Dangers at home

"A mischievous puppy out of bed, even brave for his age," says the stranger.

He was bigger than her father, with a dangerous aura. Kira wanted to run away but couldn't move.

Kira knows the wolf’s a lycan because of his smell, but her insides scream that that thing is much more ancient, and her instinct tells her not to move. She only stays there, paralyzed with her tail between her legs and ears flat against her head.

The wolf approaches her, coming out of the shadows. Despite his enormous size, his legs do not make the slightest noise, his paws are the size of her, shackles are tied to one of his legs and around his neck, both with a broken chain. The fur is as black as the night itself with fire-colored tufts in some parts, although it seems that they can appear and disappear at will. He has blood-colored eyes. Stopping in front of the puppy, Kira felt like a flea.

"Are you afraid of me, little girl?" He lowers his head to her height, snorting hot air in it.

"N-n-no," She growls in a trembling voice, but her body betrays her.

"You are a very brave little girl," his voice sounds more sarcastic than kind or sincere. "I'd say you look more like a snack," he says, while he opens his mouth, showing fangs as long as Kira's head.

"I'm not food," she growls, trying to show some courage so as not to look so pathetic. "Y-y-you beast."

He grumps with a menacing tone, rumbling on the walls.

Kira shrieks in fear, hoping that someone would save her from that situation, she wishes that everything was just a nightmare.

A sound of voices is heard in the distance in the hallway. The huge wolf grabbs her neck with a strange delicacy, walking into the shadows again.

"Hey, put me down!" she exclaims in panic, seeing how far away the floor is.

"Close your mouth, annoying cub, I'm stuck in this labyrinthine building and you will be my exit ticket."

"But I'm not a key or a ticket!"

A new growl from her kidnapper makes her shut up as she remembers her situation.

They keep on walking through that perpetual darkness, although Kira doesn’t remember a place like that existing in her home. She also notices that the wolf does not look very good now that it is closer.

The coat is entangled, some scars and burns can be seen on the muzzle and neck, even reaching more on the face. But the most visible thing at that distance is that he was quite thin, you could see his ribs; but it could not be seen from a distance.

Kira can not help but feel the urge to cry. It is not the first time that she had been kidnapped, after all she is a lycan child, plus a female, any pack of savages or rogues would like to have her under their control and force a pairing with a female cub of that lineage. They would pay any price for one.

She starts to wriggle, trying to make the wolf let go of his grip, when she hears voices, recognizing her father's with others.

"Stay still, little girl, or I will split you in half, my patience is short," he growls coldly, nailing a little his fangs on her neck. The taste of the little girl's blood and her whimpering sounds is enough satisfaction for him.

The wolf stopps, Kira doesn’t know where exactly but at least she can see some light, distinguishing her father's blurred figure a little. She is able to recognize Giovanni and Jayden by their smell too, along with others - probably guards and one of the outer circle.

"Did you find it?" Arseni growls menacingly, his height makes him look really intimidating and he exudes a dangerous aura.

"No, alpha, no trace of the intruder," one of the guards murmurs in terror. He and his companions have made a serious mistake when someone had entered; the worst thing had been that they had not noticed anything in one of the cameras.

Arseni's growl increases and his amber eyes darkens. No one has ever gone so far in his home. His family and his most loyal members of the pack are on total alert, all the cubs in the castle are in danger.

"Call off-duty guards and wake up others," says Syaorang, a man of Asian features with a serious countenance. He is the epsilon of Arseni, belonging to the outer circle. "They have surrounded the whole palace, none of the exits are unsupervised.

"You'll be including the security cameras, I have to assume, " Jayden growls as angrily as Arseni, folding his arms. He seems ready to butcher the guard in front of him. "We have just over fifty puppies here and they are all potential victims to a single rogue."

"We have already checked the entire perimeter and warriors circulate the city for any unauthorized sightings," Syaorang replies, while he is reviewing the messages sent to him by the warriors by an electronic tablet. "All those who entered through the border of the city and the country are in their assigned areas, the wild dogs are helping to look for any suspects and their females monitor the children's centers."

"The moon queen and the others are checking the castle cubs," Giovanni says, but before he can continue a scream resounds in the link of the whole pack. It is the voice of Sonia.

"What's going on Sonia!?" asks Arseni, alarmed through the mind link.

"Kira has disappeared!"

"Are you sure? Isn't she with the other cubs, hiding as we have taught them?" Arseni asks, trying to project some calm to his beloved.

Jayden and Giovanni know Arseni well. They know he is only trying to hide his nervousness.

"For the gifts of the moon goddess, no! I found the smell of the intruder in the hallway where she disappeared!"

Arseni's growl begins to increase again, his body and bones creaking under the skin as if they broke and rebuilt, before he transforms into his real form. Blinded by anger and despair

"Find my daughter!" he roars through the link, while his howl resounds throughout the castle, calling everyone to hunt.

The intruding wolf went back into the darkness, while all over the castle the howls can be heard in response.

"I want to go back to my mommy and daddy," Kira says with some tears running down her face. She tried to communicate with her father or at least her pack, but couldn't, she was blocked.

Only the very powerful Lycans could force that psychic cut, it's a kind of torture because it is to isolate an individual completely, to leave him abandoned for days. Kira’s dad can do it.

The stranger grumps, he begins to get annoyed with the girl, his patience is also shortened. He shrinks suddenly from a strong twinge in his stomach, he does not remember the last time he had eaten, where he was the time was incalculable.

The darkness around the two began to fluctuate, weakening, Kira can see even more light.

"Damn hunger," the wolf complains before coming out of the darkness, jumping to the side.

He comes out of the wall with Kira still in one piece. He looks around to find out where he is.

It is a huge well-ornamented room, a long rectangular table occupying half of the room with crimson velvet chairs and a crystal chandelier emanating a warm, comforting energy. There are other tables that are less ostentatious but just as elegant. Three chimneys occupy one of the walls, while at the other side is a window with a good view of the garden.

"Where is the kitchen, kid?"

"Why would I say where to go?" Kira says, whimpering, trying to hold back the crying.

"If you want to live..."

But his voice is cut short when the strange smell of sand and moisture reaches his nose. When turning to the door, he growls as he notices that they were no longer alone. A wild dog or Russian Lycaon is watching them from the entrance.

Unlike its distant African cousin, its large mottled fur is a mixture of grays and blacks with white spots on the legs, its round ears are smaller and a height of 5 feet. Quite some time ago, an African princess of lycaon left her country, fleeing from her pack with a few faithful servants to her and a pair of hyenas. They managed to settle in Russia under the protection of Arseni's ancestor, and where she would find her soulmate in his Beta.

It took several centuries before the wild dog/Lyncaon could become a species of its own and different, just like the hyenas that came.

"Princess," he growls seeing the intruder, it is obviously smaller than that wolf, but the lycaon has a greater advantage in their numbers.

"Don't even try, kid, if you want to live." The wolf begins to retreat, his stomach still hurting in the void and he would not be able to concentrate enough to return to the darkness.

But soon he sees others coming out of the adjoining doors and two from behind the drink bar. They have been waiting for his arrival or there were more than he expected.

The Lycaons approaches him in a semicircle to close his escape, they just need to hold him long enough for the others to arrive; but they must do it carefully because Kira is still in his clutches.

The black wolf only ran forward, ramming two Lycaons in the process, those who almost flew out crashing into the chairs. He rushes to the front door, his body resenting the onslaught but he cannot use his fangs at that moment. Running around trying to find the way out as quickly as possible, he can hear the wild dogs coming from everywhere, their constant barking and growling were getting closer.

The wolf stops in a circular area with a window on the roof. He gasps fast, soon to be surrounded by the Lycaon, it was impossible to know how many there are in total.

"You are testing my patience," the wolf growls again, measuring his options.

One of the Lycaons throws himself on the back of the wolf, fitting his teeth into the fur and skin. The wolf roars, opening his jaws for an instant, enough for Kira to fall to the ground. As if a spell has broken, the Lycaons throw themselves at him, while the cub is left under the wolf in the frenzy of the hunting.

Kira has never witnessed that, although two of her friends are half Lycaon. On top of her, the wolf shakes them off like rags, barely getting some to get rid of them. The mandibles of these are as strong as hyenas. The wolf stomps on the floor, on its front legs has appeared lines engraved on the skin as if it was lava. A shock wave, as if it were waves under the stone floor, propelling the Lycaons upwards.

He grabs Kira back in his mouth and walks out of the hallway, he has no choice but to jump out of one of the windows.

"Zeta Naina, Alpha Arseni the intruder is a giant black lycan! I can confirm that he has Kira with him," Asher says in the mind link, the first lycaon to get up.

"How big is it, Asher?" asks Naina, the female zeta of Arseni and belonging to the outer circle.

"8 feet, he is not in good health but you don't have to judge him the first time, he has enough power."

"The priority is to rescue my daughter, Captain, focus on that. Guide the intruder to the southern gardens, We will ambush him," Arseni says impatiently. A lycan stealing from another lycan's cub, something like this has never happened, least of all among those of royal blood.

The intruder is clearly one of them, only those with that blood can reach 7 feet tall. That thing is bigger than Arseni, and he is the largest lycan of Asia.

"Count on that, boss," Asher responds, throwing several barks into the air that can be heard at a good distance.

"Alpha, we will rescue her," Naina mentions, looking up at the night with the moon in the middle of the sky. "It's a good night to hunt."

"Let's put an end to it then," Arseni says. He and the others went hiding, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The wolf keeps running through the corridors, that place is a labyrinth making it difficult to find the exit. He listens to the Lycaon again on their hunt.

"Damn beasts," he growls quite annoyed. The hunger does not let him concentrate.

He manages to reach one of the large corridors with floor-to-ceiling glass that leads directly to one of the gardens. He only rammes against them, cutting off the persecution inside. Falling three stories high, rolling on the ground and crystals to resist the impact; but letting go of Kira in the process.

Kira is thrown several meters further, gets up from the ground and throws herself in the race to look for a hide. They are in the garden of the south wing, one of the largest and most beautiful in the castle. She crawls into a rose bush, even though more wounds are cut open by thorns and crystals.

"Hiding will not serve you too well, kid, there is no time to play hide and seek."

She can hear him approaching, she can only shrink by begging for someone to find her. He hovers nearby almost as if playing, moving around the plants.

"I'm already tired of playing wolf and rabbit," The wolf holds the rose bush with its teeth, tearing it off the ground with roots and everything.

Kira screams, barely holding on to her roots for a few seconds, before sliding down and falling into the hole that had been left. Falling on her back, looking directly at those furious red eyes.

The wolf growls at her menacingly, but his ears catch some movement approaching, turning his head violently, throwing the rose bush straight into Arseni's face.

Arseni roars, shaking his head from side to side to remove those thorns.

The wolf turns his head to the other side, a gray wolf with mottled fur and others approaches closing the escape routes with each step. He puts his paw on Kira, pressing her to the ground enough to make her squeal.

Each of Arseni's wolves stop in their tracks.

"Ah, naughty kids, come to play too." He growls with a bizarre smile, enjoying the position he is in.