An Alpha's Vixen: The Finale

Sloan

"Morning, all."

Sloan padded gently toward the breakfast table, rolling up the sleeves of the crisp sage green shirt he had chosen for the day. The scars from his epic battle defeating the traitors had left a pattern across his forearms.

"Morning, Alpha." The clan and staff greeted him with big grins.

A hearty spread lay on the tables. A gleaming tureen of eggs scrambled with soft cottage cheese and slivers of green onions melted with lashings of butter.

Fresh loaves of sourdough and rye in a cloth basket. A selection of cured meats arranged neatly on wooden serving boards, their red and pink slices dotted with peppers, olives, and streaks of juicy fat.

Fresh fruit from the hills, ripe and fragrant, sitting next to a glass decanter of juice. Coffee, freshly ground, bubbling in a glass flask. Loose-leafed tea waiting to be poured from a delicate porcelain pot.

Sloan's belly growled at the smell of the grilled sausages the staff were bringing out to the table. He was a little late though, and the plates were being cleared even as a fresh place was being set for him at the head of the table.

There were some guests lounging by the window, chatting away with Bryn, friends of the family from the nearby orchard. He nodded and greeted them in acknowledgment.

His sister tossed him a quick, warm smile and continued with her conversation.

"You're looking particularly pleased with yourself, hey?" Tristan smirked, tossing his brother an apple from the basket in front of him.

Sloan shrugged and winked, catching the apple and biting into it nonchalantly. "It's a good day to be king, bro."

Tristan snorted and rolled his eyes. "Do spare us the details, Daddy."

"Go and do your homework, kiddo." Sloan grinned.

Theo looked up from his newspaper and shook his head theatrically, smiling. Sloan paused mid-bite to take in the look of quiet amusement on his father's lined face.

"I hope I always make you smile, Dad…"

"You will always have my blessing, my son. My king…"

"And I will always fight to protect all of you, my clan and blood…"

Sian was in a deep conversation on her phone at the far end of the common room, nodding regularly as she listened, a soft expression of pride on her face as she caught the quiet exchange between her mate and their son.

Sloan's phone buzzed. He fished it out and grinned at the notification. Myra had sent him an update from the shower and was reminding him to keep a very specific, very naughty promise.

She strode past him into the room, her vanilla essence reminding him again of all their urgent fucking and play-fighting in the early morning.

Pouring herself a cup of coffee at the table and grabbing a buttered roll, she made her way to him and gave him a brief peck on the forehead.

Her enormous baby bump announced itself proudly in her soft linen blouse embroidered with white flowers. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

Tristan groaned and retched, mocking them. "You guys, not at the table, please…"

Sloan cleared his throat, his face growing serious. "Where's my update on Saturday's negotiations?"

Tristan dropped the mocking face, stood, and nodded. "Meet me in the study when you're done." He stalked off.

Myra sighed and clucked. "Babe…"

Sloan patted her on the hand soothingly. "Yes, love, I know…cake-tasting with the girls. I'll be there. Just have to get ahead of that paperwork on the intelligence-sharing arrangements with the Northern clans."

He finished his eggs and stood, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip. "I'll see you in a bit."

"I'll see you in velvet handcuffs…"

Sloan grinned. "My hungry little vixen…"

"I know how much you love vanilla as a flavor…"

"Yeah, and that's not just cake…"

Myra's eyes grew dark with lust as she stared at him. Her mouth parted slightly, so only Sloan could notice how her arousal cast its familiar enchantment into the air.

"Patience, angel…"

Sloan joined Tristan at the conference table. Already in conversation, he welcomed Sloan formally onto the call and waited patiently while the participants greeted their king.

"Well done, everyone. It's been a stellar few weeks of work." Sloan nodded, and Tristan carried on.

"So, yes, as Elder Shah was saying, it all boils down to how much we can afford to demand in monitoring movements in and out of key territories. There is still the question of…"

With the meeting in the capable hands of his brother, Sloan's gaze and attention drifted to the morning sun streaming cheerfully through the clouds outside the window.

On days like this, he found it hard to believe that just a short while ago, there had been a moment when he had thought all was lost when everything that mattered to him would be taken from him.

The warrior in his blood did not allow him to brood, but a new role was on the horizon for him with the arrival of his pup. He felt fully prepared to take it on and fulfill it like his ancestors before him.

Lycan king. Father. But that was not all that was new.

When Alpha had become the lycan king, he had inherited new strength—and new knowledge. The kernel of it lay hidden inside him. He would have to tell Myra.

It was not something he could afford to keep to himself. Not with what was at stake. Not with what was coming for him, for them, for the little one, if what he knew to be true was indeed likely to come back to haunt them.

Alpha growled gentle encouragement at Sloan, reassuring him.

She is your mate, your luna… She matches you blow for blow with~ her loyalty, ferocity, and courage. Do not mistake her vulnerability for weakness, Sloan. ~

Alpha, I understand. But she is going to be the mother to our child. How can I burden her with this?

You will not be doing her any favors by not telling her the truth. What is to be will be…

But I can stop it…

Yes, but why carry this alone? And will you be able to face her once she finds out what you have been keeping from her? Don't you think she should know? For her own sake, for the sake of the child?

"Brother!" Tristan's formal and pointed acknowledgment brought Sloan firmly back to the conference room. He caught up with the discussion.

"Yes, I agree that we should make a play for control of that route once we have it back in our hands." Sloan nodded at Tristan.

"Sloan, I seriously hope it'll pay off," Elder Shah concluded. "After all this shit, we owe ourselves some good news, hey?"

Sloan smiled. "Yes, sir!"

As they signed off, Sloan checked his phone again. Myrielle and Megan had arrived and were waiting for the caterer with Myra, Bryn, and Sian.

He found the women huddled in the common room, the sisters giggling at something that had arrived in a box, which Megan quickly hid behind her as he approached them. Sian looked amused.

"There you are," said Myra, putting away her phone.

"Don't get up." He smiled at the women, giving Myra a quick squeeze on the shoulder. "And ladies, let's keep the awws to a minimum if we can, or else Tristan is going to hear us from across the house and barf."

Myrielle laughed. "Yeah, you guys are going to take some getting used to, even now."

Myra rolled her eyes. "As if you and Ben were any less annoying, hey..." A tiny frown crossed her face as her pup moved in her belly. She shifted in her seat.

"Angel?"

"Just a movement, Alpha…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm not due till next week…"

Sian clapped as the staff brought in the samples of different cakes sent in by the caterer. "Ladies. Ladies. Let's keep arguments to a minimum, and let Myra have the last word, yeah?"

"Mom, why don't I get a say?" Sloan grumbled.

Sian narrowed her eyes at him. "When you're pregnant with a pup, you can decide how you want to have your cake and eat it too, okay?"

Sloan opened his mouth with a retort, stopped, and turned to Myra, his eyes widening.

"Alpha…"

No one had noticed yet. Megan and Myrielle were comparing notes on the rich, dense passion fruit and white chocolate slice versus the light, fluffy honey and almond slice on the floral porcelain plates in front of them.

Sian had stopped to confer with the staff about dinner arrangements for that evening.

Myra stood up, her clothes soaked. "Sloan!"

Sloan jumped to his feet and took Myra's hand as she doubled over with the first contractions. He rubbed her back and looked around wildly.

They had prepared for this moment, but here it was, actually happening…

Sian gasped and dialed a number on her phone, signaling to Sloan to get Myra into the birthing suite. The girls snapped to attention, abandoning the cake and rushing off to their appointed tasks.

Sloan gathered Myra up into his arms carefully, her face contorted in pain. Sloan's heart raced.

"Hold on, Angel…"

Her face relaxed into a gentle smile as she stared into his worried eyes.

"Our prince is on his way, Alpha…"