“Let's go again!” Elisha roared a glint in his eyes. He had a headband tied around his hair as he crouched facing Luca, who held the same crouching position.

“This time, no shifting,” Luca threw in, his lips curled up. His chest heaved up and down heavily. “Just pure combat skills.”

“You got it,” Elisha grinned back at Luca, mischievously, his body trembling with anticipation.

The two wolves charged and lunged at each other, weaving and dodging their blows.

Elisha chased after Luca. He sprinted towards a tree. As Elisha lunged forward to deliver a blow, Luca stepped on the body of the tree, performing a backflip and landing behind Elisha. He went low immediately, kicking Elisha's heels.

It was a clean sweep.

He landed on his back with a thud.

“That… that was… really good,” he groaned breathlessly, his hands spread at his sides. His chest heaved gently as he tried to catch his breath.

Luca offered him a hand, smiling.

This was the third time out of the five training sessions they had had that Luca had been the one to help him up.

“You win again this time,” Elisha growled, dusting his clothes, his pride hurt a little. “Where’d you learn that from? I'm sure your trainer didn't teach you that.”

“Instincts, Elisha. Instincts.”

“You cheater,” he lunged at Luca.

Luca played along, weaving and dodging Elisha's punches.

“Come on, let's go home. I'm getting hungry,” he picked up his shirt.

“Or we could just eat out. I know a place,” Elisha said, straightening his dishevelled hair.

Luca rolled his eyes.

“Come on, it'll be nice.”

Elisha led the way into a gloomy-looking restaurant.

The first and third letters on the signboard knocked up at the front of the restaurant had fallen off, so it was difficult to decipher what the name was.

Luca's eyes surveyed the place, a look of disapproval on his face.

The tables were poorly arranged, and some of the customers looked cutthroat.

“The things you make me do, Elisha,” Luca glared at him.

“Trust me, the food isn't as bad as the place looks,” Elisha reassured him.

Luca heaved a sigh not of relief but surrender.

A young she-wolf approached to take their orders. She seemed to know Elisha. She smiled at him and touched his shoulder. Her smile grew wider when she looked at Luca, bowing as she did.

“Friend of yours?” Luca asked as she walked away.

“Yeah. She seemed to like you. The Alpha's son,” Elisha teased.

“Ouch,” he rubbed his smarting shoulders where Luca had punched him.

The she-wolf came back with their food in trays. She placed it down gently.

“Enjoy your meal.”

They ate in silence.

Elisha held Luca's hand when he made to pay.

“My treat. I brought you here, remember?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “We should go.”

“You alright ?” Elisha tapped Luca's shoulders. “You just kind of zoned out. I've been talking to you since.”

Luca's steps froze as he stared into the corner of the restaurant, his fists clenched.

Elisha's eyes followed Luca's and saw them—two wolves and a she-wolf seated—grinning at him menacingly as they chewed into their food slowly.

Luca glared at them, his body on edge

“They're not worth it,” Elisha spat. “Let's go,” he put his arm around Luca's shoulder, dragging him along with him out of the restaurant.

“There's something about them,” Luca said when they had gotten outside. He pushed Elisha's hand from around his shoulder. "Their scent was familiar. I feel like I've met them before. I just don't know where.”

“They are not worth the trouble, Luca. Come on, let's go,” he grunted, dragging Luca with him.

The restaurant door groaned open and one out of the trio that had Luca all flustered walked out through the door.

His face… creased and his eyes set deep into his skull glared at Luca as he walked out.

The door swung open again and the other two walked out, their arms wrapped around each other.

The girl's eyes shone, the colour of rainbows; the other guy had a deep slash running across his face.They sneered at Luca and Elisha as they walked away.

Elisha growled. A fight was something he never ran away from.

“We can take them,” he said. He nodded towards them. “Come on.”

“Come home Luca. Now!” Ferguson's voice came through to Luca through the mind link.

He held back Elisha's hand whose wolf growled inside him as he stared at the trio walking away.

“Let's go. The Alpha wants me.”

“It wouldn't hurt to say ‘my father wants me’, would it?”

Luca scoffed.

A wolf came running to them as soon as they walked through the gates of the pack house.

“Your father wants to see you in the throne room, my Lord,” he said, bowing to Luca.

“I know that already,” Luca growled. “Why does my father want to see me in the throne room? What's this about?” his eyes pierced into the guard’s.

“I… I have no idea, sire,” he stuttered, breaking away from Luca's gaze.

Luca waved him away.

He walked into the throne room, followed closely by Elisha.

“Luca,” Ferguson's voice boomed across the throne room. “There's someone I'd like you to meet.”

Luca stared hard at his father's face to see if it gave out any hints, but his face was expressionless. Cold and calm.

A guard opened the door at the far end of the throne room.

A hooded woman walked in, picking her steps as she swayed gracefully.

Luca and Elisha's eyes followed her every move.

“This better not be one of my father's shenanigans to try to get me a mate,” Luca whispered to Elisha in a taut voice.

The woman walked to the front of the throne, where Ferguson sat, and bowed. She turned to face Luca and Elisha and removed her hood slowly, shaking her head as she did to reveal her long, silk, black hair.

"Hello, Luca,” she said, smiling.

Luca's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief.

“Mother?!”