Philip Harrington vs. Troy 'Travis' Stanton

Pix: The sexy, sassy, Stan

Video: I Love You by Celine Dion

Enjoy!

***

"Hey, I need to be in the conference room. The others are waiting." Philip told Troy who was lying on his back with his eyes wide open but he didn't acknowledge his words.

The alpha had asked his betas and heads of units to assemble in the conference room that dawn, to wait for Ryan and Agyemang who according to Jeremy, had insisted on going with Ryan. But although Philip knew that his crew was already waiting in the conference room, he was finding it very difficult to leave his disturbed mate.

"Troy?" Philip reached out to cup his mate's cheeks. "Ryan will bring him home. Have faith."

"What if they've already done something to...for all you know he's not even alive anymore."

"He's alive, Troy." Philip said firmly. "A.G. would have felt it if he wasn't."

"You sure about that?" There was so much hope in Troy's eyes. "Because I don't know what I'll do if something happens to him, Philip." He clearly wanted so much to believe what his mate was telling him.

"Come here." Philip sat on the bed and pulled Troy into his lap. "Remember when I first saw you during that battle?" At Troy's affirmative nod, Philip went on... "I wanted so much to leave everything I was doing and claim you as mine. Right on the battlefield. But I knew I had to get my priorities straight. Lives were at stake. So I concentrated on the battle at hand and let you go. I didn't even know your name and definitely didn't know where you were. But I knew...right here," he placed Troy's hand on his chest, "that you were alive."

"Really?" Troy whispered.

"Yes." Philip rubbed soothing circles on Troy's back. "Hell, even my wolf wouldn't allow me to fuck anyone because I'd found my mate and to him, I was supposed to be with only you."

"I didn't know that." Troy pulled his head back to look at Philip with shocked eyes.

"Well, I never told you." Philip brushed a strand of Troy's hair off his forehead. "You see, the wolf knew that his mate was alive so I knew I'd find you eventually. The plan was to wait for Jeremy and Ryan to come back from their trip, to help me search for you."

"Then they came with something even better." Troy smiled.

"Yep. Name, age, lineage, and exact location of my mate." Philip laughed softly.

"Lucky me." Troy breathed.

"No, lucky me." Philip chuckled. "My point is, Agyemang knows that Paul is alive. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's being held as bait. The warlocks are too smart to kill him now. Stay positive."

"They had better not touch a hair on his head." Troy growled low in his throat. "Till I see him, I..." His words were stopped with Philip's finger on his lips. Philip looked like he was communicating with someone telepathically so Troy waited.

"They found him." The relief in Philip's voice was palpable.

"Are they here..." Troy started to get off Philip's lap but the alpha stopped him.

"They're not yet here. Jeremy says Ryan told him that they were going to get in touch later. But they have Paul."

"The real Paul?" Troy asked though he couldn't stop his happy grin.

"What do you think?" Philip chuckled. "It's Ryan and Agyemang. Of course, it's the real Paul. Better now?"

"You have no idea." Troy breathed, burying his face against Philip's neck. "I could scream." He gushed, making Philip laugh. "You smell amazing." He moaned as he shifted to straddle Philip.

"I lay your fears to rest about Paul and the next thing you do is think about sex?" Philip chuckled.

"I'm not thinking about sex. I just want to stay in your arms for a while." Troy pressed a kiss on Philip's neck. "I know you have to leave but please..." He pleaded.

"Okay." Philip moved so that he could relax his back against the headboard. "Comfortable?"

"Very." Troy sighed. "So...you've really never had...sex since the day of the battle with my...the Wyatt Clan?"

"Can't. That damn wolf won't allow it." Philip's chuckle turned into a moan when he felt Troy's tongue on his neck. "Stop it." He whispered even as his arms tightened around Troy.

"You must be dying to have sex then." Troy sucked at a spot on Philip's neck, loving it when he felt Philip shiver against him.

"Even if I'd had sex last night and the night before, I'd still be dying to fuck you." Philip breathed, feeling himself swelling inside his jeans.

"Let's do it." Troy husked as he slipped a hand between them, his destination, obvious.

"Wow, wow, wow...what are you doing?" Philip grabbed his mate's wrist to stop its downward movement. "For someone who hasn't even touched my cock since I fucked up by accusing you wrongly, you sure are eager to touch me." He smirked.

Philip made sure he got Troy off every morning immediately after they woke up, and at bedtime. If Philip happened to be around during the day, he worked on his horny mate. For someone who could release thrice in one day, having to go without for days was a bit too much. He hadn't gotten Troy off since Paul was taken because his mate had been too preoccupied. So Philip wasn't too surprised at Troy's wanton behaviour that very moment. The relief he felt had clearly opened the floodgates.

"I'm sorry." Troy groaned, squirming in Philip's lap. "It's just that...I've missed you." He moaned. "I want to feel you in my hand and mouth again."

"You mean you want to get your rocks off." Philip smirked.

"That too." Troy laughed breathlessly. "But I want to touch you more."

"This is not the right time." Philip sighed as his hand slipped inside Troy's boxers to grab his leaking hardness. "Now tell me why you were so upset at some point yesterday when Amber was being questioned." He stroked Troy slowly.

"Seriously?" Troy groaned. "You want me to talk about that whilst you're doing that?"

"You're talking right now, aren't you?" Philip chuckled as he suddenly pushed Troy onto his back and pulled off his boxers. "Tell me." He demanded huskily as his thumb circled Troy's leaking tip.

"Philip..." Troy's eyes fluttered shut in pleasure as a delicious shudder flashed through him. "Feels so good..." He moaned.

"What was said that got you upset?" Philip demanded as he began to stroke Troy firmly.

"Mary." Troy gasped. "She...Amber said she was... I don't think it's right to talk about Mary whilst doing this." His groan turned into a cry of shocked pleasure when he felt warmth envelope his throbbing cock. "Philip..." Troy's back arched as sensations he'd never felt before slammed into him. Philip's mouth on him felt amazingly exquisite. His head thrashed from side to side as he gave himself up to the sweet sensations that assailed his senses and rocked through his body. His body just could take it.

Troy felt it... Those sweet tingling sensations that herald an impending explosion. They started deep in his balls, then spread outward, radiating through his entire body with each suction of Philip's mouth. He exploded with a loud cry as the most powerful orgasm swept through him.

"Oh, my god..." Troy gasped as his body shook in a sweet release. The pleasure was so intense his toes curled almost painfully.

Immediately after Troy felt Philip pull off his spent cock, he moved to straddle him and slammed his lips on Philip's, plundering his mate's mouth like a starved man, loving the taste of himself on Philip. The kiss was so hot Philip had to make an effort not to give in and take his sexy mate as he'd demanded earlier. He silently applauded his control. By the time Troy calmed down and collapsed against Philip, the alpha was trembling from arousal.

"God, what was that?" Troy gasped breathlessly, aftershocks flashing through him. "That was fucking amazing." He said with a breathless laugh.

"You just swore." Philip laughed. "Is that what blowjobs do to you? Make you swear?" Philip looked totally amused.

"What did you expect?" Troy groaned. "After hanging around you lot, it's only to be expected. You just blew me, Philip." He sounded dazed.

"I know. I was here." Philip grinned, loving that Troy seemed to have loved what he'd done. At least his mate enjoyed his inexperienced blow jobs, he thought with satisfaction.

"I loved it." Troy's flushed face and floored look said it all.

"I know." Philip gave a soft laugh. "So... What was that you were saying about Mary?" Philip prompted, ignoring Troy's groan of protest. He was still a little surprised at his mate's earlier comment. Troy clearly held a lot of respect for the psycho warlock who was planning on annihilating his pack. "Troy..."

"She was my guardian." Troy sighed. "She treated me well. I...I like her."

"You like her?" Philip couldn't wipe the surprise off his face. "That cold calculating bi..."

"She's not a bad person, okay." Troy snapped as he moved off Philip's lap. "I'm just as surprised as you that she's doing this."

"Who said I'm surprised?" Philip growled. "She's a Wyatt warlock. That's what they do. They are evil."

"All the more reason you should expect those who survived our brutality to revenge." Troy growled right back. "Wouldn't you have done same?"

"This is not the same thing, Troy." Philip sighed. "Reynard's plan was to sacrifice all werewolves. Just to ensure that some prophecy doesn't come to pass."

"So why not kill just Reynard?" Troy retorted. "Huh? Did you have to kill every warlock in that clan? That wasn't fair. Not everyone you saw on that land was evil. Take me for instance. I was there, right? What if you hadn't stopped the others from killing me? I would be dead. What if there had been others like me? Innocent people. Maybe you need to think about that. Any person who survived such savagery would want to retaliate. Maybe what we did made Mary what she has become. Think about it." With that, Troy grabbed his boxers, entered the en-suite bathroom and then shut the door.

Philip stared at the closed bathroom door for a confused minute before getting out of bed and entering the bathroom. He washed his hands and brushed his teeth without uttering a word to his fuming mate who was standing in the shower, and then left for the conference room. Somehow, Philip couldn't shake off Troy's words. Had they punished others for the sins of others? Most importantly, had they killed innocents?

***

"Oh my god..." Tears of mirth slid down the cheeks of Kate, the head warrior as she screamed with laughter. With the exception of Stan who looked bored, all the others in the room...all men, roared with laughter.

"Is there any reason for this ruckus when we're in the middle of a crisis?" Philip asked when he entered the conference room.

"Dude, you asked us to meet here almost an hour ago." Stan drawled.

"Sorry. Got held up." Philip sighed as he pulled out a chair. "So...what's all this about?" He asked just as Jeremy entered the conference room.

"Amber..." Kate began to speak but dissolved into laughter.

"What happened with Amber?" Jeremy asked as he took his seat. "Oh, I've called the elders to join us so that we can all listen to Ryan." He informed Philip.

"Great, thanks." Philip nodded.

"So I hear you four have a pact of sorts..." George looked from Philip to Jeremy. "With Stan and Paige? About kissing each other's mates."

"We do." Philip chuckled. "What's the problem?"

"Well, after you guys left with the elders yesterday, it was left with me, Pete, Kate, a few warriors, Cami, Paige and the witch."

"U-huh?" Jeremy looked amused already.

"When Paige stepped away from the witch..."

"Her name is Amber, George." Philip drawled.

"Amber." George nodded. "We saw our player here," he pointed at Stan, "walking up to the wi...Amber with all confidence. When he got to her, he cupped her face and slamming his mouth on hers..."

"Way to go Stan." Philip chuckled.

"Wait for it..." Kate wheezed, clearly trying not to burst into laughter.

"The witch looked shocked for all of two seconds, then she..."

"Kicked him in the fucking nuts..." Pete roared, cutting George off. The others erupted into laughter again.

"Ooohhh... Stanislav got served!" Philip laughed. "Right back at you." He added when Stan gave him the finger.

"And trust me, it was one hell of a kick." Kate laughed.

"Do you see me limping?" Stan drawled.

"You've healed, boss." The lady warrior laughed.

"Are you okay, man?" Jeremy tried to look serious but failed. "Dude, I'm sorry but their laughter is fucking contagious." The alpha of alphas dissolved into laughter.

"Yeah right. And I thought the only bodily function that was contagious was yawning." Stan muttered, making them laugh even harder.

"You're lucky she'd been stripped of her powers at the time." Philip chuckled. "You'd have been a eunuch by now. "Next time..." He trailed off when the door to the conference room opened to reveal a radiant-looking Paige.

The uproar that erupted was deafening. Some whistled, some banged on the conference table, and the rest just cheered. And when Paige started strutting as if she owned the world, the noise reached a crescendo. There were choruses of congratulations from the werewolves to which Paige took a bow and responded with elation...

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, guys." Paige grinned, going around the table to hug each person. When she got to Stan, she looked up at him with amused eyes and asked with mock innocence, "nuggets okay?" Everyone burst into laughter.

"Really, Slip?" Stan gave a mock growl, making Paige laugh.

"I'm so sorry darling." Paige tried to stifle her laughter. "I'm sure Amber is sorry too."

"You're sure..." the look on Stan's face was so comical the others couldn't help but laugh.

"Yep." Paige pulled a chair and sat.

"How's she doing by the way?" Philip asked.

"Still in shock." Paige chuckled. "But she'll live. And Jer, I'm so so sorry about..."

"Aw come on..." Jeremy waved off her apology. "Not her fault. Besides, I was never in any real danger so..." He placed his entwined fingers at the back of his head and relaxed in his seat with a smug look on his face.

"Can you imagine?" Paige's amused smirk mirrored that of the others.

"Don't hate, Slip." Jeremy laughed just as the door opened. "Oh, they're in. Good." He sat up as his mother, Joel, Deloris, the High Priestess and two other council members entered. "Let me quickly connect this..." He muttered as the elders said their hellos and took their seats. Jeremy connected his cell phone to the console attached to the conference table as Philip switched on the projector. "I'll video-call Ryan so that we can all listen to...he's here..." Jeremy gasped as he shot to his feet.

"Already?" Philip stood too but Jeremy pointed at his own head and gestured for him to resume his seat as he took his seat as well.

'How are you able to communicate on our mind-link if you're not on the pack's land?' Jeremy was asking his mate with a confused frown on his face.

'Ask your kid.' Ryan chuckled. 'I just got the urge to try so I did. I'm just as surprised as you.'

'This is freaky.' Jeremy breathed.

'Watch it.' Ryan gave a mock growl. 'His dad hates any word that sounds like freak...'

'Aw zip it, we're all freaks.' Jeremy drawled. 'Everyone is here so I'd rather I video-call you to enable us plan together, okay?'

'Alright.'

"Okay, here goes..." Jeremy murmured as he dialed Ryan's number.

"Were you just chatting with him on your mind-link?" Philip asked, his shocked look mirroring that of the others around the table.

"Yep." Jeremy tried to maintain a straight face but failed and allowed the awed grin to burst free.

"How?" Gloria screeched. "I thought you said he was at Agyemang's pack-house."

"Blame that grandkid of yours, Mama." Jeremy drawled.

"What did her grandkid do?" Ryan asked from the projected screen. "Hello everyone." Everyone responded except for Jeremy who looked as if he was about to burst from excessive emotion. "You alright, mum?" Ryan addressed Gloria.

"Just seeing you makes me happy, darling." Gloria beamed. "Eaten?"

"Yes." Ryan laughed. "I'm being treated like a king. I just might not come back...'

"And how do you suggest we handle your crazy mate?" Stan drawled.

"You were handling him just fine before I came along." Ryan laughed. "Hey..." His tone softened when his adoring gaze locked on Jeremy.

'I'll give anything to kiss you right now.' Jeremy whispered on his and Ryan's mind-link. 'I want to suck on those sweet lips so bad.' He added, making his mate blush.

"Dude, come on." Stan gave Jeremy an incredulous look as he threw his hands in the air. "Get the fuck out of his head." The people around the table couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's hear you, Ryan." Philip chuckled as he raised his hand for silence.

"A.G. and I located Paul easily." Ryan began. "But from the way he was acting, it was obvious he knew something he couldn't tell us."

"What do you mean he knew..." The high priestess scoffed. "Is he on their side now?"

"Oh no." Ryan shook his head. "Although it was him, something seemed off. What made us even more suspicious was his blatant refusal to come with us. He looked terrified. We concluded he was terrified of whatever was going to happen if we came home. We didn't want to take chances. Especially not when the clan had already sent someone earlier to kill Jer."

"Good call." Deloris nodded. "I presume he couldn't write..."

"You know how they roll." Ryan chuckled. "So we thought it best to take Paul somewhere other than Stanwood. Agyeman's."

"He finally gets to see his real pack." Paige drawled.

"We need to find out what he knows." Joel said. "Ryan can you read..."

"He'll fry his brain if he tries." Deloris sighed.

"I know." Ryan nodded. "And that is why A.G. is turning him right this moment. He said that was the only way."

"He'll be able to communicate with him after he becomes a werewolf." Philip nodded. "Perfect."

"I want to give them sometime before I go back down to hear what A.G. was able to get from Paul." Ryan informed them.

"That poor boy." Deloris groaned. "All that pain."

"A.G. will mask the pain." Jeremy said.

"Well, lucky Paul." Stan drawled. "Not everyone is that luck...ouch." He yelped when Paige hit him upside the head. "This bitch and her witch are going to be the death of me." He groaned, drawing laughter from everyone except Ryan and the elders who clearly didn't get it.

"Did I miss something?" Ryan asked. "What did Amber do?" He looked a bit worried.

"Long story, baby." Jeremy grinned. "I'll tell you all about how Stanislav got served when you get back. So what's the plan? A.G. turning Paul will alert people that he's found his mate and put a target on Paul's back."

"Oh, he's got it covered." Ryan grinned. "He said he's going to pull a Philip." Everyone burst into laughter as Philip groaned.

"The man-whore." Philip muttered. "It's not like he had a choice."

"Oh god, I had no idea how bad it was." Ryan groaned. "The guy is even sleeping with one of their council members. I mean, come on!" Ryan looked shocked. "She's old enough to be his mother."

Stan swiveled around to face Jeremy who was trying very hard to maintain a straight face. "Should I tell him or you will..."

"Shut up, Stanley." Gloria chided but even she, couldn't suppress her laughter.

"Jeremy Stanton!" Ryan gasped with mock indignation, making his mate finally give in to the urge to laugh. "You better..." But Ryan stopped talking and turned when the door to the room in which he was opened to reveal a tired looking Agyemang. "You didn't have to come, A.G." Ryan gave the clearly drained alpha a sympathetic look. "I would have come down myself."

"Don't worry, Ryan." Agyemang muttered as he flopped into the couch beside Ryan. "He finally slept so I decided to come and see you." He turned tired eyes on Ryan's phone and chuckled. "I see you have everyone here."

"Hey, Casanova." Paige called out to the hunk of an alpha who was smiling tiredly at them.

"Hey, sweetie." Agyemang gave a soft sigh.

"Is he okay?" Ryan asked.

Agyemang turned eyes filled with wonder on Ryan. "He's the most adorable wolf I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Agyemang spoke in a hushed awed whisper. "He's my heart."

"I'm happy for you." Ryan smiled as Gloria, Deloris and Kate oohed. "But is he okay?" He repeated.

"He's fine." Agyemang grinned. "Transformed, marked, and sleeping like an angel." There were choruses of congratulations from the people in the conference room. But all Agyemang could do was grin. "The ceremony is tomorrow by the way. The council insisted."

"Hell yeah." Stan and George bellowed in unison, making Agyemang laugh. "We're going to have fun tomorrow." Stan added excitedly. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow..." He sang as he strummed an imaginary guitar.

"You're always a day away..." Paige, Kate, George, Pete and two others sang.

"Need I remind you kids that we're in the middle of a war?" Joel asked curtly, drawing groans from the singers. "Were you able to get anything from your mate, alpha?" He asked.

"Those warlocks are just..." Agyemang shook his head with a look of disgust on his face. "The plan was for Jeremy to combust, together with Paul and anyone standing around them immediately after Jeremy set eyes on Paul."

"The fuck..." Philip bellowed.

"Uh-huh. And the shield around your pack-house would have dissolved with that explosion." Agyemang sounded dismayed. "Oh, and their leader, Mary, thinks that Troy is hers. So she's coming to take her son."

"She's welcome to try." Gloria said with a sweet smile. No one was fooled.

"If they think I'm going to stand by and watch them take my brother again, they have another thinking coming." Jeremy's growl was packed with so much anger and power a hush fell on the people in the conference room.

'Baby?' Ryan called out softly on his mind-link with Jeremy. 'Calm down, please. Troy is not going anywhere.'

"Easy, brother." Philip rasped low in his throat as he gripped Jeremy's shoulder and gave him a slight shake. "The only way they can get to Troy is over our dead fucking bodies." He growled. As Jeremy's closest friend, Philip knew that it was imperative to calm the alpha of alphas before he got too upset. No one wanted Jeremy to snap.

"Yeah...thanks." Jeremy breathed. With his mate's voice in his head and his friend's reassuring grip, Jeremy visibly calmed down.

"Paul says that Mary has a lot of witches she's using." Agyemang informed the group. "He even knows that some had been made to look like him to fool us."

"What else did he tell you?" Philip asked.

"That's it." Agyemang shrugged. "Oh, wait. He said something about hearing sounds of fighting dogs and men cheering. He thinks it was a sport of some kind. But I think it's..."

"Rogues." Stan muttered. "They plan on attacking with rogues. God, I can't wait." He was practically salivating. "The new recruits can use them for practice." He told Kate who nodded with an evil grin on her pretty face.

"Finally, some action." Pete grinned as he slapped his raised palm against Stan's. Warriors and Assassins had a lot in common. They both got off on violence. So Stan, who until recently, had been the head of warriors for years, and Pete, the head of the pack's assassins were all fired up for what was about to go down.

"So rogues and witches huh?" Paige chuckled. "They should bring it."

"I can bet my left testicle those twats are standing somewhere this very moment, waiting to hear and see an explosion in here." Stan said gruffly.

"Well, I don't know about your testicle with all that's happened..." Philip drawled, earning himself the finger from Stan to the amusement of the others. "But if an explosion is what they want to see, let's give them one." The alpha shrugged.

"Son?" Joel gave his son a confused look.

"They have expectations. So let's give them a fucking show." Philip said. "We are going to follow the sequence. I'm sure they're probably thinking that the only reason they haven't seen the explosion yet is that Jeremy hasn't laid eyes on Paul. Well, let's give them an explosion that will rupture their fucking eardrums."

"We give them the explosion, and then lower the shield." Deloris said, a smile splitting her lips.

"Exactly." Philip nodded. "They will confidently step onto our land then."

"Then we give them a fine welcome." Paige smiled so wide her fangs showed.

"Oh, shit." Agyemang groaned suddenly. "That means everything will have to happen today."

"Of course." Philip responded. "There's no way Jeremy wouldn't try to see Paul after he's rescued. After all, that's his brother's best friend. Not to mention the fact that he was kidnapped by none other than the 'kickass' warlocks of the Wyatt Clan." He gave the word air quotes. "It will be very weird if that explosion doesn't happen today, don't you think?"

"Fuck!" Agyemang growled. "I need to be there for this, Philip. The idiots took my mate. I need my pound of flesh."

"Not today, A.G." Philip gave a soft sigh, completely understanding his friend. "Tend your mate. That's more important. We've got this."

"You don't understand, Lip." Agyemang was getting worked up by the second. "Those people kidnapped me once. But for my quick thinking, they would have killed me. Your pack robbed me of the joy that comes with raining hell on them by attacking and defeating them, all on your own." He paused and swallowed hard. "Then the few that survived decided to kidnap none other than my mate. I say this is my fight."

"Of course, it's your fight." Philip responded. "But had it not been for our pack, you would never have met your mate. That boy is part of our pack now and more important to us than your thirst for revenge. He needs you, and by Luna, you're going to be there for him. If we didn't have to do this today, that would have been different. You would have gotten your pound of flesh. But it has to happen today so..." Philip shrugged. "Too bad."

"Jeremy?" Agyemang looked like he was about to shift any second. He stared at his boss with glowing eyes. "What say you? I need this."

"I'm with Philip on this, A.G." Jeremy nodded. "You've done enough by giving us the needed information. We'll take it from here." Jeremy's tone sounded final. "And A.G.?"

"Yes, boss?"

"You better not shift with my mate beside you." Jeremy growled. "Get a grip."

Ryan chuckled as they all watched Agyemang take a deep breath and release. "Sorry, Ryan. I was looking forward to..."

"Damn, you're going to miss all the fun, A.G." Stan shook his head with mock sadness. "'Cause this is going to be some mad fun."

"Stan..." But Philip's warning tone was lost in the amused chuckles from the others.

"We can record it for him." Kate quipped.

"See?" Philip grinned. "Kate's going to record it for you to watch over a bowl of popcorn one evening with your freshly marked mate." He laughed when Agyemang groaned.

"My warriors are getting ready to come over to..."

"Oh, hell no." Stan growled. "This is going to be practice for my new warriors. I don't want your warriors killing those rogues before my recruits get to them."

"It's not necessary, A.G." Ryan told him gently. "Your mating ceremony is tomorrow, remember? Your warriors need to prepare. What we're about to do is not a battle. It's more like a...recreational activity. You can call it games." He shrugged with an excited grin, making everyone including Agyemang laugh. "Trust me, this is not worth your time."

"Alright." Agyemang knew when he'd been strong-armed.

"And the spell?" Gloria asked.

"When Paul wakes up, my resident warlock will work on him to break that spell." The alpha sighed.

"He's not going to wake up anytime soon, A.G." Philip drawled.

"I'm sure that spell will be broken before Paul wakes up." Deloris chuckled. "The death of Mary will automatically break the spell since she cast it. So it's between her death and Paul waking up...whichever comes first." She said.

"Death of Mary it is." Gloria nodded.

"You tell your warlock to get ready to work on Paul, A.G." Philip said quietly. "Thanks for your help. Our love to Paul when he wakes up. See you tomorrow."

"Thank you, buddy." Agyemang got to his feet and then reached for Ryan's hand to pull him up. "Thank you, Ryan." He said to his boss' mate. "I'm forever in your debt."

"No, you're not." Ryan countered. "Like my alpha said, Paul is family. I'm glad I could be of help." He said as Agyemang drew him into his arms for a fierce hug.

"Time to come home, Ryan." Philip said as he reached out to disconnect the link.

In the next instant, Ryan was in the conference room, standing right beside Jeremy. "Hello." He grinned at everyone as Jeremy stood up and enfolded him in his arms.

"Good job, honey." Gloria called out.

"Thanks, mum." Ryan's response was muffled as his face was pressed against Jeremy but Gloria hear him perfectly. When Jeremy eventually released him, Ryan turned to address Philip. "Now, tell me what to do."

"I've got this, babe." Jeremy rasped as he took his seat and drew a yawning Ryan into his lap. "I'll blast all of them to oblivion as soon they step onto our land."

"No, you won't." Philip countered.

"What's the fun in that?" Stan stared at Jeremy.

"There may be some innocent people in there, Jer." Philip said. "We need to be sure of who we're sending into the afterlife."

"That's true." Jeremy breathed.

"So..." Philip looked at the people gathered. "Let's plan."

***

"Holy shit!" Mario exclaimed as the ground shook with two massive explosions, one rapidly following the other. "You cook a mean spell, woman." He breathed as he and the others standing around, looked up at the balls of smoke and fire that darkened the sky above the Stanwood property.

"Finally." Mary whispered, looking up with contentment and pride. "We need to attack now whilst there's chaos. Sally, please check on the shield." She instructed one of the warlocks who couldn't seem to contain her excitement.

"Right away, Mary." Sally began to move closer to the Stanwood property. The others watched and waited patiently as the warlock did her checking. When she turned around with a huge grin and gave them a thumbs-up sign, the other's breathed sighs of relief.

"Perfect." Mary nodded. "Is everyone in position?" She asked and then gave an encouraging nod when she saw the remaining two warlocks chanting to channel strength to their team.

"The dogs are ready to move in." Mario responded. "Waiting for your command to shift."

"Good." Mary started for where the rogues stood waiting on her. "Sally, get the witches ready." She called over her shoulders. "They move in five minutes after the wolves. Then we move in."

"Alright." Sally gestured to the nineteen remaining witches to come close to her.

"This is it." Mary said when she got to her thirty-two rogues. They looked stoned. "You already know what I want." The werewolves stared at her with unfocused eyes. They were clearly under a heavy spell. "This is your specialty. Fighting to the death. This time, your opponent is anyone you find on that land." She pointed a thumb at The Stanwood Pack. "My spell has made each of you ten times stronger. Those wolves don't stand a chance against you. Kill as many wolves as you can." Too bad they were all going to die as soon as the pack was defeated, Mary thought. They made excellent lapdogs. She turned to address one particular muscular rogue with a mean look on his face. "Remember your mission. You should know her as soon as you lay eyes on her. I've shown you enough images of her. You don't need her scent to be able to know who she is. Don't waste your strength on the others. Concentrate on only her. Make her death quick. We wouldn't want anyone coming to her aid. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal." The rogue responded.

"Good. Now everyone, shift and storm in there." Mary commanded.

The rogues immediately shifted into fierce-looking wolves and then charged onto the land of the Stanwood pack.

***

"Incoming..." Deloris actually squealed.

The mood of the pack members who waited in the clearing was that of excitement and anticipation. The pack didn't look as though they were under attack at all. They looked very relaxed...almost as if they were having an outdoor movie experience.

Philip and Jeremy stood side by side with their arms folded across their broad chests, staring intently at the point where according to Deloris, the rogues were going to enter their land. Ryan sat comfortably on a stool, flanked by Deloris and the high priestess who had insisted on being there too. A bit further from them were Gloria and Joel. Paige and George stood together, closer to the mansion whilst Stan, Kate, and Pete stood a little away from them, closer to the group of warriors and assassins who were already in their wolf forms.

With the exception of Troy and his friends who had been instructed to stay inside the shield-protected mansion, the other pack members had been assembled in the huge arena, for fun games. Most of them had no idea that the pack was under attack. As Philip had told the others, leaving them blissfully unaware was better than creating fear and panic.

The sounds of angry growls and snapping were heard right before rogues burst into the clearing, looking like blood-crazed piranhas, going on an attack.

'This is all for you, Stan.' Philip drawled on their mind-link which he'd opened to every Stanwood werewolf present. 'Do your thing.'

'Thanks, boss.' Stan's grin was downright wicked. 'Okay boys...' He addressed the wolves, 'make mincemeat out of these rogues.'

'With pleasure.' Some of the wolves growled as they charged at the rogues.

For the werewolves present, it was a beautiful show of superior strength. Although the rogues fought with brute strength thanks to Mary's spell boost, they were no match for the pack's trained warriors and assassins. The pack wolves fought with skill and finesse, making their alpha and all gathered proud. When one rogue charged towards where Deloris, Ryan and the high priest stood, the high priestess quickly pointed her wand at it, instantly turning the angry wolf into a cockroach.

"Seriously?" Deloris couldn't stifle her laughter.

"Sorry." The high priestess shrugged with an apologetic smile. "That's all I could think of at that instant."

"Can't blame you." Deloris chuckled. "They're all pests so... oh, oh, witches..." She muttered when a number of women materialized out of thin air, chanting as they slowly approached. Dark clouds suddenly began to form.

"Ryan and Deloris, you're up." Philip said out loud for Deloris' sake. Warlocks didn't have the ability to communicate with werewolves telepathically.

"On it, Alpha." Deloris muttered as she reached for Ryan's hand.

The two didn't even have to open their mouths. The dark clouds instantly cleared. What happened next was both funny and strange. The witches stopped chanting and looked at one another as though they didn't know where they were or what they were doing there. The look on their faces soon turned from confusion to apprehension. Some started crying, saying they didn't feel the same, whilst others stated angrily that their powers had been stolen.

"You're no longer witches, ladies." Deloris announced with a smug smile. "You've been stripped of your...gift..." She shrugged.

"How dare you..." One former witch began to speak angrily but the high priested waved her wand again, instantly sealing the lady's lips.

"You should be grateful, ladies." Deloris' eyes narrowed. "We could have killed you all. This is a better fate don't you think? We can always give you back your abilities and then kill you instead. What will it be?" When the angry murmurs gave way to silent sobbing and grateful nods, Deloris nodded. "That's what I thought." Deloris snapped her fingers then, causing all nineteen ex-witches to disappear. "Meet Mama Cora, ladies." She muttered, drawing a snicker from the high priestess.

"I'm definitely glad I'm not in their shoes right now." The high priestess chuckled. "That's one pissed off sorcerer they're about to meet."

'Time to end this, boys.' Kate instructed the warriors and assassins who were battling the rogues. 'They can't be saved.'

Due to the spell cast on them, the stubborn rogues although weak, refused to submit as the pack wolves had expected them to. The pack might have been merciful enough to spare their lives. But it seemed as though the only choice the pack had was to put the rogues down as they'd already been ruined by the spell they were under. And that was exactly what the warriors began to do.

'Baby?' Ryan turned to look at Jeremy when he heard that sexy tone that never ceased to make his heart beat faster.

'Yes, Gorgeous...' Ryan responded, drawing a grin from Jeremy.

'Can you recreate that dark cloud the witches' created earlier?' Jeremy asked. 'We wouldn't want the warlocks to think their strategy isn't going as it should.'

'Good thinking.' Philip nodded.

'Sure.' Ryan waved a hand. The sky instantly filled with thick dark clouds. 'Good?'

'Perfect.' Jeremy responded. 'What the fuck is he doing here?' He groaned suddenly.

"Travis, honey, you shouldn't be here." Gloria stared at her younger son with eyes filled with alarm. All eyes turned on an angry-looking Troy.

Troy had done exactly what he'd been instructed to do by his mate. He'd stayed in the mansion and spent time with his friends. According to his mate, who he now realized had lied to him, they had to go and meet with Ryan, Agyemang and Paul and bring them home. Philip had then added that due to the threat by the Wyatt clan, he needed to stay inside the mansion till he got back. Although what his mate had told him made a lot of sense, Troy just hadn't been able to shake off the feeling that something was going on. So when he heard the faint sounds of wolves fighting in a distance, he'd been curious. He'd decided to step out and investigate what it was all about. The warriors guarding the entrance of the mansion had been no problem at all for Troy. All he had to do was cast an invisibility spell. He'd walked right past the warriors and followed the sounds. Troy couldn't suppress the molten anger that welled up within him when he saw his mate, mother, brother, and all the others in a stance that screamed war. Troy didn't have to be a genius to know who they were going up against. If the dead wolves lying around surprised him, he didn't show.

"Really?" Troy growled in indignation. "You actually kept something like this from..."

Everyone was so much focused on Troy that they didn't see the lone rogue wolf who charged at Gloria. Troy saw the wolf, saw the murderous glint in the wolf's eyes, saw its target, and reacted without a thought.

Everyone gasped when an angry Troy suddenly sprang in his mother's direction, shifting midair so that his clothes fell in tatters. For a moment, every person, with the exception of Gloria, looked horrified, thinking that Troy was attacking his mother. But the beautiful golden wolf went over his mother's head and clashed with the huge rogue. Jeremy, Philip and the others started to move towards the fighting wolves but Gloria raised a hand, stopping everyone.

"Leave him." Gloria rasped with eyes filled with so much confidence and pride.

The battle that ensued was hands down one of the best the pack members gathered had ever witnessed. The rogue was huge, strong and relentless. But the golden wolf was agile, precise, vicious, and bloody furious. Unlike the warriors and assassins who engaged the rogues just for the fun and sport aspect, the golden wolf went in for a deadly combat. Troy didn't just seek to pin down the rogue to show dominance, he went in for the kill. He gave quick killing bites to any vital area that got exposed on the rogue's body until the bleeding and confused rogue exposed his neck. Troy struck hard and fast, his fangs coming away with a sizable chunk of meat from the writhing rogue's throat.

Before Troy could leave the side of the dead rogue, three warlocks clad in black gowns appeared. Neither could mask the shock in their eyes when their gazes fell on the dead rogues. Fury and disappointment filled the eyes of one particular warlock when her gaze landed on the dead rogue lying beside Troy. Her red hair and blue eyes gave away her identity, thanks to Amber's detailed description. The sound that left the warlock's throat caught the attention of the golden wolf. It turned to look at whoever had made that sound and froze.

Troy shifted immediately after his eyes landed on Mary. "Mary..." He breathed as he stared at the warlock who had raised him.

"Troy..." Mary whispered, her eyes filled with so much tenderness and warmth despite her blanched pallor at seeing Troy shift from wolf to human. "You're..." She waved a hand at Troy and instantly covered his nakedness.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Troy asked, not even looking down at the t-shirt and shorts that Mary had magically dressed him in.

"I didn't kidnap you, Troy." Mary responded softly. "You were..."

"Mary, let's just do what we came to do and..." Mario never finished what he'd been about to say because the high priestess pointed her wand at him and turned him into a toad.

"Oh no, you didn't." Sally, the third warlock bellowed as she raised her hands and furiously began to recite some words. But nothing happened. "What is going on?" She screeched, looking at her hands.

"You've been rendered powerless, honey." Deloris told Sally. "Just like those witches you sent ahead of you. You might as well shut up before you join your colleague in the amphibian world." She drawled. "Oh, and this depressing dark cloud was conjured by us just for your benefit by the way. Ryan, could you be a dear and..." The cloud instantly cleared. "Thanks, darling."

"Y'all are so fucked." Paige burst into laughter.

"Del-the-fucking-Spell." Mary muttered as she stared at Deloris with recognition. Almost every upper-level warlock knew about the warlock whose expertise, when it came to spells, was legendary. Over a century ago, she'd fallen in love with a wolf and caused a massive uproar between her clan and the werewolves. There had been a fierce battle which had resulted in the death of the wolf that Del-the-Spell was in love with. Del had disappeared, never to be heard of again. "I see you're still running with fleabags."

"Sorry, I didn't get that." Deloris shrugged. "I don't speak bullshit. Your arse must be pretty jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth. You're trespassing, woman."

"I thought you said the warlock was pregnant." Mary addressed Sally.

"The warlock who came to take the boy was pregnant." Sally insisted. "If Mario wasn't a...toad, he would have..."

"About that..." Mary sighed. She waved a hand in the direction of the high priestess, instantly sweeping the elderly woman off her feet and catapulting her towards the side of the closest building.

"Mary..." Troy's horrified gasp mirrored that of the others.

"Are these the people you call family now?" Mary shouted angrily at Troy as she let fly a fireball in the direction of the moving high priestess, for good measure. "People who turn others into toads?" She looked furious.

An almost bored-looking Ryan raised a hand to halt the high priestess' movement and freeze the fireball, waylaying the elderly woman's possible crashing and certain death to everyone's relief. As he lowered the stunned priestess to the ground, a furious Gloria turned on Mary.

"You foolish woman." Gloria rasped. "Everyone is entitled to act stupid once in a while but you really abuse the privilege. You and your murderous clan killed my husband and kidnapped my son. And you have the audacity to ask my son such a stupid question? You monsters."

"Are you seriously calling us monsters?" Mary gave an evil laugh. "After what you did to my clan, you call us monsters? I'd slap you but that'd be animal abuse...literally." She gave Gloria a scathing look.

"You can't talk to her like that." Troy growled, his fists clenching in anger.

"Come on, Troy." Mary snapped. "You can't possibly like these people. I raised you better than that. Look at what they did to their own species..." She pointed at the dead rogues.

"You mean the rogues that you cast a spell on to do your dirty work for you?" Gloria sneered. 'Philip really...' She growled with frustration on the mind-link, at Philip. But the alpha shook his head at Gloria.

"A plan which I regret thoroughly." Mary retorted. "What can I say, one can't expect an animal to do anything right. I mean, all that this fool," she pointed at the rogue that Troy had killed, "was supposed to do was kill you. And he failed."

"Well, what can I say?" Gloria spread her hands, "My fighter of a son clearly hates for his mama to be attacked." She sneered. "Now, I believe he asked you a question. Why did you kidnap him?"

"That's her...him..." Sally gasped, staring at Ryan in shocked confusion. "He looks so much like the Lord Command." She breathed, drawing Mary's attention to Ryan. "But how come he's pregnant."

"And what business is it of yours bitch?" Paige growled and then turned to look at a confused-looking Deloris. "How come she was able to do that, Deloris?" She gestured towards the shaken high priestess. "I thought..."

"I was stupid enough not to have a backup plan?" Mary gave a humourless laugh. Then she turned to face Gloria. "Not that I actually care what you think but for my son's sake, I will explain. You see, I wasn't the one who did the kidnapping. Neither did I know anything about it. He was only given to me to look after. And that's when he became mine."

"He's not yours." Gloria growled, her eyes turning amber.

"Well, since you are hell-bent on being called his mother, we can simply call you his...surrogate mother." Mary shrugged with a patronizing smile. "How about that?"

That was all it took for Gloria to lose it. "You..." Gloria's fingers turned into claws but just as she was about to have a full body shift, Ryan's hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her with a blast of calming energy.

'Calm down, mum.' Ryan murmured on his mind-link with Gloria. 'We would have ended this a long time ago but Troy needs to know what happened. Not only does he need to really know the people he thinks love him, he needs closure.' Mary had started speaking but Ryan didn't stop talking to Gloria. 'I know it's difficult but know that your son needs this.'

'Ryan...' Gloria was shaking with the effort it took to rein in her fury. 'It's so difficult.'

'I know but try. Besides, she's harnessed to some energy outside the pack-house, which she's channeling this very moment. I'm reeling it in gradually. Soon, that energy will be no more. Then we can better deal with her. So please work with me here. It's very important.'

"...doesn't make him yours. The kind of bond I have with Troy is like nothing you've ever imagined." Mary was saying. "I feel his pain. Anytime he cried because he was in pain, I wanted to destroy something." The crazed look in Mary's eyes didn't go unnoticed. "Even small things like him falling and bumping his head or getting his finger caught in a drawer... I would have given anything just to go through that pain instead of him. And I protected him like a good, responsible mother would do. What did you do to that crook who tried to kill him?" Mary tilted her head to the side with a finger on a cheek as if she was trying to recall what the pack did to Blaze. "Oh yes, hand him over to the police." She sneered. "Really? Hell, I once killed one of our own simply because I saw him hitting Troy upside the head." She threw Sally a withering look when she gasped. "And that is why I killed that fool you idiots sent to prison, for attempting to kill my Troy. And I enjoyed doing it too. Can you compete with that bond?" She asked Mary oh so sweetly.

"Some bond." Gloria snorted, disdain written all over her face. "You think that's what makes you a mother? What mother would rob her child of their very being? You think suppressing what he is by dousing him with your stupid concoctions every month makes you a mother? The sheer deceit..."

"Did you know what you were doing to me?" Troy whispered, his intent gaze fixed on Mary. It was as if he was willing her to admit that she hadn't known what her concoctions were doing to him.

"I was trying to prevent you from becoming an animal like these savages, Troy." Mary gestured at the people gathered. "I was trying to help you."

"Why was I kidnapped?" Troy asked. He really needed to know.

"That was for Reynard." Mary shrugged. "The plan was to take both you and your freak of a brother."

"Hey, lady," Jeremy drawled with an amused look on his face, "You better watch it. My mate hates that word."

"Shut up, Jeremy." Ryan chuckled.

"This is your mate?" Mary's eyes ran over Ryan. "Clearly a man but also clearly pregnant. What is freakier than that?" She drawled. "A pack full of freaks." Mary began to laugh. "If I stay here for long, I might become a donkey or something.

"Mary?" Sally gasped just as everyone began to chuckle. A donkey stood where Mary stood a second earlier.

"What?" The donkey rolled its eyes at Sally. "Even they think it's funny. "That sounds like a title of a book actually." The donkey laughed as Ryan turned to look at the high priestess and Deloris with questioning eyes. "Like that book...A Quiver Full of Arrows. This one will be, A Pack Full of Freaks... get it?" The donkey grinned at a horrified-looking Sally.

The amused chuckles soon turned into laughter as both the high priestess and Deloris shook their heads at Ryan, indicating that neither of them had turned Mary into the talking donkey.

"Oh, my god..." Ryan gasped when it dawned on him who the culprit was. He gave a laughing Jeremy an icy glare as he placed a hand on his stomach and willed his baby to change the talking donkey back to human. Nothing happened. "A little help, Jer..." Ryan said helplessly.

"When you behave like an ass..." Stan roared with laughter.

"Shut up, Stan." Ryan groaned as he watched Jeremy crouch before him and touch his stomach. "This is serious." He stared at Jeremy with worried eyes. "It's just a baby. It shouldn't be able to do this."

"Well...she did mention a donk..."

"It's not funny, Jeremy..." Ryan snapped.

"Shhh...it's okay, baby." Jeremy murmured, getting to his feet and giving Ryan a gentle kiss. She's back."

"Look at that..." A restored Mary sneered, clearly oblivious to what had happened to her. "Not only are men sleeping with other men, they are actually getting them pregnant." She snorted. "Surely this should disgust you, Troy."

"What?" For a moment, Troy stared at his guardian with eyes filled with dazed incredulity. But he recovered and asked what he'd been dying to ask since Mary had stated that Reynard had wanted to kidnap him and Jeremy.

"Why did Reynard want my brother and I?" Troy rasped.

"You, my dear child, are special." Mary said softly. "With that aura you have, yours would have been a powerful essence to absorb." She explained. "I guess your brother too. But he wasn't with you and your father that day, as was your usual routine. So they took just you."

"So...he just wanted to kill us?" Troy looked shocked.

"Not kill, my dear." Mary rolled her eyes. "Sacrifice."

"Same shit." Philip growled, making Mary focus on him for the first time.

"You..." Mary whispered. "I remember you. You're the alpha who led the attack on..." Before she completed her sentence, a fireball flew straight at a relaxed-looking Philip, accompanied by a collective gasp from the pack members gathered.

With a terrified scream, Troy made a desperate dash for his mate but before he could get to Philip, the fireball bounced off Philip and then went out, to everyone's shock and relief. But Troy's terror at seeing his mate's brush with death turned into blinding rage. He stopped running towards Philip, turned around, shifted, and then charged at a wide-eyed Mary with a loud rage-filled growl.

"Nooo..." Gloria shifted and intercepted her son before he could get to where Mary stood. 'Listen to me son,' Gloria said urgently on her mind-link with Troy. 'You don't have to do this, please.'

'She almost killed my mate.' Troy growled angrily. 'I won't have that.'

'Calm down, baby.' The brown wolf nuzzled the angry golden wolf who kept trying to sidestep it. 'Please.'

'I can't calm down.' Gloria had never heard her son sound more furious. 'No one messes with my mate. Especially not her.'

A shocked Mary stared. She couldn't hear whatever conversation the two wolves were having but she could tell that the bitch was trying to prevent her own son from attacking her. And that stunned her stupid.

'Philip was never in any danger, son.' Gloria cooed. 'Ryan took care of that when Mary almost killed the high priestess. If you hurt her, you will regret it later. Leave her to me. Please...'

'I'm...' The golden wolf shook his head. 'What I just felt...it was horrible.' He gave a breathless whimper. 'I never want to feel that way again.' He said shakily.

'Shift.' Gloria urged and watched as her son shifted back to human. She shifted too but before she could say any more, both she and Troy were clothed...she in a t-shirt and leggings, and Troy in t-shirt and shorts. "Thanks, Sweetie." Gloria blew Ryan a kiss. Although like other werewolves, she couldn't be bothered with nudity, she knew how much nudity bothered her son-in-law.

"God..." Troy breathed, staring at his trembling hands. "I've never been this terrified in my... Philip..." He breathed when his mate stepped in front of him and drew him into his arms.

"Shhh...I'm here." Philip murmured as a trembling Troy tightened his arms around him. "It's okay." When Troy almost desperately sought his mouth, Philip gave in and kissed him.

"Troy?" Mary sounded as if she was being strangled. "What...what..."

"You just tried to kill his mate, you bitch." Gloria growled.

"What kind of mother are you?" Mary breathed with a look of utter disgust on her face. "Not only did you turn him into an animal, you also turned him gay?" She roared.

"Ideally, I wouldn't dignify such a stupid question with an answer but I'm going to make an exception this time." Gloria rasped as she started walking towards Mary. She looked as if she'd had it. "You appointed yourself his mother, suppressed his wolf and very being, sent someone to kill his brother, attempted to kill his mate, sent a rabid rogue to kill his mother, kidnapped his best friend, and then had the audacity to lead a war against his pack. And you think that makes you a mother? If ignorance is bliss, then you must be the happiest person on the planet."

"You foolish woman!" Mary screamed just as Gloria reached out and slapped her so hard she fell to the ground.

Gloria didn't stop there. She picked Mary up and landed more slaps to everyone's amused satisfaction. They had their orders not to harm any of the warlocks but a good beating never killed anyone, right? As a warlock, Mary didn't have the strength and skill of a seasoned warrior of Gloria's caliber. Gloria therefore had the upper hand. The slaps were so swift and sharp that they left Mary too dazed to concentrate enough to use magic to shield herself. Gloria finally let Mary go when she begged her to stop.

But the harm had already been done.

Mary opened her closed fist and looked at the wisp of hair in her palm. It was Gloria's. The warlock stifled her satisfied smile. All the stalling had finally paid off, she thought with glee. No one took notice as Mary took a lock of her own hair and tied it with Gloria's.

"The temptation to end your life right now is huge, trust me." Gloria breathed as she stared at the kneeling warlock. "But I will let the council decide your fate." She turned to go but suddenly gasped and fell to her knees. What happened next took just a few minutes but it felt like hours.

Gloria gulped for air and started to choke. A number of people started to run towards Gloria but a ring of blue flames suddenly flared up to surround her, stopping everyone. Mary stood up and allowed a smile to widen her bleeding lips. Her fist was clenched.

"Anyone who crosses that, dies." Mary announced. "I'm sure your warlock here knows the kind of flame this is." She gave Deloris a triumphant smile.

"You won't leave here alive if anything happens to her so you better stop this." Deloris looked terrified for the first time since the face-off began. "She spared your life when she could have killed you moments ago. I suggest to show her the same respect."

"Show her the same respect, huh?" Mary's short laughter was without humour. "At least her death is not going to be instant." She shrugged. "It's just going to be slow and painful as you can tell."

"Deloris?" Ryan breathed, totally confused as to what was going on.

"This is bad, Ryan." Deloris groaned. "She's linked them in some way. That's the only way she could have conjured this deadly circle of flame. We need to figure out what the link is and break it before that flame painfully consumes Gloria."

"What?" Ryan gasped, as he stood up. "Can't I just put it out?"

"The stupid thing about this flame is that if anyone apart from the one who conjured it tries to put it out, the victim dies instantly." Deloris explained. "In fact, should Mary herself fail to follow the required steps when she decides to end the spell, the flame will consume her. I hate to say this but...it's a shitty situation. We're at her mercy. We need to find the link."

"Shit." Ryan swore.

"Remember that extraction technique I taught you some months ago?"

"I do." Ryan nodded. "But you said it was dangerous."

"If we're not able to find the link, that will be our only chance to save Gloria. Either way, we're not losing your mother-in-law today." Deloris rasped. "Not gonna happen. But Jeremy can't know what's going on, Ryan." She said urgently. "Neither does Philip for that matter. If they do anything rash, it will create problems."

"I'll tell them to stay put." Ryan nodded and then threw a withering look Mary's way.

"I see she's explained the circle of flame to you." Mary smiled at Ryan. "You know...you're the spitting image of our Lord Command, Reynard Wyatt."

"Is he?" Deloris smiled sweetly. "Well, that's because he's Reynard's son."

"Oh, my god." Mary's gasp echoed that of Sally. "So it was you..." Mary's gaze was filled with both awe and hate. "So you were the child who vanquished him. Interesting."

"Yes, so if you know what's good for you, you'll..."

"Aw come on, Del." Mary's laughter was genuine this time. "Stop grasping at straws. You know I've got your pack by the balls."

Mary couldn't believe she was actually going to have the last laugh. For a moment, she'd felt helpless because it was clear that the pack had been expecting them and therefore had the upper hand. To give her a fighting chance and some time to plan, she'd quickly directed the channeling from the other two meditating colleagues outside, to herself and cut off Mario and Sally. After all, she was the brain behind the attack and therefore needed all the backing. She'd however still been at a loss as to how to proceed. But when the dog who birthed her son came at her, she'd seen an opening and taken it. That deadly spell she'd cast could be dangerous even for her. But desperate times, they said, called for desperate measures. To cast that deadly spell, not only had she completely drained the powers she'd been channeling from her two colleagues, she'd actually drained their very essence to invoke the spell. The two were definitely dead but it was for a good cause.

"Who's laughing now?" Mary taunted. "You think..." Her words were cut short by a sharp crack of a whip accompanied by Gloria's scream.

"Release her." Paige growled as she brought the whip down on Mary's back for the second time. But Mary only laughed even though the whip had actually torn her robe.

"Paige stop." Deloris shouted.

"Stupid wolf." Mary grinned. "Can't you see we are linked?" She gestured towards a groaning Gloria. "Whatever you do to me affects her. Well, she feels the pain, not me." She laughed when she saw the horror on Paige's face. "So go ahead, whip me all you want. This is fun." Mary grinned, looking smug.

"Troy?" Philip's growl carried across the clearing.

"What are you doing, Troy?" Mary gasped when she saw Troy running towards Gloria. "Troy, that circle of flame... Stop..." She looked desperate but Troy kept going. "So stubborn..." Mary breathed even as she waved a hand and put out the fire just as Troy got to it. But immediately after Troy stepped within the circle, Mary relighted the fire, clearly wanting to deter others from following. This time, however, she didn't make it so high.

"Get out of here, baby." A wheezing Gloria told Troy who was hugging her fiercely.

"I'm not leaving you, mum." Troy murmured, calling Gloria mum for the very first time. "Don't waste your breath." Gloria couldn't stop her tears. They were both tears of joy for how Troy had addressed her, and tears of frustration at her son's stubbornness.

"You need to get out, Troy." Mary rasped. "Very soon I won't be able to keep it away from you."

"So kill us both." Troy responded, his arms tightening around his mother.

"Troy, please..." Mary pleaded.

"You don't get it do you?" Troy asked quietly. "This is my mother and I love her more than you can imagine. I'm in this with her."

"Hey, alpha?" Mary called to Philip. "Why don't you order your stubborn mate to get out of there? Surely you don't want him to die."

"Like you said yourself, he's stubborn." Philip shrugged. "You should know that nothing will faze him. Besides, you should know better than to come between a gay boy and his mother."

"Mary, just let them go and let's get out of here." Sally said, but Mary ignored her and went closer to the circle of flames.

"Troy, listen to me." She said quietly, sheer unhappiness etched on her face. "I know you think I did you wrong but really, I didn't. I wanted the best for you. You're all I have right now. Just promise to come with me and I'll...I'll let her go."

"I can't make that promise." Troy said. "I'd rather die with her."

"They are not who you think they are, Troy." Mary snapped, getting angry. "I'm not the bad person here. I'm only trying to avenge the deaths of our loved ones. They killed my husband. The man was good to you. Don't you think his death should be avenged?"

"I don't think it's accurate to say your husband was good to me, Mary." Troy retorted to Mary's shock. "I might have been young at the time but I remember him and others leading me out of the woods. He brought me to you shortly after. The Jackal was part of the people who killed my father. You call that being good to me?"

"Did someone mention the jackal?" Paige asked loudly. "I killed the bastard's albino arse." She announced.

"You." Mary whirled around to look at Paige with blind fury.

"Yes, me." Paige sneered. "The double-crossing prick. Ripped his throat right out."

Mary let out a bloodcurdling scream and opened both hands to fire a couple of fireballs at Paige, dropping the hair which was her link to Gloria in the process. Even as the fireballs flew out of her palms and bounced off Paige, the wind blew the hair into the flame, burning it instantly and severing the link. Unfortunately for an oblivious Mary, abruptly severing the link that fed the flame had its consequences. The energy of the blue flame had to go back to its conjurer in the same abrupt manner. And that was exactly what happened. To the shock of everyone, the blue flames...which seemed to have suddenly come alive, shifted to where Mary stood screaming frenziedly at Paige and engulfed her.

"Oh god..." Gloria gasped as she covered Troy's head so that he wouldn't see Mary being burnt alive by the flames.

But though he couldn't see the woman who had virtually looked after him his entire life burn to death, Troy could hear her agonizing screams. And he just couldn't stand it. He sobbed uncontrollably in his mother's arms.

"I'm so sorry, baby." Gloria cooed as she rocked Troy.

"Mum?" Jeremy murmured as he crouched beside his mother and brother.

"He's hurting." Gloria moaned.

"I know. Philip will take care of him." Jeremy said. But Gloria refused to let go when Philip tried to pull Troy out of her arms. "Uncle Joel?" Jeremy called but Philip stopped him.

"They need each other right now, Jer." The alpha muttered as he signaled Deloris. "Can you please send them to Mama G's? I'll pick Troy up after we've seen to everything here."

"Alright, Alpha." Deloris wrapped an arm around mother and son and then reached out to touch Joel with her other hand. Then all four disappeared.

"Are you ok, baby?" Jeremy asked a still shaken Ryan.

"I don't know." Ryan sighed softly. "All that magic..."

"You feel drained." Jeremy drew Ryan into his arms.

"On the contrary, I feel energized." Ryan muttered, placing the side of his face on Jeremy's chest. "I think your kid thrives on magic. It keeps kicking and moving in there. Almost as if it's restless."

"Think it wants to come out?" Jeremy chuckled.

"You know it's not yet time." Ryan sighed as he teleported them to their suite.

In the next few hours, the various heads ensured that everything was back to normal. Mario, the warlock who was turned into a toad was restored back to his human form. The witches who'd been stripped of their abilities and the two Wyatt warlocks who no longer had any powers were worked on by Mama Cora. They all left the pack-house with no memories of the Stanwood Pack and what had taken place that day.

Philip eventually went to Gloria's house in the evening to pick up his mate. Troy looked drained but relaxed. He'd already showered and eaten. As soon as he saw Philip he stood up and went into his arms.

"Are you okay?" Philip asked as he wrapped his arms around his mate. At Troy's nod, Philip gave him a soft kiss and then left with him.

Troy didn't utter a word till they got to their suite where he flopped onto the bed and simply stared at Philip. Philip stripped to his boxer briefs and then stripped Troy too. Troy still remained quiet.

"You've been quiet." Philip observed as he crawled into bed.

"Nobody plans a murder out loud." Troy muttered.

"And whose murder are you planning?" Philip moved to cover Troy's body with his.

"Yours." Troy said and watched as his mate burst into laughter. "You lied to me this morning."

"No, I didn't." Philip laughed. "I just didn't tell you what was going on. That's not a lie." He began to scatter kisses all over Troy's face.

"I'm sorry about how I acted this morning." Troy whispered. "I couldn't bring myself to..."

"Shhhh..." Philip captured Troy's mouth in a tender kiss. "You were right." He murmured against Troy's lips when the kiss ended. "And that's why I decreed that those warlocks were not to be killed. What happened to Mary was unfortunate and I'm sorry about that."

"You actually made that decree?" Troy croaked as his eyes welled up.

"I did." Philip wiped at Troy's moist eyes.

"Philip I..." Troy suddenly sounded breathless. "I have this..." He looked around desperately as if he was trying to find the right words. "Philip..."

"Hey, take your time and...fuck." Philip gasped when he was hit with so many emotions at one. His eyes widened when he realized they were coming from his mate. "Troy?"

"I don't know how to describe it." Troy panted, looking very confused. "There's so much I'm feeling right now."

"Breathe, Troy..." Philip managed to gasp before taking his own advice.

The alpha took deep breaths as he leaned down and leaned his forehead against Troy's. Philip was no fool. He knew what those emotions were. And in as much as they brought him joy, they terrified him as well. It wasn't every day that a person felt such intense love and respect flowing in spades from the person they cherished most in the world. He was completely floored.

Philip raised his head and stared down into Troy's beautiful love-glazed blue eyes and felt himself getting lost in them. He definitely hadn't been expecting that from Troy. Troy himself was clearly confused by the feeling. Did he even know what it was, Philip wondered. Philip tried to speak but he couldn't, thanks to the huge lump that had formed in his throat. He was completely overcome with emotions. He therefore did the only thing he could...

'I love you too, Troy.' Philip whispered on their mind-link. 'More than anything and anyone in this world.'

Troy gasped as his eyes widened in realization. "You knew..." He whispered but Philip slowly shook his head.

"I just felt it." Philip whispered back and smiled when Troy reached up to cup his face.

"I've had that feeling for some time now." Troy rubbed a thumb across Philip's lower lip. "But this time it felt different. It...overwhelmed me. Felt really intense." He moaned when Philip opened his mouth and captured his wandering thumb. "It's scary but in a sweet way. Does that even make sense?" He whispered.

"Perfect sense." Philip released Troy's finger and responded. After all, the feeling had terrified even him for a moment.

"If this is how it feels to be in love, then I never want it to end." Troy captured Philip's mouth in a soft kiss.

"I'll make sure it doesn't." Philip muttered against Troy's lips. "I'm going to love, cherish, worship," he interspersed each word with a kiss, "and adore you so hard you're going to beg me to stop."

"I'll never tell you to stop." Troy laughed breathlessly.

"Then let me show you how I'm going to worship you, starting with this gorgeous body."

And the alpha proceeded to show his mate with his mouth, just how much he cherished him. It was rapturous, mind-blowing, and amazingly good. By the time Philip was done with Troy, the young man was a quivering mess and hopelessly in love with his mate. The two drifted off into a contented sleep in each other's arms, each basking in the other's love.

***

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