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|| THREE YEARS LATER ||

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RAIDEN ||

Dylan, Bennett and Hunter had this genius idea to have a brotherly Christmas this year since the packs and prides weren't coming together to celebrate in the Shadow pack. So our wolves decided to take a few days away this year and return on New Year's Eve.

To be in the mountains at Liam and Emilio's mansion like cabin, fully equipped with a sauna room, outdoor jacuzzi, 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, livingroom, game room, kitchen and dining room, this just might be the best Christmas we've had yet.

The only one that could possibly top this one was our first Christmas together with the boys, but that was ten years ago and now I am a father of seven. Something that still blows my mind.

There was a day in the past that I once prayed for Dylan to give me a litter, more than one cub to call our own, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought that Dylan would give me seven children.

A mixture of cubs and pups with one perfect Hybrid.

Could my life be anymore blessed?

Smiling to myself, I grab the rest of our suitcases from the back of the SUV then take them inside with Taj and Roman right behind me, their own suitcases in hand.

It wouldn't be a true brotherly vacation without Taj, Bennett, Roman, Hunter, Aaron, Garrett, Gabe and Avery with us and of course all of the little ones.

Roman and Hunter left one of the other male Lions in their pride in charge for the next few days, so they were able to getaway. I'm sure Roman would have to check on his pride often because of their new members, which including two injured male Lions and their orphaned cubs that Roman took on as his own.

My brother has never operated in the way that our father and his Lion ran things in our old pride. Roman welcomes any male Lion into his territory as long as they submit to him, giving him power of them because he remembers what it was like roaming on his solitary journey and solitude was never a good thing for a Lion. Rome also welcomes any orphaned cubs into his pride because my brother absolutely loves children.

All of his pride members would become his mates in a sense that I still didn't understand, but it was just like any other pride and even though they were all connected, Roman would choose who he would be intimate with and have cubs with and for my brother, the only man that he would ever touch was Hunter.

Any cubs they produce would be raised in the pride around the other members and if any of the other male Lions ever wanted to leave, Roman would let them, but if they wanted to stay, he would allow that too.

Watching how much my brother has grown made my heart fill with joy. He used to be this hot headed, out of control adolescent cub and now he's a Pride leader, helping those he can and I couldn't be more proud.

I wished that Preston and Reland were able to come, but Reland's pride has just expanded and he welcomed four litters these past few months, so the pride needed his protection. While Preston and Zahara just welcomed their fourth cub about two weeks ago, so it made sense why they wouldn't be able to travel so soon after their little one's arrival.

We even had Naralo with us, while his parents were vacationing in Hawaii because Gage literally would not leave the pack without his bestfriend and Naralo was pretty happy to come with us as well.

The sound of glass breaking brought my attention back to my surroundings.

"Oh Goddess, stop fighting please!" Avery screamed.

Then the sound of something else sliding across the floor and Talliox squawking filled my ears as I picked up my pace towards the house.

"Hey, hey, hey! What the fuck happened?!" Bennett panicked.

"Gage let him go, come on! It's not that serious!" Naralo complained.

"Come on guys, stop fighting, you're brothers." Ezra states.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" My nephews, Wyatt and Sebastian chant.

"Little fuckers, you better stop this shit right now or I swear to Goddess, you will be ass-less fuckers!" Dylan growls.

Then something else broke and Ezra's next words made my heart stop.

"Dad!" Ezra cries out in pain and that caught my attention more than anything else.

"Avery, Garrett, take the younger kids upstairs!" Dylan screamed as well.

"Oh fuck Ezra!" Bennett panicked.

"Get the guys!" Hunter shouted angrily just as Mekhi and Quinn come running out of the front door.

"Pop! Gage and Rhys were fighting because Naralo used his magic on Rhys and then Gage got mad and then hit Rhys and then they started fighting and now Ezra is turning into the beast again!"

Mekhi yells his explanation and I gently push past him before setting the suitcases down at the sight in front of me.

The furniture was strewn about the livingroom, there was food knocked off the counters in the kitchen, glass shattered everywhere on the floor.

Avery and Garrett were trying to get all of the girls and younger children up the stairs, Wyatt and Sebastian were jumping up and down watching my son's fight. Bennett and Naralo were trying to separate Rhys and Gage from their death grip on each other, Aaron was trying to calm Talliox down as he tried to get to Ezra and Dylan and Hunter were struggling to contain Ezra on the ground.

My first born son was mid shift into his beast, Spyro. I'm sure his anger or panic over his brothers fighting had taken over just like it did a few years ago when he lost him in the Forbidden Forest.

"You two, upstairs now and you won't like me when I get up there!" Taj growled at his sons. Wyatt and Sebastian hang their heads before running towards the stairs.

Then Taj, Roman and I rush over to where Ezra was thrashing and snarling on the ground. His eyes were pitch black as his terrifyingly long canines had elongated, his claws were slipping from his fingernails and he was halfway covered in the fur of his beast as Spyro was attempting to force control.

"Ezra! Come on son! Focus, you can fight this!" I panicked as I dropped to my knees next to my son.

"Dylan, help Bennett and Naralo get those two under control, Hunter grab the wolfsbane shots from the fridge." I instruct them before wrapping my hands around Ezra's throat to get a better hold on his head as he thrashed underneath me.

Taj grabs his legs, while Roman put pressure onto his chest. It took all of us to hold him back when he was just one years old, but with how much he's grown in size and strength, Ezra was becoming a lot harder to subdue.

"Get off me!" Ezra and Spyro both growled, their voices mixing together, sounding almost haunting.

"Ezra, come on son! You have to fight this! Do not let Spyro take control."

"I. . . already. . .have. . .control." Spyro grits out as he glares into my eyes, so I tightening my grip around my son's throat.

"Not enough, my son is fighting against your rage. Ezra still has some control over his body, so you won't take my son to hell with you." I tell him as I stare into the depths of my son's eyes, trying to find even an ounce of his heart at the moment.

"I. . . am . . . apart. . . of. . . Ezra. . . if. . . I . . .go. . .to. . . hell. . . than. . . he. . . comes. . . with. . . me." Spyro growls as I watch my son's face begin to morph into his beast, but Ezra's body starts to thrash even harder underneath our grip.

"NO!" I heard my son's voice again and I gasped as did Roman and Taj.

"We. . . will. . . shift. . . Ezra!" Spyro demands and my son shakes his head.

"No we won't!"

"Give. . . me. . . control!" Spyro growls menacingly.

"NO!" Ezra growls back.

It was a total mindfuck watching my son and his beast argue like this while still in his form, speaking through his mouth and his body reacting to both of their wants.

My eyes filled with tears as I felt my son's panic, fear and despair through our familial bond. He's too young to go through this shit and I hate that he has to fight so hard against his beast. They should be one in the same, bestfriends and life partners, but instead Spyro is hellbent on making my son's life miserable.

The least the beast could do was help him with his urges while he's still young.

"Here!"

Hunter's voice and the fact that he dropped in front of me, allowed me to suck in a sharp breath as Taj reached for the syringes in Hunter's hand.

Then Ezra reached his arm out and slapped them away.

"Poison!" Spyro hissed as his pitch black eyes now turned red and Ezra's body thrashed again.

"Please! Stick me!" Ezra begged and his body thrashed once again.

"NO!" Spyro growled, but then he let out a gut wrenching shriek as Taj plunged one of the syringes into my son's thigh.

Roman plunged another into my son's calf and then Hunter stuck the last one into Ezra's arm that was pinned underneath his thigh.

Spyro hissed again as Ezra's body grew weaker and his hold on my son, weakened with it.

After what seemed like another 20 minutes of heart pounding, nerve wracking thrashing, Ezra's body finally gave out and he sighed heavily as a tear rolled down his cheek.

My own threatened to spill over as I removed my hands from his throat, while Roman and Taj both stand to their feet.

I wrap my arms under my son's back and pull him into me. Cradling his head to my chest, I release a tension filled sigh myself and close my eyes.

"I'm so sorry Pop, I'm so sorry, I don't have control of my beast." Ezra cried against my chest and I nod, trying my best to stay calm for him.

"It's ok son, you can't help it. . . but you did so great, you fought him and you won." I whisper into his hair before kissing the top of his head.

"I won?" He questions.

"You won." I confirm and he tightens his grip around my waist. "Thank you Pop, thank you."

"Always my son." I promise him before feeling someone touch my shoulder.

Opening my eyes, I look up and see Taj gesturing towards Dylan, who was sitting on the floor in the corner of the livingroom. Clutching his hair and crying silently.

"Damn it." I curse, pulling away from Ezra and standing to my feet. Grabbing my son's hand, I slowly lead him over to his father, who looked up at us with tear filled eyes and stained cheeks.

"Dad." Ezra whined and Dylan shot off the floor, wrapping his arms around our son and hugging him close.

"It's going to be ok, it's going to be ok." Dylan kept repeating himself as he rocked Ezra again this body.

I was about to hug both of them when I noticed Gage and Rhys walking towards out the corner of my eye, so I glare at them before pointing towards the stairs.

I would never blame them for Ezra's condition or the fact that Spyro seems to take advantage of my son when his emotions are heightened. Like when he's worried about his brothers fighting or getting hurt, but I am pissed off that Gage and Rhys were fighting over something as trivial as Naralo using his magic on Rhys.

Gage is the ultimate male Leopard. His total personality is that of my own when I was young, but he has to learn to control his urges, his anger, his need to protect what he thinks is his.

Naralo is not Gage's property and the little boy is allowed to have other friends or use his magic as he pleases, even if that means using it on Rhys.

"Upstairs now!"

"Pop, we're really sorry." Rhys cried and Gage nods his head.

"Yeah we are. Really sorry."

"I don't care, I'm so tired of your constant fighting, go upstairs to your room and neither of you are allowed to touch that game or your phones for the rest of the night. Am I clear?"

"Yes Pop." They both nod and then run towards the stairs.

I sigh before looking back at Dylan and Ezra, who was still wrapped safely in my mate's arms.

"Are you two going to be ok so that I can go talk to Gage and Rhys about this crap?" I ask and Dylan nods.

"Yeah we're going to be fine. Go talk to them before I let Talliox take a bite out of them." Dylan growls the same moment that our Griffin does one of his squawks.

Smiling and nodding, I walk out of the livingroom with Taj following close behind me. I'm sure Wyatt and Sebastian were about to get their asses chewed out as much as my sons were.

Opening the door to the older boys bedroom, Gage, Rhys, Wyatt and Sebastian look up at the door to see who just entered, then hang their heads as soon as they saw us.

"Wyatt and Sebastian Haller." Taj growls as he gestures for his son to stand in front of him.

"Offspring, come." I command my boys and they both rush over to me as well.

"Between the four of you, I'm going to have heart problems and your uncle Taj's foot is going to be up your asses." I tell them as I look between their sadden expressions.

"Yeah, what the hell were you all thinking about?" Taj asks then looks at my boys. "Fighting your brother?" He growls before looking at his boys. "And cheering that shit on like it was some show!"

"Gage hit me because Lowe used his magic on me." Rhys whines as he looks at his brother, then sticks his tongue out at him.

"I got mad that Lowe used his magic on you, he was making you feel warm like he does to me and I didn't like that." Gage huffs.

"Naralo is not your property Gage, he is his own person and if he wants to show Rhys his magic, then he is allowed to do that." I roll my eyes after seeing my son sulk.

"I know he's not my property, but I like him. He's like my only friend and I don't want him to have other friends." Gage complains.

"Dude, that's toxic." Rhys complains.

"Shut up Rhys!"

"You shut up Gage!"

"Stop it! Both of you! This shit is serious. You two are brothers and all of this arguing and bickering is just stupid!"

Yelling at my sons never felt good, but this was no laughing matter and I needed them to realize that their bullshit needs to end.

"And you two, don't think you're off the hook! I'm still confused as to why you felt like this shit was funny, especially continuing to cheer the shit on while Ezra was literally fighting for his sanity!" Taj growled at his sons and they hung their heads.

"It was stupid Pa, we shouldn't have laughed." Wyatt whispers.

"Yeah, we were dumb for that." Sebastian admits, which makes Taj shake his head.

"You're not dumb, don't ever call yourselves dumb because you're not dumb. Your choices however were very dumb and I don't ever want to see you two doing that shit again."

"Yes Pa." Both Wyatt and Sebastian agree, then Taj hugs his boys, which makes me look at my sons once again.

"You two scared the shit out of everyone over something as silly as Naralo's magic... the younger cubs and pups were screaming in fear."

"I'm not blaming you for Ezra's shift, but I am blaming you two for the chaos you caused. If you so much as think about arguing with each other again, I will personally shove my foot up your asses."

"Now I want both of you to apologize to each person individually, then you get to clean up the mess you made downstairs and there won't be any games or phones for the next two days. Yes?"

"Yes Pop." My boys agree to their punishments, so I nod before pulling them into my arms.

Gage and Rhys have given this family more trouble in the last ten years than Ezra ever has.

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After the four delinquents apologized to every single being inside this house, including Talliox, who just squawked at them, it was finally time to start decorating the house as a family.

Ezra wanted to sit the house decorations out and asked if he could just help with the tree and I didn't have a problem with that after what he's been through this morning. So he sat next to Talliox, who wrapped his wing around my son and pulled him close, then the rest of us got to work with decorating.

By the time we were done decorating, the kitchen had a hot cocoa bar fully stocked with peppermint straws, marshmallows, sugar and cinnamon sprinkles.

The dining room table had a smaller 3 foot tree decorated by the smaller cubs and pups and the table had a beautiful green and white garland laid across it. Candles, smaller wooden trees and village houses were in the middle of the table as well as these wooden boxes that had the words "Merry Christmas" and "Family" on them.

Garland weaved throughout the stairs and railing with giant lollipops, peppermints and cotton candy were stuck inside every other railing, demanded by Avery of course.

The livingroom was beautiful with white, red and gold decorations. Stockings were hanging from the fireplace which also has a Garland on the mantle and other little decorations like village houses, wooden trees and a smaller elf sat on top as well.

Avery told us that the furniture needed to look nice as well. So he draped these super soft white, fluffy blankets over the backs of the couches and chairs. He also put Christmas themed pillowcases on the couch pillows.

We hung Christmas themed pictures, tied ribbons where Avery told us to and placed other wooden decor around the room that Avery also bought. I think my favorites were the wooden reindeers.

Then it was time to decorate the actual Christmas tree, which Avery also picked out and it was obnoxiously large.

Who actually needed a 12 foot tall tree?

According to my bestfriend, everyone needed one.

Ezra finally perked up at the sight of the large Christmas tree being strategically placed into the corner of the livingroom.

My boy grabbed the tree skirt and placed it around the bottom of the tree before setting up the train set that seemed to move on its own around the damn thing.

I never understood the contraption, but it made my little ones happy, so it's become a necessity every Christmas.

All of the kids were circling the tree with various ornaments, tinsel and ribbons. Placing them wherever they could and not once was there an argument.

Thank the Gods and Goddesses above.

"Rhys can you hand me more tinsel?" Gage asks nicely, bringing a smile to my face.

"Sure, but can you hand me another ribbon?" Rhys asks just as nicely.

"I love Christmas!" Mekhi yelled as he threw his tinsel in random spots on the tree.

"Me too!" Quinn giggled as he ran around the tree like a crazy person.

"Truth!" Scarlett, Hazel and Willow yell together then break out in fits of girl giggles.

"Seb, help me up, so I can put mine up there!" Wyatt exclaimed as his brother let him step on his knee to reach a spot higher up the tree.

"Dude, you're freaking heavy man!" Seb complained as Wyatt balanced on his knee.

"There's a totally easier way to do that." Reign rolled his eyes, he looked so much like Roman in that moment.

"You think that about everything Reign." Pierce chuckled.

"You all are crazy for even trying to do this, I could have just made the tree decorated nicely." Naralo shakes his head.

"What fun is that Lowe?" Gage laughed, nudging Naralo with the elbow and Naralo laughed before shoving him back.

"This so much fun!" Our little ones shout excitedly.

Irie, Alora, Emma and Connor were all three years old this year and even though they thought they were big kids, in reality they weren't. So we gave them their own smaller tree to decorate.

"Dang it."