NINE

Lucius pov

From the moment we stepped on this territory, I knew the underground market was worse than my spies reported. Every building we passed was another orphanage or hospital. 

There was no way that a pack with such wealth and infrastructure as this one claimed to have had nothing but abandoned children and injured warriors. 

“They lied,” Titus, my second in command, whispered. 

I nodded my head, letting my eyes roam the surroundings. All suspicions aside, what had my senses alerted was that by now, I had counted thirteen orphanages, but no schools and there wasn’t even one playground for the pups they claimed lived here. 

Not only did this place look suspicious, but it also had a stench of something I couldn’t put in words. I felt like I stood in the center of everything wicked, cruel and malicious.

Worst of all, the feeling sunk deeper and rooted itself when a very pregnant looking woman wobbled her way towards us. She had a wide smile across her lips, but her eyes were empty, almost void of emotion like she was playing out a role. 

She didn’t look older than twenty. My eyes focused on her as I tried to take in anything that shouldn’t be there. Her dark hair was matted, but reached her hips. Her nails were longer than that of a woman expecting a child, dirt underneath, fingertips slightly covered in bits of blood. 

Oh, yeah, there it was - either she was faking pregnancy for pity, or she was another breeder. 

“Good evening, gentlemen. Or should I say night? I must admit that I was quite surprised to hear that an Alpha was requesting access to my territory so late. It’s almost midnight, gentlemen, we have many children under our care, commotion at such late hours isn’t something we strive to have.” Her eyes darted between us, but I didn’t utter a word. 

Just like I knew he would, Titus stepped forward and spoke up. “Our apologies, we didn’t mean to intrude. Could we please meet the Alpha?” 

She tilted her head, scrunched her nose and glared at me. After all, the woman wasn’t as foolish as I thought she might be. She did realize that Titus wasn’t the man in control. 

But then, to my utter surprise, she dropped the attitude and turned to Titus with a wide smile across her lips. She offered him her hand as she spoke. “The Alpha left to help our allies, so you’re left with me, sorry. I’m the Luna of this pack, my name is Amelia. And you two are?” 

The forever gentleman, Titus brought her hand to his lips and kissed it before he spoke. “My name is Titus, I am the Alpha of the Crescent Moon and this is my friend, he, the same as me is an Alpha. I am accompanying my foreign friend in search of new allies. He doesn’t speak English and barely understands any, so I'm acting a little like a spokesperson here.” 

I wanted to laugh at his lies, but since they seemed to work on her, I bit my tongue to stay quiet. 

One thing I noticed about her was that she wasn’t a Luna. The same as her claims about this mysterious Alpha being out of the territory were lies. I couldn’t sense an Alpha’s presence here. 

So far, everything I had noticed kept getting increasingly worse. What worried me the most was that a pack that housed that many children looked like a shithole at best and so far, we had met only two adults. The man at the border and this… woman. 

“Oh, is that so? Where is he from?” She raised an eyebrow at me, letting her eyes roam over me. 

It wasn’t that I felt uncomfortable under her gaze, but she set herself up by doing it. She wasn’t a mated woman or Luna, at that. 

“Russia,” Titus blurted out. 

Now, because of his big mouth, both of us stood in front of this woman and struggled not to break out in laughter. Russia, he had to choose the worst fucking place on the entire planet. 

“So exciting,” she suddenly cooed, grabbing a strand of her hair and twisting it around her finger. Was she seriously trying to flirt with me now? She was pregnant, or pretended to be, for fuck’s sake!

“We are very sorry to intrude, Luna Amelia. Tell me, would it be possible for us to get a room for a night somewhere in your territory? We would pay, of course,” Titus asked, finally prying her attention off of me. 

“Oh, no need for that,” she waved him off and returned her attention to me. “You two are more than welcome to stay at the pack house. In fact, your Russian friend can take the Alpha suite, that’s the only place in the building with a bed big enough for a man as grand as him.” 

Then, she had the nerve to wink at me. Even if I didn’t know the language as Titus claimed, I wouldn’t have to be a genius to figure out her intentions. 

The woman spun on her heel and called, “come along, it’s time to get some rest, I’m sure you boys are very tired.” 

Titus nudged my side, grinning like an idiot he loved to be. I shook my head and opened the mind-link between us. “You’re so fucked for this stunt. Russia, seriously? I couldn’t think of one word in Russian even with a gun pointed at my temples, you moron.” 

“Better than nothing. Be grateful for my quick thinking. The moment you would open your mouth would be the very moment she figured out you weren’t an Alpha.”

“Fair point,” I could admit that I was wrong when needed. Truthfully, although the lies were pretty bad, they worked and distracted her, so we had enough time to get our men to snoop through the buildings. “Alert the men, they can come in. Join them as soon as possible. I hate the idea, but I will distract the penguin.” 

“Luna, would you mind it if I went for a quick run? I can see the pack house from here so I know where to go and I don’t mind sleeping on the couch either. It’s my wolf, he’s been nagging me for a run for hours.” Titus suddenly called out to the woman. 

She glanced over her shoulder and focused her eyes on me. “I don’t mind spending some time with your friend. I might teach him a couple of phrases in English,” she winked and returned her attention to the trail ahead. 

Goosebumps covered my skin while Titus chuckled. He nudged the mind-link. “You can survive this, my friend, we have been through worse. I will update you as soon as we find something. Just a quick question - what happens if your suspicions are right? What’s our next step?” 

“Erasing the territory and everything that could be left behind. No survivors. We will burn it all down.”