Thirteen.

Shane's seat shattered as he kicked it away behind himself. Despite the sudden touch of Abigail's hand reaching up to his arm, he was salivating with the need to tear across the table and put the visiting Alpha in his place. He wanted Henry to hurt, he wanted Henry gone.

His teeth were bared as he spoke, spittle spraying out as his words flew and his fists clenched, "You are merely a guest here, Henry Gray, nothing more. I expect an apology, right now; especially if you intend to ever be allowed back on my land. Council or no council involvement Henry Gray, brother to my beta female or not, sperm donor to my pack member or not. If you do not withdraw your slurs, I will make sure the next time I see you is in a challenge ring; and you will not leave it alive."

The tension was palpable, the two alpha males were bristling with the need to maul at one another, as everyone else sat frozen momentarily in shock.

"Sperm donor?" Herny spat out, the deliberate insult hitting home. "Eloise is my mate!"

"Really?" Shane deliberately scoffed, pulling his shirt collar down to reveal Abigail's mark. "Because this is my mate's mark, where's yours? Or even..." Shane smugly turned, ripping his shirt clean off and revealing angry red score marks lining his back from earlier that very afternoon. "Marks like these maybe? She-wolves aren't known for holding back, at least where their satisfaction comes into question. Their claws tend to come out." He boasted smugly.

Abigail flushed deeply, dropping her head into her hands as Shane unitentionally mortified his mate, using her to goad Henry further.

However, Henry retaliated by grabbing Eloise unexpectedly and pulling her close to him, holding her flush against him while inhaling her scent as she struggled in vain to free herself. It was only her scent that was keeping him calm, keeping him from lunging at Shane. Keeping all hell from breaking loose in the dining room. He knew enough to know that was Shane's intent; if Henry struck first, Shane would be entitled to block him from ever returning to his lands, mate and sister be damned. The council would not back him if he landed the first blow.

Henry had to calm down. But his wolf was only prepared to accept one of two things; his mate or his challenger's blood.

Eloise on the other hand was beginning to freak out. Henry had her caged against his body, her arms trapped by her sides as he took lungfuls of air into his chest, all while still snarling away at the Alpha at the head of the table. As much as she tried to rock from side to side, she couldn't break free, and he had lifted her clean off the ground. Eloise had been told she had the natural grace of a Luna, but even she knew she fell short when it came to having to compete with the strength of an Alpha. As the painic set in, her tears began to flow freely down her face, aided in their progress by the pain she was feeling where Henry was constricting her movements.

"Enough!" Sammy screamed, standing abruptly and pushing down the wave of nausea that washed over her immediately.

"Sammy, don't get involved." Daniel warned his mate, worried for her safety and well being; as he automatically stood to block her from the table.

"What?" She asked in disbelief, "Don't get involved as your Alpha goads my brother into squeezing the life out of his unborn child as well as his mate?"

Henry's arms suddenly stopped tightening as Sammy's words hit him square in the gut. Eloise was pregnant. He was supposed to be protecting her. However, he didn't let her go. He simply loosened his grip and lowered her to the ground disgusted with himself, but he couldn't let go.

"And you," Sammy rounded on Shane. You would sacrifice your mate's dignity, as well as potentially provoking an offense on a pack member in need of your help over a pissing contest?"

"Wait what?" Shane asked, his eyes darting to Abigail's face, seeing the hurt and shame there for the first time.

But Sammy's vitirol kept going, "I mean we are all adults, shall I just go collect a measuring tape and you can whip them out and get it over with? Although, with how much you are both intent on overcompensating, maybe, just maybe we only need a small measuring stick. I doubt either of you would make it more that a quarter of the way along." Sammy continued, all while Alice sat there smirking, Michelle was looking disgusted, and Carson watched on in awe.

"Abigail, I.." Shane went to speak to his mate, his priorites having completely shifted to her and her well being.

"No. I'm not done," Sammy continued, pulling everyone's focus back to her. "Shane, put your shirt on, whats left of it anyway, and settle down. And Henry, put Eloise down properly and let her go. Bulldozing over her is not going to get you anywhere, and will only cause pain to all involved."

But Henry growled at Sammy challengingly, causing Daniel to answer in kind, his own skin rippling in threat.

"Oh great, there are two alphas at the table who cannot see past their own egos." Sammy rolled her eyes. "Look at Shane, Henry. Look at how his mate is upset and hurt and all he wants to do is comfort and go to her. Then look at you, physically hurting your mate, and refusing to release her like she wants. You are a selfish bastard, just like, Daddy."

Henry's arms dropped in shock, he wanted to retaliate, prove what Sammy was saying was untrue. But he couldn't.

Eloise didn't waste anytime, she grabbed Carson and scrambled around Abigail, and away from Henry as quickly as possible. She went to stand beside Sammy as Henry turned quietly and picked up his chair, sitting down and lowering his head into his hands. He was dumbstruck, so many thoughts whirring inside his mind, as he struggled to hang on to a single comprehensive thread.

"You have crossed a line, Samantha." Came Michelle's voice, seething at her step-daughter. "Henry is nothing like Marty, he has stayed faithful to *that* woman for over eight years. He puts his pack above all else, otherwise he would have been with her sooner, especially after what that *so called* friend of hers did in Portland! We all thought he was dead, but he managed to survive, and then he put all his time into healing the mess that boatman had made."

"What?" Eloise asked confused, her own mind begining to buzz with unanswered questions.

"Mother, be quiet." Henry growled out, annoyed with his mother's revelations.

"No!" Michelle shrieked back. "I will not be quiet. They lord it over you with their perfect little matings. But, they don't know the truth, the truth of how selfless you can be. The truth of how you died for her!"

"Mother, get out!" Henry commanded with a snarl. "Pack your things, we are leaving. You too, Carson. I am still your Alpha, now go." Henry warned before the boy could object. "Grams?"

"Oh no, you need at least one pack member in this room, My Boy. Don't even think about it." Alice warned him severely.

Henry only nodded, before sighing. Looking at Eloise, and the bruises appearing upon the arms of her beautiful skin where he had held her. Her braids had been in an intricate up do at dinner, now they were half fallen around her face as he took in the scene of her singularity. Her brother was gone, and she stood there unsure, confused and protentially afraid. He could have almost thanked his sister when she broke Daniel's hold on her to go to his mate and embrace her.

But, he didn't.

Instead he stood up, resigning himself to plan B, a plan he knew would only make things worse, but a plan that would give him more control, and stop him from losing Eloise altoghether.

"I was hoping not to go down this route. However, as both Sammy and Eloise are pregnant, with potential heirs to the alpha seat of the Dark Lake Park, I have gathered the council's blessing for my request that they both attend regular health check ups within our territory. It has been agreed. Both females will be expected to present themselves for monthly check ups, as well as havng prenatal scans to ensure the wellbeing of the young ones they carry. After the birth, obviously these checks will continue for Sammy and Daniel's child; however for Eloise, both she and my heir will be required to stay upon my territory. He or she will be raised as the future alpha, and after they are no longer dependant upon their mother's milk, Eloise is free to leave; should that be her wish."

"What?" shrieked Sammy, as Eloise's weight sunk further into her, the poor woman whimpering with a loss for words.

"Shane?" Daniel barked out, expecting his Alpha's help.

"The council paperwork?" Shane sneered at Henry.

"In my room, it will be on your desk before we leave. All expected schedules are also included." Henry answered robotically.

Alice was sat shaking her head, although she did not utter a word, her heart torn and her own body aching from the weight of Henry's choice.

"Shane?" Daniel barked again, waiting for his Alpha's ultimate refusal.

*I'm sorry, Daniel. my hands are tied here.* Came the sound of his alpha through th mindlink.

"Understood. Now, get out." Shane sneered at Henry.

*Author's Note: The proverbial poop has hit the fan huh?*