Howl

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

As soon as Lukas had made it back to his apartment in California, he logged onto Facebook. The morning after what he thought was a successful date, he had accepted the friend request from Emma Sterling, but he had left soon after. Now that he had a bit more time, he checked out her profile in hopes of learning more about her. He was quite aware it was a bit stalkerish of him, but since she refused to let much information about herself out, he justified it in his own mind.

He was glad to note that they seemed to have some similar interests in movies and music, although he'd never heard of any of the books she listed as her favorites. He planned on remedying that soon. After looking at her profile for about ten minutes, he closed the browser and headed out. He wanted to get everything sorted out with Damian as soon as possible. He never thought he'd be so anxious to get back to Denver, but things were different now that he'd met Emma.

It was early in the evening when Lukas showed up at Damian's place. He heard the sounds of friendly conversation in the backyard, but he didn't hear Damian's voice among them, which didn't surprise Lukas. Like Lukas, Damian had issues when it came to handling the heat, although his weren't quite as severe as his own. There were several more members of the pack hanging out inside, and Lukas quickly greeted those that he had become friendly with during his time in California, but he remained focused on finding Damian.

Lukas checked his office first, which turned out to be a good place to start. The door was open and he walked in. Damian sat behind his desk, and the pack's beta, Peter, sat next to his mate, Melanie, on a couch off to the side. Three others who were unfamiliar to Lukas were also there. He could tell by scent they were wolves, but he was sure they were not from the pack.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Lukas asked. He had the feeling he had done just that, but if it had really been important, the door should have been closed.

"Ah, yeah, you did," Damian said as he glanced to the three strangers. "What's up, Lukas?"

"Lukas?" The lone male of the group of strangers stood and faced him. "Lukas Van Arden, the hunter?"

"That's me," Lukas said cautiously, not sure if the wolf before him was friend or foe.

"My name is Robert Bailey," he introduced himself. "I'm the alpha of the Southern California pack. This is my mate Carol, and our daughter Victoria. It's a pleasure to meet you. I appreciate the work you've done to make the world a safer place."

"Uh, thanks," Lukas mumbled, unable to help but be intimidated by the second alpha's larger size. "Perhaps I should come back later?"

"No, no, no," Robert said. "We were just about done with our discussion anyway."

"Done?" Damian almost growled as he spoke. "I know you don't like it, but my idea is much better than yours. If need be, I'm willing to discuss this all night and into tomorrow and the next day and keep going until we've got this settled."

"I know," Robert answered. "Let's see what your famous hunter has to say, and then we'll talk some more."

Lukas hated being put on the spot, especially with so many wolves of higher status around him. He liked to think of himself as a loner, and as such, he preferred not getting involved in the dealings of packs and their leaders. The benefit had been that he didn't have to put up with an alpha for most of his adult life, but the downside was that now, he felt incredibly awkward, especially because he sensed there was something very important going on.

"I'm leaving," Lukas said, staring just past Damian's shoulder to avoid eye contact. "I'm going back to Denver."

"Denver?" Peter laughed from the couch. "Come on, Lukas. You always used to talk about how much you hated that place."