Lyra POV

Along the wooded walk, the paws pounded so hard that the twigs were no match.

The grey wolf moved steadily and quickly along the trail, the bag's strap tearing slightly under his jaws.

They darted into the clearing, halted so fast that he tripped over himself and fell at the feet of a blonde who was furious.

With her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face, she taps her foot.

She growls, turning on her heel and moving toward a big mansion. "You had a meeting at eleven," she says.

The wolf quickly changes into a man, putting on shorts and running after her.

"Lyra, please don't ignore me, please," the man begs as he catches up to her.

York, I had to put up with that dull idiot for twenty minutes. This week, you've missed two of your appointments with him. She growls, giving him a glare that would drive any rational man insane. "You're the alpha, not me," she says.Lry, you could have been alpha!" he moans. You can still do it if you so want."

His attempt to calm things down is met with resistance as Lyra turns around and puts her hand around his throat.

With ease, York releases her fingers and rolls his eyes as he passes her and enters his office.

"Was it only Xavier calling, or did anybody else answer?" Glancing over his shoulder, he asks as he moves through the space to his adjoining office.

"Papa. I asked why the two of us were still single and then expressed regret for my rudeness. And Arabella from Blue Bramble phoned you four times," Lyra hurried to get into her chair at her desk and reel off her accomplishments.

York looks at her momentarily, then rolls his eyes as if processing all the information.

"Arabella. I believe I instructed you to get rid of her. With a groan, he covers his nose with his spectacles and pulls on a shirt.

"Yes, I did. Then you deceived her once again. Now that it's your problem, little man," she shrugs as she sorts through the enormous stack of documents in front of her.

She looks at York, who appears anxious and crosses off another item from the lengthy list to her right.

"Well, at least she's not carrying a child," Lyra says with a knowing smile.

"Lyra, get over it. Reluctantly opening his laptop and running a hand through his sandy blonde hair, York complains, "Don't put ideas like that into my brain."

For the remainder of the afternoon, the Wilcott siblings labour quietly, only occasionally hearing the beep from their laptops.

The guy at the head of the table says, "Lyra," and the blonde straightens up a little, turning to face him. "How does it feel to be Unfortunate?" he asks.

As everyone around her turns to face the man and begins snarling at him, she stops, feeling her heart tighten.

Lyra's eyes are blazing black, but she's controlling her rage.

Lyra is thinking about turning her loose on this pitiful substitute for an Alpha as her wolf is attempting to come out.

The guest alpha becomes tight, and Lyra fixes him with a cold blue gaze that seems to be staring right into his pitiful heart.

Yes, it was depressing for a time. The man's face turns a fiery crimson as she smirks, "But then I realised I can screw whoever I want and don't have to listen to any man."

"Richard, are you going to allow her to behave and speak in this way?" The man gasps, and Lyra's father glances up from his tablet computer, just a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it truly suits me down to the ground since I won't have to worry about grandpuppies anytime soon. She also has a lot of skill. A partner would smother it. Richard pats his daughter on the shoulder and goes back to reading. "She deserves to have fun, the same joy your guys have, Kyle," he says.

York keeps staring at Kyle, and the man sees his expression mocking.

Are you still single, York? The blond sighs, and he sneers.

As the youngest member of the council, let me explain. Much to the dismay of a red-headed lady, the young guy shrugs and says, "I guess I'll have to simply retain my whores and my title."

"Young people! Words!" She scolds, then returns to her soup.

Kyle murmurs, "Ruffians, all of them," to which the four current Rapid Rock alpha family members respond, "Hmm?"

York and Lyra were the ideal combination; their surfer-style, stupid blonde appearances always cast suspicion on the other Alphas, which worked against them. They ruled board meetings and were severe and frigid.

She didn't count because their middle sister wasn't a good team player.

Both of them are upset as they return to their offices following the terrible supper.

"Oh, demon queen, who are you stealing tonight?" York looks at his sister and teases her, almost making it seem like steam is escaping from her tight frame.

"Perhaps this is your beta. Perhaps your gamma. He frowns as she rolls her eyes, "I haven't decided yet."

He hisses, "Will you leave the gamma alone? He's so exhausted," Lyra furrows her head.

"He is the gamma for a reason—he prepares and executes well," she smirks, much to York's dismay, as she licks her lips.

He murmurs, "Jesus Christ if you leave him alone, I'll stop coming to Arabella," to which Lyra shrugs and smiles.

She chuckles and types some notes from her pages onto her laptop, saying, "Suits me either way. Find out where your Beta is."

"You know he's mated now," York complains, a heavy frown marrying his flawless brow.

Lyra snaps back, "I need his help with a file, moron."

York speaks quietly, opening and closing his mouth.

For five minutes, they labour in silence until Lyra receives a mind link.

She hisses, "For fuck sake," and gets up so fast her chair topples.

"Delimitations. She barks, "Alpha Xavier is here," and York jumps to his feet, appearing quite agitated.

"I don't want to talk to him since I haven't seen him in two years. As the two siblings walk out of the estate and go to the border, York murmurs, "Anyone else would receive the memo; I've skipped twelve meetings."

The idea of interacting with the 22-year-old leader, whose pack had the strangest regulations she had ever seen, makes Lyra always frown.

Since becoming Alpha, Lyra had refused to interact with him face-to-face. His father was intolerable to her, and the son was far worse. Religious and pious were two things she detested.

When the two arrived at the border, their father was waiting for them with a fixed frown and his iPad.

He murmurs, "York, you best own up to this; I do not have the Death Mountain pack on my doorstep again."

Lyra's father agreed that the Death Mountain pack's regulations were the primary reason for their dislike.

The pack believed in offering human sacrifices to the Goddess; they gave it the term Death Mountain even though it was officially named Moonstone Mountain by the father and daughter.

Nobody enjoyed working with them.

Lyra, though, was most likely the most unhappy.