Lady and the Wolf [Book One, Lady and the Wolf Series] -Published-

Chapter Nineteen: Fight or Flight

For God knows how long, the celebrations had been endless. Aiden was praised and congratulated for finding his mate at only eighteen when some waited decades. Although born with an overwhelming desire to find one's mate to become stronger, not all shifters found their other half. The most common problem was the way wolves seemed to humanize themselves in a society where their kinds were merely legends. They would move on after waiting and then come to find themselves settling with humans.

Van was sure his pure blood would soon be diluted through reproduction with humans. He was certain nature would find a way to make that happen. Although wolves Lycan's and bred from his ancestry could never have pups with humans, Mother Nature had a way of... adapting.

But then again, if Mother Nature had a way of adapting and using natural selection, he wondered why the hell it didn't kill off the mongrel standing in front of him.

"Van, brother, it has been so long!" the man chirped.

Van could feel his entire face go into an uncontrollable twitch, as he responded morbidly, "Not long enough, Savelij."

Within the world they were born in, male shifters considered themselves brothers to each other. Normally, Van wouldn't have had a problem being referred to using the old ways, but he found himself quietly gagging when Savelij used the term. He was nothing but a lapdog to Markus Perov, and Van had no respect for tail chasers.

Speaking of which...

"How is Markus?" Van flippantly asked.

Even though Van hated to admit it, Savelij and Markus were both wolves of high blood and therefore he had to ask if his ally was doing well. Though, he wouldn't have felt the need to send a well-wisher card if Markus was already six feet under. Van would probably have a party... with fireworks.

Savelij didn't seem to catch Van's bored undertone. "Yes, yes, he's doing quite well. Calista is also doing well if you haven't heard."

Van's brow arched. "Oh, yes, Calista, I owe my gratitude to her. She helped my—"

"Mate!"

A sudden familiar pain shot through his head, cutting off his sentence. Konstantin rumbled forth once more, and Van pushed him back into his place of slumber. It was becoming a normal routine over the last couple of days.

"My... beta's daughter get into the school she had wanted to attend." Van repelled the urge to groan as Savelij gave the alpha an amused smile. Although Drake and him were technically adopted brothers, Van rarely referred to Drake as his brother.

"Is that so? I heard about the human child your brother took in after Ronan went rogue in Washington. Such a waste of a talented lycanthrope." Savelij shook his head as if it were such a travesty.

Van, for just a moment, wondered how long this degenerate would live if he just let Konstantin do as he wished. The odds were in his favor — Savelij was known as a coward when it came to either war or fighting for dominance.

Van decided to get the topic away from Aira for fear his demon wolf would have some sort of negative reaction. Still confused as to why the girl triggered such a strange thing in Konstantin, he refused to even consider that she could be his...

"Yes, well, rogues are killed on sight. Ronan chose that way of life and so, all I can do is try to minimize as much damage he is doing as much as possible," Van muttered.

Savelij's face dropped as if Van had said something completely ridiculous. "Van, please, let's not throw Ronan in with those animals. We prefer to label him as a renegade, so you'd be getting into a tad bit of trouble if you or yours killed him before his capture." That hideous smile reminded Van of just why the shifter needed a good roundhouse kick to the face.