Lucien

•2•

Maia sat in the garden, overalls messy, and her long hair braided in pig tails.
Her only friend, and someone she had known since birth like a sister, sat beside her happily drawing away on a sketch pad.

Bambi, a young seventeen year old girl, standing at 5'2ft was also much smaller than a normal wolf.

She was mute.

She hadn't spoke a word since that night either.
Yet Maia didn't need Bambi to speak to understand what went through her mind and heart. As if she could sense it herself.
She had always been sensitive to the feelings of others. Especially a girl who was more a sister than a best friend.

"Don't worry, I won't go to the ball, so you won't have to either" she reassured, handing a clipped soft pink rose not quite fully bloomed to Bambi to sketch.
Bambi's large light green eyes with hints of gold, flashed with comfort and gratitude.
Her short, curly blonde, nearly white, hair was pushed back out of her face with a simple light blue hair band.
She was wearing a dark navy blue dress, but she was seated away from the dirt over in a patch of lush green grass.

Maia's house was located away from all the others, and her garden was about a mile into the forest on pack lands.
It was open in the afternoon for any to come and gaze at, but in the early morning and evening, it was Maia and Bambi's territory.
Bambi was the only one besides her Noona which Maia trusted wholeheartedly. No questions asked.

Maia hummed a soft tune for Bambi as she tended to her roses while Bambi sketched them.

The two didn't speak often, or if it all, it was Bambi softly laughing at Maia's strange rambling and odd personality which humored her endlessly.

"Ah, I think if you were a flower Bi, you would be a yellow rose. Did you know? A yellow rose means goodbye, but I would never want to say goodbye to you- so I'm glad you're not a Rose" Maia mumbled softly as she worked.
Bambi smiled fondly at Maia as she scribbled a few letters across her book and turned it towards Maia.

I think you would be a lily

Maia smiled.

"Why's that?" She asked curiously, tilting her head as she tried to guess why she would be a lily.
Lilies were truly pretty, but it didn't explain the resemblance.

Bambi didn't elaborate further, always a cliffhanger much to Maia's transgression.

The two allowed the silence to blanket them once more as the first start of evening set in, and they were sure the Ball would begin.
Their own little garden, peacefully tucked away.

♡

Lucien struggled to breathe amongst the endless scents and heavy perfume.
He wore a nice tux, as did Micheal, and their third in command Payten- who was endlessly annoyed by his feminine name despite his tall and gruff appearance.

Payten was grumpy he had to leave his mate to attend this event with his sad lonely friends.
He would've been fine attending if they allowed him to bring her, but since she was pregnant, she was not allowed to leave Pack territory.
Lycan children were heavily hunted due to being in weak states as children.
Even a Lycan child can pose a deadly threat.

"Alpha Lucien~ I'm so happy you've come again this year, I see you haven't found your mate yet, and neither have I-"
A tall sturdy female, with a bust which would normally get a rise from his lower half, was pressing against him ravenously.
Lucien felt only annoyance though, as he growled beneath his breathe at her disrespectful actions.

"Move" it only took one word to strike endless fear into the nameless woman's heart as she pulled away from the same man who bedded her last ball, as if she were burned.
She pretended to be annoyed despite her frantic pulse and distressed scent.
Huffing and turning towards Micheal, she tried to flirty pout her lip as if she were bullied.

But Micheal's sick smile and crazed deep reddish brown eyes, made her heart nearly stop beating altogether in panic.

Micheal was endlessly restless. His skin felt itchy, and he craved the freedom of his fur.

She ran away. Cowardly with her tail tucked, from the endlessly giant and fearsome men who seemed to make the enormous ballroom seem small.

Lucien sighed, his own wolf howling for a run, wanting out and nearly making him have to fight for control. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on.

"What's wrong with you two? You seem on edge" Payten spoke now, as both dominant males looked as if they were about to lose their damn minds. Their eyes kept flickering from their regular color to a pitch black, telling him their wolves wanted to come out-

Payten pauses before grinning.

"Alpha, Beta, I suggest a run? You might find something worthwhile on it" Payten laughed, but ignored the curious stares he received from the two men. How could two intellects such as these, composed in both war, strategy, and business, be so useless?
He sauntered off to find some beer to pass his time, while he excitedly waited for his new Luna and Beta Female.
He remembered his own first meeting with his lovely mate, Willow.

A tough woman, who didn't shy away despite being faced with a Lycan even as a rogue.
While White Lily eliminated all rogues, it was a different story if they were the mate to a member. They would easily be accepted, and Willow was, despite her great hatred for mates.
She fought hard, and Payten fell endlessly in love with the tough to crack, but endlessly worth it, woman. Now going to bear him a beautiful child. Hopefully a little princess, because he couldn't handle another rugged male.
His mate was too sweet and lovable, especially now while she was pregnant and reliant on him.

He remembered her asking for help receiving a glass from a cabinet she'd normally scale like a small monkey. Or her demand for a foot rub. Or her snarky comments about never wanting to be pregnant again- like hell that'd happen.
She was too lovable.

He downed another drink, depressed he had to miss even a moment of her pregnancy despite her pushing him out the door to get a minute to breathe.

Lucien and Micheal decided to allow their wolves out, if it meant it would stop their rowdiness.
They stripped in the forest outside the building the ball was held in, and shifted.

Lucien was the bigger of the two, but both Lycan wolves towered over any normal, and their figures were more distinct.
Terrifying.
When a Lycan shifted- their wolves took over completely. They were more primal and aggressive than normal werewolves, but endlessly aware.

When the men gave way to their Lycan- the hunt began.

Instinct took over.