by Lynn Hagen
Thoran gazed at the king and then blinked, as if seeing the man for the first time. “I am Thoran, Nyda’s brother.”
The woman who had been helping Jade gasped. Eaton and Thoran turned toward her. The woman’s arms shook as she slowly got up from the mattress. Her long brownish blonde hair fell over her face and she had to push it back to see them. “You are Thoran?”
Eaton’s eyes narrowed as he looked from his mate to the woman. Shouldn’t she be fawning over Kayden? Why was she so shocked to learn Eaton’s mate was Thoran? It didn’t make any sense to him.
“We have to go,” Kayden reminded everyone. “Jade isn’t going to hold out much longer.”
Everyone gathered at the door and then Thoran led them out. Logan came barreling down the hallway, a dozen men dressed in black on his heels. Eaton squeaked, digging his fingers into Thoran’s upper arm.
“They’re on our side, kitten,” Thoran said as he eased Eaton’s fingernails out of his skin. “And when we get back on the ship, you are going to be punished for leaving.” His eyes dropped to Eaton’s belly before Thoran smoothed his hand over the roundness.
Logan came to a stop, gazing at Jade. “Is he in labor?”
“He is,” Kayden said and Eaton heard the panic in the man’s voice. “I need someplace safe to take him.”
The sounds of the battle inside and outside the palace were almost deafening when they reached the ground floor. Bodies were lying prone on the floor, lifeless and bloody. Eaton tried not to look, but his eyes kept straying back to the fallen. Some wore the royal colors while others wore solid black. There were casualties on both sides.
The sounds of jets flying overhead could still be heard, as well as firefight. Eaton stayed close to Thoran, terrified a stray blast would take one of them out. Tears sprang to his eyes when a woman hovered over a fallen guard, openly weeping.
This battle was senseless—all because some imposter wanted to rule Sator. Anger welled up inside Eaton and he wanted to scream for everyone to stop fighting, for the fake king to pay for what he’d done, for the lives lost. Some of the guards might be corrupt, but Eaton knew not all of them were. They were defending what they thought was their true king.
He prayed to the fates that the fake king got what he deserved.
“This way,” Logan said, leading them down a long corridor. He opened a door and waved Kayden inside. “We’ll guard this door and keep the enemy at bay while Jade gives birth.”
“Get inside,” Thoran said to Eaton. “And if you leave this room—”
“I won’t.” Eaton glanced back to where the dead bodies lay. He was telling the truth—Eaton didn’t want to see any more death and destruction. That weeping woman would forever be etched into his memory.
Thoran nodded and kissed Eaton with so much passion, so much love before he pulled away and locked everyone from the cell into the bedroom. Nyda immediately went for a corner and curled up on the floor.
Kayden set Jade on the bed and then removed his mate’s clothing. Eaton turned, embarrassed by the man’s nakedness. He moved toward a window, gazing out at the chaos as he listened to Kayden croon to Jade, encouraging him through the birth of their child. Eaton’s hands went to his own swollen belly, and he felt a deep connection to the child he’d yet to meet.
“He is truly Thoran?” the woman asked as she joined Eaton at the window.
“He is,” Eaton answered. “Why?”
The king joined them as well. “Eaton, this is my sister, Eloise. She is Nyda and Thoran’s mother.”
* * * *
The remaining Satorian guards finally surrendered after hours of fighting. But they had yet to find the imposter king and his family. Where any of them real or were they all fake? If Katino wasn’t Kayden’s twin, the imposter had done one hell of a job looking like Kayden.
Thoran, Logan, Nyk, Dax, and Ben rounded a corner to find the king and his family in the throne room. The bastard had the audacity to be sitting on the throne, as if he truly belonged there.
“You will be hung for this treachery,” the king said. “I open my home to you, extend my hand, and this is how you repay me?”
Katino was sitting in a chair to the king’s left, the queen on his right. The daughter was standing behind her mother, her hands resting on the back of the woman’s chair. What a perfect fucking family portrait, if they’d been real.
Logan raised his weapon and shot the king in his right shoulder. “Get your ass out of that chair.”
“How dare you!” Katino said as he shot to his feet. “You’ve just shot a king. You’ll pay with your lives.”
“Just who in the hell are you?” Ben asked as he approached the four people on the raised dais. “Because you sure as hell aren’t my brother.”
“Ben,” the king said as he grabbed his bleeding shoulder. “How can you let these people do this to me?”
Ben Hur snarled as he gripped the man from the throne and threw him across the marble floor. The king slid halfway across the room before he came to a stop. Ben then turned and shot the woman standing behind her mother. Thoran watched her fall and then his eyebrows shot up when she shifted, turning back into her true form of a faceless, sexless being.
“They’re Doppelgängers,” Thoran said. Folklore told of such beings. It was said that a Doppelgänger was the exact double of the person whose appearance it took on, sharing the memories and feelings of its victim. Only the Doppelgänger was a sinister being with demonic qualities. They were extremely rare. Their kind hadn’t been sighted in centuries, thought to have died out.
“I’m not!” Katino screeched. “They forced me into this, I swear!”
“Bullshit,” Ben snarled. “You could have come to me at any time during the past decade and told me what was going on. Instead you sat on your royal ass and reaped the rewards.”
“You really had me fooled,” Thoran said to the queen. “You had me believe you cared, that you spent resources looking for Nyda, that you cared deeply for Kayden. For that alone I should slowly torture you. I fucking thanked you for helping me!”
The queen sat there, saying nothing. Her features were drawn tight, as if she resented the fact that they’d figured out the ruse.
“You never wanted us to leave in the first place,” Thoran said. “You tried to talk us into staying on Sator. For what, so you could have the Breed Assassins in one place when the Feds showed up?”
“I was waiting for that child to be born before handing you all over,” she said venomously.
“Was Katana even Kayden’s sister?” Logan asked.
“No,” she replied. “Katana was our eyes and ears.”
“Did my mother really say she didn’t want to see me?” Dax asked and Thoran could hear the pain in the man’s voice.
The queen curled her lips in.
“Tell me!” Dax shouted.
“I killed her, along with Nyk and Logan’s parents.”
“You bitch!” Thoran raised his blaster and shot her in her cold fucking heart. He was filled with so much rage, so much hatred that he wished he could revive her just so he could shoot her again. The emotions were like angry red waves that roared up and over a beach and wouldn’t recede, swelling higher and higher the longer he stood there.
Thoran gripped his weapon tighter, staring at her lifeless eyes and mourned the pain she had caused not only him, but his brethren as well. He took a deep breath. Let it out slow and steady, icy cold. His rage receded and his wolf backed down.
Dax gazed at her for a long moment before he turned and walked from the room without a further word.
“My question is, how did the Kalakian know about them?” Thoran asked.
“Because Kalakians can see right through a Doppelgänger’s disguise,” Katino stated smugly. “You have to believe me. I had nothing to do with this.”
Ben turned toward his men who had filed into the room. “Lock this princely pain in the ass in the dungeon. Let him see how his father lived for ten years.”
&
nbsp; Katino shouted and fought to get free as the Marauders did as Ben ordered. When the prince was gone, Ben shot and killed the fake king.
“I think I need a Kalakian on my crew.” Ben turned on his heel and headed toward the door. “I’ll leave this mess for you and your men to clean up,” the runner said over his shoulder. “My work here is done. I have a brother to get reacquainted with. See you in the sky.”
Thoran glanced around at the carnage and suddenly felt a deep need to be with Eaton. He exited the room, going back to where he’d left his mate. The sound of shrill crying echoed in the hallway as he approached the door.
Jade had given birth.
When he entered the room, he could see Kayden resting on the bed with Jade and their newborn babe.
“It’s a boy,” Kayden announced, a wide grin slicing across his face. The pride was evident in his eyes as the king and Eaton stood close to the bed. Thoran’s eyes landed on the woman standing next to the king.
Eaton walked over to him, placing his hand on Thoran’s arm. “Thoran, this is your mother, Eloise.”
Thoran couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. How many years had he wished for this day? How many times as a young child had he fallen asleep crying for a woman he had never met, but desperately wanted to know?
He swallowed past the lump in his throat when Eaton gave him a slight shove toward the woman. “Go say hi. She’s been dying to meet you.”
Thoran’s chest constricted and he was finding it hard to pull oxygen into his lungs. She appeared just as uncertain as he felt. Tears sprang to her eyes and her lower lip trembled, but she didn’t move, as if afraid Thoran would reject her.
Eaton gave him another small shove. “Go.”
Thoran stopped in front of her, taking in how tiny she was, how frail. He was terrified he’d break her if he hugged her. He wasn’t even sure what he should call her. “Hello.”
A sob burst from her throat before she threw her arms around him. Thoran stood there stiffly for a moment before he carefully wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, fighting back his own tears.
His dream had finally come true.
He had a mother.
A small voice inside his head, a voice that belonged to the little boy he once was, corrected Thoran, telling him that he finally had a mommy.
Thoran buried his face in her hair, a trickle of tears escaping. He held his breath when Nyda appeared in front of him. Her eyes darted from her mother to the floor. Thoran held out one arm and pulled her into his embrace, kissing her temple. “Hello, baby girl.”
Thoran could hear Eaton crying. He turned his head to see his mate smiling through his tears, giving Thoran a thumbs-up.
“Get over here,” Thoran said to his mate.
His mother laughed and then pulled Eaton close.
Thoran held his family in his arms. His mother, his sister, and his mate who carried his unborn child. A peace he’d never known before settled in him.
The small boy inside of him smiled with unrestrained happiness. Thoran was finally home.
* * * *
“Not here,” Eaton said as he batted Thoran’s grasping hands away. “Someone will see us.”
“No, they won’t,” Thoran reassured Eaton, but Eaton wasn’t buying it. In the past month since they’d settled into a small cottage just outside the palace of Sator, Thoran had grown hornier than a teenager, taking Eaton any chance he could. The man was a straight perv for Eaton’s pregnant form. He told Eaton that seeing him swollen with child turned Thoran on.
Weirdo.
“I’m not having sex in our garden.” Eaton tried to run from Thoran but he was about as fast as a turtle these days. He even resembled one when he got up in the morning, his arms and legs flailing when he tried to get out of bed. “If you think I’m going to let anyone see my fat ass, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Thoran slid his arms around Eaton, kissing the back of his neck. “There is nothing fat about you, kitten. You’re carrying my child which makes you the most handsome man on this planet.”
Thoran could still make Eaton melt with a few words. Okay, so he was a sucker for his mate. Eaton rested his head against Thoran’s strong chest, smiling at the work he and his mate had accomplished with their vegetable garden. They owned five acres of land. It wasn’t much to some people, but it was everything to Eaton.
“Besides,” Eaton said, “Kayden’s coronation is tomorrow and I promised Jade I’d help with the preparations.”
Thoran grunted. “I still can’t believe he’s taking the throne.”
“His father can’t,” Eaton reminded his mate. “His health won’t let him rule.”
“King Kayden,” Thoran said teasingly. “It does have a nice ring to it.”
Thoran’s hands slid down Eaton’s sides and then around to his distended belly, spanning his fingers across their unborn child. “You are so sexy.”
Eaton chuckled. “Perv.”
“Until the day I die.” Thoran nibbled at Eaton’s neck, sliding a hand under the traditional gown Satorians wore during pregnancy. Thoran loved the fact that it gave him easy access. And Eaton had to admit, the material was extremely comfortable. He hissed when Thoran ran a finger over his hole, making Eaton ache for his mate to fill him.
“Come over here.” Thoran led Eaton to their back porch. It was made of natural wood and had an awning that spanned the entire length to keep the sun from blinding Eaton during the day. He grabbed the banister as Thoran bent him over and pushed his gown aside.
“Nice,” Thoran said as his fingers traced over Eaton’s backside. “So plump.”
“You mean fat.”
Thoran gave him a light swat. “No, nicely rounded. It’s perfect.” To back his words up, Thoran bent over and kissed each cheek. Eaton shivered when his mate began to lick him, using his tongue to fuck Eaton’s ass. He groaned, shoving his rear end closer to Thoran’s probing tongue.
Eaton’s legs shook when Thoran inserted two wet fingers. His mate must have come outside with the intention of fucking Eaton because he was using lube. The rascal.
But all thoughts fled when Thoran parted Eaton’s cheeks and slowly eased his cock inside Eaton’s body.
“I’ll never get enough of you, petit chat.”
Eaton hoped the man never did. He parted his lips, a low groan vibrating in his throat. He gasped for breath as Thoran licked up his neck, biting gently on Eaton’s earlobe as his hips thrust forward.
“Do you know how much I love you,” Thoran asked roughly as his cock sank deeper into Eaton. “Do you, my little pussycat?”
“As much as I love you,” Eaton responded.
Thoran gave a low growl and pleasure echoed through Eaton’s body.
He was mindless now. He could feel the sensations building, his skin tingling, the pressure increasing in his ass as Thoran stroked inside Eaton, licking over his neck, sucking it lightly with his mouth.
“Yes, Thoran, just like that,” Eaton cried as his mate hit his gland on every upward stroke. His heart beat hard and fast as the pleasure began to build inside of him. Thoran’s fingers dug into Eaton’s sides, keeping him in place as his mate fucked him faster, harder.
Eaton was getting close. So damned close. And so was Thoran. Eaton could feel the white-hot fingers of fire moving down his spine now and feel the swelling of his mate’s cock inside of him.
Thoran slammed inside Eaton, deep, hard. His cock had enlarged, causing Thoran’s thrusts to become hard jerks. Eaton’s body arched as his own erection became full and hard, aching for release. Eaton clenched around him, the action making Thoran give a guttural growl.
His mate reached under Eaton and wrapped his fingers around Eaton’s cock. It only took a few hard jerks before Eaton was crying out his mate’s name.
“You feel so good,” Thoran murmured in Eaton’s ear as he continued to stroke Eaton. “So damn good.”
And then Thoran bit into Eaton’s shoulder, making Eaton cry out again. Thoran thrust until he
was stiffening, grunting his release as he licked the wound closed on Eaton’s neck.
Eaton could barely stand now. He felt boneless.
Thoran chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Eaton. They were knotted together and it would be a long moment before Thoran could pull free.
“Thoran? Eaton?”
Eaton jerked forward, trying to dislodge Thoran from him. The move was futile. “Your mother!” He would be downright mortified if she caught them like this. “I knew having sex outside was a very bad idea.”
Thoran pulled Eaton’s gown down, covering his ass as he shouted, “Stay inside. We’ll be in there in a minute.”
Eaton could feel his face heating with embarrassment as he waited. He’d gotten to know Eloise and Nyda pretty well over the past month. Nyda was still coming out of her shell after being imprisoned for so long, but she was making steady progress.
So was Thoran. With each visit, he was starting to warm up to the idea of having a mother and sister. He wasn’t so aloof anymore, gradually embracing the idea. On the last visit, Thoran had even hugged his mother before she left.
“I swear, if she comes out here, I’ll neuter you,” Eaton threatened.
Thoran eased from Eaton, kissing him on the shoulder. “See, no harm done.”
Just as Eaton stood up straight and Thoran fixed his pants, Eloise walked out back. She gazed between the two and blushed. “Is this a bad time?”
Eaton glared at Thoran before he turned and smiled at his mother-in-law. “Nope. It’s—” Eaton’s eyes widened as a sharp pain cut across his abdomen with such force he would have fallen to the ground had Thoran not caught him.
“Are you all right?” his mate asked as he helped Eaton to his feet. But before he could answer, Eaton dropped again, the pain so intense he cried out. This time when Thoran caught him, he lifted Eaton into his arms and carried him inside.
Eaton tried to breathe through the pain, but nothing short of being knocked out was going to help.
“I think he’s going into labor,” Eloise said. “I’ve come just in time.”