***
Immediately after Troy felt Philip pull off his spent cock, he moved to straddle him and slammed his lips on Philip’s, plundering his mate’s mouth like a starved man, loving the taste of himself on Philip. The kiss was so hot Philip had to make an effort not to give in and take his sexy mate as he’d demanded earlier. He silently applauded his control. By the time Troy calmed down and collapsed against Philip, the alpha was trembling from arousal.
“God, what was that?” Troy gasped breathlessly, aftershocks flashing through him. “That was fucking amazing.” He said with a breathless laugh.
“You just swore.” Philip laughed. “Is that what blowjobs do to you? Make you swear?” Philip looked totally amused.
“What did you expect?” Troy groaned. “After hanging around you lot, it’s only to be expected. You just blew me, Philip.” He sounded dazed.
“I know. I was here.” Philip grinned, loving that Troy seemed to have loved what he’d done. At least his mate enjoyed his inexperienced blow jobs, he thought with satisfaction.
“I loved it.” Troy’s flushed face and floored look said it all.
“I know.” Philip gave a soft laugh. “So… What was that you were saying about Mary?” Philip prompted, ignoring Troy’s groan of protest. He was still a little surprised at his mate’s earlier comment. Troy clearly held a lot of respect for the psycho warlock who was planning on annihilating his pack. “Troy…”
“She was my guardian.” Troy sighed. “She treated me well. I…I like her.”
“You like her?” Philip couldn’t wipe the surprise off his face. “That cold calculating bi…”
“She’s not a bad person, okay.” Troy snapped as he moved off Philip’s lap. “I’m just as surprised as you that she’s doing this.”
“Who said I’m surprised?” Philip growled. “She’s a Wyatt warlock. That’s what they do. They are evil.”
“All the more reason you should expect those who survived our brutality to revenge,” Troy growled right back. “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”
“This is not the same thing, Troy.” Philip sighed. “Reynard’s plan was to sacrifice all werewolves. Just to ensure that some prophecy doesn’t come to pass.”
“So why not kill just Reynard?” Troy retorted. “Huh? Did you have to kill every warlock in that clan? That wasn’t fair. Not everyone you saw on that land was evil. Take me for instance. I was there, right? What if you hadn’t stopped the others from killing me? I would be dead. What if there had been others like me? Innocent people. Maybe you need to think about that. Any person who survived such savagery would want to retaliate. Maybe what we did made Mary what she has become. Think about it.” With that, Troy grabbed his boxers, entered the en-suite bathroom, and then shut the door.
Philip stared at the closed bathroom door for a confused minute before getting out of bed and entering the bathroom. He washed his hands and brushed his teeth without uttering a word to his fuming mate who was standing in the shower and then left for the conference room. Somehow, Philip couldn’t shake off Troy’s words. Had they punished others for the sins of others? Most importantly, had they killed innocents?
***
“Oh my god…” Tears of mirth slid down the cheeks of Kate, the head warrior as she screamed with laughter. With the exception of Stan who looked bored, all the others in the room…all men, roared with laughter.
“Is there any reason for this ruckus when we’re in the middle of a crisis?” Philip asked when he entered the conference room.
“Dude, you asked us to meet here almost an hour ago.” Stan drawled.
“Sorry. Got held up.” Philip sighed as he pulled out a chair. “So…what’s all this about?” He asked just as Jeremy entered the conference room.
“Amber…” Kate began to speak but dissolved into laughter.
“What happened with Amber?” Jeremy asked as he took his seat. “Oh, I’ve called the elders to join us so that we can all listen to Ryan.” He informed Philip.
“Great, thanks.” Philip nodded.
“So I hear you four have a pact of sorts…” George looked from Philip to Jeremy. “With Stan and Paige? About kissing each other’s mates.”
“We do.” Philip chuckled. “What’s the problem?”
“Well, after you guys left with the elders yesterday, it was left with me, Pete, Kate, a few warriors, Cami, Paige, and the witch.”
“U-huh?” Jeremy looked amused already.
“When Paige stepped away from the witch…”
“Her name is Amber, George.” Philip drawled.
“Amber.” George nodded. “We saw our player here,” he pointed at Stan, “walking up to the wi…Amber with all confidence. When he got to her, he cupped her face and slamming his mouth on hers…”
“Way to go Stan.” Philip chuckled.
“Wait for it…” Kate wheezed, clearly trying not to burst into laughter.
“The witch looked shocked for all of two seconds, then she…”
“Kicked him in the fucking nuts…” Pete roared, cutting George off. The others erupted into laughter again.
“Ooohhh… Stanislav got served!” Philip laughed. “Right back at you.” He added when Stan gave him the finger.
“And trust me, it was one hell of a kick.” Kate laughed.
“Do you see me limping?” Stan drawled.
“You’ve healed, boss.” The lady warrior laughed.
“Are you okay, man?” Jeremy tried to look serious but failed. “Dude, I’m sorry but their laughter is fucking contagious.” The alpha of alphas dissolved into laughter.
“Yeah right. And I thought the only bodily function that was contagious was yawning.” Stan muttered, making them laugh even harder.
“You’re lucky she’d been stripped of her powers at the time.” Philip chuckled. “You’d have been a eunuch by now. “Next time…” He trailed off when the door to the conference room opened to reveal a radiant-looking Paige.
The uproar that erupted was deafening. Some whistled, some banged on the conference table, and the rest just cheered. And when Paige started strutting as if she owned the world, the noise reached a crescendo. There were choruses of congratulations from the werewolves to which Paige took a bow and responded with elation…
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, guys.” Paige grinned, going around the table to hug each person. When she got to Stan, she looked up at him with amused eyes and asked with mock innocence, “nuggets okay?” Everyone burst into laughter.
“Really, Slip?” Stan gave a mock growl, making Paige laugh.
“I’m so sorry darling.” Paige tried to stifle her laughter. “I’m sure Amber is sorry too.”
“You’re sure…” the look on Stan’s face was so comical the others couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yep.” Paige pulled a chair and sat.
“How’s she doing by the way?” Philip asked.
“Still in shock.” Paige chuckled. “But she’ll live. And Jer, I’m so so sorry about…”
“Aw come on…” Jeremy waved off her apology. “Not her fault. Besides, I was never in any real danger so…” He placed his entwined fingers at the back of his head and relaxed in his seat with a smug look on his face.
“Can you imagine?” Paige’s amused smirk mirrored that of the others.
“Don’t hate, Slip.” Jeremy laughed just as the door opened. “Oh, they’re in. Good.” He sat up as his mother, Joel, Deloris, the High Priestess, and two other council members entered. “Let me quickly connect this…” He muttered as the elders said their hellos and took their seats. Jeremy connected his cell phone to the console attached to the conference table as Philip switched on the projector. “I’ll video-call Ryan so that we can all listen to…he’s here…” Jeremy gasped as he shot to his feet.