Chapter 2: Unwanted Requests
Lucian's POV
I was sitting behind my desk, staring at the mountain of paperwork that never seemed to shrink, even though I had just cleared half of it the night before. My office, dimly lit and cold, matched my mood perfectly. Peaceful silence, with the sound of the pen scratching against the paper, was exactly what I needed to get through the day.
Of course, that never lasted.
The door to my office swung open with a loud creak, but I didn't look up. If it was important enough, they'd speak. If not, I'd continue working. I didn't have time for interruptions, not when there were more pressing matters than... whatever this was.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my Beta-Rylan. His usually perfect posture was slouched, and he had that look on his face. The one that said he had bad news but knew better than to share it. He collapsed onto the chair in front of my desk. Whatever drama he was bringing, I wasn't in the mood for it.
"Lucian," Rylan groaned, rubbing his temples like he was nursing the worst headache of his life. "The elders are at it again."
I continued signing the papers in front of me without missing a beat. "I fail to see how that's my problem."
"They're on my neck, man!" he exclaimed. "They want you to take the mate search seriously. You know, Luna, pups- the whole happy-family bit. They're getting restless, and I'm pretty sure one of them has a voodoo doll of me at this point."
I looked up at him briefly, deadpan, before returning to my paperwork. "Tell them they can shove their restless energy up their-"
"Lucian!" Rylan interrupted, his voice strained, but I saw the twitch of a smile on his face. "They want a Luna. And, apparently, so does every single girl in the pack. You should've seen the crowd of hopefuls gathering outside the packhouse this morning."
"They want pups. Wonderful," I said dryly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Tell the elders they can start knitting little onesies for their imaginary grandchildren because that's as close as they're going to get to me having offspring."