Carson, Kyle's son, above

Kyle POV

Everybody has been so busy that nobody knows what happened between Rob and me. I also did my best to hide it from Mikkeli. He is so tense because of our discovery and the rogue's attack at home that he doesn't need to worry additionally about me.

And, of course, I don't want to talk about Rob, and I don't want to think about Rob; I don't want ever to see Rob again. Skyler is in so much pain because of what our mate put us through. Still, I didn't get the comfort of crying the whole day in my room because there was a job to do in the woods.

Mikkeli stayed there with Patrick to fully check the lab we had found as I leave the shower after returning to my room. I'm irritated because I could smell something in there, something that shouldn't be in a lab, something I'm sure I'm familiar with already, but I can't remember what it is.

To my surprise, from my window,  I see Marc standing in front of the packhouse with Hannah. My heart beats stronger because Carson is with her, I run downstairs, and in a matter of seconds, my son is in my arms.

"Thank you so much, Hannah! Mommy is here, sweety; I missed you so much," I say, cuddling him towards my chest.

"I wanted to speak with Mikkeli in person, and I thought this little angel will make you happy," she smiles at me.

"Mikkeli is still in the forest, but for sure, he is already running here very fast," I say, and I'm not surprised as barely a couple of minutes later, Byron emerges from the woods.

Mikkeli shifts instantly, takes Hannah in her arms, and walks inside. They kiss like crazy as both Marc and I roll our eyes.

Carson starts whimpering a little, so I put his nose to my neck in a way he likes. From the corner of my eye, I see the rest of the wolves who stayed with Mikkeli in the forest; one of them is Blake. He looks so intensively at me; I know that the wolf is not the guilty one, but I just can't; I just can't let him get close to me ever again.

I walk into the kitchen; I want to heat my son's milk, which Hannah brought with his other things, alongside his bassinet. But from the window, I can see Rob's father talking with the previous Alpha. I get tense when I think about it; I hardly see them together. Ryan usually spends his day sitting in the garden behind the packhouse, doing nothing; he rarely has guests.

Carson seems busy playing with his blanket, so I slowly go to the kitchen door. I know how to move almost unheard and unseen; after all, that is the first skill omegas born in an abusive pack have to learn to survive, and under my father's reign, my pack was very abusive. I walk slowly, as close as possible, to be able to hear them.

"What if Mikkeli isn't here to train? What if he is looking for something? He ignores us; we must make him somehow take us seriously," says Rob's father.

"I don't care anymore," Ryan responds. "My wife deserves to stay in her house. My daughter is buried here. I don't care if Mikkeli and Hank don't respect me, but my wife deserves to finish her days in peace, and that's the only reason I stay quiet. I don't care what will happen to you or me anymore. Just accept already that we don't matter anymore. Our pack is gone."

Rob's father seems to lose his cool at his statement. He comes closer to Ryan and yanks him up, forcing him to stand from his chair and face him.

"I still have a way out from this; I will not become a pathetic fool like you," he says.

I slowly turn around and go back. At least Ryan doesn't intend to make any trouble for now, and that's good news.

As I walk back into the kitchen, my heart skips a beat, and fear rushes through me.

Rob is holding my son in his arms; I feel Skylar growling in my mind, he's a mother, and any male holding our child is dangerous.

"Give me my son back!" I shout and rush towards them; Rob seems sad but doesn't protest when I pull Carson away from him.

"Don't ever touch my son," I growl, stepping away from him.

"I will never hurt him," he says."Kyle, please, talk with me. I want to make it right."

"Make right what exactly? You sent me into premature labor, insulted, and judged me at first sight; you wanted to rape me!" I don't scream; I wonder from where I got the strength to speak calmly.

Rob looks at me, but I don't want to look at him; I don't want to see sadness and shame in his eyes. I don't want to see his regret. Nothing will ever change the fact that he is the brother of my rapist, and I'm the main reason the said brother is dead.

"Just reject me," I say. "Since you no longer intend to make me pay, just let me go, and we both can move on."

His eyes immediately start shifting, and a low growl leaves his mouth. He takes a step toward me.

"Never. I will never reject you, Kyle!"

"But you can't accept me either, Rob; sooner or later, you will see that. Just stay the fuck away from me and never touch my son again," I snarl and go past him, but he catches my arm, and sparks and tingles go through me. I want so much to let him hold me.

"You are mine, Kyle, I know I fucked up so badly, but I'll make it right; I'll find a way."

Rob POV

I've been avoiding thinking about Renan for so long. Roseanne was right; it was just more convenient not to think too much and not to ask questions.

After his death, my mother was devastated, and still is; I haven't seen her so broken ever before. I guess I just need someone to blame for her suffering. I completely ignored the fact that Hank told me what had happened. True, he didn't give me any details, but Hank is my superior and my friend, and he would never lie to me. But it was just easier to convince myself that my friend somehow misunderstood things; it was easier not to face the truth.

Now when I think about it with Renan, we were always ignoring the truth. All his lies, irresponsible behavior, and all the times he made mum cry always had some kind of excuse. It was always somebody else's fault. During the years, I guess we kind of got used to always finding some explanations for his behavior. He was promising improvement every time, over and over again, and still kept pushing boundaries more and more.

Even I started to distance myself from him, especially during the latest years, I was tired of taking care of him, pulling him out of trouble again and again. And instead of fixing his ways, Renan kept complaining that I was a bad brother. I felt guilty about that; I felt like I had given up on him. When he was chosen to go to Blackwood Pack to train, I wasn't happy; I was so sure that he would only make me more embarrassed, as always. But when he didn't return, I needed someone to release my anger on, and since Alpha Mikkeli was out of my reach, I picked on Kyle.

The mate thing made it only more complicated. I guess I wanted to move on, but my anger took the worst of me. Mating bond gave me the opportunity to make Kyle pay, and I used it as an excuse not to let him go. But truth be told, I couldn't accept letting him go or letting somebody else have him. I kept convincing myself I was doing it because of revenge, but I wasn't. I was doing it because I have wanted Kyle more than anything else in my whole life, and I still do.

I see now why it happened. My previous Alpha, my father, and my pack used to treat omegas as something beneath the rest of us, and we all just accepted it as something normal. So Renan and the others just did something they didn't treat as very serious because if they were about to do that here under Ryan's rule, they wouldn't suffer such huge consequences.

That's why I'm also guilty for what happened to Kyle because, for years, I was shielding Renan from any possible repercussions of his action, and I now, finally, we both had to pay the price for it.

And now Kyle doesn't want to have anything to do with me, and I can't possibly blame him for this.

I sigh heavily, stepping out of the shower and putting my clothes on. I've just come back from the woods after another long day of searching through the territory. Just because we have one hidden lab here doesn't mean that we don't have more.

I pass the changing room of warriors that have just come from training. I recognize some of them, mostly lazy bastards. But I stop walking as soon as I hear my mate's name.

"You've seen him, for Goddess's sake. Who wouldn't like to tap that ass? Omegas are born to be fucked, after all, but seeing Kyle makes me horny almost all the time. Pity he never shifts in public; I wouldn't mind checking the goods perfectly," one of them says, and the rest laugh.

"You better be careful; remember what happened before."

"I don't intend to be that stupid. But I can try some flirting; the poor thing for sure must be lonely."

"Well, I perfectly understand why they didn't manage to restrain themselves; it is so difficult to think straight when something so delicious walks in front of you. Good that I wasn't there at that time because I'd surely join the fun."

"And be dead now? That bitch is Alpha's brother, so better keep your hands towards yourself."

"But still imagine the possibilities. I bet they took him from both sides at the same time. Lucas always liked choking others with his dick. Imagine Kyle on his knees, pounded from behind. Goddess, he may have cried rape, but I bet he enjoyed every strike of their dicks and was moaning for more. Alpha's brother or not, omegas exist, so we true wolves have somewhere to stick our cocks in!"

They laugh louder and I feel my anger, my disgust, my fury increasing. This is not a matter of laughing, my mate's pain, my parent's pain, everybody's involved family's pain, and here they are laughing.

"I like challenges, I think I can convince Kyle to spread his legs for me, and I'll tell you all the details."

Hearing that the last strand is breaking, Blake and I see the red.

Hank POV

The moment I enter Mikkeli's office, I know something is wrong. The way both Hannah and Mikkeli look at me makes me wary.

The first bad news was the arrival of the Council's representative. He came today, four days ahead, and instantly made me dislike him. His name is Gabriel Blythe, and in short, he is a pompous prig who believes he is always right.

He has spent almost four hours in the study with Alpha and Luna, and the growls which I heard coming from there from time to time made me sure that all negotiations were far away from being friendly. Hayden was also walking in and out of the study to make some calls. He also looked extremely pissed off.

Gabriel is sitting now in one of the armchairs with a bored expression on his face.

I bow in respect and take my usual place. Mikkeli is tapping with his fingers on the desk, a very bad sign, and Hannah looks extremely angry.

"We need to wait for someone else," she says.

And soon, Hayden enters alongside Celia. I almost jump from my place seeing her.

"Why the hell is she here?" I ask.

"Celia, please sit down; you too, Hank," says Mikkeli. "We have a very serious problem."

"I'll gladly explain, Beta Hank, since the root of this problem is you," says Gabriel in a silky voice. "It has been recently brought to the Council's attention that you and your Alpha gave shelter to hunters, three of them to be specific, which, as you know, is against our law. They should've been interrogated or executed on the spot at the moment you found them."

I growl as Celia's heartbeat increases.

"Of course, I was informed about your "special circumstances," but as I analyzed them carefully, it came to my attention that you heavily misinterpreted them. She is no longer your mate; you rejected her, and since you've already spent seven years separated, it's clear you can live without her. I understand that there is a child in all this, but rogues also have children, and yet they still were banished from a pack without those children. That girl is our enemy; she can't stay here."

"You want me to take her child away and send her where?" I want to yell but force myself to keep calm; Celia doesn't look at me; her eyes are stuck on the floor.

"And the Council was also notified that her brother made a threat against this pack. This means you and your Alpha put an enemy before your pack; it can be treated as treason and be punished severely," he continues ignoring everybody's death glare. "This is a very serious matter, Alpha Mikkeli, and can't be simply overlooked."

"I see no threat in giving a place to live to women and children," Mikkeli growls.

"She is Nightingale. She can't simply stay here. It puts the safety of the pack and our all kind in jeopardy. As an Alpha, you are obligated to protect members of the pack, not some stranger, even more one of the killers responsible for genocide attacks against  our people, and if I remember correctly your own father's death!"

"We can always accept her to the pack," says Hannah slowly.

"On what ground Luna? I understand as a human, you can be ignorant of this matter, but humans can't just become members of packs. The only occasion they can be accepted is if they mate into the pack if they get marked, which of course, isn't the case now. She and others  should be taken in custody from the Council."

"Over my dead body," I hiss hatefully.

"That can be done, I'm sure," says Gabriel, "but your fury won't change anything. Am I right, Hayden? I know you kept checking to find a way out of this, but there is none. You must send them all away as prisoners of Council unless you want a conflict with the Council."

I clench my fists and look at Mikkeli. This just cannot happen. But if I have to, I will go rogue and take them with me; if that's the price, I will pay it.

"You said "marked mate"?" Celia speaks unexpectedly, looking at Hannah, who nods.

"We've discussed it already, but that seems to be the only way to guarantee your safety fully. If Hank marks you, you, Danny, and your uncle can stay here. You will be officially a pack member, and they, as your relatives, can be included too," she says.

I literally jump from my chair and say in disbelieve:

"You can't be serious!"

But the way both she and Mikkeli look at me again makes it clear that they are serious. So that's why they have brought Celia here, to tell both her and me that we are out of options. I feel Greyson's fury as I yank the fucking bastard sent here by Council and press him into the wall.

"You want me to rape her again, you sick fuck!" I scream; I want to break his neck.

Both Mikkeli and Marc drag me away from him, he falls to the ground, but still, I manage to kick him hard in the stomach.

"We are extremely sorry," says Hannah in a sweet voice as Mikkeli keeps holding me. "Hayden, please show our guest back to his room; we will inform you as quickly as we can about our decision."

Gabriel snarls but soon smirks ironically, sending me a death glare, and leaves the room. Mikkeli lets go of me, and dead silence comes to all of us. What is the reason to talk if we have nothing good to say?

"Why... why did you scream about rape to him?" asks Celia; she still hasn't lifted her sight from the floor.

"Marking is like marriage in our world, but a mark can only be placed on your mate during sexual intercourse. There is no other way," says Hannah sadly.

"No fucking way! I'm not going to do that. I will leave the pack if I have to. We all will leave!" I shout.

"And go where?" asks Celia. "My brother is out there, and for sure, this Council of yours won't leave us alone since we know so much. I don't want life on the run! And our daughter needs a pack; she needs to be safe, Danny needs to be safe, and I want uncle David to be safe."

"Celia, I'll find a way, somehow..." I start, but she finally lifts her eyes to look at me.

Her gaze makes me almost flinch; it's empty.

"We will do it. You will mark me. I will just spread my legs, you will cum inside me, and it will be done. Kathy and Danny will be safe".

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