"A human hunting a shifter. That’s — " Ava bit her lower lip. "That’s cruel. There’s no chance that he would defeat the killer. Samuel is not a field officer. When Jude told me they sent him somewhere, I thought they sent him to South America to manage another group of people. It turns out that— "
Matthew didn’t say anything. He just held her close to his chest. And like a small child, Ava nestled in his arm. She bit her lower lip. The comfort that he just gave her was enough to calm her down.
And she needed it.
A loud sigh escaped her lips.
"Can we get him out of there?"
"Not without offending Trillium. That would mean we are declaring war against that organization. And you know what happens to people who get into their nerves, right?" he asked.
.....
"Trillium is here. I already informed them you are not available," Marko said when Matthew got out of their room.
"Trillium?"
"Jude from Trillium."
"No last names?"
"No last names. Marko said as he handed a file to Matthew. "He wanted to talk to Miss Woods."
"That won’t happen."
"It’s about Miss Woods’s employment."
"They fired her."
"He said the term that he used is... suspended."
"Bullshit," Matthew said. He walked inside the drawing-room where Jude was located. "Why are you here?" he asked the man who was standing by the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. He was wearing a tailored black suit, not a hair out of place. Matthew wondered if the man had to go to a saloon before coming here or... he just works like this.
He recalled the first time he saw Ava.
At that time, Ava was still working for Trillium. She was an officer but... she didn’t look too uptight. She looked casual and beautiful. Controlling himself was definitely a challenge when she was around.
"Beautiful place." Jude turned around. "The mansion, I mean."
Matthew looked at him, displeased. "It was the dead of the night. I don’t remember inviting someone from Trillium."
"Come on... you know you don’t have to invite me, Mr. Graydon. Trillium can do whatever they want."
"Ah..." Matthew smiled. Then he sat down. Almost immediately, Marko arrived with a glass of wine.
Seeing this, Jude sat across from him. "Chateau Lafite’s 1869, one of the rarest. I didn’t think that a Lycan would be this generous, especially to a shifter lower than him." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com
Matthew only smirked. "There is only one glass, Mr. Caro. And I don’t remember offering you a drink."
"Hah... and here I thought the mighty Lycans finally thought about other kinds of shifters other than themselves."
Matthew smiled. He took a sip of his wine.
"Uninvited guests don’t get to drink wines. Mr. Caro."
"I have been calling your secretary since yesterday. I wanted to come here to clear out some things. But he said you are not available. I figured the future king of the Lycans must have been so busy. So I visited your mansion."
Matthew said nothing. In fact, this move was like a warning. Trillium wanted him to know that they know where he was living. They wanted him to know that they have been watching him.
"Well... I can spare you five minutes of my time, Mr. Caro. After that, we are done. I have more pressing matters to attend to other than the politics between witches and Lycans."
"I can see that you are still not very fond of witches."
"It seems that you know a lot about me."
"As the future of the King of the Lycans, a lot of people know a lot of things about you." Jude smiled. He then crossed his legs. "I want Ava."
Matthew lifted his eyebrow. "She’s working for me."
"You don’t work with witches, Mr. Graydon. I am well aware of the fact that you hated them."
"Not her."
"She worked for Trillium and I just received an order that says, she’s reinstated."
"She USED to work for Trillium. Not anymore."
"I know I have mentioned this before but... we only suspended her."
"Indefinitely."
"Means we can still take her back. And the department just decided to take her back."
"Ah... what a coincidence," Matthew took another sip. This time, he savored the taste of the wine before he spoke again. "Just as I started digging about Samuel and you are here to take her back." Matthew leaned closer. "Are you trying to take one of my people to threaten me, Caro?"
"Threatened you?" Jude snorted. Then he let out a deep chuckle. "Threatened who? You?" Disbelief flashed in his eyes. "You know very well what would happen if you are not going to give it back to us."
"And what exactly will happen if I don’t give her to you?"
"Trillium will knock your ass down."
"Are you threatening me, Mr. Caro?"
"I don’t think I need to threaten you, Mr. Graydon. Trillium executes the laws. And when we say we want Miss Woods, we will have her. Whether you like it or not."
"I see," Matthew nodded. Then he smiled. Suddenly, his eyes glinted with gold. Seeing this, Jude froze. A sudden hint of fear started to grow inside him.
He had a bad... bad feeling about this.
But Matthew wasn’t done yet. It didn’t take too long before his eyes turned golden. No. It was a color darker than gold.
A sudden chill ran down Jude’s spine. He froze. He could feel his face losing its colors. The hair at the back of his neck stood. No. It wasn’t just his neck. He was having goosebumps.
Sweat trickled down his back.
"Y— You— " he stuttered.
"You touch me and you touch all Lycans," Matthew said. "I might not be the King yet, but I guess you knew the reason why I was chosen as the next one." Seeing Jude’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper, Matthew snorted. His lips lifted into a devious smirk.
"You see... my father’s ego is different. What do you think would happen if... you touch his successor?"
Matthew continued, "So... do you think you would want a war against... the noble Lycans?"
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