Chapter 2 Alexandru's POV

I growl as I wake. Panting. I had another nightmare.

My fangs, my claws reminding me of what I am. Who I am. A person I'm proud of. I breathe in, calming down, watching as my fangs and claws recede.

I grunt. I can feel it. Something is coming, something bad, and we have to be ready.

I get up from my bed; it creaks beneath me. I need a stronger one. I walk to the bathroom and stare at my house's interior. Pride swells in me. I built this house with my own hands. I glance at the mirror, Alina insisted I put it there, at least for her sake. I study my face.

I'm a Lycanthrope. A Lycan. Like a werewolf, but stronger. Better. Faster. I'm the only Lycan in my bloodline in the last hundred years, unexpected, considering both my parents are werewolves.

I'm the Beta of the Blue Moon Pack. I grew up in New Orleans, so did my father, and so will my child. New Orleans is home. The Pack is family. And I'm sensing a threat. I don't know what it is or who it is, but something foreign is intruding on my pack.

I grew up in a family of five. I had two siblings, Alina and Luc, but Luc, my younger brother, died just days after he was born. Naturally, I took his name in his honor. My parents live in Uptown New Orleans. I live in Midtown. I'd have preferred the French Quarters for its history and aesthetics, but as the Beta, I'm expected to stay in the classy part of town. My house is different from everyone else's, I like to think of it as unique.

I return my gaze to the mirror and begin shaving my beard.

The Blue Moon Pack, and New Orleans as a whole, used to be considered an outcast part of Louisiana. We kept to ourselves. But Caleb, our Alpha at the time, wanted change. He said we had to evolve with time. So we opened ourselves to the world forty years ago. As a Lycan, I age much slower than werewolves, but I'm thirty-five now. I should be mated already. Yet another thing that makes me different.

I bring the hammer down on the nail again and again until it's done. I growl, surprising even myself. That's when I realize, I'm in heat. I haven't felt this degree of lust, of hunger, in almost ten years. I don't have time for this.

"Alex, are you okay?"

I hear her voice and my claws are out before I can stop it. In a flash, I turn. I already know it's Camille, and from the look on her face, my eyes must be glowing.

I blink it away. "Hi, Camille."

She's grinning. She's always grinning.

"You look like shit, Alex," she says, emphasizing the shit.

I drop the hammer, wiping away the sweat. "I feel like it."

Camille is one of the women who raised me, always checking up on me.

"My wedding anniversary's on Saturday. You could make me a book holder-like the beautiful one you made last year."

She smiles and I nod.

I've known Camille and Petro all my life. They've been married thirty-five years. I envy that. Petro is one of the elders in the Pack.

"I have to take the kids," I say, locking my door as I leave.

Camille looks so much like her, well, the other way around, since she's her mother, but every time I see her, I'm reminded of Aurora. I've spent the last decade trying to forget her. It's not just that she left.

It's how she left. She triggered every abandonment issue I had. Left me in a ditch. I fell into a dark place. I was heartbroken. And it didn't help that the day she left, I had made a realization. God, I hate her.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was excited, desperate, to tell her what I'd found out. I hoped she felt it too. But all I saw was an empty room and her sad parents. She took off. No warning. No care. Just... gone. I stayed in wolf form for a month, hoping it would dull the ache. But it didn't.

__

"Cutting, shaping, and installing building materials are the main tasks carried out by carpenters when constructing structures such as buildings, ships, timber bridges, and concrete formwork," I explain, teaching. "Carpenters used to work solely with raw wood, performing harder tasks like framing. Today, a variety of materials are used, and even refined trades like cabinetmaking and furniture construction are included in carpentry. In 1999, carpenters made up 98.5% of the workforce in the U.S., making it the fourth most male-dominated profession."

New Orleans may have opened itself to the world, but we're careful. We're self-sufficient. We have a hospital with top-tier doctors. A school, where I help out. When Aurora left, the Pack stood by me. I was lost, and they found me.

"Depending on whether a carpenter works in rough or finish carpentry, their duties change. Some even specialize in specific woodworking techniques or products," I continue, watching the eager students. "On Saturday, we'll finally put our theory into practice."

"Uncle Alex!" Desire, one of my students, stops me on my way out. "Saturday is Grandma Camille's party, so maybe Monday?" She grins, and I nod, smiling.

"Mom packed this for you." Fabien, Elena's son, hands me a cooler. I take it.

"Heads up, it's really spicy," he whispers. I laugh, ruffling his hair.

"Tell us a story, pleaseeee!" they chorus.

I roll my eyes, setting the cooler down and sitting. "You know the drill. Get plates and spoons, we split the food, and you stay quiet while I tell a tale of our heritage."

They erupt in joy, and I laugh, because it's contagious.

"But we have to be fast. I have a meeting."

They obey quickly. I dish out the meal. They eat quietly as I begin.

"The werewolf is a legendary creature that has appeared in many myths, and nightmares, throughout history. Some say werewolves are humans who can transform into powerful wolves. Others say we're a hybrid - part human, part wolf. But we all agree: we are beasts with a hunger for blood.

"We are werewolves. And some of us are Witches, like Grandma Camille. The origins of the werewolf myth are unknown. Some say it started in The Epic of Gilgamesh, when Gilgamesh rejected a suitor who had turned her last lover into a wolf."

Their eyes widen with interest. I go on.

"Another legend says that Zeus was tricked into eating human flesh by Lycaon, son of Pelasgus. Furious, Zeus turned him and his sons into wolves. Early Norse folklore tells of a father and son who found wolf pelts that transformed them for ten days. They went on a killing spree until the father accidentally injured his son. A kind crow gave him a healing leaf, saving the boy."

"There are many myths about us. But we don't dwell in the past. We are the future."

__

"I found you a mate," Rick, our Alpha, says, clapping me on the shoulder as I walk in.

I try not to stiffen. I ignore him and sit down.

Rick laughs. Pack hierarchy is based on strength and bravery, and while I'm one of the strongest, I don't crave leadership. I'd rather follow. Still, I was made Beta. Even when Rick and I disagree, I defer, he's the Alpha.

"Trouble is coming," Rick says. Faye, his wife, sits beside him.

"I felt it too," I say, my voice hoarse.

"We all did," Zach, the Omega, nods.

"We've got to be ready, whoever it is," Faye adds.

"Camille, gather the witches. Make a protection spell. No one enters or leaves New Orleans without our knowledge," Rick says.

Camille nods.

"It won't be enough. We need guards everywhere. And we all know who's coming," I say.

"Romania?" Petro asks.

"We haven't heard from the Buckland Pack in fifteen years. Why strike now?" Rick frowns.

"I don't know. But they're our greatest enemy. They want to end us. They said so."

"We've got many enemies. The Blue Moon Pack is the largest in America. It could be anyone," Catalina, Zach's wife, says.

I nod, jaw clenched. "I don't like not knowing. But we wait. Ready for anything. We don't let them see us worry. We stay on guard."

"Extend the protection charm across Louisiana. Subtly. They could have a spy," Rick says. Camille nods again.

"By the way," Faye grins, and I know the meeting is over. "When's your daughter com-"

She's cut off as the door swings open.

I tense. I forget how to breathe.

I'm angry. I think I'm angry. I don't know.

She walks in, and there's a knot in my throat.

My blood is on fire.

My beast growls.

"Am I interrupting?" she asks.