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|| FOUR WEEKS LATER ||

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RAIDEN ||

The shit that transpired in the dungeon four weeks ago was fucking sickening.

Dylan hasn't tried to hide his true feelings about that day at all. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with his hormones or the pregnancy being that he's 14 weeks along now, but he's made his feelings towards Jade, Dean and Jake painfully obvious.

From what he's said everyday since then, he hates them, wants to watch them be skinned alive and then burned alive.

I never realized how sadistic my beautiful alpha wolf could be.

I can't say that I blame him. The information given that day was a lot to swallow. I gagged everytime Dean or Jade opened their mouths and seeing how I don't have much of a gag reflex, that's really saying something.

Those wolves man, they're honestly a disgrace to their species. I've never met someone who could be so cruel to their own cubs, much less try to kill them and then show no remorse afterwards. Every single one of them, just a serious piece of work and I'm glad everything has come to light because I wouldn't want them anywhere near my mate or my little ones.

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• • •

Watching pups ultrasound, not much has changed besides my boys growth, well the one we can see at least. Our two other cubs still remain unseen and further push the thought that they could be hybrids.

"Well our visible little one is showing an amazing growth rate so far." Miles says.

I smile down at Dylan, who looked even more exhausted while he laid on the exam table. He's been showing even more signs of premature labor or maybe it's just his body getting ready for the real thing, but his exhaustion has been worrying.

"I'm glad to hear that Miles." I tell him, but his smile fades the more he stares at the screen.

He tilts his head and squints his eyes as he moves the wand thing on Dylan's huge belly. Only seconds later, his eyes grew wide.

I shoot my attention back to the screen as I hear him gasp and I flinch at the sight before us.

"Holy fuck." Dylan breaths out, clinging to the front of my shirt.

"Our cubs, they're showing themselves." I whisper, taking in the sight of all of my little ones for the first time since finding out Dylan was pregnant.

"Ok, before they disappear again, I'm just going to take some measurements, I won't be talking much." Miles says frantically pressing buttons and pausing the screen every few seconds. Allio rushes out the room and returns with a notebook, saying he would write down measurements just in case our cubs auras affect the machine somehow.

The man is an idiot wolf, but he's entertaining.

"Ok, so far what I can see is the other two little ones are significantly smaller than the one that's been visible this whole time." Miles tells us, never taking his eyes off the screen.

"Is that normal?" I ask.

"Yes, in multiples it's typical for each little one to be on the smaller side, however this is my first shifter pregnancy involving triplets, so I'm not sure if this is normal to your specific case."

"What about our pups, do they look healthy even with the size difference?" Dylan asks.

"From what I can see, they all have ten fingers, ten toes and their organs seem to be developing beautifully." Miles explains with a smile.

"Well that's great then." Dylan relaxes against the exam bed, I smile down at him before leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"Shoot.." Miles whispers, bringing my attention back to the screen. I sigh when I notice only one cub again.

"Well, thank Goddess the little ones showed themselves long enough for me to get measurements." Miles nods before turning off the ultrasound machine and cleaning the equipment, while Allio wipes the goo off Dylan's belly.

Helping pups sit up, I captured his lips with my own before pulling away. "I love you puppy."

"I love you too stupid." He groans, shoving me away. I chuckle at his angry wolf tantrum then look back at Miles.

"Did you happen to see the genders of our other cubs?" I ask.

"No, unfortunately not, but seeing how Dylan is now 14 weeks along, the ending is near and we should find out just what each little one is... Dylan should only have about 2-4 weeks to go with a pregnancy involving multiples."

"Thank Goddess." Dylan mumbled.

"Well, now that we've gotten something on all three little ones, let's get the rest of your appointment handled." Allio announces.

Miles performed a few more tests and a blood draw on pups, which he still hadn't grown accustomed to and threw a whole fit before Allio and Miles told us we were allowed to leave, which was great because it was now 2:18pm and the pack leaders needed to be in the conference room by 3pm because Liam reached out to Rhogon and his mates to let them know that we no longer needed their help with taking back the Wolf's Claw pack because of the things that's happened in the last four weeks.

Rhogon told Liam that he was good friends with someone very important on the Council and offered to bring that person to the Shadow Pack to allow the truth behind Dean, Jade and Jake's actions to be seen. Of course Liam agreed and today was the day that meeting was finally happening.

I wondered if Liam would show this council member the dungeon room where Dean, Jade and Jake still were. Liam kept the men chained to the wall this whole time and Jade was chained to the floor. I'm not sure what he's done the past week, but the three weeks before that consisted of nothing but brutality towards Dylan's so called family.

I couldn't stomach watching Liam, Bennett and Taj torture Dean and Jake. I completely agreed with what they did because those men caused them so much heartache, but I couldn't watch the things they did.

They were barbaric honestly.

I don't even think at this point neither of the men would ever get their wolves back. They definitely didn't have fingernails or toenails anymore. Some of their bones were broken and they were cut in multiple spots, pretty deep and I wasn't sure how they were doing as far as healing goes because without their wolves, everything would be a lot slower.

Whoever the council member was would be in for a shock whenever they got here.

After parking in front of the office building, I got out the car and helped Dylan get out as well. Walking into the conference room, we took our seats around the obviously large table that wasn't this large the last time we were in here. I'm sure this had something to do with Eva, but I'm not going to ask about it.

"Hello sons." Liam greets us. I've come to like his affection towards me as much as Dylan. I mean technically the man is my father-in-law of sorts.

"Liam, everybody else." I chuckle looking around the room, while rubbing pups belly.

"How was the appointment?" Taj asks with a smile.

"Really good! The cubs showed themselves for maybe 30 minutes before two of them disappeared again. It was great!" I was practically shouting my excitement at this point.

"And I'm almost due, thank Goddess." Dylan rolls his eyes, leaning back into his chair.

"How many weeks do you have left?" Bennett asks.

"And did you find out the genders of the hidden cubs?" My dad asks.

"Miles said I could only have 2-4 weeks left and no Adonis, we didn't get to see their genders, but that's ok with me. I kind of want to be surprised." Dylan explains.

"Wow 2 or 4 weeks? That's super close!" Avery exclaimed, clapping during his own excitement. "I can't wait to see if they're pups or cubs or both!"

"Us either." Dylan and I say in unison, just as Liam's phone rings.

He picks it up and talks quietly to whoever was on the other line.

I smiled as I looked across the table. Seeing and hearing how excited everyone is for our cubs arrival is truly heart warming.

These three little ones will know love like no other, that's for sure.

"Ok everyone, Rhogon and the Council member just arrived, he said he had to leave his mates at home to supervise something important... They are parking right now." Liam smiles.

Maybe 10 minutes later, the door to the conference room opens and the wolves around the table all gasp before quickly standing up and bowing to whoever just entered the room.

Turning around, I noticed Rhogon and another man, who I didn't recognize but his aura was unmistakably strong. He didn't necessarily feel stronger than the felines in the room, but he definitely outranked the wolves.

"My king." Liam bows, forcing my attention to him once again before looking back at the man in question.

He's a king, no wonder.

"For those of you that don't know, this is King Kano.. not technically the king to the magical creatures or felines, but he's the King to all werewolves and a good friend of mine." Rhogon introduces the man who I know now as King Kano.

How convenient is it that Liam asks for Rhogon's help and they end up becoming friends because Rhogon's father was good friends with Liam, then when Liam needs the council's help, Rhogon just happens to know the Werewolf King.

I mean could things get any better than this?

"Please, everyone may stand upright and take your seats." King Kano smiles through his words.

"Yes my King." The wolves in the room say in unison, including Dylan, who hadn't been able to stand as quickly, so he stayed in his seat next to me and bowed his head.

The moment the King starts to move throughout the room, I notice the mated wolves shuffling away from each other. I wasn't sure why, but it definitely caught my attention. Even Dylan slightly moved away from me and pushed my hand from his belly.

Liam quickly moves aside from his seat at the head of the table and offers the chair to King Kano, then takes a seat next to him.

"Thank you for gracing our humble pack with your presence, my King." Liam says.

"Of course, it's my pleasure. I hadn't heard of the Shadow pack, but once Rhogon explained everything that's happened, I was happy to come and offer any help that I could."

"May I speak freely my King?" Bennett asks, shifting his body further away from Taj and Kano nods.

"Please do."

"Since Alpha Rhogon left, we've made progress in our findings that we wanted to submit to the council.. like a lot of findings." Bennett says.

"Like what may I ask?"

Liam proceeds to tell their Werewolf King everything that's happened the past four weeks after the summoning of Dean, Jade and Jake.

The things they have done, everything over the last 21 years. His loss during their challenge, which he was poisoned, the fact that Jade was his chosen mate but then left him because she met her fated mate which was Dean. Liam told King Kano about Jade helping Jake poison him so he would lose his alpha challenge, then Dean and Jake's rogue pack slaughtered his entire pack. They enslaved Emilio, kept Dylan and Bennett away from Liam, then attempted to kill Bennett to keep their dirty little secret and use Dylan as a placeholder for Garrett to become alpha of the Wolf's Claw pack.

King Kano listened intently to everything Liam explained, but I could see how angry he was behind the facts of the last 21 years.

"My father was present for your alpha challenge, as was I, but I was only 11 years old back then, still a pup and in training to become King... my father mentioned he thought it was weird that you refused to shift during your challenge." Kano shakes his head. "Now I know it wasn't a matter of refusal as you were unable to shift."

Liam nods.

"Where are these wolves now?" Kano growls.

"In the dungeon room here." Taj answers.

King Kano nods again, looking around the table. His eyes land on Bennett and he frowns before offering a soft smile, then his eyes land on Dylan and slowly travel down to his huge belly and his frown deepens.

I don't miss the moment when Dylan tries to hide his stomach under the table, but I stopped him by pulling his chair closer to me. The fact that the mated wolves were all acting weird and avoiding each other, irritated me.

"Raiden, stop." Dylan whispers.

"Why?" I whisper back.

"You don't know the laws between same sex bonds and King Kano..."

"I am fully against that law in particular." Kano interrupts Dylan as he smiles our way now.

"Wait what? You're against one of your laws?" Liam asks.

"I am against most of the laws actually and they aren't mine, but my grandfathers.. Did you really think I didn't know about Rhogon and his mates?" Kano laughs. "I'm aware of the same sex bond law, but I can assure you, I don't support that law."

All of the wolves around the table looked shocked after that.

"So you're ok with two males being mates?" Gabe asks.

"And you won't like punish anyone?" Hunter asks.

"Of course I wouldn't punish anyone for who their fated mate is or who they love." Kano answers.

"Rhogon is one of my bestfriends and I know he's gay... I know about his mate bonds and I know the law, but it's not one that I support, so I don't enforce it when I'm in the presence of wolves with a same sex bond... Please relax in my presence and love your mates, I knew who you all were to each other as soon as I walked into the room."

"Wow." Dylan whispers beside me before slowly leaning closer until his head rested on my shoulder.

"You really don't care?" Liam asks, looking at Emilio. I could see that he was hurt from the past of having to reject each other in the first place.

"No I don't care." Kano smiles again. "I'm gay as well."

All of the wolves gasp.

"If you're gay, why don't you just change the law?" Dylan asks.

"Because it requires the signatures of at least 20 Alphas as well as a majority vote from the council, I may hold a seat but 5 out of 7 council members as well as majority of the Alphas in this country believe in that law, so it's not easy to change... I'm willing to fight for the change, but I can't do it alone." Kano explains just as the conference door opens again and the magical creatures walk in.

That's when I heard another gasp followed by a deep, guttural growl from the other end of the table, "MINE."

My attention shot back to where the sound came from and I watched Kano get up from his seat and walk over towards the magical creatures. There was only one of them that was frozen in place as he watched Kano approach him.

Kano stops in front of one of the elves.

"What's your name, little one?" Kano asks, staring down at the elf. There had to be at least a 3-4 inch difference between them.

"Weheil." The elf breathes out.

"Such a beauty." Kano whispers as he strokes the elf's cheek with his finger. "My name is Kano... Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

"No, how old are you?" Weheil offers a soft smile.

"I'm 32 and yourself."

"524, so technically I've been looking for you even longer and I should be mad at you about that." Weheil whispers.

"Well you've found me now, little one." Kano smiles as he leans down to kiss the elf's forehead, which in turn made Weheil blush.

"Let's go see these prisoners and if you don't mind, I'll stay here in your pack tonight to get to know my mate a little better." Kano says and Liam agrees without hesitation.

Damn these coincidences. The Gods and Goddesses definitely knew what they were doing.

Liam asked if I would come with him, Eva, Kano, Taj and Bennett down to the dungeon room to help with transporting the prisoners if need be. So I agreed and told Dylan to stay back with everyone else, so he could be supervised and get help if he needed it.

Knowing my mate though, he would attempt to do everything himself and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to get away from his raging hormones, even if for a few minutes because I definitely would enjoy this small break. My poor head can't take anymore hits.

Entering the underground basement and walking down the hall of empty cells, Liam opens the door to the dungeon room and the prisoners look up to see who entered.

Their eyes widen when they notice Kano.

"Oh fuck." Jake breathes out.

"Shit, shit, shit." Dean whispers.

"Oh my King, please don't kill us." Jade pleads.

"Not another word from any of you." Kano commands before looking at Eva, who offered to show him the truth of the past four weeks and the confessions from Dean, Jake and Jade.

I'm not sure what she did, but all it involved was her placing a hand on Kano's head then the man seemed to be in pain and minutes later, his expression turns from one of pain to one of rage.

"The crimes you all have committed warrant a punishment of death." Kano growls before looking back at Liam.

"I will send for reinforcements, the kingdom guards should arrive in a matter of days to retrieve the prisoners."

"What about my son?" Jade cries.

"What son? The one you all tried to murder?" Kano asks, looking at Bennett. "It seems you all have done enough to the poor man, don't you think?"

Dean and Jake hang their heads.

"No, not Bennett, my son Garrett... the alpha of the Wolf's Claw pack now.. Liam said he would kill him, please don't allow that my King, he's only a pup." Jade explains.

Wow.. this woman is a world class liar. I distinctly remember Liam saying he would never harm a pup and that he couldn't speak for everyone else. He never said that he would kill Garrett.

"Well that's a lie, Jade because your memories are mine and as far as I'm concerned, your son Garrett inherited his position illegally, which means he will lose it, his pack and the lands that do not belong to him... Those lands will be returned to Liam and his sons to do with as he pleases."

"And our pack?" Dean whispers, avoiding all eye contact with Kano.

"Your pack will be dispersed throughout my other packs if they agree to pledge their life and loyalty to another alpha, if they do not choose the easier path, they will condemned and punished for their actions of illegally slaughtering another pack for personal gain."

"And what's going to happen to us?" Jake frowns.

"Your actions are irrefutable and the punishments set forth are non negotiable." Kano tells him.

"What are the punishments King Kano?" I ask.

"Death."

Oh shit...

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