My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

"Just what were you thinking?" Andreas raged in his office as Zosime sat calmly across from him. "You put a lycan pup of ours in actual danger? Have you lost your fucking mind? His parents trusted me with this. I told them it was safe and controlled. He could have been mauled to death. Do you think lycans are invincible?"

Thankfully the boy had healed quickly just as expected, but that didn't mean he wasn't put in grave danger. Statistically, bear attacks were usually directed at the head, face, or neck area, and all of those spots were potentially fatal, even for lycans—especially if the lycan in question was a pup who had not yet shifted for the first time. And especially if the bear in question was one protecting her young.

The physical danger little Isaac had been in was only half of it. Andreas had already fielded two frantic calls from his parents with complaints about how the boy was fairing psychologically. He was still traumatized. He had locked himself in his room and was apparently too agitated to join them for meals. His mother and father said they overheard him talking to himself about how the bear incident had been his fault.

"He keeps crying and saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' over and over and over again! What did you do to our brave little boy? Why does he think he did something wrong, Andreas? He is loyal to this pack. He is loyal to you, and he shouldn't be plagued with these thoughts," his mother had cried into the receiver.

"You better fucking fix this, Andreas," his dad had roared in a separate call. "I can't handle it. I can't handle hearing him whine like some hunted prey animal all day and night. We have been good to you over the years, always backing and supporting you when disloyal whispers have sprouted amongst pack members. Fix. This."

Andreas wanted to roll his eyes at the apparent frailty of their son's mental fortitude, but he was too caught off guard by the recklessness of Zosime's plan to point out the obvious. Isaac had not been psychologically up to the challenge. If Andreas had known that earlier, he would have never asked for the family's help.

Zoe hid the smile that threatened at Andreas' question about the invincibility of lycans, and instead she clasped her hands on her knees. "Isaac wasn't mauled to death."

Andreas growled like he wanted to maul her, but he forced his hands into his hair instead. If he wasn't already greying, this girl in front of him would have been enough to do it.

"What. Were. You. Thinking," he repeated through gritted teeth.

"It seems obvious. This was a win-win for us. Either she would show whatever abilities she had, or she would have a dead pup on her hands to answer for. That would hardly endear her to the pack," Zoe smiled innocently. "Alternatively, we could have also had a dead Luna—an accident that would have solved every problem you have."

"Instead we a fucking hero Luna," he growled.

"It was worth it," Zoe countered.

"You can't just do things like this without consulting me," he said, the growl of authority puttering in his throat.

"Was it outside the bounds of the assignment?" she cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry if it was. I certainly didn't view it that way."

"Fuck, Zosime," he groaned and pushed off the desk, turning away from her in frustration.

"Would you like to see the results?" she asked. 'Or do we need to devote more time to this tantrum of yours?' she thought to herself.

"Yes," he groaned dramatically. "Show the way."

In the conference room where the map was displayed, Andreas and Zoe stood behind Kai who was huddled behind his computer. Kai was playing back the map recording of pack land the previous day when August and Isaac encountered the bear and her cubs.

Andreas expected a single bright little light to illuminate on the black screen like what typically occurred when alyko used their powers. Instead, he saw a blooming of dispersed light in the darkness. It happened so quickly that it was difficult to discern if the scattering of dim lights throughout pack land had begun with the location of Maggie's cottage or not.

Kai had put the recording on a loop, so the event repeated over and over. It was as if an entire constellation had been activated in the night sky. The small points of light were numerous and extended all over the territory.

"What does this mean?" Andreas asked with a bewildered look on his face.

"We have no idea," Zoe squealed. She couldn't contain her intrigue or her excitement. They had never seen anything like this.

"What do you mean you have no idea? Is it a mistake? A glitch or something?" Andreas asked.

Kai shook his head silently in front of them.

"It can't be a glitch," Zoe replied. "But honestly, we are baffled. It doesn't make any sense at all. Every alyko who has ever displayed has always done so in the same manner. This is…" she trailed off, her face beaming as she shook her head in disbelief. "Unprecedented. Absolutely unprecedented. It's a beautiful thing."

"What good does this do us if we don't even know what it means? Is she something else? Is she not a witch?" Andreas began to grow agitated again.

He didn't care for any of this experimental garbage. He wanted simple, easily understood results—clear and straightforward.

"Well this is the first event I have planned over the next few days. Perhaps we should just wait and see what the next one holds. It will be more personally directed at Augu—I mean, Miss Cady—and since we know she already displays in at least some manner, it should be really interesting to see what something even more personalized will create. This was… a test round, let's say," Zoe tilted her head again while looking at the screen with a pleased smiled on her face.

Andreas' frown remained as he shifted his gaze to Zoe's deviously excited face. "More personalized?" he asked cautiously. "Exactly what does that mean? I need to know every detail this time, Zosime."

She rolled her eyes, but the smiled stayed on her face. "Of course, Andre. I will fill you on everything.. You have nothing to worry about with this one."