3 MONTHS LATER
INTERLUDE
When his youngest son finally fell asleep after ten cuddles, ten kisses and five stories, Jason walked through the corridor that occupied most of the family’s bedrooms with a feeling of bone-deep satisfaction. For someone who had been taught as a kid that the whole world revolved around him and that it would be wise for him to make sure it remained doing so, he was enjoying being wrapped around so many little fingers. He had never thought it was possible to love as much; to love so purely with no expectation of anything in return.
He knocked on the ominously back door and heard a loud dramatic sigh which he wouldn’t have been able to hear if he didn’t have his supernatural hearing, which he took for approval and went in to his youngest daughter, Harpah’s room. The room was a soft mixture of dark blue and white with very little decorations than would be expected in a typical eight-year-old room. There was a couch at the center of the room with a matching coffee-table in front of it. The corner of the room boasted a number of PCs and a colorful laptop on top of a long table with a matching marshmallow shaped chair in front. The walk-in closet was open, a bright purple light spilling directly onto the big, immaculately made, queen sized bed which was covered in a simple pink duvet and a number of pillows and stuffed animals. A flower shaped table stood next to the bed with a large night lamp on top.
Harpah was at the far end of the room, frowning at his intrusion, while a recently made painting stood drying on the easel. Jason crossed over to his daughter despite her glares and silently stared at her daughter’s beautiful and disturbingly detailed drawing of a gutted fish.
‘Wow. I love this piece honey. It’s very…uhm…gutsy.” He joked, much to the chagrin of his already unimpressed daughter. As he had thought she would, she let out another of her signature sighs before turning towards a sink and basin and washing up her hands and everything else, removed her stained apron, before she threw herself at her bed.
“What are you doing here dad? You made it pretty clear that you wished I was never born and that you want to ruin my life now” she said, a pout in her voice.
Jason was fighting a smile when he answered. “I doubt my saying I won’t go and beat up an eighty-year-old woman and your classmate meant all that.”
” Of course it does. If you love your sweet, talented and beautiful daughter you would make sure she never goes through all that I go through.” She huffed.
Jason sat beside her and ruffled flicked her ponytail, grinning at her cute glare. “Come on my sweet, talented and beautiful daughter. It’s just a trophy. You have to let the other children win some of those as well.” he reasoned with her.
“It is so not fair that I’m frequently paying because grown-ups like to make undeserving people feel good. It’s not my job to do that. Their parents should be doing that. And you know what, the way you and mom are treating me right now will turn me into a talentless cute child who survives on pity trophies. “Jason chuckled despite himself.
“Harpah! If your mother hears you say that….”
“I know. I know.” She sighed before finally moving closer to Jason and leaning on his shoulder. “Are you sure you can’t use your Alpha status to convince them to be fair and give me, the more deserving individual, the Bravery Award instead of Kayla? I was the one who started those community rescue groups after all. “she asked, looking at me with sad eyes and a pouty lip.
“You did honey and we’re so proud of you, and to your family, you’ll always be the bravest little girl in the whole world. So how about you take one for the team and let Kayla have the award? You know that in life you won’t always get the credit you deserve.” Jason said, snuggling his daughter before kissing her forehead.
She was silent for a while before she sighed. “Fine. I guess she does kind of deserve the bravery award.” Jason was shocked by her compliance before she continued. “Only a brave person would dress so horribly but still manage to have the biggest mouth and opinions, in town.”
Jason shook his head in mirth before encouraging her into the bed as she was rubbing her eyes sleepily. He pulled the covers back for her and made sure she was tucked in tight as he kissed her on the forehead. “Night my beautiful Princess.”
“Goodnight my dashing King. Sleep tight. Kiss mommy for me.” She murmured faintly, immediately dozing off.
“Ok sweetie. She’ll come kiss your goodnight later on, ok?” he whispered at the sleeping form before slowly backing out the room and switching off the main light. The lamp automatically flickered on and he left her room.
The room next door belonged to his other and older daughter and he gave the door a gentle knock before entering after she shouted for him to do so. Kimberlee must not have been expecting Jason, however, because her eyes widened comically at him before she slammed her laptop shut and practically threw it across her bed, a guilty expression on her face before she beamed at Jason
“Hi dad. What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly. Jason raised his eyebrow at his nineteen-year-old daughter before looking around the room which was very identical to the previous ones save for a few personal touches, some colors and some designs.
“Hey sweetie. I’m here to say goodnight like I always do. Why? Did I interrupt something?” he asked, only half teasingly.
“No! Nothing. Why would you think that? Nothing going on here. Just business...no sleeping…it’s sleeping; just sleeping as usual.” She blabbered, her pale skin which looked so much like her mother’s heating up with an intense blush.
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Jason regarded her curiously for a while even though he was not worried. Kimberlee was actually a very sweet and good kid, and whatever it is she was hiding couldn’t be harmful to anyone in any way. He also knew that she would probably feel guilty about all the secrecy she was exhibiting and would guiltily confess as much as she could the next day. So Jason didn’t confront her older daughter, just kissed her forehead as well before wishing her a goodnight.
After leaving her room, he followed the slight tug of one of his bonds, his strongest one by far; the one he shared with his wife and it led him to one of their smaller, private kitchens. Lanthe was sitting on the small dining table with her legs hanging down, a large tub of ice-cream on the floor. He licked his lips when he saw what she was wearing; a shear black gown with matching panties, gutters and stocking, with no bra. Not that her firm and gravity defying breasts with perky nipples had ever needed one. Her usual scent of the most seductive magic and champagne was tinged with one of flowers and fresh fruit; of the baby she carried. His baby. The baby he had planted inside his mate. He could feel his growl of lust emerging from deep within his stomach.
She looked up at him, startled, and must have mistaken his appreciation for something else because she narrowed her eyes and pointed her spoon at him. “Don’t you dare even comment. I only had two spoons.” She lied, probably forgetting about her hair’s strange food adaptations.
It was one of the most baffling thing Jason had ever known. Lanthe had had to go through a lot of changes when she first arrived from the place she couldn’t physically or in any other way say, explain, remember or think about when she was with non-deities. Somehow needing sustenance was the strangest for her body to comprehend and her hair had ever since taken to turning into the color of whatever meal she indulged in and actually liked. Luckily the turning was somewhat gradual and took over ten minutes so Lanthe usually avoided eating with people who weren’t aware of her deity powers or she delayed doing so until the last possible minute. Everyone just assumed she loved dyeing her hair and no effort was made into correcting that assumption.
Jason did not bother reminding her that she was the one who swore of ice-cream for some reason and he had had nothing to do with that or enforcing her self-imposed rules, he just walked over and grabbed her long, chocolate-brown hair in a tight grip and took her cold and sweet mouth in a bruising kiss that took both their breaths away. She was pliant in his arms as he explored every single delicious crevice of her mouth and tongue before pulling away breathlessly, her silky hair falling over his fingers like melting butter.
“Hi.” She said breathlessly, giving him a stunning smile.
“Hey.” he said grinning back at her before stealing another kiss.
“Want some dessert?” she asked, scooping up a spoonful of ice-cream and offering it to his mouth.
“Sure I do.” He said as he took the ice-cream in his mouth, pulled her to the edge of the table and pulled off her panties to her ankles. Her breath stuttered as he mouthed some of the ice-cream that remained in his mouth after he swallowed a little, on her core; the ice-cream’s sweet taste mingling with her tangy taste and making into the most addictive taste ever.
“Jase…. Don’t tease your wife.” She whined with a shiver as he continued running his cold tongue gently on her silky folds. When the ice-cream finally disappeared from his tongue and she was all desperate; whining and wriggling wantonly, he finally gave her wet snatch a long and deep lick as he gripped her pale thighs in his eyes.
He went on to revel on her moans and sighs of pleasure as he ate her out, he addictive juices getting more plentiful and flavorful as she got incredibly aroused. His tongue entered her deeply and proceeded to move in and out of her pussy as she cried out, grabbing his long hair and begging for mercy and for more. It wasn’t more before she was coming in his mouth and he was licking every bit of her before he sat down on the nearby chair and pulled her into straddling him so that her core was directly under his cock which was tenting his sweat-pants. He hadn’t come but they both knew that they were hardly done for the day, as they cuddled, their breaths settling.
After a while of their silent cuddling, he pulled the tub of ice-cream and the abandoned spoon towards him and slowly fed his mate while stealing kisses in between. He could feel himself at the edge of sanity. The baby was almost there and he could feel his rut furiously approach. Lanthe must have felt it too because she brought my free hand to lie on her stomach and smiled sadly at me.
“It’s time, baby. We have to go soon.” She said while stroking my face lovingly.
“I know. But we can’t just leave yet, not with the bond so unstable and frayed. There are traitors and violent opposition we can’t just leave like this. Atlas is…”
“…. The future Alpha of this place and he is fully capable. You have to believe in him.” She said firmly.
“I do. I believe in him but I fear…. I fear who might be leading this opposition. What if it’s her?” he whispered, his heart palpitating at the thought. She took a steady breath and looked him deep in his eyes.
“We have completed our destiny in Abattohn, in Azzuire really, and no matter who it is, it’s not our fight anymore Jason. We’re done here. All that should have happened during our reign has happened to a tee, and we leave this place in many capable hands. We were never meant to end her chapter, darling. We were always meant to give birth to and raise the people who will. So let’s let that happen my love. We’re done.” She said softly.
“But we can’t just leave them. Not on their own. We don’t even know who we can even trust anymore. Atlas can’t be without a guard. All of them can’t, and Mikka is just one guardian whom he can trust. We need help. They need help at least. I think I would feel better if we spoke to the High Council and requested one of the guards.” Jason insisted, his hand worriedly rubbing her back.
“But how do we know we can trust the guard they send? You know that there are some council members who want to go back to the old classes and slave systems. She obviously has people on the inside if she managed to somehow escape the National Prison despite being supposedly stripped of her powers.” He closed his eyes with a curse at her valid point and began thinking of some of his friends from different races and wondering if he could convince them to send help. He would be putting them in a tight spot though. The situation was delicate enough since they had no evidence of what was coming and bringing in a number of soldiers from other races would cause a panic and strain the already polluted link. They would have to be more discreet and sensitive, and he had no idea where he could find a one or two powerful people who could watch over his son and the pack while he and Lanthe went away to get ready for the baby and for good. Had it been forty or so years back, Lanthe would have had the power to provide a legion of such people but when she’d married Jason, she’d given up on a lot of her power and her connections. Jason was baffled every time he thought about her love and devotion to him and their family.
“There isn't a solution.” He said to his wife in a low voice even as he kissed her pretty jaw.
“There is.” She responded in a law voice before looking pleadingly into his eyes.
“Absolutely not!” he roared, standing up and placing her on the floor before she could hypnotize him with her pretty eyes and get him to do what she wanted. He paced away from her.
“He's your father, Jason, he'll help.” She pleaded.
He scoffed. “He doesn't care about me Lanthe. Let's not kid ourselves.”
“He does baby. I know he does. I know him, and I know how he may come across but I promise you baby; he won't let you crush and burn.” She insisted, walking over to him and grabbing his hand. “Trust me please and reach out to him.”
He clenched his jaw stubbornly but she knew she'd won. She'd always win over him.
“Okay. Fuck....I'll call him but…I won't let him do it for free. I won't leave with that hanging over my head.”
She sighed disapprovingly but stood on her tiptoes and gave him a gentle kiss that drew all the tension out of him. Despite himself, he couldn't help but feel more at ease. Whoever his fath…Dacre…. sent would be more than formidable. At least until they put together an army of men they could trust.