Ian chuckled. “You’re right. I’m through and everything looks good. The only advice I have is get plenty of rest, eat lots of food, take it easy for a couple of days and don’t fuck your brains out with your mate. The last one only applies for tonight.”
“Can do, Doc. I plan on staying in this bed with my mate for the next week,” Slate said, grinning at Dakota.
“Hey Slate, do you mind if Cody and I use Dire’s company plane? We’re kinda eager to get back to our pups,” asked Dylon.
“Is that okay with you babe?” asked Slate, looking at Dakota.
“Uh-huh. But I have to see if Jackson has someone to cover for me,” replied Dakota.
“Steel has agreed to do the cooking along with Oracle,” Cody said. “Jackson said, and I quote: ‘Tell Dakota to focus on taking care of Slate, and not to worry about anything else’.”
Dakota beamed. “Please give Jackson our thanks.”
“This is the second time you rescued me,” Slate said to Cody and Dylon. “I owe you big.”
Cody smirked. “I know, but don’t worry, I plan to hit you up for another donation to my home for gay boys…a really big one!”
Slate grinned. “Consider it done. Is Fionn going home with you?”
“No, he wants to stay,” replied Cody.
“You agreed to that? After what happened to me?” asked Slate.
“Fionn says his father is dead and won’t be causing any more problems,” answered Dylon.
“What? How? When?” asked Slate.
“We don’t know the whole story but Kieran is with him now so I’d expect we’ll find out,” Cody said.
“Yeah,” Dylon added, “when we got back, Kieran and Logan went to see Fionn. We stopped by to tell him to pack for the flight home, but Logan met us at the door and told us he was going to stay…and why.”
“Huh! Well, it saves me the trouble of hunting down that motherfucker and killing him,” Slate said.
Dylon growled, “He had a target on his back as soon as he fucked with the Blackwood Pack.”
“Colton, I owe you my life,” Slate said. “I don’t know what you did, but if there is anything I can do for you and Ian, just let me know.”
“Actually, there is,” Ian said, “Colton and I want to set up a trust fund for my subjects. We want to structure it along the lines of the Dire Wolf Treasure so it can be usedfor housing, education, jobs and medical care. We’d appreciate it if you could help us with that.”
“Absolutely! I can also help with any construction you plan to do. I have several crews available and I can cut one loose for you any time you need it,” Slate said.
“That would be excellent,” Ian said. “Right now, though, they don’t have medical facilities so, as a stop-gap measure, I want to give them a clinic as soon as possible,”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Dakota cut in. “You all can chat tomorrow, but right now, it’s bedtime for my mate. Cody, give hugs to the twins from me when you see them. Colton, take your pregnant mate and get some rest. Now go,” he commanded, pointing to the door. Within minutes, Dakota was alone with Slate.
~/~/~/~/~
Knocking on Fionn’s bedroom door, Kieran waited, then heard a click as the door opened to reveal the tear-streaked face of Fionn. “Hi, can I come in?”
“O-o-kaay,” Fionn said, his voice hitching as a new round of tears fell.
“Oh, Fi, come here,” Kieran said, opening his arms and hugging Fionn. Hugging the young dragon, Kieran murmured words of comfort as Fionn’s body shook with sobs. When the tears finally stopped, Kieran stepped back and, taking Fionn’s hand, said, “C’mon, let’s sit down.” Sitting next to each other on the love seat, Kiran said, “Fi, tell me what happened.”
Hanging his head, Fionn said nothing at first, but then began. “I killed my father tonight. Killed him to protect my family because I knew what he was capable of. If he found out about Theo, Norman or you, he would take and use one of you as a weapon to force me to give him myhoard,” he said, looking up at Kieran, tears freely running down his face. “It would kill me…just fucking kill me…if I was the reason my friends were being tortured. So I did it. I killed my father and my family is safe.” Looking at the floor again, Fionn continued, “All my life, my father hated me. At first, when I was young, it didn’t bother me because I was sick a lot and my mother cared for me and she could always brighten my day, even when I was angry at the Fates for making me so sickly. My mother prayed a lot to the gods and Fates, asking them to make me healthy and by the time I was 13, the illnesses that plagued me during my childhood had stopped. That’s when I realized my father didn’t like me…maybe even hated me, though I never wanted to admit it.
“I had a thousand excuses why he treated me badly but every single one of them was bullshit. Finally, when my mother was dying and my father turned his back on her and me, I had to face it…he really did hate me. Why? I don’t know but each year it grew worse. When he discovered I inherited everything from my mother, he called me every name in the book and then some. You know the rest of what he did to me. Then, when I heard what he did to Slate, I knew I had to stop him.”
“Fi, I agree, so why are you crying?” asked Kieran.
