Thank The Goddess

"You—you wouldn't," hissed Jamie, looking around the room at the four men. "People would know the truth."

"Would they?" asked Lucien, cocking his head to the side as he looked at the pup caught in Dominik's firm grip.

"For the past few months, you have been going around, completely disregarding Raphael's orders, doing what you wanted with your friends. He is well within his right to kill you for that alone. No one who undermines their alpha lives to tell about it. You have just lived longer than most."

"Which would probably be part of the problem," nodded Dominik as Damien handed their mate over to Raphael and left the room. "You assume that just because you are your parent's favorite, that gives you free rein to do whatever you want. But your dad isn't the alpha anymore. In fact, he should be grateful that Raphael even left him alive after that fight."

"My parents still won't put up with it. They will find a way to kill you if I get so much as a scratch on me. In fact, I am going to tell them right now that your mate is a mouse and you aren't worthy of being alpha. What do you think would happen then?"

Raphael had to hand it to the kid, he was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. The only problem was that he knew his little brother would turn tail and run at the sight of danger, which meant that he was just plain old stupid.

Thinking about what to do with his brother, he didn't notice that the little mouse had jumped from his hand to Dominik's shoulder until he no longer felt her weight.

She ran down Dominik's arm to where it was connected to Jamie's throat and launched herself at the pup, scratching the hell out of his face. Bits of flesh were spat out onto the floor, but still, she didn't stop attacking him.

In between bites, she chattered angrily at him.

Raphael could feel the wolf inside of him relax in a way he had never experienced before until he was hanging his head and snorting at whatever she was saying.

'She is cursing him out for being an idiot,' explained his wolf as Raphael watched the mouse start to pull out Jamie's hair. 'That clearly he has no brain and no sense of self-preservation. That even though he was a wolf, that didn't mean he didn't need to learn that there was always someone higher up on the food chain than he was.'

Raphael's gaze never left his mate as she continued to try and teach his brother. 'She says that if he just wants to die, he needs to hurry up and just do it. That there are a lot easier ways to die than to try and push buttons.'

Raphael and Lucien nodded their heads in unison as their wolves continued to translate the angry squeaks of their mate.

The door opened again, and Damien came in with a small bowl and a towel. "Alright, little one," he called out to the mouse as he placed the bowl and towel onto the bedside table. "I think he has learned his lesson."

The mouse popped her head out of the strands of black hair onto of Jamie's head and looked at her mate, letting out a couple of squeaks and sticking up a finger that was understood no matter what body the shifter was in.

"Alright, but why don't you leave his punishment to Dominik and Lucien? You don't want to take away all of their fun, too, do you?" Damien persuaded. "I have a nice bowl of warm water and a towel. Let's get that blood off of you. It can't be that comfortable."

The mouse looked at Dominik, and he could have sworn that she was raising an eyebrow at him.

"We'll make sure that he learns his lesson. He might look stupid, but even he should know that if he tries to go to his parents about something like this, Raphael is well within his rights to kill the three of them for causing insurrection."

The mouse shook her head and dived back down into Jamie's hair, causing him to let out a high-pitched scream.

'She doesn't want that type of responsibility placed on us,' sighed Raphael's wolf as a feeling of love and acceptance flowed through him. 'She said that if it came down to it, she could kill them. You should never have to be responsible for killing your parents, even if they deserve it.'

All of the stress inside of Raphael flowed out of him as he watched his mate continue to attack his brother.

He didn't know it until this minute, but that was what he needed in his mate… someone willing to stand beside him and help him rule. He didn't need a she-wolf who only wanted to be Luna because of the perks; he wanted a Luna who would be willing to do whatever it took for their people.

And he wanted a partner who appreciated just how hard some decisions were on him.

A lot of people asked him why he hadn't killed his father when he challenged him for the alpha position. He just shrugged off their question and said that he was no longer a threat. That there would be no need to kill the backstabbing tyrant who ran the Silverblood pack like it was his own personal piggy bank.

But the man was always going to be a threat with every breath he took. You can't have absolute power and then lose it without wanting to find a way to get it back. And if he hadn't burned so many bridges with the other wolves, he would be a lot more of a threat.

But Jamie was young when he usurped their father, no more than eight or nine years old at the time. He worshiped his father like every boy does… like Raphael did.

He just didn't see what life was really like for those that the old alpha hated.

A scream from Jamie knocked Raphael out of his memories as two more mouse-sized fistfuls of hair fluttered down to the ground.

Yeah, he was no longer in this alone. And for that, he would offer up prayers to the Goddess tonight and every night for his mate.