After Jason recounted what had happened to Alaric, they made their way back toward the pack house. The forest was eerily quiet, except for the crunching of snow beneath their feet. Killian cradled Jason to his side, afraid that if he let go of Jason, he'd lose him. Jason didn't mind it one bit; he nearly lost his mate when Alaric tried to mark him. Even after an hour had passed, Jason's body still shuddered at the mere thought.

Along the way, they came across warriors piling up the bodies of the tainted creatures and burning them. Although it seemed cruel, it was for the best. The corpses could have contaminated the local wildlife and flora if the warriors buried them. However, the smell of burning corpses didn't help keep his stomach dormant. Several times, he had to swallow back the bile rushing up his throat.

As they emerged from the forest, they were faced with the reality of battle, the price they paid for stopping Alaric. Nearly a hundred bodies were laid down in a row, covered in bloody tarps. The metallic taste of blood stuck to Jason's tongue, as if he had licked a rusted old pipe.

Jason halted his steps, watching on as families surrounded their dead loved ones. Too much death... Tears trickled down Jason's cheeks while he clenched his fists. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for their deaths.

"Don't be stupid," Cyron grumbled. "It would have been much worse if we weren't here."

Jason nodded solemnly as he dried his tears with the robe's sleeve. Killian had provided him with the robe earlier; he didn't want anyone to see him naked. Yet Killian walked around with his dick flapping in the wind. Hypocrite... Jason's green little monster burrowed back into its den when a warrior running up to them handed his mate a pair of shorts.

Several wails pierced the battlefield, drawing Jason away from his mate's ass. It was gut-wrenching to see mothers wailing over their children's bodies. But Jason comforted himself that they had saved thousands of innocent lives. Those who died were heroes, and he was determined to make sure he gave them the best funeral he could grant them.

"So... The man of the hour has finally arrived," Quinton said out loud with as much venom in his voice as he could pump out. "See what you have done!" He waved over the dead bodies. Most of the people gathering around the bodies were glancing at them with scowls on their faces. "You brought death to my pack! And now you have the gall to show your face—"

Before Quinton could finish his rant, Jason rushed forward and punched the fucker in the throat. Quinton stumbled, falling to his knees while coughing his lungs out.

"Shut the fuck up, Quinton!" Jason snapped. His fingernails dug into his palm, drawing blood. "Don't use these deaths to advance your own agenda. They deserve more than a sniveling jackass like you." Jason's barefoot found his brother's face. Quinton landed on the frozen ground, digging up snow. "Their sacrifice here today saved hundreds of thousands of innocent lives! So shut up!"

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, dear brother. Why don't you have any scars on you? If you fought, you would have some, because I know for a fact you're not as invincible as you believe you are."

Quinton's eyes widened as Jason's words reached his ears. "I had a witch heal them after I secured the eastern border," his brother stammered out. However, Jason sensed the bullshit spewing out of his mouth.

Jason growled and then said, "Are you sure you're telling the truth? Or did you run away and hide like the coward I know you are?"

Whispers broke out among the crowd that had gathered around. Quinton's face contorted into a sneer as he found his feet. "I fought!" Another fucking lie! "So don't you come spilling your lies here, demon!"

In an instant, Jason punched Quinton in the face. Before the Alpha could retaliate, he whipped around his brother and hit him in the ribcage. Quinton yelled out and fell to his knees once again. As a last insult, Jason whipped his tail around and slapped his brother in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"So, brother... Are you going to keep lying, or are you willing to tell me where you were when the battle broke out?"

Quinton staggered to his knees. "As I said, I fought"—he spit blood out of his mouth—"and then cleaned up after the battle."

Jason scoffed at his brother.

"Is that so?" Darren's voice entered the fray. The beta strutted out of the crowd, buckling his belt up before glaring at Quinton. "Didn't I see you walking out of the panic room with your pregnant mate clutching your arm?"

Several gasps from the crowd caused Quinton's brain to freeze. He stayed quiet for a few seconds. Probably to come up with another lame excuse for why he hid like a chicken while his own people fought and died. It was rather painful to see the idiot struggle. Quinton wasn't the sharpest pencil in the drawer and his silence only betrayed his lies.

Out of the crowd stepped the Alpha Council. They made their way toward them. As soon as Rook approached Ishmael, the Alpha swept him off his feet and kissed him. A hint of sadness flashed across Darren's face, but he quickly covered it up with a false grin. Jason reached over and squeezed his friend's shoulder.

Darren patted Jason on the hand and said, "Don't get sappy on me. I will survive."

"By surviving, you mean fucking every guy that flaunts their asses in your direction?" Jason replied with a grin while he watched on as his brother tried to defend his cowardly action in front of five pissed-off councilors.

"Is there any other way?" he replied cockily while smirking.

For a few minutes, they stood there in silence, waiting for the Alpha Council and his mate to handle the clean-up operations. Personally? Jason didn't want to stay in the pack any longer. He had already overstayed his welcome. The pack members glaring at him said so. Ungrateful cunts! Jason rolled his eyes at their lame intimidation tactics. He should have altered their plans and let Alaric wipe the pack out. No matter what he did, he was never good enough.

Once Killian decided he had done his duties, Jason would haul his ass out of there and never return to the forsaken pack. His hands itched, wanting to burn the pack to cinders. Luckily for Jason, Killian walked up to him and kissed him on the forehead.

"Don't mind these assholes," Killian said, wrapping Jason in his arms. A comfortable warmth spread through his battered body, easing the tension in his muscles. "They're just mad at the council for stripping Quinton of his Alpha title."

Jason's head snapped upward. "What?"

"He's not fit for the title and his actions speak volumes about what type of wolf he is."

Jason stared at Quinton as the two enforcers led him off the field. His brother threw him the ugliest glare imaginable before storming off with the council on his heels. "Who's gonna take his place?"

Killian hummed before saying, "We'll see. There's a list of potential candidates... But for now, Rook will take over and clean up the mess."

"And my disaster of a brother? What will happen to him?"

Killian pulled out of the embrace before taking Jason's hand in his. They started walking back toward the pack house. "I can't say. It's up to the council to decide his fate. If it was up to me, I'd have locked him up in the darkest dungeon I could find and thrown away the key. A lot of his pack members died while he was hiding."

***

The next day, Jason stood in the living room of the pack house, waiting impatiently for his lazy-ass mate. He was pacing around the room, digging trenches in the hideous carpet. The living room was vacant, not that it surprised Jason one bit. The pack had made their intentions clear years ago that they wanted nothing to do with him. When he was a small pup, it usually upset him, but now he didn't give a rat's ass. They could all go skinny dipping in the pits of Tartarus for all that he cared.

"Jason?" the hesitant voice of his mother called out to him.

Jason turned around and faced his mother. Her shiny black hair had lost its bounce and shine ages ago. Dark rings hung under her eyes as if she hadn't slept at all last night. Most likely not. Even he could hear his father's ranting from a mile away last night. And the target of his father's rage was none other than him. Go figure... If the sun blew up and swallowed the earth, his father would have yapped his ears off in the underworld for eternity for blowing it up.

Jason sighed and said, "Can I help you?" Yes, he was being a jerk, but he didn't have the strength for another fight.

His mother hesitated, licking her capped lips before saying, "I'm sorry, Jason." Tears rolled down her sullen cheeks. "I'm sorry that I was a terrible mother to you and that I allowed your father to treat you like the way he has done. You never deserved it..."

Jason stood rooted on the spot, stunned. He didn't know what to say. He thought that she would have hated him for hurting her mate and golden boy, but yet she stood in front of him, apologizing. Jason didn't know how to react; his mother had totally knocked him over with her admission.

"Son... Say something, please," his mother asked nervously.

Jason, however, walked up to his mother and hugged her. She grew rigid for a second before throwing her arms around him. She began sobbing, drenching his t-shirt with tears. He gave her time to vent all of her misery while glaring at the picture of his father. He didn't deserve her.

After her sobs turned to sniffles, Jason let go of her and wiped her tears off with his thumbs. "Although I can't forgive mom just yet and act as if nothing happened between us, I hope with time we'll be able to move on from this and have a loving son and mother relationship."

His mother nodded while wiping off her tears with a tissue. "I hope so too. And don't worry, I won't let your father come between us again. If he's too arrogant and foolish to see what a wonderful son he has, then it's his loss. I just want to repair what I have broken."

She then reached around her neck and retrieved the gift she had given him for his birthday. She took Jason's hand and dropped the necklace in his hand and then closed his hand before kissing his knuckles.

"I will always love you, my boy," his mother said, smiling up at him while caressing his cheek. "And congratulations on your mating. I prayed to the moon goddess and thanked her for giving you a loving mate such as Killian." Jason's mother patted him on his hand before stepping away from him. "I'll come and visit soon. But for now, I have to rein in your father before he embarrasses himself any further... if that's even possible."

She then walked out of the living room, heading to the conference room where Killian was. The meeting had already taken too long and Jason had the urge to drag his mate out of there by his dick. Jason opened his hand and stared at the golden dog tags.

"Did I do the right thing by giving her another chance?" He asked Cyron, who lay on his back with his legs in the air while snoring away.

Cyron opened one of his eyes and then said, "You did. Although she messed up, she's still your mother. She came to you and admitted that she was wrong." The hellhound closed his eye again. "You still have a chance of patching up your relationship with your mother... as for your brother and father, they can go fuck themselves." Cyron licked his lips lazily before saying, "So if you don't mind, shut your trap. I'm in the middle of my beauty sleep..."

Jason chuckled while donning the necklace. Beauty sleep, my ass...