CHAPTER 3

LUTHER

He could hear them arguing at the top of their voices. He could never remember a time they would stay a day without arguing. Their fights were always intense. His mother would sometimes lash out at his father, leaving a scratch. At 25, he still could not understand why they were still together. Duty they would both tell him. His mother was chosen for his Alpha father; his father didn’t mind because he took his duty to the pack more seriously than his personal feelings. He didn’t believe in feelings; he was a realist. So he married Luther’s mother; a Timid, shy but intelligent young girl. She was there to play her part, she learned to do that to perfection but, there was a void. They could not stand each other except when they had s*x ( that was what it was; s*x and not lovemaking because there was no love between the two) and when they were out on royal duties. His mother, The Luna has earned her voice by realizing the power she wields, especially as they have been married for so long and his father, Alpha Rockie had not found his fated. The quarrels had intensified, and his mother would always come to him. He knew anytime from now, she would come. Today, he was not just in the right mood to be her emotional dumping ground. He dashes to his closet, pulls out his gym bag, throws his gym clothes and shoes into it, zips it, and rushes out. As he turns the bend towards the huge staircase, He hears the door to his father’s room open and his mum screaming his name. “Luther! Luther?" Luther, runs down the stairs stealthily, so he doesn’t alert his mother of his whereabouts. He hears her open the door to his father's room as he reaches the landing, almost running into Albert, the family butler. He gestures for him to keep quiet, Albert smiles in understanding. Albert has been with them since before Luther was born. Luther rushes to the door, sneaks out just in time as his mother reaches the stairs.

“Albert have you seen Luther?” Lucinda, Luther’s mother asks.

Just as he’s about to answer, the roar of Luther’s customized fast car reverberates through the house. She scoffs and throws her hand in the air in frustration.

“I think he’s going to the gym ma’am” Albert says trying to hide his amusement.

“He’s not avoiding me is he?” Lucinda asks.

The thud of huge footsteps approaching. Alpha Rockie, a big man with a huge frame and gruff in his approach to everything and everyone walks past Lucinda down the stairs.

“The boy deserves some peace from you” Alpha Rockie retorts. Anger flashes and Lucinda is about to answer,

“The council of Alphas sent an urgent letter, sir. Beta Francis and Roman are in the study waiting for you sir.”

Alpha Rockie and Lucinda exchange knowing glances; she rushes down the stairs after Alpha Rockie. Albert smirk.

Alpha Rockie heads towards the study.

“Get Luther here at once!” he booms .

Albert gets out his phone and calls.

High-intensity music from his headphones, drowns out the world as he pulls his lean frame up and down the bar. This place was Luther’s place of solitude. He found peace and had the right to dictate his own pace and generally decide what he wanted to do. He always puts his phone on “flight mode” and closes his eyes when exercising to keep the world out because, though it was his place of solace, he saw the way people; mostly the elite, looked at him. The women looked at his taut muscles, lean physique, sea-blue eyes, and tall frame with lust and hunger, while the men looked at him with envy and admiration; sometimes he could sense fear. Fear that he would take their women from them. He always chuckled whenever he saw a man pull his woman away. Not to cause any more trouble, he had decided to change his timing to late at night. One, is to relieve stress, and second, to avoid married women ogling him. He pulls himself up the bar, he grunts loudly as the pain shoots through him. He drops to the floor, panting. He feels a soft tap on his shoulder; he groans in irritation as he yanks the headphones off. He opens his eyes to meet the gorgeous hazel eyes of Tamar.

“You shouldn’t be pushing yourself so hard” she says with a mischievous glint.

“No pain no gain” Luther says as he gets up.

“Your dad is trying to reach you” she says.

Luther grunts.

“My phone is in flight mode; I need my peace”

He catches a guy looking lustfully at Tamar. He glowers at him with a slight growl. The guy looks away in fear. Tamar smirks. Luther catches her. He didn’t feel strongly about Tamar but as his Chosen, he knew he had to protect her; it was an innate feeling. She was going to be his Luna, the mother of his future children if all his parents’ plans go as planned. It could have been worse, they could have chosen someone shy and make him groom her to become the Luna of his dream, but they chose Tamar.

He had known Tamar since they were kids. She was feisty even back then. But now she had grown up to be beautiful, voluptuous in the right places and equally very smart. An Ivy League-trained lawyer who worked in a large law firm and was about to make partner. She was every man’s dream, except his. She would never fill the void. She was chosen for him and not his fated. There was a void there, but his father wanted to relinquish his post as Alpha to him soon. He had seen how miserable his father had been marrying his mother; his chosen. It always felt like he was missing something. His mother had learned to live with it, play her role as an excellent Luna but he could see she was never truly happy. Her eyes would only light up whenever he saw Luther and his brother Lance; they were her succor. Luther had promised himself from the time he could remember, that he would only marry his fated. He would stay unmarried till he found her. He knew she existed. He had seen her silhouette in his dreams. He didn’t want to settle. He hears Tamar’s voice in the distance. Realizing he had drifted off in his thoughts, he pastes a smile.

“What were you saying?” he asks Tamar.

“I think we should pick a date for the wedding soon; our mothers are getting restless.” She says.

A slight irritation flashes across Luther’s face. Fear flashes across Tamar’s face

“You still want to get married to me?” she asks.

Luther pastes a smile on his face.

“I couldn’t avoid it even if I wanted to”

He picks up his gym bag and starts shoving his stuff into it. He stops, turns to her.

“Don’t you feel that you might be missing out on something incredible by marrying me?” Luther asks

“I am marrying the future Alpha of the Cyretigen pack; he is hardworking and incredibly good-looking. What else would I be missing?” she asks seductively. Luther looks at her in shock.

“What of your fated?” he asks

Tamar waves it off as she picks up two dumbbells from the rack.

“I’m a realist Luther; I choose what I want in life, I make and stick to the hard decisions and not some fairytales.” She says, as she strides to the treadmill, she drops the dumbbells by the side, gets on the treadmill, and starts running fast.

Luther looks at her briefly, snatches his bag, turns, and heads to the door.

“I will pick the date” Tamar calls out. Luther acknowledges by giving her the ‘peace sign’ as he heads out.

The last thought on his mind as he's about to step outside was how he had to quicken his plan. He takes out his phone and texts his brother. “Hey bro, we need an exit plan, this can’t happen”. He changes his mind and deletes it. He opens the door, and walks into the dark.