My Secret Lover by ARIE78 (Completed)

Chapter 15

Phana left the bed and stalked his brother, already planning how to remove Kong from his path. He could still feel how much Forth needed him, and any delay was unacceptable.

Kong lifted his hands, as if trying to say he was harmless. "Stop this, brother.
Get back in bed. You're still weak."

"I'm strong enough to take care of you."

Kong grimaced and replied, "I know I disappointed you, Phana. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to go through with it in the first place. But you always leave the pack and don't really care about pack politics, so you don't know the kind of pressure we're under from other packs."

Phana listened more closely now, wondering if he could use any of the information his brother provided. He waited, struggling to leash his instincts even if, at this point, he didn't care about what happened to his pack.

"I don't get any of this, Kong," he admitted. Frowning, he tried to remember what had happened that had led him to be here. "It seems so convoluted and my memory's still fuzzy."

"You do remember Pring shot you, right?" his brother inquired.

Phana nodded. Slowly, it was all coming back to him. 

"The elders were angry. They wanted me to... Sleep with your mate." He grimaced. "This is crazy. So Pring can't fall pregnant. Big deal. There are plenty of females in the pack who give birth to whole litters of pups."

"There hasn't been a born Alpha since you," Kong said. "As you know, our strength is unique, and it is needed as a pillar of the pack."

"Just the same, it's bound to happen. This whole thing is insane," Phana said.

"I'm not an idiot, Kong. Why did Pring have to be the one to give birth to the next born Alphas?"

"It was Elder Kame," Kong whispered softly. "He was blackmailing Father. Father agreed to step down as soon as one of the two of us has a litter of pups, preferably containing a born Alpha. Kame's condition was that this litter had to be with Pring. She never liked you, so she picked me to be her mate. It didn't work as she'd have liked, because my wolf rejects her."

"Shit. This is what happens when elders fuck up."

Kong nodded. "We feared what would occur if other packs found out about all of this. They'd run us into the ground and take our territory. But you don't have to worry about that anymore. Pring has been banished, and so has her grandfather. The other elders have retreated into their wolf forms. At this point, we were just waiting for reactions from other packs. And mostly, we were waiting for you to wake up."

Growing increasingly agitated, Phana asked, "How long was I out?"

"Two weeks," Kong answered. "We were very worried, Phana. At first, we didn't think the injury was so serious, but then you wouldn't open your eyes. There's been talk of hunting down Pring and enacting vengeance the old fashioned way if... If you didn't recover."

Phana froze. Two weeks. He'd been away from Forth for fourteen long days. He could only imagine what Forth was thinking of him now. His mind completely focused on the incomplete mate bond, Phana pushed past his brother. 

Kong grabbed his arm and said, "Phana, come on. You've just awoken. You can't..."

"I'm perfectly fine." And ironically, he was. His concern for Forth had cancelled whatever effects the silver still had on it. "Let go of me. My mate is waiting."

Kong went completely rigid. "What? That can't be... When... did you..."

Phana kind of regretted mentioning it, but it couldn't be helped now. "It's a new thing. Kong, you have to help me out. My mate needs me. I can feel it. Our bond isn't complete, but it's there, and it's driving me crazy."