^Alpha Chase Pictured^
~Alexei~
"Well, I'm glad you all could find the time to make it here today,"
I mention as I sit at the head of the narrow wooden conference table set on a private beach behind the kingdom of Kailea. Alpha Sora of Lotus sits on the right side, expressionless as he clasps his hands on his legs. Beta Oro sits beside him with considerable distance between them as he scratches his chin.
On the left side, Alpha Chase of Forester looked anxious and fidgets nervously, refusing to look up from the table with his Lunos Markus beside him. But unlike Sora and Oro, Markus is so close he's practically touching arms with his mate. His heated gaze carefully watching Oro's every move. Their Beta Azariah is the only calm one who wears a worried smile.
My son sits across from me on the opposite side of the table with his tablet in hand to take notes for us, excited to take part in his first meeting as the future King of Kailea. I can't say I'm not relieved to have my own son by my side, making decisions instead of Juniper.
"You say it like you didn't storm into our packs with your troops and force our attendance," Beta Oro comments and I look to Artemis who shrugs without sympathy.
"Well, unfortunately, it seems we've gotten to the point where force is necessary," I cover for her and Oro scoffs.
"None the less, let's get down to the bottom of this. The cold war between Lotus and Forester must stop to regain balance and order on Kailea. Now I get it, it's personal-"
"Personal?" Alpha Sora interrupts me with his hands tightened into a fist on the table with a small laugh he stares down Alpha Chase.
"You're damn right it's personal. How can I possibly enter any sort of contract or agreement with a hypocrite who's gone against everything his own pack stands for?" Sora shames Chase who peers up slightly.
"Alpha Sora, this might come as a shock to you but I did not willingly sleep with your mate," Chase confesses and I let this play out because if Beta Oro did the unthinkable, I'm going to make sure he's no longer the Beta of anything. Markus takes a small toothpick and toys with it, chewing the very tip with an eery calm in his essence.
"He raped me," As soon as Chase says the words Oro laughs out loud, shaking his head.
"You're lying," Oro responds, sitting back in his seat with disbelief while Sora seems to freeze in place.
"He came to my house before I was mated, we argued, and as I tried to stand up for myself he held me down-"
"I don't need to hear any more," Sora interrupts Chase while looking like he was about to be sick.
"Come on hon, you don't actually believe this fucking whore, do you?" The snap of Markus' toothpick at Oro's words served as a warning. That's when I realized what was truly happening.
He's waiting for Sora to leave.
"Sora, I've never lied to you," Chase pleads, but Sora stands up from the table. Refusing to look at the Forester side as he taps his fingers against the hardwood table.
"Sora," Oro pleads but it wasn't enough and it never would be.
"Beta Oro of Forester, I, Alpha Sora of Lotus, reject you as my mate," Sora says as he grips his chest before walking away from the table but Oro looks unaffected. Which means their bond was never true to begin with.
Instead of running after Sora, Oro rolls his eyes and smirks as he eyes Chase, who quivers slightly from the fear. Little does he know he's protected by everyone surrounding him at this table, including my eldest who's fist had formed unconsciously.
But this wasn't our fight, it's Markus'.
"Are you done eye-fucking what's mine?" Markus asks Oro while chewing the toothpick and the man is taken by surprise.
"So the supposed 'mate' speaks," he laughs but Markus is unaffected by his cocky attitude, he remains calm and collected instead with an icy gaze that scares me.
"Answer the question," Markus demands and I can tell he's a tiger shifter by the powerful Alpha like vibes radiating off his energy.
"I don't know, how does it feel to be mated to a used whore?" Oro asks with a mocking pout and in a flash, there's a hard crack from his head being slammed straight into the wooden table with the hair ripped from his scalp in Markus' hands.
With disgust, Markus wipes the hair away on his pant leg to all of our disturbed shock, as we watch a small pool of blood form on the tabletop. Markus clears his throat as he stands up, holding Chase's hand as he does to break his husband's shock.
"I didn't kill him. He doesn't deserve to die, he deserves to suffer. Can I trust you to make that happen?" Markus asks and I flick a small piece of lint from my shoulder.
"Brother, you have our word," I tell him honestly, knowing Artemis is grinning with pure joy behind me at the opportunity.
With a small nod, he leads Chase away with Azariah trailing behind them, and just the house of Crimson remains. Artemis calls the guards surrounding us towards her as she takes care of Oro while Cyprus rejoins my side.
"That was really intense father," he comments and I ruffle his hair a bit, pulling him close to me while walking away from the blood-stained table.
"It was, but do you know what exactly they were talking about?" I ask the tough question, hoping I didn't have to answer until he shook his head.
"We will have that conversation when we get home. Are you okay?" He shrugs, I know he's probably a little shaken up by the situation and but he has to get used to it if he's to survive and thrive in this harsh side of our society.
"Is Alpha Chase going to be okay?" He asks and I look out to where Markus has resorted to just carrying his poor mate in his arms. I stop in my tracks at the sight of the scene itself, my stomach drops as I imagine just what I would do if it was my Waylon instead and I'm surprised my Markus' restraint. I would have just murdered Oro the second he set eyes on my baby.
Markus chose to have him eternally tortured instead.
"I'm sure he will be, sometimes when people go through a trauma like that it takes a few years to heal and they'll never be the same but they'll be okay," I try to explain and Cyprus nods.
"Like what happened to my birth parents?" He mentions with a slight tremor in his voice and I hold my eldest close. I don't usually coddle him like this, but I can't help it when all I want to do is protect his from the world and everyone in it.
"Yeah, something like that buddy,"
***
"How did it go?"
Waylon asks as he watched the babies in the living room playing with their blocks in an attempt to build some kind of a castle together. I pick up my snuggly little Micah and hold him close, taking in his sweet baby scent as he instantly wrapped his tiny arms around me without a fight.
"I'm guessing it wasn't like you had hoped?" Waylon gently rubs my back and Cyprus joins Casper, Galen, and Noah on the floor.
"No, it was worse than I thought it would be, then it got a little better but not by much," Is all I say about it, now wanting to scar my sweet peach's mind with the things mine was currently full of. Oro forcing himself on a poor, helpless, heartbroken Chase. Feeling bad for Markus who had to not only deal with the death of a set of parents he's never met but also heal and unravel all the damage done to his one true soulmate before he even got here.
But at least I know Chase will sleep easier tonight knowing his perpetrator was imprisoned for a life of torture which was as endless as Ari's creative mindset.
"At least you two came out of it alright. That's all I could ever hope for," Waylon mentions and I kiss the top of his head, peering down upon our four innocent babies with the fifth in my arms.
Their tiny giggles soothe my soul in ways I could never describe and their fatherly love and trust in me is something I spent my whole life dreaming about. I hold Waylon a little tighter, knowing none of this would be possible without him entering my life like the beautiful shy boy I was meant to be with.
"Is this what forever feels like?" I ask Wei and he chuckles a bit, resting his head on my shoulder.
"I think so,"
****************************
Kind of a sad little finale but this fanart from GreenLays puts a smile on my face and I hope it does the same for everyone else.