In the Arms of the Beast (Kings of Hell MC 5)

“I don’t need a nap!”

When Malachite had stormed off, Jake looked at Vars and twirled his finger next to his temple, suggesting what they both thought. The guy was nuts.

Vars sighed. “I’d have said he’s a creep, but I’m not sure what he is. Wherever this favoritism comes from, Laurent and Beast should really make him stop.”

The kids were too young to understand the concept of organized play, so the game soon devolved into a frantic chase after a ball that left some crying, while others emerged victorious. It was like gladiatorial games on shrooms.

Vars’s sense of responsibility beeped wildly when Xavier fell over and scratched his knee, but Jake was the perfect uncle, taking it all in stride and distracting the crying child. Vars wouldn’t say it so that Jake didn’t feel self-conscious, but when Jake rolled around in the grass with the kids, he was like an overgrown Labrador puppy. And maybe they were sharing similar thoughts, because Jake met Vars’s gaze with a sly smile.

“I know Laurent said not to, but… can Azog come out to play? They’re two years old. They won’t remember any of it.”

Vars found it adorable that Jake was asking him for permission to turn. He looked around and, when he saw no one around, kneeled next to his lover, catching his throat with one hand and briefly licking the soft lips. “Maybe I should take my good boy for a walk? I can see he can’t wait to come out.”

“Woof,” Jake whispered, but the kids wouldn’t have understood the double meaning anyway.

They were at the beginning of a perfect forever.

Jake got to his feet and Vars called over the boys to make room for him. “But it’s our little secret. You don’t tell Daddy or Papa, okay?”

Some of the children wanted to follow him, but Jade finally snatching the flower crown off Kai’s head and running with it in a circle proved a welcome distraction. By the time Vars wiped off Kai’s tears, all the kids were focused on the soft roar followed by Jake’s huge winged form crawling into the sunlight as if he were an overgrown dog, not a gargoyle. Hound entered the scene with a yelp and jumped around Jake in an invitation to playtime.

Marcel seemed a little shy about approaching, and needed encouragement to stop clinging to Vars’s leg but eventually stroked Azog’s muzzle.

Azog stretched his wings low over the ground, creating a space for the kids to climb under, and Vars laughed when Hound tried to pounce him.

But fun could only last so long.

“What are you doing?!” Malachite yelled and dropped the bottle he was carrying before breaking into a frantic sprint.

When Jasper started jumping on the wing as if it were a trampoline to avoid him, Vars laughed harder.

Epilogue 3 – Laurent & Beast

Beast wasn’t sure the children needed to know the Latin names of wild fruit in order to safely recognize which were edible, but whatever floated Laurent’s boat. It didn’t hurt for the kids to know nature-related trivia. But while Marcel wrote down the name rubus idaeus in the leather-bound notebook Laurent had gifted him last Christmas, his brothers raced through the shallow water at the ocean shore, led by Xavier, who, by right of his age was the group’s unofficial leader. After all, he was a very grown-up seven, while their boys were still six.

It was a warm autumn day, perfect for an outing for the whole family, though the one figure sitting by a miserably small tent in the distance spoiled the flavor of coffee brewed over the open fire.

“Maybe we should let him come over for lunch at least?” Beast asked, because the whole thing was too awkward for his liking.

Laurent groaned. “I told him to take time off. It’s not normal to be hovering that way.” He looked up, eyes wide. “Where’s Jack?”

Beast smiled and pointed to the tent behind him. “Sleeping.”

As much as Beast had enjoyed this day so far, he itched for some time alone with Laurent, and he shut Marcel’s notebook. “How about you play with your brothers? I’m gonna show you how to make fire with two pieces of wood later.”

Marcel sighed in the theatrical way kids thought was discreet. He gave Beast a small box. “But look after my rocks, Daddy.”

Laurent stroked his hair with a smile, but only spoke when Marcel walked off. “He’s so smart. Knows all the dinosaur names.”

He was also the spitting image or Laurent, but with pale hair and eyes. He would grow up into a handsome man too, just like his father, who at twenty-six was even more beautiful than when Beast had first met him. Back then, Laurent had been scared for his life and confused, but years in a new world where he could live as he pleased had turned him into a confident young man who still charmed Beast with every single gesture.