War Claim (The Claim: Book 3)

Chapter 27 - Roma (Part 1)

Graduation.

Roma could not be happier to be done with high school.

Still, he had college looming over his shoulders in the fall too. He wasn't looking forward to that, but moving away from the pack and experience new things and a new environment sounded like just the ticket he needed.

As much as he loved his brother, his brother was starting to irk him with his demands. Under the guise of "training," his brother was running him ragged. Pushing him to always give one hundred and ten percent in everything. He had taken extra courses and worked a part-time tutoring gig in one of the small human towns to make money for college; he babysat his niece and nephews at least an hour every day so Luna Hazel could take a nap, and then ran minor errands for his brother every other day or so. He got five hours of sleep every night (seven on weekends) and was always exhausted.

College had to be easier without all these extra duties he was taking on. Maybe he could sleep a little more each night—or heck, find a female to fuck. A female roommate with benefits sounded amazing.

Too bad he had already found a place—a basement shared with five other guys. Each had their own enclosed tiny room and shared two bathrooms, a kitchen, and laundry facilities. It wasn't glamorous, but it was affordable and near the university and a grocery store. What more could he ask for?

He was enjoying a much-deserved break at the pack's outdoor pool at the main house, scoping out the females swimming and sunbathing while relaxing on one of the lounge chairs, when his brother barged into his mind and ordered him to come to the pack house that instant.

Groaning, he pulled a T-shirt over his head, slung his towel over his shoulder, and slipped his feet into his flip-flops. Stepping out from under the shade of the patio umbrella, the scorching July sun bore down on him as he tromped to the pack house. His brother told him to meet him in one of the medium-sized conference rooms.

"This better be important," he grumbled under his breath as he stepped inside the building and trudged up the staircase to the second floor.

His brother promised him a break this summer—a real break. If he was going to break his promise, Roma was ready to give him shit for it.

Opening the door to the conference room, he saw his brother hunched over an unrolled map on the table. All of the high-ranking wolves and some of the elders from the warrior class were present and surrounded him and the map. Writing was scribbled across the whiteboard behind him and they were all talking animatedly amongst themselves.

Luna Hazel was sitting in a chair off to the side, breastfeeding his eight-month-old nephew, not caring that her boobs were hanging out in a room predominantly filled with males. If any one of them so much as looked upon her in lust, his throat would be slashed open and his life bleeding out of him onto the floor.

"What's going on?" he asked as he took everything in and lifted the sunglasses from his eyes to rest on top of his head. Testosterone and adrenaline engulfed the room in a heavy musk of tension and his agitation vaporized.

"Roma," his brother beckoned him over. "The Alpha and Luna of the Donatta Pack were just killed in a traffic accident."

"What?" Roma strode around the wolves gathered around the table to his brother's side. "How?"

The Donatta Pack was their southern neighbor that bordered the Zhooniyaa Miskwi Pack on the west with beach-front real estate in the south. The Alpha and Luna were only a few years older than Roma's brother with three pups. How was this possible?

"They were struck by a transport truck on the highway entering the city." His brother pointed to a marking made on the map where the outer limits of the city bordered half of the Donatta's southeastern corner. "Their eldest pup was with them while the other two were home with relatives."

"That's terrible. Those poor pups," Roma said.

His brother smirked as he looked up from his position over the map to meet his brother's gaze. "It's perfect."

Confused, Roma cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean, Alpha?"

"The pack will be in mourning for at least a week before the turmoil begins. It's the perfect time to strike. They won't see it coming because they'll be too busy fighting with each other over position."

"But... What about the Zhooniyaa Miskwi Pack?"

His brother shook his head. "They're too strong for us now. They out-number us. The timing was entirely wrong. We should have acted sooner, but that was my mistake. We can make another move in a few years. Take the Alpha and Luna's youngest pup or any female Animkii deems fit to be his mate and luna. For now, this is the opportunity we need to build our army and take them by force."

A grin slowly spread across Roma's face as he nodded in agreement with his brother.

Take the Donatta Pack, double the size of their army to match the Zhooniyaa Miskwi Pack's, then take over that pack as well. Quadrupling their size in a matter of years. They'll be unstoppable. They could expand further north and to the east and west with beach-front properties, lush forests, clear rivers and lakes, and fields and fields of opportunity and promise.

Nothing could stop them now.

"It's perfect," Roma echoed.

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