Claimed for their Pleasure by L.V. Lane

Epilogue

Gage

IT HAS BEEN a long time coming, but Eric has finally relented and allowed me to see my brother, Danon. My claiming of Jessa and Brandon has facilitated the ties growing between our clans. Along with our continuing peaceful ways, allowing tempers to settle. This is only the beginning, but I’m grateful nonetheless for an opportunity to see and speak to my brother.

It has been over year since he was taken prisoner. I have thought of him every single day.

A Halket warrior takes me to a small bare shack adjoining the great hall. A high, barred window lets a little light in, casting weak winter sunlight over my brother.

We take each other’s measure. It is good to see Danon, although it pains me that he is locked up like this.

“Did you kill the Halket king?” I ask.

“No,” he says.

I believe him. It relieves me that I can accept his words as truth.

I have ruminated over the answer to this question.

Wondered if I would get a chance to even ask him.

Wondered if he would admit that he did kill the late king. Or worse, that he would lie to me about it.

“What happened?”

He sighs. I have a feeling he has told this tale often.

“We split after leaving the clan. Father went north with the first party, I went south with the second, and a third party went east. Scouting was as much as my father said. It was quiet, no attack was coming, and we rode along the border until we met with the third party again. I didn’t realize what they were up to, what our father had ordered them to do. Not until I came upon them stringing the body up. I was livid. With them, with our father, with myself. I could barely see straight, let alone think. That was when Eric attacked. He killed everyone but me. And that was only so he could exact his revenge at leisure.”

That also rings true. Our late father was ever a man who trusted no one, not even his blood, with his plans. If ever I needed reminding of how little we meant to him, it is manifested here in this shack as I look upon my damned brother.

He looks a little thinner. There are a few more scars on his face, but he is not dead, and although he is a prisoner, he is clean and in reasonable conditions.

“They say you killed our father,” he says.

“Aye,” I say. “I did.”

He nods. I don’t know if he is saddened by this news. Maybe like me, he is relieved that the reign of terror is over.

“And that you are king now and mated to an Omega.”

My lips tug up. It is hard to think of my sweet mate and the not-so-sweet wolf shifter and not smile. Then there are the pup-babies who wake us nightly with their demands and entertain us with their mischief of a day. Were I to glance down at my boots, I would find a few teeth marks there.

“I am. And I have.”

“Good,” he says. “I am glad. You were always going to make a better king than me.”

“Aye, well,” I say. “We can also agree on that.”

I mean it in a light-hearted teasing way, but my brother does not smile.

“They are never going to let me leave,” he says. “I am less than a slave to them. They allow me out of a day that I can labor for them. It is honest work, and I find pleasure and freedom in the simple tasks. But of a night, I return here where I remember what I am. I try not to think about tomorrow and the noose Eric plans to stretch my neck with. But the day will come.”

“Don’t,” I say, feeling a lump settle in my throat and heaviness behind my eyes.

“You need to accept it, Gage.”

“I can’t.”

“I am serious. I looked fucking guilty when they came upon us. They have no reason to believe I am innocent and every reason to find me at fault.”

“You didn’t fucking do it,” I say, anger surging for every word from his lips convinces me more deeply that he does not belong here, rotting in a shack.

“Promise me you won’t go to war with them, Gage. Promise me this one fucking thing! I can’t have innocent people hurt over me. If you go to war, the people here may be injured. I can’t live with that. I’ve done enough wrong in my life. Maybe this is my dues.”

“No,” I say. “I can’t fucking promise you that. Don’t ask me to.”

“Don’t throw away what you have achieved over this. You have a mate now. I know you have two shifter babies with your mate and her bonded second. It is all the lasses of the clan talk about. Don’t you dare endanger that.”

He is right, and I fucking hate that he is right. Knowing this does not make the conflict go away nor lessen the pain within my chest.

We all take different paths through life.Danon’s path has been harder than most. He deserves a better end than to hang from a rope.

“I believe in you, Danon. And I believe the Goddess has once more found her way to our clan. Have faith in the Mother of All Things. You have suffered long enough.”

The door bangs and rattles as the guard enters. “It is time,” he says. “Eric will speak to you now.”

I clasp arms with Danon. “Don’t lose hope,” I say.

“I won’t,” he says. “Give Eric the bastard my regards. He has not visited me in a while, and I’m starting to think he doesn’t care.”

I huff out a laugh. For the first time since I entered the shack, I sense my brother is still here. With a look that I pray will not be the last, I leave Danon.

As I step outside, a pretty lass arrives with a cloth-covered tray.

“What’s that for, Ellen?” the guard asks.

“You know what,” she says, smacking his hand when he tries to peek.

“Fucking prisoner eats better than me,” he grouches. “Go on then, lass. He’s not tried to strangle you yet, so I don’t think he’ll try now. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve taken the Lyon King to speak with Eric.”

As I turn away, a smirk spreads across my lips.

I look toward the heavens. I have a feeling the Goddess has some plans in play.

I am both heartened and sad after visiting with Danon. I sense that he is close to losing hope despite him saying he would not.

He is different.

Some of the changes are for the better, and some are not.

But when I enter the hall of my home, I find a cheery setting that lifts my spirits. Brandon, Jessa, and the pups.

Pups… because they spend more time in wolf form than they do as babies, only changing back when they are hungry or tired. Mostly hungry, since sometimes they remain in wolf form to sleep. A small fur-lined basket is placed to one side of the hearth, and they tend to go there when they are ready to rest or change.

With the onset of winter, it is cold once the sun sets. The fire has been lit, and the pups are playing rough and tumble on the floor. The cat sits to one side, overseeing their antics with a lordly grace only a cat can pull off.

Brandon sits at the table drinking a beer. He lifts his tankard to me in greeting.

Jessa is setting the table for supper. Seeing me, her pretty face breaks into a smile, and she hastens over.

“Pups,” I say as I shrug out of my cloak. “How the fuck did you end up breeding her with your small cock that couldn’t even—ouch!”

Jessa pinches my arm. I was sure she was going to kiss me before I opened my stupid mouth. She handles our baiting of one another for the most part until we venture into breeding or cocks.

“Do not insult Brandon’s cock,” she says, planting her small fists upon her hips and trying to act stern. She is an Omega, a little waif, and the least stern woman I have met. Even though she has a few more curves after the pups, I can still get my big hands all the way around her waist.

Brandon’s grin nearly splits his face. Damn mutt! The last time I insulted his cock, Jessa sank on her knees and showed me why she loves it… I need to stop thinking about that.

There was a time when the thought of beating the smug Beta shifter to a pulp brought me great joy. Now my dick is rising to attention at the thought of our mate worshiping him! How times have changed.

Brandon leans back in his chair and places his hands behind his head. Fucker!

Risking another pinch, I take Jessa by the waist and claim my kiss… a long, lusty kiss.

When I break away, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes shining with love.

“Did you see him?” she asks, a little breathless from the kissing.

“Aye,” I say, tucking her against my side and sneaking in a pat of her ass. “He was better than I expected. Eric has said that I may visit him again. I hoped the Halket king might be inclined toward letting him go.”

Her sensitive eyes hold mine. “It is a start, my love,” she says.

Our conversation is put aside as the pups quit their play-fighting and scramble over as fast as their little legs will allow.

“I admit,” I say. “They have knocked the cat off the top cute spot.”

“Henry,” Jessa says. “Our handsome overseer is Henry.”

“He has been simply a cat for a good long while,” I say. “There is no hope for it.”

On reaching me, Fern attacks my boot with her small teeth. Adam is running around us so fast, he is naught but a blur of black fur. I pick Fern up with both hands braced around her body until she is at eye level with me. She yips her excited demand for a cuddle. “Fern, I have told you not to bite my boots.”

“She doesn’t understand you in wolf form,” Brandon says. “And is too young to understand you as a baby, either way. Happen she thinks you are telling her to go at them as often as she likes.”

I chuckle. “Given how much she sets her teeth to them, I think you are right.”

Tucking her against my chest, I purr how she likes best, and scoop up her little brother. Arms full of wriggling bundles of fur, I follow Jessa to the table. Wet noses poke against my bare chest, small tongues lick, and their bodies thrum with excitement as they clamor for attention.

As I pet their silky fur and rub their ears, it is hard to reconcile that there is a baby in there.