien instead. She also was displeased that Lucien needed Ronan to be happy. It felt as if Lucien was going far, far away.

As if he was not going to be her twin brother anymore.

"Silly girl," Lucien whispered, pressing a kiss against the side of Annalynne's head. "I will always be your brother. I will always be there for you."

Annalynne pulled her lips into a thin line.

"So, can I do what I want with Lowell?"

Lucien took a deep breath. He loosened his embrace and grabbed Annalynne on the shoulders.

"Anna, I still think that it is too early for you and Lowell. Then again you are a big girl and I trust you. I just hope that you don't make any rash decisions to regret it."

Annalynne swallowed.

"That being said, if he breaks your heart, I will personally break his legs and then help you to raise any pup you have from him if he ever leaves you behind."

Annalynne blinked and chuckled.

"You seem to be prepared for the worst."

"I don't want to, but I have to," Lucien muttered. "I am your brother, after all."

"Oh, Lulu... you are so adorable," Annalynne crooned. "Don't worry, I will not be dumb about it. I know that my actions will reflect on all unmarried young she-wolves in the pack. I don't want to give rise to some unwanted development." Lucien patted Annalynne's head.

"My Anna has grown up."

Annalynne pursed her lips.

"It is Alpha Anna now!"

Lucien giggled.

"Yes, Alpha."

"I am kidding!" Annalynne said with a visible shudder. "Don't call me Alpha, ever again! For you, I will always be Anna. And for me, you will always be Lulu. So sorry but I am never going to refer to you as Luna Lucien." Lucien had to agree. The title "Luna Lucien" made him cringe.

"Agreed," he said. "Between us, there is no need for pesky titles. We will always be Lulu and Anna."

Annalynne put her arms around Lucien and cuddled her brother again.

"So, when are you going with him to report to the Werewolf Council?"

"In three days. Tomorrow, a group of movers will come to help me pack my belongings and send them over to the Infinite Eclipse Pack House."

Annalynne tilted her head and stared at Lucien with a frown.

"Are you not going to tell Mom?"

"I will, as soon as we wake up tomorrow."

"... Like maybe an hour before the movers arrive?"

Lucien cleared his throat. "Something like that."

"I should consider myself lucky to replace out tonight rather than tomorrow morning then," Annalynne grumbled. "I am going to hate it to part with you so soon."

"Hahaha, I am not going to leave right away tomorrow. I also have a few matters to settle around here. He and I agreed to meet at the Werewolf Council Headquarters in three days. And then, I will go back with him to Great Lake City." Three days seemed so short.

Annalynne hated to part from her brother, but she knew better than rain on her brother's parade.

"I am going to miss you so much, Lulu," she mumbled.

Lucien rubbed Annalynne's shoulder and back lovingly.

"Me too. But feel free to come and visit. I will also come to visit you and Mom often."

"You better do that, or I will file a complaint to the Werewolf Council regarding a missing brother." Lucien scoffed.

"Lulu?"

"Hmm?"

"I am so, so happy for you. Congratulations on your engagement with Alpha Ronan."

A beautiful smile appeared on Lucien's face. The man seemed to blush, but it was difficult to tell at night.

"Thank you, Anna."

Despite being surprised by how fast the relationship between Lucien and Ronan progressed, Alice Clearwater took the news of their engagement positively.

In a way, she expected it to happen sooner or later. The Alpha of the Infinite Eclipse Pack had after all expended a lot of effort and resources to court her son.

In the afternoon, Jake came by to deliver the official marriage proposal to the Silent Walkers Pack. The only thing that caused the Clearwater family to scrunch up their brows was the fact that Jake came with a huge moving truck in tow. While the Beta sat with Annalynne, Kendra, Alice, and Lucien in the audience hall, the diligent movers in bright yellow uniforms went to raid Lucien's bedroom and packed everything they could see inside boxes.

The floor reverberated with the incessant sound of heavy footsteps, going back and forth at an unhurried pace.

Inside the audience hall, the atmosphere was beyond awkward.

In an attempt to restore the ambiance, Jake cleared his throat. Beaming with a professional smile, he then proceeded to inform everyone of the reason for his visit this time around.

"Our Alpha would like to request for Alpha Annalynne's permission to court her brother, Lucien Clearwater, to be our pack's next Luna."

Jake bowed and handed the neatly-sealed proposal over to Kendra, the Beta.

.....

Kendra took the proposal, broke the wax seal, and rolled it open in front of Annalynne.

It was similar to what Lucien received before, minus the sentence that mentioned anything about willing to override the Night Prowler Pack's proposal.

Annalynne had accepted the fact that her brother was going to leave soon, but she despised the constant reminder.

Unable to unleash her displeasure on her future brother-in-law, Annalynne ended up punishing Jake with her grumpiness instead.

"What are you going to do if I refuse?" She asked with an expressionless face.

Jake said nothing. His expectant eyes just slowly wandered to Lucien, who knew to immediately step in.

"Anna, stop it," he chastised his sister. "I already accepted the proposal."

Annalynne pouted.

"Lulu, technically you are not allowed to marry him unless I accept this proposal."

Lucien turned to look at Annalynne. Raising an eyebrow, he queried, "Then, do you accept?"

Instead of answering her brother, Annalynne turned to look at Jake with a dark expression on her face.

"Listen carefully, Beta Jake. Lucien is my most precious brother," she spoke as if he was one of many and not the one and only.

"He is the most beautiful, kindest, gentlest person on earth. If Alpha Ronan dared to abuse his position and hurt Lucien, he will have to go against me." Jake sighed in his heart.

"I understand," he said in response.

The new Alpha pushed the proposal toward Lucien.

"I accept," she said, more to Lucien than to Jake.

Lucien squeezed his sister's hand. "Thanks, Anna."

Kendra helpfully brought an ink pad for Lucien and Annalynne to dip their thumbs in.

One by one, Lucien and Annalynne added their thumbprints to the proposal to signify their agreement.

In the end, the proposal was rolled together neatly and returned to Jake. The Beta exhaled from relief once he held the proposal in his hand.

"I am so glad," he said openly.

Jake extended his right hand toward Lucien.

"I know I should wait until after the wedding, but you are practically one of our own already. Welcome to the pack, Luna."

Lucien took his hand with a smile.

"Thanks, Jake."

"Whoa, whoa!"

Annalynne stormed forward and smacked Jake's hand away. She then put her arms around Lucien protectively while glaring at Jake. "Lucien is still a member of our pack until the wedding is finished!"

Alice facepalmed.

Kendra laughed.

Lucien bumped his forehead against his ridiculous sister's gently. "Yes, yes. I will still be part of this pack until I get married."

After Jake left, Lucien went to his bedroom to make sure that he still had enough clothes and other necessities for the next two days.

Annalynne came by not long after the movers left the building.

Sadness quickly flooded her heart when she saw how empty the bedroom became.

Lucien was sitting on his bed, all alone. He was typing on his phone. Presumably texting Ronan.

"Hey, Lulu."

Lucien looked up and smiled at his sister.

"Come in, Anna."

Annalynne sat next to his brother and hugged his arm.

"I hate it that you are leaving."

"Mmm, it's not like we won't meet again."

Of course she knew that, but it would not be the same. They would be in different packs. As soon as Lucien married Ronan, he had to put the Infinite Eclipse Pack first. And the Silent Walkers Pack, including Annalynne, second. "Hey, Lulu..."

Annalynne suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

"Why don't we go on vacation?"

"Um... Anna, I am leaving in three days."

"I know. Not a long one. Do you remember that water park in Blue Hill City? The one I wanted to go to years ago?"

"Uhhhh..."

Annalynne jumped from the bed.

"Wait here," she told her brother before dashing off to her own bedroom.

"Lulu, do you remember?" She asked while shoving the pamphlet under Lucien's nose.

When she got back, she had a pamphlet in her hand.

"When it opened, I asked you to come home so we could go together. You never came," she reminded him with a hint of admonishment.

""

Now Lucien remembered. Back then he just started working at the South Bedford City Art College. Although he did want to spend some time with his sister, he was reluctant to go back and visit the pack. He thus kept making excuses to not go until Annalynne forgot all about it.

It turned out that Annalynne never forgot. She was just now demanding a payback.

"Alright," the brother agreed with a sigh.

"Yayyyy!!!" Annalynne cheered, throwing both hands in the air.

After browsing through available package options, they agreed to book the two-day-and-one-night package.

When Lucien was booking the hotel, his phone started ringing.

The call came from Kinnon.

Wondering whether Kinnon discovered more clues about the mysterious ambush on Ralph, Lucien answered the phone right away.

"Yes, Kinnon?"

Unexpectedly, the one at the other end of the line was not Kinnon but Ralph.

"Mommy....?"

The first thing that crossed Lucien's mind when he heard the little boy's voice was the fake phone call that he received before the war started. Naturally, he was wary and did not know what to say at first. His heart pounded hard against his ribcage.

Was it another trap?

"Mommy? Daddy said that I can call."

Ralph's words brought Lucien back from his stupor.

Of course.

Ralph was using Kinnon's phone to make a call. It was the real Ralph this time.

"Hey, Ralphy."

Lucien wiped the cold sweat away from his forehead. "How are you doing?"

.....

"Mom, Ralphy is all healed up. Daddy said that I can go out and play."

"Mhm, that is wonderful." Lucien smiled to himself. He could picture the bubbly little boy just by hearing his cheerful, spoiled voice.

"Mommyyy... Can I come and visit you? Can we go out and play?"

Lucien was a little taken aback. What impeccable timing. He and Annalynne were just planning to go out and play at the water park. "Ralphy, can I call you back in a bit?"

"Okayyy!!!"

Once the call ended, Lucien walked over to Annalynne's bedroom.

Lucien had wanted to spend time with Ralph for some time. It would be great to be able to celebrate his recovery by going somewhere to have fun.

Besides, Lucien was moving in with Ronan in three days.

So why not take Ralph to the water park as well?

Once Lucien entered the Infinite Eclipse Pack, Ronan would be unwilling to let Lucien wander around with Kinnon's son.

Annalynne was in the middle of packing her luggage when Lucien came up with the idea.

"Hmmmmm..." Annalynne pursed her lips in deliberation. She originally wanted to spend time with her brother alone, but having a little boy around was a good excuse to enjoy all the rides, even the most childish ones. "Ok!" She shouted in agreement.

"Great, let me get back to Ralph," Lucien said with a smile. He knew that Annalynne would not say no. Like they said, the more the merrier.

Lucien called back to ask whether Ralph would be interested to join him and Annalynne for a little vacation at the water park. Naturally, the answer was a loud "YES!!!" before the little boy even asked permission from his father.

Lucien did not know what trick he used to cajole his father into agreeing, but within the next hour, Kinnon sent him a text saying that Ralph and his nanny were on their way to Blue Hill City.

The Clearwater siblings finished packing within an hour and left after Annalynne dumped all her responsibilities on Kendra's shoulders. The latter was not pleased with the sudden workload, but she understood how important this trip was for both Annalynne and Lucien. Thankfully, she still had Alice and Acatha to help her out.

The trip from East Temple City to Blue Hill City was supposed to take hours, but Ralph and his nanny managed to arrive not long after Lucien and Anna checked into the hotel.

The nanny mentioned that Kinnon allowed Ralph to take the helicopter just to reach Blue Hill City as fast as possible.

After the four people put their luggage in the hotel and got some lunch, they made their way to the water park.

It had only been open for a few years, but the water park was very popular with the inhabitants of Blue Hill City and out-of-city visitors alike.

Ralph's energy was only second to Annalynne's. Two days were more than enough to try out all the rides and visit all attractions, provided that they used their time efficiently.

Lucien and Ralph's nanny ended up being dragged around by Annalynne and Ralph.

They even managed to get the nanny to slip into swimwear and enjoy the vacation as much as they did.

The four people only left the water park close to its closing time at 9 PM.

While they ran around and went from one attraction to another, their adrenaline levels were high. As soon as they arrived at the hotel, though, Ralph fell asleep like a log of wood. Meanwhile, the three adults were aching and sore. They could barely move a muscle without feeling pain.

"I cannot walk anymore," Annalynne complained, her body a mass of pain even after taking a hot shower.

Lucien laughed.

Playing with a strand of Annalynne's hair, he teased, "Does this mean that you want to go home tomorrow morning?"

Annalynne ripped her eyes open.

"No!" She shouted and sat up on the bed. "Lulu, you promised!!!"

Her brother chuckled.

"Relax, Anna. I am just teasing you."

Annalynne let herself fall on the bed with a groan again.

Lucien massaged his sore limbs.

The last time he and Annalynne went to an amusement park with their parents was when they were seven-year-olds. Time did the strangest things to the bodies.

"We are old now," Lucien commented.

Annalynne gasped in horror.

"Lulu, I forbid you from saying such heinous things! We are NOT old!"

Lucien went to lie next to his sister on the bed.

"Compared to Ralph, we are old."

"That kid is three!" Annalynne argued.

Lucien laughed. "We are more than twenty years older than he is."

"Ugh, I refuse to be called old. Here, let me search for the correct definition of 'old' for you."

Annalynne grabbed her phone and started searching on the search engine.

When Lucien saw Annalynne's phone, he came to remember his own phone. The electronic device was tucked inside his backpack. He forgot to charge it, so it remained dead the whole day.

As soon as Lucien switched his phone on, the screen showed him one missed call from Ronan.

Lucien waited until his phone had enough power before he dislodged it from the charging station.

He went to the balcony and shut the door behind him before he gave Ronan a call.

The phone rang for a long time, but Alpha did not answer.

Lucien tried again after one hour, but still nothing.

He sent Ronan a text and asked, "Hey, my phone was dead, what's up?"

After Lucien sent the text, he went to lie next to Annalynne. He waited and waited, but Ronan did not reply to his message.

Eventually, Lucien fell asleep with his phone in his hand.

Lucien woke up the next day to Ralph's excited cries.

The little boy ran into their connected bedroom to wake him and Annalynne up.

"Mommy Mommy Mommy, let's go to the water park again!!!" the little boy shouted as he pulled at Lucien's blanket insistently.

Ralph's nanny was aghast to see what Ralph was doing. She quickly pulled the little boy away and apologized profusely.

"No need to be sorry," Lucien dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "We need to get ready anyway."

Lucien grabbed his sister's shoulder, prompting the latter to groan.

"Anna, wake up. I thought you wanted to play again."

"Mmmmm..."

"Go and take a shower," Lucien told her.

After much persuasion, Annalynne finally dragged her feet into the bathroom.

Lucien's phone lay just next to his pillow. He had expected to see a reply to his message from Ronan, but there was still nothing at all.

For some reason, Lucien felt restless.

It was unlike Ronan to cut him off like that. Or was Ronan maybe that busy at work?

Lucien tried hard to distract himself throughout the day. It worked for maybe an hour at most before he was back thinking about Ronan again. His mood gradually grew worse with every hour of radio silence from Ronan's side.

At last, the day ended.

After thanking Lucien and Annalynne for the fun vacation, Ralph and his nanny left on Kinnon's helicopter. Lucien and Annalynne took a car to go back to their pack house.

Inside the car, Lucien's expression was as dark as the approaching night. Annalynne squeezed Lucien's hand and asked out of concern, "Lulu? Is everything alright?" Lucien had been out of it the whole day. Only a blind person would not notice.

"No, it's just..."

Lucien ran his fingers through his hair. He looked lost. At last, he pressed his lips together and gestured toward the phone in his hand.

"Ronan called yesterday. My phone was dead the whole day so I missed it. After that, I kept calling and sending messages, but he did not reply at all."

...

Annalynne gaped at her brother.

"What kind of attitude was that? Is he that childish to get mad over one missed call???"

Lucien shook his head.

"No, Anna. We often missed each other's calls. And we also do not have the habit to reply to messages as soon as possible. There is nothing irregular about that."

"So... what could it be?"

Lucien shrugged in exasperation.

"I don't know."

They were supposed to meet up at the Werewolf Council Headquarters the next day. As of now, Lucien did not know what to think about the whole thing.

Annalynne could easily guess her brother's train of thought. She squeezed her brother's hand again and asked, "Lulu, do you still want to go tomorrow?"

Lucien did not answer right away.

He wanted to go. He agreed to go. But was Ronan even going to come? Where did he go off to? Why did he suddenly go off the radar?

"Why don't we give Beta Jake a call?" Annalynne helpfully suggested. "Maybe something happened to Ronan and they failed to inform us. We should grab some initiative."

Lucien could barely believe his ears.

Annalynne was right. Why did he not think about that?

Jake would know where his Alpha was.

Without waiting for Lucien's answer, Annalynne dialed Jake's number and made a call. Unfortunately, Jake also did not pick up. Lucien sighed and groaned into his hands.

"I don't understand. Should I go to Great Lake City to take a look?"

Annalynne bit her lip. "No... what about this? Let's not fret. Why don't I accompany you to the council headquarters tomorrow? If Ronan does not show up, we march straight to the Great Lake City, alright?"

"Mmm... okay."

At night, Lucien barely slept a wink. He kept looking at his phone, hoping to receive any news from Ronan. Unfortunately, his hope was dashed.

Early the next morning, he and Annalynne left the pack house to go to the council headquarters. The agreed appointment time was at noon.

By the time the siblings arrived, Ronan had yet to appear.

After waiting for more than an hour, Lucien lost his patience. He turned to Annalynne and spoke in an aggrieved tone, "We should leave. He is not going to come."

Annalynne gritted her teeth in fury.

"Lulu, do you want to go to Great Lake City?"

The man next to her was unable to answer. He tried to make up reasonable excuses on Ronan's behalf, but none of them make sense.

There was only one possible reason why he did not show up.

Ronan changed his mind about the wedding.

"Lulu. Lulu!"

Lucien snapped from his dazed state.

Annalynne was pulling at his arm. "Your pocket! Your phone is vibrating!"

Lucien widened his eyes in anticipation.

Ronan!

Lucien quickly took out his phone. When he saw the name on the screen, though, his spirit plummeted to the ground. It was not Ronan. It was Jake.

"Hello? Lucien?"

Jake's voice trembled slightly over the phone.

Despite Lucien's initial conviction that Ronan changed his mind, he could not help but bombard Jake with questions.

"Jake, what happened? I tried calling Ronan so many times..."

At the other end of the line, Jake was heard taking a deep breath.

"Oh, Goddess...." he whispered into the phone. "Lucien, where are you? Did no one contact you?"

"I am at the Werewolf Council Headquarters," Lucien informed the Beta. "Ronan and I agreed to meet here today. Where is he? Why is he not coming?"

Panic could be heard in Jake's voice when he spoke next.

"Lucien, you know what? Let me go there okay? Please don't move. I will come as fast as possible."

The phone call ended just like that without further clues. Although Jake said that he was coming as fast as possible, he still needed two hours to arrive. Lucien and Annalynne had meanwhile retreated to Hapsborough City, intent on staying overnight before heading back to Blue Hill City.

When Jake finally caught up with them, he was not his usual self. He seemed to have not slept for days. There were dark circles around his eyes. On top of that, he was also restless and irritable.

"Jake, what... what's wrong with you? You look..."

Awful. That was the word that crossed Lucien's mind, but he did not want to say it out loud. On the other side, Jake could not care less. He had something more important to tell Lucien.

"Listen to me," he hissed, grabbing Lucien's shoulders hard. "Lucien, Lady Adele Fangblade passed away two nights ago."

Lucien's heart went cold when he heard the news. He wished with every cell of his body that he misheard. Unfortunately, he did not.

Numb from shock, what he heard afterward were broken sentence fragments such as "heart failure" and "gradual health deterioration".

He barely registered his sister's squeezes around his upper arm.

Lady Adele Fangblade, Ronan's mother, the previous Luna of the Infinite Eclipse Pack, passed away two nights ago.

The two people then ushered him out of the Werewolf Council Headquarters foyer and pushed him into a car.

That was why Ronan made that single call. He needed Lucien but Lucien was not there to answer the call.

How terrible.

Lucien could not believe that he was not there for Ronan when he had to go through the loss.

Having met Lady Adele Fangblade just a few times when he stayed at the hospital and when he took care of Ronan after the war ended, Lucien was unable to get to know Ronan's mother thoroughly.

.....

All he knew was that she was an exceptional individual with a strong personality but an endlessly gentle heart. Two traits that she passed down to her son other than good looks.

Ronan rarely spoke about his mother or his parents in general because his parents were involved in an outrageous marriage scandal. He and his father maintained a distant relationship, but he was very close to his mother. There was a special connection between the mother and son. Lady Adele Fangblade had been in Ronan's life from the time of his birth and she never left.

She watched him grow from a newborn pup to a man who was worthy to become the Alpha of the Infinite Eclipse Pack.

Lady Adele Fangblade was the only person who treated Ronan as a regular werewolf who could feel pain and sorrow. In front of her, Ronan could be himself. Just Ronan Silverback and not the Alpha.

And now, Lady Adele Fangblade was gone forever.

"Lucien."

Jake grabbed Lucien's shoulder hard to pull him out of his daze.

"We are here."

Lucien climbed out of the car and looked up. Enclosed within a vast, thick forest was a group of buildings that stood tall and mighty before them.

They had arrived at the Infinite Eclipse Pack House. Three hundred or so families that made up the whole pack were living in altogether seven apartment buildings. The seven buildings were arranged so that the main building was situated at the center, surrounded by six others. This main building was the heart of the pack house. This was where the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, the Lead Warriors, and the Elders resided with their families. It was also the place where various pack events took place.

Jake pulled at Lucien's elbow and led him to the highest floor of the main building, the private residence of the Alpha and his family. Being unmarried, Ronan Silverback had the whole floor for himself.

As the Beta, Jake had access to Ronan's apartment. He unlocked the door with his card and let Lucien into the lavish living space.

The apartment was spick and span without a single item out of place. The surface was dustless, the plants were watered regularly.

The place was beautiful but lifeless. It lacked the touch of a living person. Almost as if no one had lived there for a long, long time. Ronan's bedroom was located at the backside of the apartment. When they arrived before the door, Lucien could sense something ominous behind the door.

Jake turned to look at Lucien with a beseeching gaze. "Ronan has locked himself up in his bedroom since he came back from the mortuary. Lucien, I beg you. Please talk to him. He shut off his Mind Link and does not answer his phone. I don't know how he is doing inside."

Lucien nodded wordlessly.

Jake bowed at Lucien before he left, leaving Lucien in front of Ronan's bedroom door alone.

Lucien inhaled and then pressed both of his hands against the door.

"Ronan...?" He called gently. "Ronan, are you there? Will you please let me in?"

Lucien could hear a faint tinkling sound coming from inside the room. The sound of glass hitting a surface, probably the wooden floor. Relief filled his heart in an instant. At least Ronan was still conscious. It was better than nothing. Unfortunately, that was all that Ronan was willing to let Lucien know. No further movement was heard.

"Ronan? Open the door, please."

No answer.

The Alpha did not allow Lucien in but he also did not ask him to scram. Lucien gritted his teeth. If Ronan thought that it was enough to make Lucien leave, he was sorely mistaken.

Lucien started to hammer at the door with his fists.

"Ronan. Let me in, now!" he shouted. "If you don't let me in, I am going to kick down the door!" Lucien must have pounded on the door for almost ten minutes before it finally opened with a soft click. The narrow gap at the door allowed light from outside to flood the room, but Lucien could not see anything. It was pitch dark inside.

The first thing that he noticed was the smell of thick pheromones that seeped out like a poisonous cloud.

It was unbearably hot inside the room. Ronan must have turned the heater to the maximum. Lucien was pressed against Ronan's naked, sweaty body. Wrapped in the Alpha's strong and muscular arms, Lucien was forced to inhale Ronan's strong pheromones. The

Before Lucien was able to react, a hand shot out from inside the bedroom and pulled Lucien inside.

strong salty sandalwood scent told him that Ronan was not in his regular state. He was having a rut!

"Lulu," the Alpha said in a hoarse, broken voice. "My mother... my mother is gone."

"Ronan... mmmph..."

Before Lucien finished what he wanted to say, Ronan slammed him hard against the wall and plundered the inside of his future Luna's mouth with his tongue.

"Sorry, Lucien..." he muttered once he broke the kiss. "I can't take it anymore."

In the next moment, a loud ripping sound tore through the air.