Being Pack

Being Pack

By Vic James

vicjames2@hotmail.com

Copyright 2014 by Vic James

http://www.vicjames.com

If you enjoy this story or the other stories at Nifty, please make a donation at: http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

This story is fiction. None of the characters are based on real people. You can see a list of my stories at http://www.nifty.org/nifty/authors.html#vicjames

This story takes place in the same universe as my stories Plan of the Shusheen and Son of a Wolf. It takes place immediately after the events in Son of a Wolf. Plan of the Shusheen explains how three genetically-engineered shifter races were created.

Warning: this story may contain incest scenes.

Eleven

We walked back to Alephin's house. Howard reminded me not to leave the house while he spoke to the men he picked for our live- in security. He suggested paying them ten percent more than they were making. I had no idea how much that was, and I didn't care, either. I said it was fine.

While Rince and I talked about the new house, Luke went to the pack store to pick up some things, like snacks. The store delivered, but it was only a couple of blocks away.

"Pick up some tortilla chips, will you?" I asked him.

"Sure. Do you want dip or salsa?"

"No."

"If you will wait a moment, sir, Alan will go with you," Jason, one of the security guards said to Luke. When Alan showed up about a minute later, Luke and Alan left.

I asked Rince how he felt about our house being bigger than theirs. I knew Alephin didn't mind, but Rince would be next door to us, too.

"I don't think anything about it," he said. "Alephin is usually out in the pack and I spend a lot of time at Hephin's. You've seen Hephin's house. It dwarfs what you are planning. Hephin's my son and it doesn't bother me. If a bigger house was important to Alephin or me, we would build one. You know how much land we have, and Alephin could certainly afford it."

I nodded.

"Alephin is wealthy, but he doesn't flaunt his wealth in any way. That's pretty uncommon for an Alpha, from what I've heard. Alephin doesn't believe that money makes anyone happy. He doesn't want his pack members chasing it. He basically promotes lust over greed. A lusty man makes at least one other person happy. A greedy man makes only himself happy. He also feels sex binds his pack members together and to him."

I nodded. It made sense.

"You love him, I can see it in your eyes," Rince said.

"I do. He is a wonderful person," I said. "He's like no one I ever met."

"He's one of a kind, that's for sure. I am a very lucky guy. The whole pack is lucky, in my opinion."

I smiled at him.

"Some of his pack members don't appreciate him. That infuriates me," Rince said.

I could understand that.

"Well, I do. I am very, very lucky to have found this place," I told him.

Rince seemed really pleased.

"Are you sure it doesn't bother you at all when I suck him?" I asked. "He's your mate. I ask, because I think it would bother me."

"I am completely used to it by now. I knew what Alephin was like before I became his mate. I certainly never expected him to become monogamous. Even so, it bothered me, at first. I'm past that, now. If you weren't sucking him, his dick would be in someone else. Like many other pack members, it makes you happy. His cock, I mean."

I nodded.

"It does. He does."

"He gives me as much sex as I want. Should I begrudge him making you or other pack members happy? I could, but I'm not sure it would make me happier. I'm pretty damn happy, now. By the way, he's delighted that you are having sex with Howard."

I laughed.

"Delighted?"

Rince grinned.

"The more sex you have, the more delighted Alephin will be," Rince said.

"I have a feeling I am going to be delighting him, a lot. How does he feel about Alfonse?" I asked him. "Will he be delighted if it isn't with a pack member?"

Rince grinned.

"Alfonse? So that's why he is staying with us! My you have had a busy day!"

I laughed, nervously.

"I also sort of volunteered to work a gloryhole for the pack members."

I could see I shocked Rince.

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" I asked, quickly.

"No. I think it's great. I'm just surprised that you want to do it."

"I found out I like sex. I suddenly understand why everyone but me loved it. I can make people happy while I'm making myself happy. Luke and Howard enjoyed watching me suck Alfonse. Alephin had ordered them to come for me, so their dicks were out of commission for a while." Rince nodded. "But watching me with Alfonse got their cocks stiff, again."

"I'm impressed. I know how much that command drains a man."

I nodded.

"I realized having sex with Alfonse meant I could have more sex with my mates, and by bringing Alfonse into it, I made three men happy, instead of just my two mates. And me, of course. I was happy."

"Well, that is exactly how Alephin thinks," Rince said. "He will be very pleased."

I smiled.

"Anyway, they suggested the gloryhole. Luke and Howard both want to watch me. I figured if it would make Alephin and my mates happy, why not try it?"

"That certainly makes sense. And Alephin will be happy and relieved about it. Les spends less time at it than he used to. There are always young males needing relief. Alephin tries to fix them up with single females, but it doesn't always work. There aren't that many single women in the pack and most of them don't want to have sex with a teenager, even a nineteen year-old. You can understand that, probably."

"Yeah. Especially if they are fifty years old."

"Exactly. Anyway, the males want more sex than is available to them. Alephin says getting sucked reduces aggression, so he will be happy and the pack will be happy. Does Les know?"

"Yeah. We talked about it. He is going to teach me."

Rince grinned, shaking his head.

"I am glad you are tossing out your human inhibitions. Alephin and I both know how much of an adjustment this is to you. You seem to be adjusting really well."

"I felt like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole in the human world," I told him. "Here, the hole is round and I fit. But I worry that I'm breaking the rules. I don't know what they are. For example, having sex with Alfonse. He's not a pack member. Does that make a difference?"

Rince nodded.

"Alephin would say that you should have sex with pack members, first. But he would not object to what you did, as long as it was safe, security-wise. Alephin would think of what you did as recruiting. If Alfonse falls in love with you, he might very well join the pack. That would be good for the pack. Alfonse is financially-independent, unlike many of our pack members. He would spend money in the pack store, the canteen, and so on, bringing money into the pack."

"I didn't even think of that."

"It is true, though. I think you should just look to Howard for who is safe. He will know. As far as other rules go, just call Alephin and ask. If you can't reach him, call me. I don't say that because there are a lot of rules. There aren't. But there could be implications you aren't aware of and we can tell you whether there are. Otherwise, just keep your mates and Alephin happy. Those are the only rules I can think of. You are doing both of those, already."

"You are an Alpha. Do you ever wish you had a pack?" I asked him.

"No. My wolf is weird. We assume it's because, like you, I'm not full Vin-Ta. Alephin is the only person I ever wanted to have sex with. My wolf wants to be bred by his sire. And that is all he wants. When I was a teenager, my wolf wanted to roam. I left the pack. Both of us were miserable. We came back and he hasn't reared his head even once. The happiest day of my life was the first time Alephin bred me. I had just become a teenager. We spent the evening together, and I made him come many times. I fell in love with him that night and I've loved him ever since."

I nodded.

"I wish I understood myself better. I was never horny before, even as a teenager. I never had a single sexual desire until I met Luke. Now I want sex constantly," I said to Rince. "I know that isn't a bad thing, but I wish I knew why I changed. I would like to know why I want from one extreme to the other. A week ago I had no interest in sex. None. Now it is all I think about."

Luke nodded.

"I understand what you mean. It is curious. I wish I could explain it to you. Maybe humans don't smell right to you. That's the simplest reason I can think of. I can tell you that Vin-Ta men are hornier than most human men, though. That's why Alephin wants the young males taken care of. Your lust is not abnormal for Vin-Ta, and you are now surrounded by horny Vin-Ta males."

I nodded.

"There is something you could try, if you wanted," Rince said.

"What?"

"Go to a gay bar in Houston. Take Luke and Howard with you. See if any men there excite you. If none do, the reason you were uninterested in sex is probably because your body doesn't want a human sex partner."

I thought about that. The idea of leaving the pack didn't appeal to me at all. I felt safe right where I was. I knew I would feel completely out of place in a gay bar. I was used to feeling out of place. I'd felt that way my whole life. Did I want to experience that again for the sake of my curiosity? If I was attracted to a human there, what would it mean? I wouldn't have any answers. If I didn't find anyone I was attracted to, it wouldn't necessarily mean anything. It might be that none of them men who happened to be in the bar attracted me. I had very specific likes---hairy, dark haired men. It wouldn't prove I was not attracted to any humans, just not to the ones in the bar. Then my mind went back to the safety issue. I would need more bodyguards than just Howard. I would be entering the club with two mates and possibly a security guard. With them there, would I even be paying attention to the humans?

"I don't think I'm ready for that," I told Rince. "I just escaped the human world. I don't want to go back."

He nodded.

Luke walked into the house. He put the things in the kitchen for Joyce to put away. She ran the kitchen and insisted on that. He sat next to me.

I took Luke's hand. He pulled me against him and wrapped his arm around me. I leaned my head back against him.

"I think I may have pissed Hephin off, again," I said to Rince.

"What happened?"

"I was kissing Alfonse and getting fucked by Luke and Howard when someone started sucking me. I didn't know who it was. My attention was on Alfonse and my mates. It turned out it was Les and Hephin saw him doing it. Hephin got upset. Les told him that he thought it was all right to suck Alephin's pack members, but Hephin still didn't seem happy. I'm afraid he is going to start hating me."

Rince sighed.

"How do you feel about Hephin, Tom?" Rince asked me.

"I would like for us to be friends. We seem to have a lot in common. It is starting to seem that that is not a possibility. I seem to upset him without trying. First, I left his pack. Then I got pregnant (I hope) with Dag's baby, and today, I had sex with one of his pack members."

I heard a loud pop from next door. Another two by four snapping, I thought. The noise reminded me of the kids.

"Did you bring your kids back?" I asked Rince.

"No. Dag and Hephin will bring them. Alephin asked me to get a room ready for Alfonse."

I nodded.

"I will speak to Hephin, again. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. I will point that out to him."

I nodded. I didn't know how much good that would do, though. I was carrying Dag's baby, and I thought that would probably always rankle Hephin. After all, he would see the baby all the time.

"How do you feel about Howard?" Rince asked Luke.

"I love him. We have a lot in common, I think. Besides Tom."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well, hanging out at gloryholes, for one. Howard said that he called the holes he used Gloria." I laughed. "He would tell people he had a date with Gloria." I laughed some more.

"Has Les been sucking him?" Rince asked.

"Yeah, a couple of times. But because of the hours he works and the hours Les is at the gloryhole, he has been using another one about fifteen miles from here. He likes the impersonality of it. That is the same way I used to feel. No bullshit, just a blow job from a grateful man. Or two. Even though I was straight, there were times when I just wanted to get off. I didn't look to a woman for that, despite the fact that I only fucked women. Howard is the same way."

"What do you think about Alfonse?" Rince asked Luke.

"I like him."

"Rince, there is something I've been wondering," I said. "I have been told there aren't a lot of gay Vin-Ta, just bisexual ones, but I see an awful lot of gay sex going on."

Rince nodded.

"Well, there are two things going on. A lot of older men who now would be considered gay, called themselves bisexual. Other oldtimers denied having sex with men at all, even though they secretly did. They were ashamed of it. These had sex with women because it was expected. But they enjoyed sex with men more. Dutch and Eddie are good examples. They have always insisted they are bisexual, even though they don't have sex with women. They've done it---fucked women, but they didn't like it. You and I think of them as gay. Lots of human men find out they are gay for that very reason. But Chuck and Eddie they don't see themselves that way. That is an oldtimer attitude. They aren't that old, but I am sure they were influenced by older pack members."

"What's the other thing?" I asked him.

"A lot of Vin-Ta men really are bisexual. They like sex with men and women. They are opportunists, because of their horniness. You might think of them as gay, because you see them having sex with a man, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have sex with a woman, just as readily--or even more so. Most of the men in Hephin's pack are like that. Max, for instance. He loves sex with men and women, even at the same time. Hephin told me that Max admitted he used to like getting a man and a woman in bed at the same time while he fucked both of them doggy style. People like him fuck whoever is nearest and willing, without regard to what sex they are."

I nodded.

"Les was going to help me get started working at the gloryhole. I know absolutely nothing about it. Do you think I should still let him, or would it upset Hephin?"

"Let him. That is what Alephin would say," Rince said. "And he is the one you should worry about keeping happy. I think Hephin might end up happy with the situation if you are replacing Les. Hephin will have more time with him. If Hephin gets irritated, I will point that out."

I sat up and rubbed Luke's crotch. I felt his cock stiffen a little. I got up and tugged on his hand. Luke started laughing. We went to our bedroom and undressed. I ran my hands over his hairy chest.

"I can smell your lust," Luke said.

He pulled our mouths together and we kissed. I took his cock in my hand and felt it stiffen. Luke's hand went inside my butt cheeks. He pushed a finger inside me. I wrapped my arms around him.

I heard voices, and a moment later, Alephin walked into the room. He was beaming.

"Rince told me the good news!"

"Which good news?" I asked him.

"That you are going to begin sucking the horny males."

I nodded.

Alephin pulled me away from Luke and hugged me.

"I'm proud of you, pup."

I smiled at him. I could feel his erection against me.

"When do you want to start, Tom?"

"I really wanted Les with me, at first. So it's kind of up to him."

"I understand. You've probably never even seen one, have you?"

I shook my head.

"No. Now that I think about it, I remember asking my Dad about the funny hole in the wall when I was a kid. He told me it was there so the people who took care of the bathroom could tell if the other stall needed toilet paper."

Luke and Alephin laughed for a long time.

"I believed him."

They continued laughing.

"Well, I think he probably knew what it was for," Alephin. "I'm not surprised he didn't tell the truth, though. 'What's a blow job, Daddy?'"

All three of us laughed.

"Rince told me about Les and Hephin and that you were worried he is angry at you. I don't want you worrying about him. Do you understand? If he misunderstands a situation, it is not up to you to make up for it. Hephin knows very well that if Les sucks my pack members. You did nothing wrong."

"I know. But it seems like everything I do upsets him."

"No. He is upset at the situations. First with Dag. Dag told you he wanted you to give him another child when he hadn't told Hephin he wanted another one. Hephin sees that as his responsibility---giving his pack members kids. So it is Dag that Hephin was really upset with. It was just easier for him to take it out on you. I set him straight. When you told Dag you would do it, you had no idea what he had told Hephin. The same thing goes with Les. He can't be mad at you when Les was the one who initiated it. He shouldn't be mad at Les, either. I will tell him that, too. You are my pack member and you make me very happy, Tom."

I smiled at him.

Alephin grinned.

"Les told me you sucked Alfonse's cum off his handkerchief."

I laughed, nervously.

"I sure wish I'd been there," Alephin said.

"He also wiped some of the cum from the handkerchief onto Alfonse's cock and licked it off his cock," Luke said.

"Fuck!" Alephin said.

Alephin put his hands on my shoulders and pushed down. I knelt in front of him. I pulled his very stiff cock out of the leg of his shorts. Alephin sighed as I began sucking him. I reached up with one hand and felt his hairy chest. I looked up into his smiling face. Luke knelt behind me. He pushed my own shorts down and then slid his cock inside me. He began fucking me, slowly. I pulled Alephin's balls out and held onto them while I sucked him. I thought about rimming him, again. I loved doing it. But I was sure he had other things to do besides having sex with me. I began stroking the shaft of his cock, while sucking on the head.

"Hungry, pup?"

I looked up at him and continued sucking. He let his head fall back and sighed as his spunk shot forcefully into my mouth. I swallowed his gift, and that is how I felt about his spunk. His tasted better than anyone's, even Luke's. I guessed it was because he was my Alpha. His ass tasted wonderful to me, too. I moaned as I swallowed mouthful after mouthful. I backed off his cock and felt his warm seed splatter against my face. The smell of Alephin and his spunk was incredible. I laughed, purely out of joy. Alephin took over stroking himself. He grabbed my hair on the top of my head and tilted my head back. He completely covered my face with his delectable semen. I had to close my eyes. He stuck his cock back in my mouth and fed me more. Finally, I had enough. I pulled off him. Alephin wiped his spunk out of my eye sockets and put his fingers in my mouth to clean them.

I sighed, while sucking his fingers clean. Alephin laughed.

"I think I made you happy," he said.

He pulled his fingers out of my mouth.

"I love you so much!" I told him.

He smiled.

"I love you, too, pup. You are rapidly becoming one of my favorite people."

I was pleased by that tremendous compliment.

"You are like the father I always wished I had," I told him.

"Your father didn't feed you this way?" he asked, grinning.

"No. I mean you are wise and caring and full of good advice. My father was none of those."

"Thanks, pup. See you soon!"

Alephin walked out of the room.

Luke tilted my head back and licked some of Alephin's spunk off my face. Then he wiped the rest of it into my mouth.

He pulled out of me.

"I still can't come."

"That's fine. Let's kiss."

We got on the bed and did just that. After a few minutes, Luke pulled away.

"You seem so happy," he said to me.

"I am happy. I hope you are just as happy."

He smiled.

"I wonder if our first baby will be a boy or a girl," I said.

"Either is fine with me."

He got out of bed and held his hand out. I grabbed it.

"Come on. Let's take a shower."

While we were doing that, we heard Dutch and Eddie talking. I couldn't wait to see them. I rushed out of the shower and got a towel. I walked into the bedroom and kissed Eddie, first.

"I missed you," I told him.

He grinned.

"There's something we need to tell you," Dutch said to me.

I turned to him.

"What?"

"Eddie and I had sex together during lunch. We both hope you don't mind."

"I'm glad you did! I had a lot of sex and I'm glad you did, too."

They both seemed pleased by my reaction.

"Really, you two were lovers before. I expect you to be even closer, now that you are mate to each other. If I'm not around and you are horny, go for it."

"That's a relief," Dutch said. "We were afraid you would feel left out."

Luke walked into the bedroom, drying his hair with a towel.

"I have news, too," I told them. "Howard is now my mate."

I looked for their reaction. Eddie frowned.

"Is he my mate?"

"He can be. That is up to both of you."

Dutch and Eddie looked at each other.

"We'll think about it," Dutch said.

"Tom also volunteered to suck at Les' gloryhole," Luke said. "Alephin was really happy about it."

"Can we watch you suck?" Eddie asked.

"You can fuck me while I suck!" I said.

Both Dutch and Eddie seemed excited at the prospect.

Dutch kissed me, before saying, "Let's get a shower, Eddie."

They left.

Luke and I put on shorts. I put on a T-shirt. Luke left his beautiful hairy chest bare for me to enjoy. I ran my hands over him.

"I can see the lust in your eyes,' he said to me.

"I want to make you come. It's infuriating!" I told him.

He chuckled.

"You have had so much cum pumped into your stomach today, that I'm amazed you aren't vomiting it all over the place! You ate two loads of Alfonse's---"

"One and a half."

He laughed.

"OK, one and a half. Two huge loads from Howard and me, and a bunch of Alephin's. But my baby's still hungry. We need to get you to that gloryhole."

"Howard said not to leave the house."

"Oh, yeah."

I heard babies. I left the room to go see them. Dregor was there with his daughter. Hephin was carrying one of his. Dag had his son and Rince was on his knees, talking to one of his.

"As soon as one of them needs changing, I want to watch, to see how it's done."

"No problem," Rince said.

"One thing I've been wondering is how to know what they need when they start crying."

"Usually a process of elimination," Dag said. "Check whether they need to be changed, see if they are cold or hot, offer them food, and so on."

I walked up to Dregor.

"Can I hold Regi, again?"

"Of course."

He handed her to me. I smiled at him. She seemed very happy. I held her with one arm, while I touched her hand with a finger. Suddenly she squirmed out of my hands. She started to fall. Then everything disappeared.

"Taw! Taw! Ummmeeee," I heard a voice say. The words were distorted. I could feel hands on me, but I couldn't see. I heard other sounds, but if they were words. I couldn't understand them.

"Stand up, pup!" I heard.

The room appeared in front of me. I looked at Alephin's face.

The room was full of people and they were all looking at me. Luke wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"What happened?" I asked.

"When Regi slipped, you melted," Dregor said. He was holding her, so I could see she was all right. "You became something right under her. She landed on you and was fine."

"Something? What?

"You looked like---" Luke started.

"Jell-O," Joyce said. "You looked like a big puddle of skin colored Jell-O."

"With pants inside you," Rince said.

"How do you feel?" Alephin asked me.

I looked around and saw Howard and Alfonse. Howard looked unhappy and Alfonse looked scared.

"How long was I like that?" I asked.

"Over an hour," Luke said.

"I wasn't aware of time passing," I said.

"Could you see or hear?" Dutch asked.

"I could hear noises, but not words. I couldn't see anything. I heard Alephin clearly, though."

Alephin nodded.

"Regi is all right?" I asked.

"Yes. She though sliding down off you onto the ground was fun, I think," Dregor said.

"Did you intend any of that?" Alephin asked me.

"No. I just panicked when I felt Regi slipping."

Alephin nodded.

"Dag, Rince, Howard, and Luke, join me in the study, please. Everyone else, remain where you are. No one may leave this room. No one is to answer the phone or make any calls. Chuck, collect everyone's cell phones."

Alephin took my hand and led me out of the living room. We walked into his study, followed by the others.

Luke put his arm around me.

"How much can you trust the men who saw that?" Alephin asked Dag.

"Everyone who works inside your house is completely trustworthy." Dag sighed. "As far as I know."

Alephin nodded.

"Joyce said you looked like Jell-O. To me, you looked like some kind of alien," Alephin said.

"A fifty movies monster," Rince said. "The Blob that Ate Detroit, or something."

"The thing that disturbs me the most is that you have no control over it," Alephin said. "Changing into a bush might come in handy, if you are in danger. Changing into an alien would absolutely not help you. Seeing your pants inside you, along with what might have been organs, but didn't look like human organs, was---well, creepy. Like you swallowed someone and all that was left was their shorts. I was able to push my hand inside you, with very little resistance. I have no idea what would happen if you were pulled into two pieces. We could have done it, easily. Would you die? Would there be two of you?"

It was a good thing Luke was holding me up. I was getting scared.

"But I would very much like to know if your babies survived it."

I hadn't thought of that. I felt sick.

Dag sighed.

"I don't think it is safe for you to ever leave this pack, Tom," he said.

"We have to make sure no one else hears about what happened," Alephin said. "Way too many people witnessed it. And the wrong people." Alephin rubbed his forehead. "I do not know what I am going to do about Joyce, Dutch, Eddie, Mrs. Lewis. Every one of them is a gossip. I don't know if Alfonse is, but--- I just do not know."

"Can you order them to forget it?" Dag asked Alephin.

"I don't know. It wouldn't work on Alfonse, even if it worked on the others."

Dag nodded.

"Alfonse is reliable, Alephin."

"How can he keep from talking about it? I don't know if I would be able to never mention it again."

For the first time, Alephin looked miserable. I knew it was my fault, but what could I do? He wasn't angry at me, but I could sense he was angry about something.

He looked at Luke and me.

"Mating you to Dutch and Eddie was a bad idea. I realize that now. You are going to have to keep your abilities from them and that will be almost impossible to do that when you are their mate. I didn't realize how little control you have over the shifting."

"Are you so worried they will tell someone?" Luke asked.

"Their idea of a good secret is one they tell everyone about, first. I mean that," Alephin said.

"Can you try ordering them not to remember?" Howard asked Alephin. "It would help if we knew whether that is a possibility."

"Yes. That might be a good idea. Hmm."

Alephin looked deep in thought.

"How upset would you be if they stopped being your mates?" Alephin asked Luke and me. "It may not make a difference to you, but it was an accident that they are your mates. They wanted to be mated to each other."

I didn't like the idea. I looked at Luke. I could tell he didn't either."

"If I dissolve the mating bond, you won't feel like they are your mates, and you won't be unhappy about it."

I looked at Alephin.

"I trust you. Do what you think is best."

"Do you feel the same way, Luke?"

"Yes, Alephin."

"I feel you should have mates who can protect you, Tom," Alephin said.

I sighed and nodded my head.

"Do you like Alfonse? He wants to join the pack to be with you," Alephin said.

"I like him very much. I'm not sure I'm in love with him, but I just met him. I've been considering him as a mate, though. I didn't say anything because it is so soon."

"Alfonse is smitten with Tom," Dag said to Alephin. "He already asked me what Tom thinks about him. He's really to sell all his things to move here. That implies permanence."

Alephin nodded.

"Dag, will you talk to Alfonse and find out exactly how he feels about Tom? Specifically, if he wants to be Tom's mate. If he was Tom's mate, I think we could trust him to keep his mate's abilities secret, don't you?"

Dag nodded.

"I think we can trust him without that. But I will ask."

"I also want to know if he feels protective towards Tom."

"He lost one mate. I think he would do anything not to lose another," Dag said, before leaving the room.

Alephin looked at us.

"Kneel, pups," he commanded.

Luke and I knelt. I looked at Alephin's crotch and he laughed.

"You have a one track mind, pup. I'm glad it's on the right track," he said.

I smiled at him.

"Tom, Luke is your mate and Howard is your mate. Dutch and Eddie are mates to each other, but not to you," he said in his command voice.

"Yes, Alephin."

"Luke, Tom is your mate and Howard is your mate. Dutch and Eddie are mates to each other, but not to you."

"Yes, Alephin."

"Stand up, pups."

We did.

"Remember that Dutch and Eddie wanted to be each other's mate until they overheard me marrying you to each other."

I nodded.

I didn't feel sad, but I hoped they would not feel hurt. It was Alephin's decision, though.

"How are they going to explain losing their mates?" Rince asked Alephin. "I'm sure Dutch and Eddie told many people about becoming Tom and Luke's mates."

"I'm sure they did. For that, I can't blame them. Getting a mate is big news," Alephin said.

Just then I got a headache. Within a few seconds, my head felt like it was going to literally explode.

"Oh, my head!" I groaned.

I fell onto all fours. Then I rolled onto my side. I began throwing up and each movement made my headache worse.

"I'll get the doctor," I heard Rince say.

"Carry him to your bedroom. Lay him on the bed and make the room as dark as possible," I heard Alephin say.

Luke picked me up and carried me. Each step produced a sharp pain in my head. I threw up again, on the way. I closed my eyes. It was better.

I felt myself placed on the bed. The lights went out. Then the room got darker. I felt Luke get into bed, beside me. Later, I felt a wet cloth on my forehead. Then I fell asleep or lost consciousness.

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