Rob POV

SMUT WARNING

"Rob, I don't want to be meddlesome, but what going on with you and Kyle?" one of the warriors asks.

I have just brought back my unit from the patrol, and we are currently getting dressed. I can't fail to notice that almost everybody around, and many patrol groups have just returned, is listening. I look at my colleague who asked that question; he is from the second territory, just like me.

"Why are you asking me that?" I say.

"Don't know, man. I guess I'm worried. You weren't well after Renan and seeing you with Kyle. .. You didn't want to leave his bedside the whole day after yesterday's fight with Nightingale. Plus, one of the omegas said that you moved into his room. And I remember how.. how..."

"How I used to say that he was a lying slut?" I finish his sentence in a bitter voice as he nods.

I sigh. I shouldn't be surprised by their curiosity; the tension is evident. The wolves from the second territory don't understand what could possibly happen, and the wolves from the first territory are curious cause Kyle is one of them and the Alpha's brother.

"We are mates," I say, and literally everybody, who is listening, gasps.

"You have some kind of problem?" I ask, getting a little angry.

"No, it's just. Shit, man, it must be tough for both of you. Considering what happened with Renan and..."

"My brother and the rest were guilty," I say." I was a complete jerk to Kyle at the beginning, but I will make it right."

One of the warriors, till now quiet, says:

"Hank said they were guilty, and we all know that our Beta doesn't lie, no matter what. But are you sure you can handle that? His trauma, your parents' grief, plus there is his kid?"

"Carson is my pup," I say in a stern voice. "And my parents will have to make peace with the truth, as I had to."

I don't wait for any more questions and pity looks and go to the packhouse. My mating is my problem alone, but they were right about one thing. It's high time for me to tell my parents and... I feel somebody's hand on my arm and turn around to see Lionel.

"Why you didn't say anything earlier?" he says, making me wonder why he seems so nervous.

"It wasn't your business. But, seriously, Lionel, what do you want?"

"I know you want to believe your mate, but I don't. Renan was my best friend, and whatever happened, it wasn't his fault," he says through clenched teeth.

I growl; I wouldn't say I like his attitude.

"Listen, Lionel; I don't care what you believe or not!" I grab him by his collar. "You will not badmouth my mate!"

I push him away and leave; I don't want to talk with him. Not right now, not ever.

As I enter the room, I now share with Kyle, even though I still sleep on the floor, I see him sitting in the armchair, lost in thoughts. His bitten hand is still painful, but fortunately,  nothing serious happened to him during the fight.

"Where is Carson?" I ask.

"James and Jason, along with Rosie and Kathy, decided today that my son is so sweet that they want to play with him. Rose and Celia are with them. And I had a long conversation with Mikkeli, Hank, and Hayden."

"About?"

"About everything I smelt during the meeting with Nightingale, about everything he had said."

I frown, he seems concerned, and I don't know why he clearly doesn't want to discuss it any further. So I sit in front of him, and to my surprise, his face flashes red, and then I realize why. I storm out so quickly from the training grounds that I came here only in my underwear.

"Do you want me to get dressed?" I ask in a teasing voice, and his face becomes redder.

"No," he says quickly, too quickly, making me smirk and lean closer to him.

I put one of my hands on his thigh and gently caress it; my hopes rise because he doesn't flinch. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, I know that my constant presence in his room affects him too, just like his affects me.

"You are hard, love. Would you like a blowjob?" I ask in the most seductive voice I'm capable of mustering. Blake's purring like crazy in my mind; he likes the idea of seducing our mate.

Kyle doesn't protest, so I use both my hands to gently separate his knees and very slowly take off his pants and underwear. I see he is tense, but he is also flushed and breathing hard; I don't sense any distress, just anticipation.

I reach to take him into my mouth, and he gasps and moans instantly since I take in almost all of him. I move my lips slowly up and down his length, bobbing my head and ensuring his tip hits the end of my throat. He makes a move as if he wants to close his legs, but I don't allow it. Instead, both my palms are on his inner thighs, kneading them gently as my tongue swirls around his cock.

As I lick, suck, and caress him, I keep looking at him,  taking in how mesmerizing he looks, moaning and trembling with pleasure because of my touch. His slim fingers are tangled in my hair, giving me more stimulations as I pick up my pace. He moans so loud, and I'm happy he doesn't try to confine himself. He is always looking at me, and I can't stop wondering if it is because he wants to look at me or if he wants to make sure that I'm none of them.

"Rob, I'm going to..." he manages to whisper, and my heart skips a beat as he cum into my mouth.

I reach higher to his lips. I know that mine is sticky because of his cum, but he doesn't seem to mind it as we move in sync, teasing each other with our tongues. Suddenly Kyle pushes me onto my back and straddles me, his mouth is sucking my nipples, and I breathe hard as I feel his hand squeezing my intimate parts.

"Fuck, Kyle," I moan as I feel his teeth biting my nipples and his hand palming me. My mind is so clouded as Blake howls in pure enjoyment in my mind. My eyes finally shift, and the horny animal pushes me to take charge. I grab Kyle's neck intending to pull him closer, but I make a big mistake.

Kyle jerks so fast away from me that he cannons into the armchair; I sit instantly as he pants hard, not because of pleasure but fear.

"Hey, hey, love, it's okay," I say as gently as I can.

Kyle's lips tremble, and he warps his arms around himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I don't... I'm sorry, don't get mad," he whimpers,

I come closer, and he accepts my hug; I pat his back as his nose is in the crook of my neck, sniffing eagerly. Then, I gently rock him as a small child waiting for him to feel calmer.

"I'm sorry that I ruined the moment," he says after a while.

"You didn't ruin anything, Kyle; I'm okay with baby steps; you can have all the time you need," I say slowly as he snuggles more into me.

My mate is in my arms. I've heard about possessiveness and desire from those who have found their mates; I feel that too. They said it's the most substantial feelings that rule all your actions, but I think for me, it is protectiveness. I must protect him, keep him safe no matter what. And I also don't believe that anybody is capable of doing it right but me.

Hank POV

Gamma awaits us on the porch of the packhouse at the second territory as both Celia and I leave the car. I glance at her, happy she offered to come here with me.

We enter the house. Mikkeli and I have finally decided that we have enough evidence to confront Ryan openly; the time to end all those secrets has come. We need all the answers to close the case and move on. We both also decided that it would be better if l spoke with my former Alpha. Mikkeli and his brothers... well, they have a confrontation of their own to handle.

Patrick nods to both of us and invites us inside.

"Has Roseanne done working on what she was asked to do?" I ask, and Patrick nods again.

"You want both of you to talk with him?" he asks, looking at Celia.

I may understand that it's not her problem, but I want her close to me if I'm to accept what my grandfather had possibly done. Betraying his own people, collaborating with those who murdered his son, I need her close. I really do. We slowly go upstairs, and I don't stop holding her hand even for a moment.

Ryan's private rooms are marvelous. In previous years I've never paid attention to that; I guess we don't notice what we see every day. But this place it too luxurious; Ryan clearly liked to feel above his pack.

The man who was once my Alpha sits in his big armchair. I haven't seen him for a while. He got older, more tired, and sadder. Once a proud and strong werewolf is gone.

"What do I owe the honor of this visit from you and your...?"

"Celia is my mate," I say.

"Oh yes, the hunter's girl; your grandfather would be so disappointed."

Strangely, his voice has no malice and judgment, so unusual for him. On the contrary, he was always so eager to point fingers and pass sentences, always putting himself first.

"We will talk about my grandfather; I advise you to use your words wisely, but don't you dare to lie to me. As your previous Beta, I am fed up with all your lies."

I sit in front of him with Celia next to me.

"There is a hidden lab on this land, the lab you knew about. Dickson already told us everything. So we can prove that you purchased ingredients to produce wolfbane. So tell me, Ryan, why? Why have you been selling the wolfsbane to hunters?"

He closes his eyes for the moment before taking a big breath and starting:

"We had debts; I had debts, then Tratter saw the opportunity. So when we burned the cash of Nightingale seven years ago, we took some of it. We used it to pay our debts. Your grandfather knew and was against it at the beginning but understood how serious the situation was, so he agreed to help and keep quiet."

"To save our pack with the bloody money?" I spit.

"Money is money, Hank. You can talk about honest money when you are not standing at the edge. He was as eager as I not to endure the humiliation of the pack's bankruptcy. I was spoiled, I admit, but I didn't want it to end like this," his voice trembles; he looks so weak I almost pitied him.

"The plan was to burn that cash anyway. I really thought that no one would know and there would be no damage. I thought that it was done, but I was so wrong. It was Terry Nightingale who came to me some years after. He tracked the money, the pack and gave me a choice."

"To supply them with wolfsbane or destroy yourself," I say; it's a statement, not a question.

"My reputation was at stake, alliances, even the unity of werewolves and..."

"Unity?" I interrupt him. "You were selling him weapons they used to kill werewolves, and you dare to speak about unity!"

Celia is holding my hand firmly as my eyes shift. I want to make him bleed; I want so much...

"Did my grandfather know?" I ask, taking a grip on myself.

"Yes and no. He knew about the lab and that we were selling wolfbane, but he thought I was trading with rogues. I lied to him that my creditors had found out I paid them with hunters' money and were blackmailing me. And he was as much afraid of shame as I was. He didn't want anybody to know that we failed to run the pack and had to use "the bloody money," as you said."

"And did you trust that Terry wouldn't betray you sooner or later?" Celia asks, to my surprise.

"Steady supplying of wolfsbane was more important for him. Thanks to that, his clan didn't perish after it was left with no money."

"And thanks to that, my brother was able to ensure his position as the next clan's leader," she finishes.

"Who else except you, Tratter, and my grandfather knew?" I ask.

"No one, I swear," says Ryan. "Hank, your grandfather really didn't know for a long time..."

"But he couldn't be that stupid," I interrupt him again" I'm not that stupid; there is no way he didn't figure out the truth sooner or later."

Ryan stares at the floor; I see his hands shaking. He doesn't raise his eyes, too shamed to look at me as he says:

"The hunters didn't kill him. But, you are right; he did find out, and he couldn't... He couldn't live with that, so he killed himself."

I press Ryan into the wall; my canines are out; I dig my claws into his arms as he cries:

"I'm so sorry. I found him and staged it to look like hunters. I didn't want you to know... You were his whole world. I wanted to keep you away from it. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

I don't need much to break his neck. Maybe my anger will be gone if his heart stops beating. He hasn't deserved better than this.

Celia comes closer and hugs me from behind, and that's when my fury is gone, and I realize I'm holding an old, broken man. There is no sight of his former strength and glory. Pitiful, he is nothing more than a miserable old man now.

I step away from him; I got what I wanted.

"From this day, you are forbidden to leave the packhouse and talk with anybody, be grateful you won't be in the dungeon," I say and turn to Celia, and we go toward the door.

"You think you are so mighty!" Ryan spits, but his eyes are full of sorrow. "You think she can love you! She is like me; she just took the best she could in given circumstances. And you, Hank, you raped her for Goddess's sake you..."

"He has been forgiven," says Celia squeezing my hand tighter " He took responsibility; he... He is not like you because he cares about others, and you care only about yourself."