Going back to the entrance of the clearing was against the rules.
Ayla knew it.
She could see the fire growing in the boy's eyes as Lucas stood there, kissing and plotting with the witches.
Knowing they had just won that round.
It was obviously a ploy to get them to go back on their word and go after Lucas.
To trap them.
Ultimately, it was never confirmed who had been cursed wolves, and there were three female wolves with them.
Ayla said they needed to get the newly found wolves home, so it still left them unsure.
The witches wanted them, but the group didn't know why exactly.
Why would they want to collect werewolves?
Lucas had come back and kissed his witch girlfriend in their line of view on purpose, and it worked.
He knew he didn't have anything to worry about because he was protected.
As Phoenix and Raphael's paws hit the dirt, the girls and Alexander lunged in front of them to stop them.
They were determined, though.
It was a duck and dive, followed by a few bob, and weaves until each man had two people pinning them down.
Ayla said as sternly as she could, "You cannot go after him right now. We know where he is and who he is with. After we rescue Julius, we will get him. Promise!"
Growls still erupted from the men as they attempted to gain their composure, but the only thing they could do to fix themselves was run.
Run as far and as fast from the man who nearly killed their father figure as they could.
So, that's what they did, without looking back, until they could think straight.
While they moved forward, with the wind in their fur, Dominic was running through the events that had just occurred in the home office.
...
During the last bit of the darkness, Dominic was focused hard on the screens.
He had an idea of what the two people he was waiting for looked like, but he was suspicious of them and every person who graced the screen that morning.
Though he had a confident presence in front of the young group that surrounded him, he wasn't typically well on his own, as he was finding out.
The near-death experience, topped with his son now being unaccounted for, was doing one hell of a number on him.
His eyes darted to every slight movement that took place on each screen in a constant stream of surveillance that was on the verge of making him look like a maniac.
That was when the first figure emerged from a neighboring building and started to walk toward the front of the building.
When the young female appeared to make a straight shot from her front door to theirs, it really locked in his attention.
She had to be the appointed manager of the restaurant.
Deva was just as she had been described as she got closer.
In Dominic's opinion, she looked a lot like Ayla, which made him slightly curious about her.
Could they be related?
That would be a question for another time, and something for him to look into later.
For now, he had too many tasks on his plate already.
When Deva reached the front stoop, he automatically buzzed her in, which startled her and impressed her.
For the first time in a long while, she felt important.
A smile crossed her face before she even thought about it as she entered the building and made her way down the hallway to the door that hid the secret man that she was meeting.
Deva was like a breath of fresh air for Dominic as he opened the door, and her smile met him.
She emitted a kind, sweet, friendly essence, which was settling for the nervous man who waited for her.
As she entered, he went to shake her hand, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head as she leaned in and gave him a warm hug.
Careful not to spill the iced coffee clutched in her left hand as she squeezed him just a little more than he was used to.
The young woman was the embodiment of love and warmth.
As she welcomed herself in, she wasted no time getting started.
It was straight to business first.
"I understand that you are helping out Julius and Alexander while they attend to some out-of-town matters. I am not to tell anyone that they aren't here. Also, I can't tell anyone about you. Now that we have that out of the way, is there anything I need to know this morning?"
Dominic was stunned at her abruptness, coupled with her warm and sweet demeanor.
It contradicted itself, but it worked so well at the same time.
Deva was a complete enigma, but she was wonderful.
Fun and charismatic, but business and straightforward.
After Dominic collected his thoughts for a second, he was back on task.
"As far as I know, it's business as usual. If there are any specials you would like to try, you have the guy's permission, within reason. They specifically said nothing too crazy..."
He paused and raised an eyebrow at her reaction to his words toward her.
"You mean they are letting me run the specials while they are gone?"
Dominic cleared his throat, "Within reason being the keyword. Do I need to have you run them by me first daily?"
With a giggle and a smile, "I could run them by you, or...you could trust me to keep them from being too crazy."
He thought about it for half a second, "How about we talk about them like friends, and see if I might want to try them myself, and you can bring me one in the evening if it sounds like something I might want to try?"
"I see what you're doing, but I don't hate it. You are going to be extremely busy here, and I have the feeling you don't plan on leaving the room while they are gone. Deal!"
"Deal. Other than that, I just need updates on daily sales, the basic inventory, and staffing reports. You can bring those in the mornings, or if you stop by in the evenings, I can help with them. That's up to you. On a separate issue. Something your bosses probably didn't mention, if out of town costumers come in, I would like it if you would talk to them and tell me anything you can about them. Could you do that?"
That made her suspicious.
"What do you mean? Why do you want me to do that?"
He wasn't sure what he could tell her.
"It's for research mostly. Where they are from tells me what we can open up our menu to in the future. Basic things like that."
For a second to think, he felt like he did pretty well with coming up with a cover story for his inquisition.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I can do that!"
As they finished up, she gave him another hug as she went to make her way toward the door, "It was really nice to meet you. I'm thinking that maybe I'll skip making my own special today. Before the guys left, they set a special that was supposed to run through today anyway."
Deva shrugged her shoulders and went to leave.
"Well, what is the special today?"
With a big grin, she didn't hesitate before she responded, "Chicken teriyaki pineapple bowl. It's literally teriyaki chicken and white rice, then grilled in a pineapple. It's so good! Then we have warm pineapple sundaes with rum sauce, and pink pineapple pina coladas".
None of those really seemed like something Dominic was willing to try, but he didn't get a chance to say anything.
As Deva was walking out the door, she had one last thing to say, "I'll bring you a pineapple bowl to try. You'll love it!"
The door shut behind her before he could accept the offer or deny it.
Apparently, he was trying something new that evening, whether he wanted to or not.
Deva was going to be a lot for him to handle, and that got him wondering just how much fun his next guest was going to be.
For now, he was back to watching the monitors for any suspicious activities, because he didn't have much else to do.
It was a rather uneventful morning for Dominic, other than meeting Deva, as he scanned the monitors nonstop, watching for anyone familiar to show their face.
He could sense a feeling of uneasiness with the group, but then they all went silent, and he didn't like it.
From what he could tell, they had made it a good distance, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to sense them for much longer, which made him feel even more uneasy.
As he sat there, feeling useless, the morning light was seeping its way into the room, letting him know just how much time had passed, and he knew his other visitor would be there soon.
The last thing he wanted was Rollo to make his way in, while he was worried about what was going on, with the group he was now thinking of as his kids.
The instinct to protect them was taking over, and he had no control over it.
He saw all of them as the helpless orphan wolves that they were, and he was willing to take them all in and save them all.
They could all be his, but ultimately, he just wanted his pup back, again.
That was his true wish.
It was cruel for him to find his son, just for him to lose him again.
Dominic could sense the feelings that caused Raphael to stop the group, and that made him proud.
He had taught his prodigy well.
At the same time, he knew when everyone, but Phoenix, changed back, and he couldn't sense them anymore, and that they had separated, and he was ready to kick his subordinate himself.
All he could do was wait for them to return and allow them to tell the story, because he had taught them everything that he knew, and it was on those two now.
Phoenix knew better than to separate from the group, though, unless it was on purpose.
Did he leave the group on for a reason?
While he was getting lost in his thoughts of the young wolves, he forgot his own mission, and the buzzer was going off.
A man was standing there, and Dominic had to clear his mind quickly of the problems of the young wolves so he could do his own job.
After a few seconds, he was able to verify that the tall, dark, handsome young man at the door matched the description that Alexander had left for him.
Seeming frustrated for having to wait, Rollo made his way down the hall to the office.
This was not the same interaction that he had this morning with Deva.
Rollo was not quick with warmth and light.
He was irritated to have to come to the home office to meet with someone new prior to his normal day.
This was going to be a potential issue because Dominic was not ready to deal with a fight of dominance with an arrogant prick.
Seeing that the man appeared to have an attitude, he decided he would wait until the man knocked at the door to open it.
No, that probably wasn't the best idea to do with a man who was already irritated, but that is what he decided to do.
'KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.'
Dominic waited a second and then answered the door.
"You must be Rollo. Alexander told me that you would be coming by daily before your shift, but he thought it would be later in the day. I apologize."
Rollo looked at him suspiciously.
He was clearly a rough-looking man, and not what he was expecting to see, but it was clear that he was thinking hard about something.
"I know you, don't I? I've seen you before, at the club. How come I'm answering you now? You were a bouncer for like a day."
That made Dominic have to hold back a smirk hard.
"Yes. I came in a few times to help the guys out with a few things. Is that a problem?"
Rollo wasn't sure how to interpret that.
Had he actually been there to help them, or was he there to work?
Dominic had questions of his own.
Did the boys pick someone who was actually loyal, because they had shown before that they had a problem with trusting too easily?
"I just worry about the guys. They like to keep everything a secret to protect themselves, and I don't want someone to come in and screw them. I don't know you, but I've known them my whole life. I don't mean any disrespect, sir."
Was it that obvious that he didn't trust the young man who just walked into the office?
Was it that, or was he sensing the vibe that Dominic was giving off and switching it up to play a game with him?
"Let's start over again. I'll tell you a secret, and you can decide if you want to trust me or not. How about that? If you tell the secret, then you have to deal with me."
Rollo looked curious, but unsure as to whether he wanted to hear the secret.
When Rollo didn't immediately jump, and seemed to be thinking it over, Dominic added a little more context.
"It's my secret and your boss's secret in a way."
"In that case, I wish not to know."
Dominic didn't expect that.
For Rollo to be so loyal that he declined the offer of a secret based solely on the fact that it was about his bosses, too.
Maybe Alexander knew what loyalty was after all.
Or maybe there was more to this group than Dominic realized.