A poof of smoke remains all but for a second.
“He’s gone,” Lucas pants.
He knows he can’t make it up to the alphas. They’ll never trust him again for what he did. It was an act of betrayal, but he was tricked. He was shown a replica of the one he loved, and he believed it. That’s on him, forever.
He seeks forgiveness, despite deserving of such.
An alpha stands at the top of the Iron Eye, wielding a long-barreled sniper rifle. He waves. It’s Aiden.
“Dad!” the omega yells.
“Stay there until they can figure out a way to turn this thing off,” Aiden replies.
Lucas grabs the energy neutralizer that he saw Cassian use to get inside. He twists the top and powers it on. The machine stops spinning.
Aiden walks down the set of steps to join them. In his hand are lock cutters. “Thought you might need a hand or two,” he says, waving them in front of his face.
He eyes Lucas.
“Look, I--”
“You left me high and dry,” he says. “And where I come from, that kind of act comes with a heavy price.”
Lucas reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a bag of cash chips. “I know I left you back there,” he says. “But if I didn’t leave, Cassian would have killed us both. I had faith you could make it without me.”
Aiden nods, pushing away the chips. “You also saved my daughter. I think that makes things even,” he says. “Go make right by your pack.”
Lucas smiles. Their journey has come to an end. It was one unlike the others. Full of doubt, he questioned whether or not his mate was alive. He didn’t think he could be a father. But his emotions only drove him further and further away from those that he loved the most.
His family. His pack. The split from the ouroboros into a new way of living. It was an experiment worth fighting for, and still is.
He stands before his pack, not just as an alpha, but as someone who can admit when they are at the worst. Looking into each of their eyes before he speaks, there is a softness to them. Maybe they want to forgive.
“Fuck you,” Vash says.
Or… maybe not.
Lucas doesn’t run from this. He needs them to know that he’s on their side. “I don’t know how I can earn your trust again. Hell, just a day ago, I didn’t know how I could be a father,” he says, sighing heavily. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Ran from the truth out of stubbornness. I broke the sacred oath of alpha.”
“You’re damn right,” Killian growls.
Lucas sharpens. “And I know you hate me. You deserve to hate me and everything about this situation. None of this was supposed to happen to us. We saved Rae. Over and over again, we sacrificed because of one thing: love. We felt it. Maybe not all of the time. Maybe not when a detonation takes out the entire city of Dagon. But when we were with her, together, we felt something real.’
He walks over to her. “Our knots entwined to bind you to our souls. The rich, milky seed your slick pussy took in orgasm and heat was an act and holy ritual. I just can’t get enough of you. If the entire pack hates me, they can. But I won’t let you go, Rae. I can’t just walk away from this.”
Rae takes his hand. She lowers her forehead against his. They breathe in silence for a moment. It’s calming, like being inside of the womb. She is home.
“I love you,” he says, cock throbbing.
“I need you, Lucas. You’re not going anywhere,” she says, kissing him tenderly. “I need all of you by my side.”
She tastes sweet like sugar. He pulls away, but his cock is hard against his cloth, dripping pre-seed in anticipation. He hasn’t come since their last time, and he can hardly wait for the moment to come.
Rae turns to the other alphas. “Did you hear me? Lucas is staying. All of us will raise the children,” she says.
Both Vash and Killian mumble.
“What was that?” Rae asks.