THE CALL OF THE MAFIA WOLF KING

Logan stared dejectedly out the window of his bedroom, silently cursing the snow that had picked the wrong day to fall. The cold and lonely weather was doing all the wrong things to his already black mood. He grunted and raised a hand to his head, raking his fingers through his black shoulder-length hair. Dammit, where was inner peace when you badly needed it? He hated feeling like this.

He turned abruptly from the window and began pacing the room. He had gone to see his invalid father as a last resort this morning, hoping for some much-needed advice on what to do about the rogue attacks at their boundary. As usual, his father had barely recognized him, then after he finally did, had screamed a load of gibberish, capping it up with cries for Jessica to be brought to him. Jessica had been his mate and Logan's mother before she was killed years ago.

As if that wasn't enough, there had been pressure on him of late to find a mate. He was always steadily reminded that he needed a Luna chosen for him by the Goddess, someone to bear his children and be a mother to his pack. He had no desire to find anyone to spend the rest of his life with though. His father was enough example. Pressure or not, he wasn't willing to go down the same route his father had gone.

The recent rogue attacks had been his personal headache for several weeks now. He had sent a number of his pack members to their deaths trying to curb the attacks. There was a cloying feeling about the attacks, something strange and eerie that gnawed at his mind and made him lose sleep thinking about it. This was not their first rogue attack, and neither would it be their last. Why did this one feel so different?

A rude voice interrupted his thoughts and he stopped pacing, trying to zone in on the intrusion. It was his beta trying to reach him through the mind link.

Still all cozy in your blanket aren't you, Alpha? His beta's teasing voice resonated in his ears. Logan rolled his eyes and sighed.

''What do you want, Casper?'' There's a situation with the patrol. You might have to join us. We're really short of men here and we need more wolves to cover more ground.

''Maybe leave your bedroom and join us?''

Logan groaned. ''Do I really have to do this?''

''Yes! Casper insisted. It would really boost the confidence of your subjects if you showed up. You can't stay holed up in that room all day, you know.

Alright, fine. I'm on my way''

Casper closed the mind link and prepared to join the patrol team. Several minutes later, he walked out of his room decked out in a gray fur coat fit for the weather. His raven-black hair was pulled back in a ponytail that accentuated his sharp jawline and dimpled cheeks.

He moved from the hallway of his bedroom to a large foyer that joined all rooms in the pack house together. Heaving a sigh of resignation, he opened the foyer doors and walked out into the cold winter air.

The Packhouse was situated in the middle of a large expanse of land, the tallest building in miles around. To the right was the small gathering of houses where his subjects lived, and to the left was the woods that stretched for miles around. Directly in front of the pack house was a training site which was empty. All the trainers had been recruited for patrol too.

The alpha trudged forward in the snow, silently cursing as his boots got stuck severally in the muck. One more reason why he hated winter.

He got to the border a few minutes later. The patrol team was arranged at intervals along the borderline. They were so scanty; Logan had no idea how they could take on another attack. His heart ached with worry and fear as he contemplated the depleted number of his pack.

Their border was located at the edge of the woods, with the forest behind the patrol team and a wide expanse of land to their front. Everything had been made white and bleak by the falling snow, but Logan could sense the enemy as surely as he could see his own hands. He knew they were lurking in the snow, waiting for any sign of relent before making their attack.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by Casper's voice in his head. He sounded excited and scared at the same time and Logan was finding it hard to make sense of his words. His voice was frantic and incoherent. Logan waited for him to calm down before speaking.

''You might wanna repeat all that you've said, Casper. He said calmly''