A Different Approach

[Lucian's POV]

I collapse at my desk, my head reeling while Pandora's hate-filled eyes and furious expression taunt me while my chest feels like it is being squeezed.

“Fuck,” I growl, hating all these fucking emotions that I'm feeling.

Maybe I should have just left her in the auctions. I mean, I tried. I tried for a fucking month to forget her, to forget the pull I felt when I laid eyes on her, forget her face and those hollow silver eyes that just stared ahead devoid of any and all emotions like a puppet.

But I couldn't. Not when her face haunted me each and every hour and not when Aspen was begging me to go back and get her.

That's why I devised a plan to justify buying her out of that place. But all my careful planning is out the fucking window since she doesn't want a damn thing to do with me. How could she after what my so-called family did to her? Hell, even I wouldn't want to play along.

Sighing, I lean forward just as a knock sounds on my door, and when Pei's familiar energy presses against me, I lift my gaze.

“Come in,” I call and wait until he appears, his dark eyes filled with amusement.

“Look at you,” he chuckles, strolling forward and collapsing in front of me. “What has the great Lucian so down in the dumps?”

“Did you come here simply to mock your alpha?” I demand, leaning back and examining him.

He doesn't seem fazed, and that damned amused glint remains in his eyes along with the slight quirk of his lip. Maybe I've gone too easy on him up until this point, but that was because he was my closest and most trusted friend.

Pei and I grew up together in Onyx Moon. Me, the illegitimate child of the alpha, and he, the youngest and laziest son of a beta. Because of our common ground, we clicked and stuck together through academic training, which was only allowed because my father didn't want an illiterate son, and even military training. We were also together when I was sent with a platoon led by my elder brother to the north to deal with an uprising that was taking place. Had Pei not been there that day, I probably would have died.

As this thought hits, I reach up and touch the long scar marring my face and wince as memories of that time threaten to come.

“Alpha,” Pei says gently, drawing me to the present. “I think I may have found something useful to get the woman on our side.”

Nodding, I drop my hand and wait as Pei pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and passes it to me. Lifting it, I begin to read what is there from the name to the address, and I feel a slow smile begin to spread on my face.

“You've done well,” I grin, sitting it back down. “But I don't expect any less from you.”

I didn't only keep Pei by my side because of his loyalty and our mutual upbringing. Of course, that was the main reason since I needed those I could trust unconditionally on my side, but another was his deep-rooted connections with a secret organization of informants that would only work for those with no connections to pack hierarchies, which neither Pei nor I had, yet, anyway.

“Please prepare a carriage for tomorrow.” I say now, leaning back in my seat.

“Are you going to go yourself?” Pei asks me, shock forming on his face. “Do you think that is a good idea?”

“Are you saying you think your informant is leading you into a trap?” I counter. “If that is the case, I'll have to strike them down with my own hand for betraying their code, no?”

For a moment, Pei doesn't respond as he takes me in, examining every inch of my face, and when that damned smirk starts to come back, I know that I've set myself up for his teasing.

“Are you in that much need to relieve some frustration?” He chuckles, his eyes sparkling. “Did that woman tell you to fuck off and go suck a bag of dicks?”

“That woman has a name,” I point out. “It's Pan…”

My name is Four.

Her voice appears in my head, stopping me as I prepare to say the name that she showed so much disdain and hatred for when I even mentioned it.

Shit. She really was messed up from the shit my father pulled in the past simply because her parents didn't want to sacrifice their precious daughter to pack politics and a need for power.

“Her name is Four.” I say now, deciding it may be best to use the name she accepted until she is ready to embrace who she was before everything was taken from her. “Please do remember that in the future.”

“Four,” Pei repeats, eyeing me. “What kind of name is that?”

“It's the name that she has accepted and the one that you and all the others will call her until she says otherwise.”

“What about you?” He challenges, completely unfazed by my order. “What will you be calling her? Honey? Sweetheart? Baby?”

“Me,” I murmur, considering his question.

Would giving her an endearing nickname calm her inner beast and get her to trust me?

At this thought, I begin to picture myself calling her any of those things, but even the woman in my imaginings gives me looks of disgust and contempt.

“Fuck,” I growl, my annoyance and frustration growing. “Pei…”

Ugh. I hated that I was even about to ask such a thing, but since Pei was well acquainted with women, given his finding his mate, Tonya, at an early age and marrying her the minute they were of age, he was the only one I could ask such a thing.

“What is it?” Pei asks, smirking. “What can I help my alpha with?”

“That,” I begin, knowing that I was probably setting myself up for being taunted. “How did you get Tonya to not hate you and accept you?”

“My family didn't kill her pack and parents.” He immediately responds, causing me to clench my fist as the urge to punch the shit out of him flares.

“Don't fucking joke.” I growl as Aspen starts trying to egg me on to beat the man in front of me.

“I'm not,” he counters, his voice so damn serious it infuriates me. “But, since you've asked me for advice, I can't possibly leave you hanging. Here's what you have to do…”