by Alanea Alder
“The Lion King is the ‘educational’ video you have been showing my sons non-stop!” Bran exclaimed.
“I swear I feel like I have been brainwashed and Hakuna Matata is my damn trigger to start killing shit,” Caleb exclaimed.
Rebecca and Kate started giggling and the men knew their righteous anger would not end with choking the life out of the lion. They made their way over to where their mates sat and joined them at the table.
“First of all, sex has all but alleviated Rebecca’s morning sickness. Second of all, I totally picked out all that gorgeous lingerie you have been ripping off Kate. So I deserve praise and worship, not death threats!” Rian said dramatically and the Alphas had to admit defeat. Caleb took Landon and Bran took Lucas from the women.
“Since we can’t kill you, I guess we have to give you and Damian these gift cards for shopping instead,” Bran said, sighing and handing over a large envelope.
Rian, fell silent, looking back and forth from Bran to Caleb.
“And here are gift certificates for your spa treatments,” Aleks said, throwing his envelope on to the table.
All three men were looking smug and their mates beamed proudly. Rian and Damian looked at each other then the table where the envelopes lay. They jumped up and gave loud screams.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Ya’ll are the best!” Rian screeched.
“You deserve it, Rian. You’ve put your life on the line to protect our boys. This is a small way to thank you,” Caleb said, as he watched the small man bounce around the diner showing off his gifts.
“You’ve been there to keep Rebecca company and keep her mind off her morning sickness. I can’t thank you enough for that,” Aleks said, taking Rebecca’s hand.
Rian and Damian launched themselves at the women, hugging and squealing.
“You’re our family,” Rian said simply, as if that explained everything. His eyes began to water.
Damian dashed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Rian.
“Don’t cry. If you cry, I’m gonna cry!” Rebecca said, sniffing loudly.
Rian shook his head and gave a wobbly smile. “We can’t have that. Your makeup is looking divine today.”
Everyone started to laugh.
Kate smiled at Caleb and Bran, taking their free hands as they watched Rian flit from person to person describing what outfits he was going to get. Damian sat with Rebecca, asking what spa procedures he should sign up for. She realized suddenly that Rian was right. Ever since Rebecca had come to town, relationships had been forming and bonds growing. As unconventional as it might be, Kate’s ménage mating had created the family she had always dreamed of having and hopefully, one day, she would be adding to. She patted her tummy. Some day.
Epilogue
The gentleman looked at the men kneeling in front of his desk on the thin piece of plastic. He sighed. He’d really had high hopes for this task. How hard could it be to take two small infants? It wasn’t like they could fight back.
“Which one of you thought to use the boy to keep the perimeter down?” he asked, standing.
The hyenas before him flinched. Hesitantly, the hyena to the right raised his hand.
“It was my idea,” he said, cringing.
The gentleman stepped forward and ripped the head off the hyena closest to him. He stepped to one side as the headless body fell forward. He tucked the head under his left arm.
“I am very disappointed that you did not get what I asked of you. I’m afraid I am going to have to torture you and bleed you to make things right again.” His voice remained quite calm and neutral. He looked down and tsked.
“See what you made me do? Such a waste of blood. You are bad boys, aren’t you?” the gentleman asked the head under his arm. He brought his hand up and moved the jaw up and down.
“Yes, sir, we’re extremely bad and we need to be punished thoroughly to appease your anger.”
“Too right you are, old boy,” the gentleman said cheerfully to the severed head.
“You and your associates will grace my dungeons until such time as I feel you have paid your debt for me. Then I will let you out and I will allow you to start paying on the interest. See what a splendid fellow I am?” he asked and wrinkled his nose as the strong smell of urine filled the air.
“Payne, please take the gentleman who just urinated and his clan members and make sure they have nice accommodations downstairs. Oh and you can take this as well.” He passed Payne the bloody head.
He stepped on the hyena who had admitted to using the boy in his plans as he tried to crawl away.
“Not you. You have earned a reprieve. You see, your idea was positively Machiavellian. You gambled on them not being able to murder a twelve-year-old boy. I loved it! For the most part, your species is quite dull, so the tiny ray of intelligence you have shown is rare and I want to cultivate it. I am not sending you to the dungeon. I am letting you go free so that you may find a way for your clan to make up these disappointments to me. I wouldn’t try to run if I were you. It would end badly, for you I mean.”
The hyena stared up at him in horror.
“Payne, this one is to be set free. He has a lot of thinking to do.”
The gentleman watched as the last hyena was escorted out of his office. He stripped off his jacket and set it to one side. Payne would clean it later. He stared out the window to the wide-open landscape.
From what the hyenas had been able to stammer out, the shifters would know about Shifted Death by now, which meant if his sources were accurate, then Gabriel would know as well. He gave a smile. That meant that Gabriel would soon start sniffing around the other covens trying to locate the source of knowledge about the processes needed to make the shifters’ drug. The hidden council controlling the drug ring would want to eliminate the threat that Gabriel would pose. The gentleman smiled.
He had a feeling that the next couple weeks would be very entertaining, possibly more entertaining than the hyena screams coming from his dungeon. Possibly.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alanea has been writing since she could hold a crayon and has the paper to prove it. She loves reading almost as much as she loves writing and can be found at any given moment either in front of the computer or on the couch with her iPad reading some of her favorite authors. She believes that love truly conquers all and that everyone no matter what, deserves a chance at that love and a place they can call home. She loves to hear from her readers, please visit her website or follow her on Facebook.
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