3 years prior
Lucas knocked on the heavy oak door to his father’s office, his knuckles tightening as he waited. His father’s summons that morning had been abrupt and stern, and it left Lucas’s stomach twisted in uneasy knots.
“Come in,” Alpha Marcus’s voice barked from inside.
Lucas pushed the door open and stepped into the dark-paneled room. The office always smelled faintly of cigar smoke and old leather. His father sat behind the massive desk, a thick file open in front of him.
“You wanted to see me?” Lucas asked, standing straighter than he needed to. His father always brought that out of him. An instinct to look strong, even if it was only to hide the worry bubbling beneath the surface.
“Yes. Sit.” Marcus didn’t look up from the file, his eyes flicking over the paperwork as Lucas
