The three witches' chanting lashed out at Jason, who staggered backward. Cyron yelped as he crept deeper into Jason's mind, trying to flee from their words as if it burned him. Jason's head started throbbing. Desperately, he tried holding onto his demon form, but the witches' chant sapped him of his strength. A wave of exhaustion pushed Jason to his knees, digging into the icy snow.

In an excruciating forced transformation, his claws retracted back into his fingers. Jason's body shrunk while his scaly skin returned to normal. The long horns on his forehead dug back into his skull, causing a massive headache to flare up.

"As I told you, Jason," Alaric said, smirking all the way towards him. "This battle is far from over."

With every breath, Jason's lungs screamed out in agony. He desperately gasped for air, fearing that he'd die of asphyxiation. "What a cheap trick...," Jason gasped out.

"To you, maybe, but I'll do anything to achieve my goals. So let's get you back onto your leash, shall we?"

Through his blurry vision, Jason watched as Alaric signaled the witches. The three hags stepped forward and switched their chanting. They lifted their hands toward him and then unleashed silver chains from their fingertips. But just as the chains snaked around Jason's neck, the demonic trap around his neck burst to life. Black flames ran up the links and engulfed the witches' tattered tunics. Several shrieks rang out over the battle that raged around them. The hags flailed about, trying to douse the flame, but they couldn't. One by one they fell to the forest's floor, withering in pain until their bodies stilled.

Before Jason could react, the cold, hardened sole of a boot smashed into his face, slamming him onto the ground. A high-pitched ringing rang in Jason's ears as he stared up at the barren treetops over head. Soon, Alaric made his appearance by landing on Jason's hips, straddling him. The vampire's long and sharp claws dug into his neck. Warm blood began trickling down Jason's neck as the nails punctured his flesh. Jason coughed while trying to yank Alaric off him, but he was unsuccessful. The witches had siphoned most of his strength.

Alaric leaned over until their noses touched. "You really are a pain in my ass, aren't you, my pet?" The vampire's elongated tongue slid out of his maw and licked Jason's chin, where a cut had formed from Alaric's previous attack. Jason shuddered in revulsion, jerking his head away from the offensive appendage. "But don't worry... I have an alternative. I'll just mark you as mine."

Jason's eyes widened as Alaric smirked. He wouldn't... Jason's hand clasped around the vampire's neck just as the fucker tried to bite him in the neck over Killian's mating mark. Jason's heart hammered in his chest as he desperately tried to ward off Alaric's fangs digging into his skin. If Alaric were to mark him, the forced mark would cause severe damage, not only to him, but to his mate as well.

Killian could die.

Second after second, Jason's arm muscles screamed under duress. Drool started dropping on his exposed collarbone the closer Alaric's teeth came to biting him. Bouts of stale, warm breath fanned Jason's neck, causing him to panic, not knowing what he could do. The depraved vampire had him pinned down, and he was too weak to stop him. Just the thought of Alaric forcefully marking him sent Jason further into a spiral of frenzy.

"Not going to happen!" Cyron finally gathered the strength to yell out. "This undead bitch needs a timeout!"

The hellhound burst forward in a rage and took control of Jason's body. In a last ditch effort, a howl ripped through the air. The frosted ground beneath Jason's body trembled. Silence. The forest fell silent. Even the sounds of battle died around them.

"What do you think you're doing, my pet?" Alaric hissed out. "Calling for reinforcements? Too bad no one's coming. My minions are keeping your idiotic mate and friends busy—"

Glancing over Alaric's shoulder, Jason saw a veil of black sludge rising from the ground. While Alaric kept ranting on, a three-headed Rottweiler out of Jason's wildest nightmare stepped out of the portal in all its glory. The creature had fur as black as the void, but gleamed when the sun poked out of the sullen clouds over their heads. The beast was at least twelve feet tall and had more muscles in its front legs than a professional bodybuilder.

Alaric's head snapped backward when the snow biting at Jason's naked body turned to water, exposing the dead grass beneath them. The vampire quickly clambered off Jason's exhausted body to face the three-headed dog from hell. Several blasts of fire shot out of the beast's nostrils. Alaric remained frozen on the spot, unable to move his feet. How could he? Even Jason didn't move from his spot out of fear that the beast would pounce on him if he moved an inch.

"Don't worry, Jason," Cyron said. "You have nothing to fear from my father."

"Father...? What the Hades?!" Jason couldn't help shivering at the fact that Cyron summoned the gatekeeper of the underworld.

Cyron cackled. Yeah, he actually cackled at Jason's reaction. "Don't be a pussy. He's not here for us, but for an irritating ass who escaped Thanatos' grip. It's gonna be a brutal show—where's the popcorn?"

Jason bit back an insult he wanted to throw at Cyron for playing comedian at the most inappropriate time, but a wave of elation crashed through his broken body. A glimmer of hope glimmered in the enormous teeth of the beast who bore its three sets of deadly fangs at Alaric. With each step Cerberus took, the earth trembled. Only when the gatekeeper towered over the vampire did Alaric's brain switch into overdrive. However, it was too late.

Cerberus lunged forward just as the undead fucker tried to flee. The beast's massive jaws clamped down on Alaric's upper torso, engulfing the shrieking vampire's head. Alaric, in a desperate attempt to free himself, dug his claws into Cerberus' cheeks, drawing blood.

"Wrong move, Alaric," Jason scolded him mentally.

In retaliation, Cerberus snapped his massive maw shut. A sickening crunch rang out into the silent forest as Alaric's spine snapped in half. The vampire's arms dropped to his side while copious amounts of black blood dripped out of Cerberus' mouth. The gatekeeper's side heads joined the action by chomping down on Alaric's legs before pulling the poor fucker apart.

Jason clamped his hand over his mouth, trying to keep his stomach from emptying its contents. A lump of entrails hit the ground while the tree heads eagerly devoured their meal. Before long, Cerberus licked his chops clean before sniffing the ground, looking for any droppings. Jason turned away when the gatekeeper began lapping up the entrails and blood.

"That was the nastiest thing I've ever witnessed," Jason said. His stomach gave a nasty lunge upwards when the images of what happened to Alaric made a rerun.

Cyron laughed at Jason's words. "Such as pussy... and you call yourself a hellhound."

Jason scoffed at Cyron's insult. "Well, as far as I know, I'm not a cannibal."

"Don't hit it when you haven't tried it."

Jason shuddered at the thought. "No thanks. I'll pass."

Before they could continue their discussion, a rough but large tongue licked Jason in the face. He backed away and started wiping off the drool. Yuck! Jason didn't have the opportunity to protest before Cyron took control again.

"Whoa!" Jason yelled out. "Give a guy a warning before you take control, jackass!"

Cyron chuckled and replied, "Sorry, my bad. But it's not every day that I'll be able to see my father in the flesh."

"Yeah... You're right. At least yours isn't a dick you want to throttle to death."

Cyron reached up and touched Cerberus' snout. Puffs of warm air spread across his palms as the gatekeeper breathed. A smirk appeared on Cyron's face before he staggered to his wobbly knees and brought their foreheads together. A slight nudge at the back of Cyron's head announced Cerberus' presence.

"It's great to see you again, my beloved pup," Cerberus said, licking Cyron in the face again, causing the hellhound to giggle.

Jason groaned, running his hands over his face while he sat on a cushion in the hellhound's mental space. "You got to be kidding me... giggling? Goddess, kill me now before someone sees us."

A thunderous laugh rattled the walls of the mental space, causing Jason to shriek out loud, much to his embarrassment. "As much as my youngest pup wants to act tough and devilish, he's still a child at heart. So forgive him, human."

"Father, you're embarrassing me in front of Jason—so stop will you," Cyron grumbled out, flicking his father on his snout.

Another bout of laughter filled their ears. So weird. Jason would have never imagined a hellhound acting so human. Cyron continued petting his father as if he were a pet. But it seemed Cerberus didn't mind it one bit either.

"I'm sorry, my pup. But I have to leave. Hades will have my hide if I leave the gates of the underworld unguarded for any longer," Cerberus said, nudging them in the chest with his snout before backing away toward the portal. "Enjoy your new life. Not many demons have had the privilege of walking the earth for over two millennia. We'll see each other again one day."

With his last words, the gatekeeper disappeared through the portal.

Cyron relinquished control and slinked back onto the heap of cushions in his den. Jason felt sorry for his hellhound, for not being with his own kind. It must be tough to be the only demon walking the earth.

"I'm sorry... I wish there was something I could do—"

"Don't be," Cyron snorted. "It'll pass. Seeing my father just made me homesick for a bit."

"Is it weird of me if I said I'm a bit jealous of you?" Jason asked as he stumbled toward the front of the abandoned pack house, which looked uglier than before.

Cyron chuckled while licking his paws. "No. But seriously... your father's not even worth the effort. You have a loving father- and brother-in-law who actually cares for you. So if your blood family wants nothing to do with you, then let your mate's family take their place. It's their loss."

Jason nodded, but seconds later, a massive mountain of muscles tackled him to the frozen ground. He was about to attack, but a firm pair of luscious lips stopped him from driving the tip of his tail through his attacker's skull. Jason's tail sank to the ground as Killian deepened the kiss. Jason couldn't stop a moan from slipping.

A whistle pulled them out of their make-out session. In front of them stood Astrid, licking her lips. "Wow. And here I don't have my trusty camera at hand."

Jason blushed when he realized he and Killian were naked as the day they were born. And what made it more awkward, they were giving his friends a dirty show, free of charge. Killian pulled Jason with him to their feet before hiding Jason behind his body.

Jason scoffed and then hit his mate on the side of the head. "You do know that your dick is on display for the rest of the world to see, right?"

"Rather mine than yours," Killian replied, wiggling his eyebrows. Possessive, much?

Out of the corner of Jason's eyes, Ishmael and the others walked up to them. They looked as if they had fallen out of a hurricane. Not that Jason expected anything less. They just fought a horde of abominations and won the day. Just then reality slapped Jason in the face--Alaric was dead and simmering for an eternity in the belly of a beast. That's until Cerberus crapped the vampire out.

Ishmael rubbed the dried mud off his arms. "So... what happened?" he asked. "At one point, we were knee deep fighting the enemy and then they suddenly scattered to the wind."

All of his friends stared at him, except for Darren. Jason searched for the beta amongst the warriors standing about, but came up empty.

"He's probably celebrating by screwing one of the closet queens in the pack that eye-fucked him earlier," Cyron huffed out.

"Probably—"

"Jason?" Killian shook Jason out of his stupor. "Ishmael asked you a question."

Jason shook his head and then answered, "Alaric's dead."